Towards the academic library of the future
Key national organisations in the library field are to collaborate on a major programme of consultation to help shape the future of the academic library.
A visionary project is being funded as part of a joint initiative to explore future scenarios for academic libraries and information services, particularly in the context of a rapidly-changing environment. It will help higher education institutions and organisations look at the challenges faced from a fresh focus and formulate strategies to ensure the sector continues to be a leading global force.
The project partners are the British Library, Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), Research Information Network (RIN), Research Libraries UK (RLUK) and the Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL). ‘Academic libraries of the future’ is an 18-month project being undertaken by Curtis+Cartwright Consulting Ltd.
Libraries are fundamental to learning, teaching and research. But the world is changing. How will UK higher education be funded and operated in the long term future? What will be the information needs of users? Factors such as the digital revolution, the knowledge economy, students and researchers as ‘consumers’ and the global economic crisis, are all transforming the landscape.
Developing and implementing business strategies over a three- to five-year timescale is now commonplace in higher education. Looking beyond this horizon (over ten to 20 years, or more) is less common, and more challenging - but to improve decision-making and plan effectively for the future, this longer-term time scale must be considered.
A series of workshops will be held during 2010-2011 with the aim of imagining and describing possible futures for libraries. They will bring together a wide range of influential stakeholders, including institutional senior managers, librarians, funders, students, researchers, suppliers, technologists, legal specialists and others.
The first two workshops are taking place in February and March 2010 to scope out the broad global environment and consider possible futures for higher education and the information needs of users within these scenarios. These will be followed by smaller focused workshops during the summer of 2010 to gain a more in-depth analysis.
The consultants welcome input from all stakeholders, if you are interested in finding out more or being involved in the project, please contact Dr Claire Davies, email claire.davies@curtiscartwright.co.uk or telephone 01483 685022. www.futurelibraries.info
Comments
Anonymous said on 22 April 2011 at 10:27am:
Workshops, studies along with a mixture of partnership and advocacy with key stakeholders in the greater education arena will develop on existing work to develop a transformative agenda which will assist make sure the continuing relevance of libraries towards the communities of info creators and users they serve. In particular Travelocity promotional codes the research will explore what’s greatest done locally and what’s greatest carried out via co-operation at national or international level.
Anonymous said on 21 February 2011 at 7:41pm:
For centuries, Libraries have been a well known hub for education and learning. They have provided some of the greatest minds of all time with the resources they required to form the future of knowledge, and challenge(or support) the collective status-quot. Over the years though, libraries have spent too much time archiving the past, and not enough time embracing the future. Technology, and thus society, have sped off into space. Leaving traditional methods of learning and acquiring resources in the dust. I am pleased to see that the UK is making an attempt to rectify this issue. Hopefully, now that the discussion has been initiated, libraries everywhere will awaken to their “technological ignorance”. It’s only through this collective sharing of information that we can expect to see any ground being gained. I look forward to seeing more of these workshops and forums creeping up all across the UK, and hopefully catching on in other countries.
D. Frampton, Technology For The Future | North American
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