PIONEERS NEED FRONTIERS

NEW ROLES FOR ACADEMIC LIBRARIES

James G. NealUniversity of Warwick Symposium

19 November 2015

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DO 20TH CENTURY SKILLS STILL MATTER?

• Information Selection

• Information Acquisition

• Information Synthesis

• Information Navigation

• Information Dissemination

• Information Interpretation

• Information Discovery

• Information Use

• Information Application

• Information Archiving

• In Support of Teaching and Learning

• In Support of Research and Scholarship

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ARE NEW SKILLS NEEDED FORCHANGING LIBRARY ROLES?

• Libraries as Consumers

• Libraries as Intermediaries and Aggregators

• Libraries as Publishers

• Libraries as Educators

• Libraries as R&D Organizations

• Libraries as Entrepreneurs

• Libraries as Policy Advocates

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DO 20TH CENTURY SKILLS ADVANCETHE SHIFTING VISION OF THE LIBRARY?

• Legacy

• Infrastructure

• Repository

• Portal

• Platform

• Application

• Enterprise

• Public Interest

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WHAT IS PROVOKING NEW THINKING ABOUT THE 21ST CENTURY ACADEMIC LIBRARY?

• Rapidly Shifting User Behaviors/Expectations

• Redundant Inefficient Library Operations

• Aging Service Paradigms

• Increasing Emphasis on Unique Resources

• Need to Achieve Scale and Network Effects Through Aggregation

• Acceleration of Collective Innovation

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WHAT IS PROVOKING NEW THINKING ABOUT THE 21ST CENTURY ACADEMIC LIBRARY?

• Mobility of User

• Cloud Computing

• Semantic Web

• Open Content

• Globalization

• Collective Intelligence

• Online Education/MOOC

• Assessment

• Customization/Personal Web

• Economic Context

• Radical Collaboration

• E-Research

• Information Policy

• Mutability

• And So On…

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NEW TECHNOLOGIESAND THE 21ST CENTURY LIBRARY

• Mobiles and Tablets (single, portable multi-purpose device)

• Cloud Computing (distributed processing and applications)

• Geo-Everything (geolocation and geotagging)

• Personal Web (customized management of online content)

• Linked Data (connecting and relating structured information)

• Semantic-Aware Applications (meaning to provide answers)

• Smart Objects (links physical world with information)

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NEW TECHNOLOGIESAND THE 21ST CENTURY LIBRARY

• Open Content (wide distribution and repurposing)

• MOOC (massive open online courses)

• Electronic Book (platforms, applications, redefinition)

• Data/Big Science (research information management)

• Games As Learning Tools (participation and interaction)

• Visualization and Simulation (more meaningful and intuitive)

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BUILDING THE DIGITAL LIBRARYQUALITY = CONTENT + FUNCTIONALITY

• Published/Licensed Content

• Primary Content

• Open Web Content

• Institutional Content

• Research Data Content

• Multimedia Content

• Integrated Services

• Software Tools

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• Archive as Repository HOLD• Archive as Persistence ACCESS• Archive as Curation SECURE• Archive as Steward CARE

• Analog

• Digital Conversion

• Born Digital

• Disaster Preparedness

PRESERVE AND ARCHIVE THE CONTENT

ADVANCE THE REPOSITORY MOVEMENT

• Discipline Repositories

• Institutional Repositories

• Data Repositories

• Departmental/School Repositories

• Individual Repositories

• Learning Repositories

• Government Repositories

• National Repositories

• Publisher Repositories

• Research Data Repositories

11THE RIGHT TO TEXT AND DATA MINE

SUPPORT THE NEEDS OF BIG DATA

• Federal/Funding Agency Mandate• Massive Data Sets• Unstructured Data/Curation• Extraction• Distribution• Collaboration• Visualization• Simulation• Preservation

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SUPPORT THE NEEDS OF RESEARCH

• Navigate, Analyze, Synthesize

• Open Research/Continuous Scholarly Communication

• Scholarly Products to Scholarly Process

• Expertise Databases/Subject Ontologies

• Data Management Consulting

• Integration of Disparate Sources/Grey Literature

• Special Library/Informationalist Model13

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SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATIONCREATION

EVALUATION

DISTRIBUTION

USE

PRESERVATION

SHIFTING ECONOMICS/TECHNOLOGIES/PLAYERSAND POLICIES

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SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION

