Creating Research Infrastructures In The 21st Century Academic Library

Creating Research Infrastructures in the 21st-Century Academic Library: Conceiving, Funding, and Building New Facilities and Staff focuses on research infrastructures, bringing together such topics as research and development in libraries, dataset management, e-science, grants and grant writing, digital scholarship, data management, library as publisher, web archiving, and the research lifecycle. Individual chapters deal with the formation of Research & Development teams; emerging scholarly forms and new collaborative approaches to knowledge creation, dissemination, and preservation; managing small databases requiring the same level of support as large databases: metadata, digital preservation and curation, and technical support. Motivation for such services is provided in a chapter that considers how assessment and data now drive decisions and new services in higher education in general and academic libraries in particular and how statistical data can help to tell stories, make decisions, and move in new directions. Conceptualization of the research process also receives attention through the presentation of a research lifecycle in the university environment with the library as an integral partner and leader. Also, a topic that is increasingly important: the library as publisher, with new institutional repositories tied to journal creation, curation, and management is examined with a discussion of the workflow and expertise necessary for the library to be successful and responsive to the research needs of its institution, and become a leader in providing publishing services to its faculty. A related topic, Web archiving in libraries is explored in a chapter that includes discussions on the process of establishing buy-in and legal permission, the policies and procedures, and the technology necessary for its success. All of these efforts require funding and chapters are included that address this need: finding funding outside of the university for support of the library is now a necessary and vital part of academic libraries: guidelines and steps for how to write a grant and be successful at obtaining outside funds. A second chapter deals with the problem of developing a grant-seeking culture in the library, what some of the barriers are to the grant-writing process and how to create a reward system for a grant-writing culture. The volume concludes with two case studies related to implementing research data management services at two liberal arts colleges. They demonstrate that the integration of data management services for undergraduate and faculty research in liberal arts colleges is just as important as it is for the large research universities, and that new service models should be incorporated so that all librarians and library staff participate in this integration in their duties and responsibilities. It is hoped that this volume, and the series in general, will be a valuable and exciting addition to the discussions and planning surrounding the future directions, services, and careers in the twenty-first-century academic library.

It is impossible to imagine the future of academic libraries without an extensive consideration of open access—the removal of price and permission barriers from scholarly research online. As textbook and journal subscription prices continue to rise, improvements in technology make online dissemination of scholarship less expensive, and faculty recognize the practical and philosophical appeal of making their work available to wider audiences. As a consequences, libraries have begun to consider a wide variety of open access “flavors” and business models. These new possibilities have significant impact on both library services and collection policies, and the call for new skills within library staffing. Volume 9 of the series Creating the 21st-Century Academic Library is the first of two addressing the topic of open access in academic libraries and focuses on policy and infrastructure for libraries that wish to provide leadership on their campus in the transition to more open forms of scholarship. Chapters in the book discuss how to make the case for open access on campus, as well as the political and policy implications of libraries that themselves want to become publishing entities. Infrastructure issues are also addressed including metadata standards and research management services. Also considered here is how interlibrary loan, preservation and the library’s role in providing textbooks, support the concept of open access. It is hoped that this volume, and the series in general, will be a valuable and exciting addition to the discussions and planning surrounding the future directions, services, and careers in the 21st-century academic library.

Libraries of all types have undergone significant developments in the last few decades. The rate of change in the academic library, a presence for decades now, has been increasing in the first decade of this century. It is no exaggeration to claim that it is undergoing a top to bottom redefinition. Cataloging and reference remain central to its new role, and the circulation of books is still high though declining. Among the changes is the architecture of the library: when new libraries replace old or where renovation is occurring; the role of technology at every stage and in every library application; the management of serials – selection, shelving and budgeting; and in a gradual but irrevocable move to digital forms, altered allocation of resources including larger portions of the budget diverted to preservation, not only of aging books, a theme in the latter part of the last century, but of digital files – cultural, historical, personal. In brief, the academic library is dramatically different today than it was only ten years ago. And with it, the profession of the academic librarian is also undergoing significant changes. Managing digital resources in all its forms, from telecommunications to storage and access devices, is central to its new roles. Creating, curating and preserving digital information is also key to the new librarianship. And what about services to its clients? Here also we see dramatic change, particularly but not exclusively with guiding library users in the effective use of networked knowledge. Information literacy is a key term and skill in using the new tools of digital literacy: reading and writing, searching and extracting; and the new technologies that drive social networking – the Iphone, Ipad, and Ipod and its many imitators. We can’t expect the redefined academic library to assume its final shape any time soon, if ever, but the transformation is well underway. This series: Creating the 21st-Century Academic Library, will explore this topic from a number of different perspectives. Volume 1, Visionary Leadership and Futures, will begin the discussion by examining some of the new roles and directions academic libraries are taking.

