Being a Librarian Karen Calhoun Academic Assembly September

Being a Librarian Karen Calhoun Academic Assembly September 14, 2006

Yellowstone Mud Pots

Background of This Talk l “Being a Librarian: Metadata and Metadata Specialists in the Twenty-first Century” (in press) l http: //dspace. library. cornell. edu/handle/1813 /2231 l The Taiga Forum l http: //www. taigaforum. org/ “Whether we are in technical services, public services, collection development, or information technology, we must develop cross-functional vision that makes internal organizational structures more flexible, agile, and effective. ”—Taiga home page

Welcome!

The More Things Change … “It is doubtful whether the subject catalogue does as much good as it does harm. The average student uses it without discrimination. He wants a treatise on electricity; the catalogue offers him a choice of a hundred titles, and he copies one of them absolutely at random. ”—Charles Henry Hull, then assistant librarian at Cornell Library Journal 15, no. 6 (June 1890): 167.

“Within the next five years … … a large number of libraries will no longer have local OPACs. Instead, we will have entered a new age of data consolidation (either shared catalogs or catalogs that are integrated into discovery tools), both of our catalogs and our collections. ” Provocative Statement #5, http: //www. taigaforum. org/docs/Provocative. Statements. pdf

The Way We Worked Books Journals Newspapers Gov docs Maps Scores AV Dissertations Library catalogs Special collections Manuscripts Papers Univ records Archives Journal articles Conference proceedings Etc. Abstracting & Indexing services

From Dempsey, Lorcan, Eric Childress et al. 2005. “Metadata switch. ” In E-Scholarship: A LITA Guide (Chicago: LITA).

The Larger Context: Knowledge Management Knowledge communities “interpret information about the environment in order to construct meaning … create new knowledge by converting and combining the expertise and know-how of their members … [and] analyze information in order to select and commit to appropriate courses of action. ”—Chun Wei Choo, professor of Information Studies, University of Toronto The Knowing Organization: How Organizations Use Information to Construct Meaning, Create Knowledge, and Make Decisions (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), xii.

Knowledge Pyramid of the University Community DOMAIN EXPERTS: Professors, grad. students, researchers, deans, university leaders and staff INFORMATION EXPERTS: Librarians, records managers, archivists, others THE UNIVERSITY KNOWING COMMUNITY IT EXPERTS: Desktop, computer lab and server support; applications for academic, research, administrative support; networks, telecommunications, security Adapted from Choo, Information Management for the Intelligent Organization, 238.

A multidimensional framework for academic support: a final report submitted to the Mellon Foundation from the University of Minnesota Libraries, June 2006, p. 47. http: //www. lib. umn. edu/about/mellon/docs. phtml

Geocentric/ Aristotelian view: The local catalog is the sun Heliocentric/ Copernican view: The local catalog is a planet

Vision for Change: The Catalog The catalog will evolve toward full integration with other discovery tools l Shared catalogs and open information systems will radically democratize access to library collections and boost scholarly productivity to new levels l Calhoun, Karen. The Changing Nature of the Catalog and Its Integration with Other Discovery Tools. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 17 March 2006. http: //www. loc. gov/catdir/calhoun-report-final. pdf

“Within the next five years … …there will no longer be a monolithic library Web site. Instead library data will be pushed out to many starting places on the Web and directly to users. ” Provocative Statement #6, http: //www. taigaforum. org/docs/Provocative. Statements. pdf

“Within the next five years … … academic computing and libraries will have merged. The library will be a partner in the learning and research support infrastructure. Its value will depend on its ability to reallocate resources to new curation, workflow, and resource specialization services. ” Provocative Statement #7, http: //www. taigaforum. org/docs/Provocative. Statements. pdf

A New Kind of Library l l l Build a vision of a new kind of library Be more involved with research and learning materials and systems Be more engaged with campus communities Make library collections and librarians more visible Move to next generation systems and services An online social network

Information Silos 7 UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS, 7 GRADUATE/PROFESSIONAL COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS 21 LIBRARY SYSTEM PUBLIC SERVICES TECH SERVICES COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT IT “INFORMATION NETWORK” PROCESSES

Outreach: A BOTH/AND World DATA PEOPLE

Outward Integration “Integration should be outward rather than inward, with libraries seeking to use their components in new ways” --Interviewee for LC report on future of the catalog

The Tucson Retreat “Instead of being a hoarder of containers, the library must become the facilitator of retrieval and dissemination. ”—William Wulf, professor of engineering and applied science, University of Virginia “Individual libraries will still maintain unique and wonderful special collections, but our primary investment will be in access systems. ” —Joseph Brewer et al. , Tucson Retreat Joseph Brewer et al. , “Libraries dealing with the future now, ” ARL Bimonthly Report 234 (June 2004).

Knowledge Creation and Social Networks “Improving efficiency and effectiveness in knowledge-intensive work demands more than sophisticated technologies—it requires attending to the often idiosyncratic ways that people seek out knowledge, learn from and solve problems with other people. ”—Rob Cross, University of Virginia Rob Cross et al. , “Knowing what we know” Organizational Dynamics 30, no. 2 (November 2001), 101.

“Within the next five years … …libraries will have reduced the physical footprint of the physical collection by at least 50 percent …” Provocative Statement #2, http: //www. taigaforum. org/docs/Provocative. Statements. pdf

Library Space and Print Collections MAS 2010: Models for Academic Support: Final Report to the Mellon Foundation. Cornell University, November 2003, p. 5. (Oya Rieger, MAS 2010 team chair) http: //www. library. cornell. edu/MAS 2010%20 Final%20 Report. pdf

Online library Collections Space Lib. QUAL+ 2005 Survey: Cornell University Library. Association of Research Libraries. http: //www. libqual. org

30 Second Summary of MAS 2010 Recommendations l Front-end: Central Campus Buildings l l Middle: Online Collections & Services l l l State-of-the-art user spaces (individuals and groups) Service and consulting desks House high-demand/selected portions of physical collections Digitize Provide easy-to-use systems Fast content delivery, preferably at the speed of the Internet Push content out to where users are Back End: Off-Campus Nearby l l l Free up prime space on central campus to enhance collaboration of researchers and learners Move less-used collections offsite Establish library service center for provision of integrated back-end services (e. g. , acquisitions and cataloging) MAS 2010 report, p. 13.

“Within the next five years … …there will be no more librarians as we know them. . . ” Provocative Statement #8, http: //www. taigaforum. org/docs/Provocative. Statements. pdf

Summary: Being a Librarian l l l Cross-functional teamwork Project management User-centered design Partnerships Collaboration Relationship management l l l l Metadata Outreach Advocacy Marketing Active participation in university community IT fluency >> IT specialization And more …

Be a Librarian First + Endure Defend and promote the freedom to read Connect people and ideas Help people discover and use information resources Protect privacy and confidentiality Make space for lifelong learning, quiet reflection and community