• Community of Creation

• Community of Production

• Community of Distribution

• Community of Consumption

• Community of Use

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ELECTRONIC SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATIONRESEARCHER OBSERVATIONS

• Discipline Diversity

• Importance of Trust

• Importance of Credibility

• Velocity of Communication

• Meritocracy

• Organized Skepticism

• New Economics

• Vertical Integration

• New Modes of Discourse

• Democratization

• Expanded Readership

• Open and Free Exchange

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SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION CONCERNS

• Choking on the Proliferation

• Location of Quality Marking

• Corporate Economy Overtakes Guild Economy

• Dysfunctional Market

• Intellectual Property Ownership

• Darwinian/Capitalistic/Socialist Solutions

• New Models of Digital Scholarship

OPEN REVOLUTION

• Open Source• Open Standards• Open Archives• Open Text• Open Linking• Open Design

• Open Research• Open Course Content• Open Reference• Open Aggregation• Open Storage• Open Access

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RESEARCHER AND LIBRARYCORE INTERESTS

• Competitive Market

• Easy Distribution and Reuse

• Innovation Applications of Technology

• Quality Assurance

• Permanent Archiving

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WHO ARE OUR USERS?

• Students (diversity abounds)

• Faculty (expectations galore)

• Researchers (tribal differences)

• Administration (the bottom line)

• Community (local politics)

• Working Professionals (practical applications)

• Alumni and Donors (largely ignored)

• World on the Web (the new majority)

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WHERE DO WE INTERSECT WITH USERS?

• Physical Spaces

• Web Spaces

• Collections

• Services

• Applications

• Technologies

• Classroom

• Laboratory

• Bedside

• Collaborations

• Anyone

• Anywhere

• Anytime

• Anyhow

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HOW DO WE KNOW ABOUT USERS?

• Ask

• Measure

• Listen

• Observe

• Compare

• Benchmark

• Experiment

• Involve

• Prototype

• Portfolio

• Evaluate

• Experience (Aha)

RESPOND TO USER EXPECTATIONS

• Content

• Access

• Convenience

• New Capabilities

• Cost Reduction

• Participation

• Individual Productivity

• Individual Control

• Organizational Productivity

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ENHANCE THE USER EXPERIENCE

• Technology Ubiquity

• Point-of-Need Information

• Web-based Services

• Technology Sandbox

• Privacy Space

• Social Success

• Support Services

• Information Fluency

• Post-graduate Access

• Career Assistance

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EMBRACE THE “HUMAN” OBJECTIVES

• Success (turn out well, attain desired end)

• Happiness (well-being and contentment)

• Productivity (achieving results or benefits)

• Progress (forward movement or betterment)

• Relationships (personal connections or attachments)

• Experiences (observation or participation)

• Impact (significant effect)

ACADEMIC LIBRARIES MUSTPREPARE FOR ACCOUNTABILITY AND ASSESSMENT

• Institutional Expectations

• Government/Funder Mandate

• Measures Of User Satisfaction

• Measures Of Market Penetration

• Measures Of Success

• Measures Of Impact

• Measures Of Cost Effectiveness

• System Design For Usability

• Insanity of Most ROI

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NEW MEASURES OF SUCCESS

QUALITY = CONTENT + FUNCTIONALITY

VALUE = QUALITY + TRAFFIC

PRICE does not equal COST OF INPUTS PRICE = PERCEIVED QUALITY + VALUE

SUCCESS does not equal RESOURCE ALLOCATIONSUCCESS = RESOURCE ATTRACTION

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FORUMS FOR COOPERATION

• Library Systems

• Local and Regional Cooperation

• State Projects

• Multi-State Projects

• National Consortia/Projects

• International Partnerships

• Researcher Collaboration

• Publisher Collaboration

• Collaboration with TechnologyOrganizations

• Corporate Partnerships

• Business Partnerships

REACHING OUT TO CULTURAL COMMUNITY

PROMOTING NEW COMBINATIONS THRU PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS

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ARENAS FOR COLLABORATION

• Centers for Excellence

• Mass Production

• New Infrastructure

• New Initiatives

Quality/Productivity/Innovation

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ADVOCATE THE INFORMATION POLICY AGENDA

• INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM

• PRIVACY

• CIVIL LIBERTIES

• EDUCATION PROGRAMS

• RESEARCH PROGRAMS

• INTERNET DEVELOPMENT

• TELECOMMUNICATIONS

• GOVERNMENT INFORMATION

• APPROPRIATIONS

• WORKFORCE POLICY

• FIGHTING THE COPYRIGHT WARS

HOPE/POWER/ACTION THROUGH COLLABORATION

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POLITICAL ADVOCACYTHE RESEARCH LIBRARY ROLE

• Knowledgeable Resources for the Community

• Political and Legislative Advocates for Community Interests

• Educators of Community on Priority Issues

• Documenters of Impact of Legislative Actions

• Promoters of Campus and Community Coalitions

• Enablers of Successful Models Which Support Political Agenda

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SCHIZOPHRENIC ORGANIZATIONAL MODELSIN LIBRARIES

• Conventional Administrative Hierarchyand

Consultative Governance/Bureaucracy

• Centralized Planning and Resource Allocation Systemsand

Loosely Coupled Structuresand

Maverick Units and Entrepreneurial Enterprises

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RANGE OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS

• Centralization and Decentralization

• Hierarchy and Distribution

• Bureaucracy and Adhocracy

• Simplicity and Complexity

• Formality and Informality

• Administration and Entrepreneurship

• Authority and Collaboration

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LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

• Effective and Caring Mentors

• Clear and Flexible Competencies

• Quality Training Programs

• Individual Development Plans

• Distributed Leadership Models

• Immersion Experiences

• Strategic Thinking and Action

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ACADEMIC LIBRARIES MUST DEVELOP THE WORKFORCE

• Recruitment Strategies/Competition

• Role Of Professional Education

• Employment Strategies/Compensation

• Development Strategies/Certification

• Retention Strategies

• Leadership Development/Succession Planning

• Feral Professionals/Socialization Issues

• Mutualism/Inter-professional Relationships

CAPABILITIES OF THE 21ST CENTURYACADEMIC LIBRARY INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL

• Deep Subject, Process, or Technical Expertise• Deep Service Commitment• Commitment to Research and Development• Commitment to Assessment and Evaluation• Communication and Marketing Skills• Project Development and Management Skills• Political Engagement• Resource Development Skills• Commitment to Rigor• Entrepreneurial Spirit• Commitment to Collaboration• Leadership/Inspirational Capacity 36

WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FORLIBRARY STAFFING?

• Professionals With Diverse Academic Backgrounds• Wide Range of New Professional Assignments• New Roles of Support Staff and Students• Messy/Fluid Organizational Structures

• Impact on Values, Outlooks and Styles• Impact on Campus Understanding, Recognition and Respect• Impact on Organizational Relevance and Impact

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FUTURE LIBRARY PROFESSIONAL

• Clear Sense of Mission

• Self Vision

• Base of Knowledge

• Strategic Positioning

• Continuous Improvement

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WHAT IS LEADERSHIP?

• Setting a direction.• Hiring and developing really great people.• Securing the resources.• Asking the hard questions.• Advancing a professional voice.• Just getting out of the way!!

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PLANNING AND TRANSFORMATION

• Too much planning and too little strategic thinking.

• Existing structures and processes built for slower pace of change.

• Program planning not linked to institutional strategic planning.

• Resource allocations not linked to strategies.

• Planning cycles expenditure-based rather than strategic.

ARL STRATEGIC DESIGN AND ACTION

LIBRARY SERVICES AS 4 LAYERS OF INTERACTION

• AUGMENTED INFORMATION LENS – relationships with individual users

• BOUNDLESS SYMPOSIUM – conversations within the institution

• META-LIBRARY ECOSYSTEM ENGINE – conversations among networked institutions

• COMMUNITY KNOWLEDGE MESH – societal role

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ARL STRATEGIC DESIGN AND ACTION

