Core Functions of the Research Library in the 21st Century
February 27, 2008

http://www.clir.org/activities/registration/08r21.html

"The information landscape of early twenty-first century higher education is characterized by ubiquitous, digitized, indexed online access to content. Researchers and students begin and often end their quest for information online. Results of research can be and increasingly are published without publishers. Access to these results, and to the cultural and scientific record that constitutes the primary resource base for research and teaching, is narrowed by the increasingly exclusive use of licensing in lieu of selling. What are the critical functions of the research library in this changing landscape?

To address this question, CLIR commissioned 8 essays as background for discussion at a meeting held in Washington DC on February 27. They are available here in PDF format."

 "Eszter Hargittai, an assistant professor in Northwestern University’s sociology department, has discovered that students aren’t nearly as Web-savvy as they, or their elders, assume.

"Ms. Hargittai studies the technological fluency of college freshmen. She found that they lack a basic understanding of such terms as BCC (blind copy on e-mail), podcasting, and phishing.  ...

"Ask your average 18-year-old: Does he know what RSS means? And he won’t. ... 

 "Students have difficulty evaluating the credibility of information online. Students have been told Wikipedia isn’t reliable, but they haven’t been told why exactly. Most students don’t know that wikis can be edited at that moment. Their eyes just open up wide when they find out."

Actually, the comments from readers are just as interesting as the article, for the experiences they share and the attitudes they reveal about age and ability, issues that are very real for us here.  Web 2.0 in action!

 First off, the idea that sparked it all for me.

 I am in Vegas, sitting in a restaurant underneath Ceasars where there is this very extensive complex. Its confusing, there are a lot of pathways, and if we really had a specific place to go, it may have been difficult to find where we needed to be.

As I am watching the people go bye, I see several people frantically looking for something, and I noticed that these people on Segway Scooters regularly drove bye. They had a sign that said "Mobile Service Point" on them, and were easy to see and flag down...or drive up to distraught customers and answer their questions.

 When one of these segways passed close to me, I saw that they were each fitted with a small laptop, a little folder with maps, and a walkie talkie to communicate with security or whomever.

It occured to me that this could be a really neat idea for Reference service, but it also seemed kind of far fetched.

Thats where talking to my friend in Cleveland comes in. I told her about these Segway stations and she explained to me how a couple years ago their Library went to a completely mobile Check out system. Basically, they have a Wireless computer terminal on a desk with a printer, a scanner and a De-sensitizer. The employees wheel the desk around and check out books to people while they are sitting and studying. 

Well, if Circ can be handled on a wireless network, why not reference? More and more we are less tied to a physical location and more tied to our access to online databases for reference service. With a portable terminal, and constant movement through the Stacks, we might even be serving multiple purposes...we would have a regular presence in the stacks, increase our visibility and probably our number of questions, Plus, we may be able to strongly reduce the need for security because more Librarians would be roaming the stacks regularly. 

Obviously a Vegas institution is going to easily fund and maintain vehicles like a Segway in a manner that might be difficult for a Library. However, it seems to me that some similar idea could be used in a space as large as Doe to great effect.

Imagine if the Staff led stacks crew for finals were regular fixtures of the Library...with laptops in hand to help answer last minute questions as well as to support a clean invironment? Or if the Stacks crew was a totally normal part of the environment in Doe? It seems like this might not only improve our relations to the students, but also our image overall, as helpful providers of information rather than the staunch enforcers of food and noise regulations.

 1) Study Space – Students use our libraries heavily as a study area.
 2) Computer Stations – Our Computer Stations are also very heavily used.
 3) Distribution of Space within Libraries – our locations on campus draw people to us. Students like       having a wide variety of locations in which to study.
 4) Group Study Space – We are often asked about group study areas by our patrons.
 5) Physical Collections – These are not used as heavily as they have been in the past. We discussed     the need to have collections tied to physical spaces.  Collections that are browse-able bring people     to the location. Certain parts of our collections, such as the new book shelf,  are heavily used and       browsed.  We noted the browseable nature of successful bookstores, like Borders, and discussed         how we might use their methods here.
 6) Since common spaces are so heavily used, we discussed how redesigning them could make them     more inviting.

