Guest Editorial:

Bites, Bits, and Video Games:The Changes Ahead

by James M. Matarazzo

Special and research libraries are experiencing growingand conflicting pressures in a rapidly changing envi-ronment. At the same time that organizations are in-

creasingly viewing information as central to their competi-tive position in the marketplace, there has been a veritableexplosion in the amount of information available for reviewand analysis. The result is that today and even more so to-morrow, it will be more—not less—difficult to find and uti-lize information for effective decision making, research, andpublications.

In many respects, the special and research libraries havebeen the unwitting recipients of this apparent paradox.Caught between the demand for delivering better, faster, andmore information and knowledge on the one hand, and thedifficulty of identifying, retrieving, and synthesizing infor-mation and knowledge on the other hand, the role and placeof these information centers of tomorrow are undergoingconsiderable debate. At one extreme, some would argue thattraditional library functions should be largely outsourced andmany services transferred to the end-user. Others wouldview the core library functions as providing the springboardfor enterprise-wide policies and procedures regarding infor-mation and knowledge management.

In light of the above discussion, we conducted a study in1997 and again in 2000. We selected a number of U.S. cor-porations and research libraries as grappling with this under-lying dilemma. More specifically, this research was con-cerned with the direction in which special and researchlibrarians and information managers saw their own librariesmoving in the future.

The subject libraries were selected largely because oftheir presence in industry and the academy, and because theywere large organizations with at least some global presence.

Structured interviews were conducted with the head of infor-mation and library sciences within each organization. Toinsure candid responses those in the survey were assured ofconfidentiality.

SERVICES

Respondents were first asked a series of questions related tothe direction in which they saw traditional information ser-vices going over the next five years. Most saw themselves inthe proverbial bind of being asked to do “more with less.”At the same time staff resources were shrinking or at bestholding steady, all stated that they were being asked to pro-vide more services to an ever more demanding and growingcustomer base. The dilemma was typically resolved in favorof carefully crafted, strategic decisions which made moreeffective use of information technology (IT), while focusingon the value-add capabilities of information specialists. Spe-cifically, respondents stated that in the future they wouldconcentrate more on synthesizing, organizing, and filteringinformation and less on traditional practices such as catalog-ing, procurement, and routine searches. Electronic databasepublishing, Web pages, more powerful and effective searchengines, and networks were frequently cited as importantelements of the IT landscape that have already enabled cor-porate librarians to “off-load” traditional activities to end-users.

FUTURE SKILL REQUIREMENTS

This anticipated shift upwards in the value-chain of informa-tion services was one of the principal findings of our study.Not unexpectedly, this refocusing has considerable implica-tions for the role of information services in general, and theactivities, responsibilities, and skill requirements for the in-formation specialist in particular. Each of the organizationsstated that training end-users (scientists, students, engineers,and business staff) to more effectively use online search en-gines, for example, would be a growing and important partof their job responsibilities.

The information specialist of the future must not only be

James M. Matarazzo is Dean, Simmons College, GraduateSchool of Library and Information Science, 300 TheFenway, Boston, Massachusetts 02115–5898,james.matarazzo@simmons.edu..

The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Volume 27, Number 3, pages 171–172 May 2001171

familiar with both business needs and IT systems, but alsomust be able to teach information search skills to others.Similarly, the majority of respondents indicated that theyexpect a growing importance of stewardship functions suchas vendor selection and performance management, and estab-lishing stronger involvement with enterprise-wide effortssuch as knowledge management and competitive intelli-gence.

ORGANIZATIONAL SETTING

The complex and still uncertain direction in which libraryservices is moving in the future accounts for considerableambiguity today regarding its preferred organizational loca-tion. Within some companies, information services arealigned within individual strategic business units; in others itis included within a centralized research and development(R&D) service; and in still others it maintains a closer align-ment with corporate-wide functions such as IT and informa-tion systems (IS). For academic libraries the reporting struc-ture was as varied. The study concluded that there is nosingle “optimum” reporting relationship, either now or in thefuture. If any trend is apparent, it is that these organizationswill increasingly use a mix of solid line and matrix reportingrelationships that reflects their own unique culture and orga-nizational needs.

A related finding to the shifting nature of future services,and lack of clarity regarding the organizational setting, was astrong need to clarify and establish the value of informationservices to the host organization. At the highest level, thereis virtual agreement that access to superior knowledge andinformation has an enormous competitive advantage. Theproblem is being able to document this value in a more tan-gible way; nowhere is this issue more acutely felt thanamong information managers. Not one of the respondentsbelieved that they had successfully solved the problem.However, all stated that the ability to market and sell theirservices was critical the their long-term success. Some of theorganizations had begun to translate this need into salestraining for existing staff and a search for presentation ex-pertise among potential new hires.

One of the ubiquitous concerns of the corporate librarymanagers, and an interest of this study, was the future direc-tion of charge-back policies. The study did not reveal anyclear patterns in this regard. To the extent to which any gen-eralization can safely be made it is that organizations’charge-back policies are a function of broader values andpolicies than they are a specific response to library and in-formation services. Business and research institutions, whosephilosophy is one of encouraging and broadly sharing re-sources, typically absorb most information costs as part ofcorporate overhead. Conversely, institutions that tend tomeasure performance on a business-by-business basis will be

more inclined to treat library service costs as a direct cost ofdoing business. Regardless of the specific mechanism, allrespondents were in agreement about the rising cost of high-end search functions, and most acknowledged the high socialvalue of their library to the corporation or the institution.

CAREER PATHS

The study concluded by looking at the future implications ofoperating within a global environment and future careerpathing of information specialists. Most of the organizationsin the study acknowledged that with the growth in corporateintranets and electronic messaging, they were seeing a sharpincrease in services being requested from global operations.This, in turn, was beginning to be reflected in specializedneeds for foreign language journals and abstracts, centralizedpolicies regarding copyright protection, and development ofstandardized platforms and online surfaces to ensure a seam-less, standardized product and delivery service.

Finally, in terms of career paths for future corporate andacademic librarians, a number of respondents noted an inter-esting possible return to the role of the generalist. For someorganizations, for profit and not for profit, the more-for-lessenvironment is forcing the elimination of the so-called spe-cialist. Instead, fewer staff will be degreed professionals, andthose who are will be expected to perform a much broaderarray of services (e.g., work on project teams, train end-us-ers in online services, conduct complicated searches on theWeb, and assist business teams in competitive analysis). Allof this is seen as a net positive in terms of enhancing staffcareer choices beyond the traditional and narrow confines ofinformation and library services.

OTHER VIEWS

When asked to project ahead to the year 2010, Teresa Fry-dryk,1 National Fire Protection Association, and BarbaraGraham, Harvard University, both saw things differently,Frydryk sees a second master’s degree or a joint master’sdegree as needed. Graham proposes a new variety of infor-mation specialists . . . “whose mastery of the tools at hand iscoupled with tremendous adaptability.”2

In the next issue, the future of the MLS degree will bediscussed along with the increased use of non-MLS degreeholders in academic libraries.

NOTES AND REFERENCES

1. Teresa Frydryk, “Our Basic Education and Training,” in theMLSRenewal for Special Libraries Proceedings(Boston: Special Li-braries Association, Simmons College GSLIS, 2001).

2. Barbara Graham, “The Skillful ‘Bricoleur,’ Reflective Teams, andthe Entrepreneurial Change Manager,” in theMLS Renewal forSpecial Libraries Proceedings(Boston: Special Libraries Associ-ation, Simmons College GSLIS, 2001).

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