KEY COMPONENTS

1. Coordinated Management of Collective Collections – A Platform for Sharing Knowledge Throughout the Ecosystem

2. Scholarly Publishing at Scale

3. ARL Academy

4. Building a Boundless Symposium

5. A First Suite of Smart Libraries

6. Innovation Lab and (Venture) Capital Fund42

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DEVELOP NEW RESOURCESFUNDING STRATEGIES

• Operating Budget Reallocation

• New Operational Resources

• External Fundraising

• Research/Service Grants

• Co-Investment

• Public/Private Partnerships

• Technology Transfer

• Entrepreneurial/New Business Development

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MARKET THE LIBRARY• Match Capabilities of an Organization with Needs

and Wants of Communities Served

• Existing Products to Existing MarketsMARKET PENETRATION

• Existing Products to New MarketsMARKET EXTENSION

• New Products for Existing MarketsPRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

• New Products for New MarketsDIVERSIFICATION

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STRATEGIC PRIORITIES

• Special and Distinctive Collections

• Digital Resources/Collections

• Effective Interfaces and Improved Access

• User Spaces

• Support for Teaching and Learning

• Support for Research and Scholarship

• Preservation and Archiving

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ENABLING PRIORITIES

• Resource Development

• Research and Development/Grants

• Communication and Marketing

• Assessment and Evaluation/Data Analytics

• Radical Collaboration

• Information Policy

• Professional Leadership

• Organizational Agility

DIGITAL CONTENT 2020AREAS FOR ATTENTION

• Mobile and Adaptable Technologies

• Accessibility and Support for Print-Disabled

• Publishing Explosion: Mainstream/Independent/Self

• Radical Collaboration and Systemic Strategies

• Rigorous Assessment: Quantitative and Qualitative

• Mass Digitization Meets Open Access: New Business Models

• Human Computer Interaction: Gaming and Virtual Reality

• Open Source Software and Open Source Hardware

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DIGITAL CONTENT 2020AREAS FOR ATTENTION

• Network: Connectivity, Reliability, Capacity, Performance, Security

• Digital Preservation: Persistence and CurationIssue of Executable Content

• Open Web Content: Issues of Scholarly Integrity

• Repository Chaos: Issues of Discovery and Version Control

• Metadata Chaos: Issues of Quality, Currency, Accuracy

• Library as Publisher/Distributor/Incubator

• Library and Maker Culture/Digital Fabrication and 3-D Technologies

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WHAT DO WE MEAN BY TRANSFORM?

• to change in composition or structure

WHAT WE ARE/WHAT WE DO

• to change the outward form or appearance

HOW WE ARE VIEWED/UNDERSTOOD

• to change in character or conditionHOW WE DO IT

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WHAT DO WE MEAN BY LEGACY?• something handed down from the past / a bequest

HERITAGE• outdated technology, while still functional, does not work well with

up-to-date systems

EFFICIENCY / ROI• something which is still used although no longer the most modern or

advanced, because it would be very expensive or difficult to replace

EXPENDABILITY• the idea that a thing which exists as a result of something that

happened in the past can later be used in a different way

FUNGIBILITY

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WHAT DO WE MEAN BY INNOVATION?• new method, idea or product

• systematic application of new knowledge to new resources to produce new goods or new services

MARKET• process of lowering the costs or increasing the benefits of a task

VALUE• result of thinking deliberately about existing problems and unmet

needs

SOLUTIONS

EVOLUTIONARY (incremental) REVOLUTIONARY (disruptive/discontinuous)

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THEORY OF LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT

-1950 Period of EXCLUSIVITY1950-1970 Period of POPULARIZATION1970-1990 Period of DISCORD1990-2010 Period of DECADENCE2010-2015 Period of POLYGAMY/KUMBAYA2015-2020 Period of PARABIOSIS/SYNERGY2020- Period of PARTICULARISM

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS

The library is being driven by five fundamental shifts. Primal innovation: creativity as an essential component of our organizational and individual DNA. Radical collaboration: new, drastic, sweeping and energetic combinations across and outside libraries. Deconstruction: taking apart traditional axioms and norms, removing the incoherence of current concepts and models, and evolving new approaches and styles. Survival: persistence and adaptation which focuses more on the “human” objectives of our users, that is success, productivity, progress, relationships, experiences, and impact. Particularism: deep specialization and rich responsibilities in the face of rampant shared and open resources. How do we respond to these revolutionary trends through our shifting geography, our essential expertise, and our advocacy of the public interest? How do we remain indispensable to the researcher?

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WHERE ARE WE GOING?RELEVANCE

IMPACT

VALUE

SURVIVAL

EXTINCTION

PHYLETIC – one species evolves into another

TERMINAL – termination of species/no descendants54