Starting Points for innovations to space planning at ED-P and SOCW:

    Create Group Study areas?  However, this would require remodeling.

    How can we enhance the use of the Children’s Literature room as the multi-use space it already is? A little remodeling, i.e., new chairs and tables, an A/V setup, would make it a better BI classroom, group study space, quiet space for private study, group meeting room,etc.

    Improving the look and feel of the ED-P and SOCW Reading rooms. These are well used spaces with lots of natural light, but could potentially be made more inviting with more comfortable chairs and tables.
    We need to maintain the specialized reference service area and computer work stations. We should not  lose sight of the need for our important traditional roles and services.

    Marketing our assets and resources. Since patrons are using us as a study space, we should cater to this, and get the word out that we are doing very well at providing this service.

Possible Starting points beyond ED-P and SOCW.

    Perhaps we should have more of the computer capabilities that the computer labs have, such as word processing and spreadsheets.

    We discussed the need to maximize on collaboration with our UC-wide consortia.   Similar to the benefits achieved in creating the CDL Melvyl catalog, we can expect to benefit collectively from the ongoing consortial efforts regarding shared print archives and prospective collection purchasing.   There may be other potential areas of collaboration with respect to our digital library presence and access issues.    We also acknowledged that public libraries have implemented many digital library features worth considering.    

Other Questions

    How do we balance the excellence we provide in three areas, i.e, our physical library with its digital access and print resources, our virtual library, and our research librarian and staff service expertise, to meet the diverse needs of our patrons.   In particular, how can we better connect and promote our services and resources in B-Space, on class and faculty websites, through social networking sites. etc. to better reach out to faculty and students virtually?
    What about Outreach? We used to be the first place that people went when they had a need for information. But now that isn’t necessarily the case. How do we get that back?
    Also, how can we or should we get involved in social networking sites as an outreach tool?
    Should we or do we have to be competing with other information brokers like Google?
    If we have the market on campus for trustworthy study space, should we capitalize on that by expanding computer services? Perhaps taking on many of the tasks of the computer labs?
    With the increase in digital books and new technology like the Kindle reader, how best should we respond?  How will these affect us, and should we get involved?

Fortunately, they use a "click to call" system. I clicked on the "Call me" button, and a new window popped up. I entered my phone number and chose when I wanted them to call (in this case, "right now").

A few seconds after I clicked OK on this, the phone rang. It was a live person who knew who I was and what order I was calling about. No waiting, no menu options to press.

To do this, Amazon uses a commercial product called eStara. Their website gives information and a demo.

No doubt this is not cheap, but it's extremely effective and gives the user an immediate sense of being catered to.

Pre-Retreat Town Hall
Thursday, April 10
8:30 a.m.-10:00 a.m.
Toll Room, Alumni House

Each snapshot provides an overview of a new direction idea, summarizes relevant national trends, analyzes local impacts external and internal to the Library, and suggests some specific opportunities for new directions. These snapshots will serve as the basis for discussion at our New Directions Retreat.

Suggestions were generated for staff development and training, and creative job design to address skills needed to perform library jobs 4 to 5 years out in the future.

Susan Wong noted that LHRD is enthusiastic about efforts to redesign jobs for library work, but reminded the group that we work in a climate of represented and non-represented staff and we must comply with legal and UC policy and procedures as well as bargaining unit agreements with respect to job classification practices. These boundaries govern nearly all librarian positions and most library assistants.

Mari Miller suggested that we design jobs that will attract graduates from the I-School. These would not necessarily be Librarian appointments but positions within the IT area of skills and abilities to address the technology changes that happen so rapidly and will continue into the future.

There was also discussion about future space needs for collaborative learning in library locations with reference to the recent early bird reporting on changing faculty and student use of the Library. The Moffitt Revitalization project will address these issues in depth and allow for several creative initiatives that can help implement New Directions.

