Natural selection in Libraryland – the changing landscape of the
University Library
North South ConferenceBelfast
20 April 2012
The research library
Vanishing into oblivion...or soaring to new heights?
In other wordsWe fly...or we die!
“Librarians” – An Endangered Species?
The old way
The BIGGER the better
The way ahead
Fit for the future
Association of Research Libraries
www.arl.org
Libraries of the Future
www.futurelibraries.info
Refocussing
Feed me now!Survival in Libraryland depends on effective knowledge transfer...right stuff, in time, on demand
ever more personalised services
RLUK Strategic Plan
• Redefining the research library model• Collaborating to reduce costs and improve quality• Shaping ethical and effective publishing• Promoting unique and distinctive collections• Modelling the library role in research data
management
http://www.rluk.ac.uk/
Redefining the research library model
• Physical collections are shrinking• Library as publisher• Manipulation of information resources
Collaborating to reduce costs and improve quality
• United Kingdom Research Reserve (UKRR)http://www.ukrr.ac.uk/
• Shared cataloguing (yet again!)
Shaping ethical and effective publishing
• Scholarly communications are changing
• Journal costs spiralling
• Monographs at risk
• But new publishing models emerging
Promoting unique and distinctive collections
• Collaborative digitisation
• Resource discovery
• Promoting access
The library’s role in research data management
• Uniquely complex network of metadata• Institutional, national and international initiatives
So in practical terms...
• Space• Stuff• Staff
The future
• Today’s research library model is obsolescentbut
• The research library of tomorrow can and willsupport evolving models of scholarly communications
not
Doing things differentlyrather
Doing different things
RLUK www.rluk.ac.ukUKRR www.ukrr.ac.ukARL www.arl.orgLOTF www.futurelibraries.infoImperial College Library
www3.imperial.ac.uk/library