The fifth volume in this series focuses on partnerships and new roles for libraries in the 21st century. It includes such topics as consulting, coaching, and assessment partnerships, university commercialization, adult student support, librarian-faculty partnerships, creating and staffing the information commons, MOOCs, embedding librarians, and digital badging,

Volume 8 of the series Creating the 21st-Century Academic Library is focused on new services, directions, job duties and responsibilities for librarians in academic libraries of the 21st century. Topics include research data management services, web services, improving web design for library interfaces, cooperative virtual reference services, directions on research in the 21st-century academic library, innovative uses of physical library spaces, uses of social media for disseminating scholarly research, information architecture and usability studies, the importance of special collections and archival collections, and lessons learned in digitization and digital projects planning and management. Data management services are highlighted in the context of a consortium of smaller liberal arts and regional institutions who share a common institutional repository. Survey research plays a role in a number of chapters. One provides insight into how academic libraries are currently approaching web services, web applications, and library websites. A second survey is used to explore the role of librarians as web designers, and provides detailed information related to job titles, job duties, time percentages related to duties, and other duties outside of web design. Comments of those surveyed are included and make interesting reading and a deeper understanding of this new function in libraries. More generally, is a survey study exploring how librarians feel about the changes that are currently happening within the profession, as well as how these changes have personally affected their job duties and their current job assignments. Case studies are include one that features QuestionPoint in the context of a cooperative virtual reference service; another shows how research and scholarship can be disseminated using social media tools such as blogs, Twitter, ResearchGate and Google Scholar, among others; a other studies explore the importance of user engagement and buy-in before moving forward on digitization; and one shows how information architecture and usability emerge from the redesign of a public library website and whose successful completion involves user surveying, focus groups, peer site reviews, needs analysis, and usability testing. Two chapters deal with the changing legal context: the importance and understanding of copyright and author rights in the 21st-century academic library, and the basics Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). It is hoped that this volume, and the series in general, will be a valuable and exciting addition to the discussions and planning surrounding the future directions, services, and careers in the 21st-century academic library.

Edited by a thought leader with an international reputation, it brings together renowned authors from across the globe who are breaking traditional moulds and boundaries in a way that will have a profound impact on the way libraries and library services are conceptualized in the years to come. They represent the key links in the knowledge chain: authors, publishers, academics, community knowledge creators, librarians and institutions; the student perspective is also provided.

The rate of change in the academic library, a presence for decades, has been increasing in the first decade of this century. Enhancing Teaching and Learning in the 21st-Century Academic Library: Successful Innovations That Make a Difference explores the initiatives in student learning and training that are underway in our academic libraries and demonstrates that the transformation of the academic library is well underway.

The 21st Century Academic Library: Global Patterns of Organization and Discourse discusses the organization of academic libraries, drawing on detailed research and data. The organization of the library follows the path of a print book or journal: acquisitions, cataloguing, circulation, reference, instruction, preservation and general administration. Most libraries still have public services and technical services, and are still very print-based in their organization, while their collections and services are increasingly electronic and virtual. This book gathers information on organizational patterns of large academic libraries in the US and Europe, providing data that could motivate libraries to adopt innovative organizational structures or assess the effectiveness of their current organizational patterns. Contributes to the literature on the globalization of information and of library and information science Analyzes and presents data in a way that allows librarians and library administrators to consider what organizational patterns are the most effective for the goals they are pursuing Includes emerging patterns that are not widely seen in the academic library population