Paul Payne commented that the trends we need to plan for are more use of wireless, mobility, and video conferencing, which means public areas will need network and power sources to operate the applications in collaborative spaces for learning and instruction.

Susan Wong reported that LHRD staff are looking at adapting more e-technologies in the student employment processes and procedures. Elise Woods added that LBS and LHRD are working with Lynne Grigsby and Lisa Weber on an intranet for all administrative forms processing. This would enhance online, paperless processes for both HR and Business functions including but not limited to, employment, purchasing, travel and entertainment, and online time reporting. UC policy now allows electronic signatures and scanned documents in lieu of originals (with the exception of itemized receipts for reimbursements). This enables us to eliminate the majority of the paper flow by routing forms for processing through the intranet and filing them electronically using Adobe Acrobat Professional.

Nearly all these suggestions support the progress of New Directions so far and can proceed with very little in the way of new resources.

Sumbitted by Mike Rancer

What the library is:

What about the traditional role of the library – building collections and making them accessible.  This has to continue.

In addition to building collections we need to provide new services – examples—affording users to create their own personal collections; creating communities of users.

Metaphor – the elephant and the gazelle.  There have to be people who are capable of changing quickly and there are others who will move more slowly.  But everyone has to feel a part of the process.

Our library’s uniqueness lies in part and importantly for its research collection and primarily those in languages other than English.  We need to keep collecting in ways and in places that technology hasn’t yet reach and will probably not reach for decades.  We need to be the place where people come for hard to acquire materials.

What the problems are:

There are plenty of ideas, the problem is one of structure.  There are too many hoops to jump through to get something accomplished.  Also, people are afraid to fail or people are unwilling to fail.

Why do we have negative feelings about this process?  People feel a lack of information about what is going on.  We find out about things that happen after decisions are already made.  Many people don’t feel part of the process.

Too many functions of the library exist in silos.  Different groups function independently and not collaboratively.

There is a lack of leadership with a vision.  Too much emphasis on mass production and the bottom line.  We must not forget about the quality of what we produce.

The new directions process has been repeated many times.  What comes of it?  There is lack of leadership to implement.  Decisions happen in vacuums.  We need more progress with digital initiatives.  We are behind the curve with what is happening nationally.

Some of the structures that exist today have failed.  CDL as a model for digital initiatives does not work.  What happens there is not connected to what happens at Berkeley.

Systems is an example of a silo that does not communicate transparently with other parts of the library.  Need to be a service for the needs of the library.  People need to feel able to try new things.

What we need to do:

We need a Research and Development group that will focus on keeping on top of technology and both implement new ideas and keep people current – both informatively and training people to use new technology.  The R&D group will focus on the future.  There work will be constantly transforming but they are also responsible for informing the entire library of how technology is changing.

We need more qualified people – especially librarians – who have the capabilities to master new technologies and apply them to the needs of the library.

We need to move to an open source model.  B-space is an example.  Combines 50 campuses working with open source software.

Costs must be cut administratively.  Move to more electronic ways of reporting rather than paper.  Using open source software can be made more secure than proprietary software.

We need to create active links between the library liaisons and departments.   Librarians and faculty need to work together to create subject websites.  We need to have the ability to use data on many web pages.

A repeated theme – leadership, a leaner structure that removes roadblocks for experimentation and communication.  We need a R&D unit.  Establish more communication and transparency.  Leadership should come from everyone.

Establish a Systems Council that integrates Systems as a service unit with other branches of the library for discussions of where the library is going technologically.

Systems people need to be distributed throughout the library to better respond to people’s need.  Each unit needs technologically savvy people to solve problems in a timely fashion.

The administrative units need to be leaner – examples – HR and the Business Office. We need to put the emphasis on library expertise and less on technical services.

A librarian needs to be in charge of systems.  Someone whose priority is the library and not the system.

Submitted by Paul Hamburg