Libraries and Changes:A Macro View

Philadelphia Free Libraries – Closing All Branches

A Library Without Books

Budgets

Financial crisis -> Recession State budget cuts Tuition <-> market viability Endowment losses

Families: tuition unaffordable Colleges: less operating income

Disagreements on government role: Less financial aid funding available.

Universities / Governments

Less funding for libraries Administrators face cutback decisions Library impacts range from static to

austere

Space

Space constraints Different uses for existing space

From repository to workspaceGroup studyLearning commonsIT / Library collaborations

Disruptive Technologies

Proliferation of Information Technologies Over the past 4 decades

Computing Technologies Business Productivity Instructional Technologies Online Resources

Appearance of competition from “free” Cost challenge:

• New cost categories• Library must differentiate themselves from technology

Patrons

StudentsFull schedules:

• Work, family, adult responsibilities

Need online accessNeed online collaboration tools

Patrons

FacultyExpect online amenitiesMultiple demands on timeNeed online accessNeed online collaborationNeed online course interaction with

students

User Demand

Changing lives -> Shifting needs Distance Education Study Abroad

• Access to home library from remote

Field work• With off-campus internet / satellite access• Remote locations – no telecommunication• Users need portable solutions

Library best suited for delivering solutions:• Linking knowledge, information, technologies.

Technologies’ Promise

Tantalizing TechnologiesInstructional technologiesLibrary partnershipsOnline coursesOnline collaborationProxy serversDatabases and ebooksPortable books

Some Tech Solutions

Patron / Demand-Driven AcquisitionsThe future of research support?

Some Tech Solutions

Patron / Demand-Driven AcquisitionsThe future of research support?

Publisher Databases:Field worker’s panacea?

Some Tech Solutions

Patron / Demand-Driven AcquisitionsThe future of research support?

Publisher Databases:Field worker’s panacea?

E-readers: Portability

Some Tech Solutions

Patron / Demand-Driven AcquisitionsThe future of research support?

Publisher Databases:Field worker’s panacea?

E-readers: Portability Mobile Devices:

Portals to knowledge – with a caveat

Some Tech Solutions

Patron / Demand-Driven Acquisitions The future of research support?

Publisher Databases: Field worker’s panacea?

E-readers: Portability Mobile Devices:

Portals to knowledge – with a caveat Playaway:

Dedicated = one shot?

Libraries - Future Directions

The only thing constant is changeAn unchanged truth since Heraclitus,

535-475 BC Evolving cultures and technologies Globalization and information freeflow Economic prospects worldwide/locally Connecting learners with knowledge:

Libraries’ core role endures.

Questions & Answers

Antje Mays maysa@winthrop.edu