The future of the library- articles

Yesterday an article entitled “Digital library opens door to paperless collections” published in The Age caught my eye. It wasn’t that the information in the article was particularly radical or surprising, libraries throughout the world, including Australia have been changing for a long time. It was that The Age copied it from The Denver Post and included a subtitle ``In the US, shelves of bound books are giving way to electronic means of delivering text,’’ no mention of this being a world wide issue, or even adding an Australian context. It just seemed really lazy to me. Why would anyone in Melbourne be interested in the Denver Library unless the same thing was happening here? But the article does not mention Australian libraries at all. I figured I could rectify this. The below articles were recently found for a university assignment I submitted last semester on the future of libraries. They are really interesting in their overview of how libraries have, or can adapt to, the changing nature of information, and I think they are much more newsworthy/relevant than The Denver Post article. Details of these are below.

1. Saw, G, Lui, W & Yu, F 2008, `2010: a library odyssey’, Library Management, vol. 29, no. 1/2, pp. 51-66, viewed 28 May 2010, Emerald database.

2010: a library odyssey offers a case study of the University of Queensland Library’s recent transformation and the processes now in place to meet the next decade of challenges facing Australia’s higher education sector. The article provides a good case study for research into the future of academic libraries while offering valuable lessons for other academic libraries in their strategies for the future. Note: This article is Australian and was peer reviewed.

2. Veld, JVD 2006, The impact of technology on professional roles in the library of the 21st century: concepts and context, National and State Libraries Australasia Discussion Paper, Office of eStrategy and Innovation, Melbourne, viewed 29 May 2010, < http://www.nsla.org.au/publications/papers/2006/pdf/NSLA.Discussion-Paper-20060809-Impact.of.technology.on.professional.roles.in.the.library.of.the.21st.century.pdf>.

In this article The State Library of Victoria provides a useful case study as a Library 2.0 that has met the challenges of Web 2.0 by focusing on the development and access to digital collections, improvement of people spaces and acknowledgment of the impact of these changes on librarians roles, skills and the library’s organisation structure. Challenges to the Library and Librarian 2.0 are identified and outcomes and recommendations are provided. Note: This article is Australian.

And from overseas:
3. Corwin, S, Hartley, E & Hawkes, H 2009, `The Library Rebooted: Even in an era when you can ``Google'' just about anything, many libraries have remained vibrant and relevant by redefining the business they're in’, vol. Spring, no. 54, pp.78-83, viewed 29 May 2010, .

This article suggests seven imperatives for libraries to stay relevant into the future. Written by three experienced organisational strategists this article does lean towards libraries becoming more commercially aware. However its practical recommendations regarding operations models and user needs may be significant for many librarians faced with the challenges outlined in this article.

4. Hawkins, D 2009, `Google Meets Publishers and Librarians’, Information Today, vol. 26, no. 8, pp.27-29, viewed 10 May 2010, ProQuest database.

In providing an overview of the discussions held at a recent conference entitled Google, the Web and the Future Roles of Publishers and Librarians, this paper explores Google’s effect on the future of the information industry. Presentations given by Stephen Arnold, president of Arnold Information Technology and Roy Tennant, senior program officer at OCLC Programs and Research are referred to.