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Volume 7 of the series Creating the 21st-Century Academic Library
is focused on new approaches and initiatives in marketing the
academic library, as well as the importance of outreach through
partnerships and collaborations both internal and external to the
library. Implementation of social media strategies, the use of
library spaces for collaboration and inspiration, planning events
and extravaganzas in the library, librarians as event coordinators
and user-centered programming, the delivery of library services
through digital engagement, using Instagram to create a library
character for the YouTube generation, using workshops to promote
digital library services, an examination of the new librarianship
paradigm, the process of marketing and constructing a digital
collection based on U.S. Highway 89 and the Intermountain West, and
how librarians at Loyola University New Orleans have embedded their
expertise and practice into their university culture, are the
primary topics in this book.
The fifth volume in this series focuses on creating partnerships
and developing new roles for libraries in the 21st century. It
includes such topics such as consulting, coaching, assessment and
engagement partnerships, university commercialization, adult
student support, librarian-faculty partnerships in developing and
supporting new academic courses, and creating and staffing the
information commons. The concept of embedded librarianship is
touched upon in the context of extending the role of the librarian
outside the library. The chapters in this volume demonstrate that
just as students are extending the ways in which they learn,
librarians must embrace new roles and modalities if they are to
provide the types of support required by patrons. A typical example
of growing importance: massive open online courses (MOOCs) create
challenges and opportunities as they are constantly evolving; they
change fundamentally the way students interact with teachers, their
fellow students, any course content, and existing or new library
services. To survive, librarians need to be engaged in ways that
push beyond current professional limits in order to better support
the needs of learners. Doing this will not be an easy task, but one
that librarians are certainly up to. 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.
It has long been apparent to academic library administrators that
the current technical services operations within libraries need to
be redirected and refocused in terms of both format priorities and
human resources. A number of developments and directions have made
this reorganization imperative, many of which have been accelerated
by the current economic crisis. All of the chapters detail some
aspect of technical services reorganization due to downsizing
and/or reallocation of human resources, retooling professional and
support staff in higher level duties and/or non-MARC metadata,
"value-added" metadata opportunities, outsourcing redundant
activities, and shifting resources from analog to digital object
organization and description. This book will assist both catalogers
and library administrators with concrete examples of moving
technical services operations and personnel from the analog to the
digital environment. This book was published as a special double
issue of Cataloging & Classification Quarterly.
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.
The associate university librarian is tasked with running the
various services and workflows of academic research libraries,
allowing the head university librarian to focus on the acquisition
of resources through fundraising and external public relations.
Although the positions of assistant or associate university
librarians and deans are considered a training ground for upward
movement in the profession, there are surprisingly few mentoring
experiences available. The Associate University Librarian Handbook:
A Resource Guide looks to change that. Bradford Lee Eden has
brought together a variety of helpful topics for university
librarians. The first section provides a broad overview of the
field and what it means to be an associate librarian. A section on
managing change, a topic endemic to the academic library in these
times, follows. The next section deals with the question of funding
the library enterprise and managing resources, with chapters on how
best to handle budget reductions, cultivating donors and donor
relations, and managing a research function. The fourth section
covers career management, and includes chapters on navigating the
transition to university librarian. A concluding section deals with
leadership and defining the future. Intended for both those in the
position of associate university librarian and for those aspiring
to get there, The Associate University Librarian Handbook will be a
valuable tool and guide.
Volume 7 of the series Creating the 21st-Century Academic Library
is focused on new approaches and initiatives in marketing the
academic library, as well as the importance of outreach through
partnerships and collaborations both internal and external to the
library. Implementation of social media strategies, the use of
library spaces for collaboration and inspiration, planning events
and extravaganzas in the library, librarians as event coordinators
and user-centered programming, the delivery of library services
through digital engagement, using Instagram to create a library
character for the YouTube generation, using workshops to promote
digital library services, an examination of the new librarianship
paradigm, the process of marketing and constructing a digital
collection based on U.S. Highway 89 and the Intermountain West, and
how librarians at Loyola University New Orleans have embedded their
expertise and practice into their university culture, are the
primary topics in this book.
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.
The fifth volume in this series focuses on creating partnerships
and developing new roles for libraries in the 21st century. It
includes such topics such as consulting, coaching, assessment and
engagement partnerships, university commercialization, adult
student support, librarian-faculty partnerships in developing and
supporting new academic courses, and creating and staffing the
information commons. The concept of embedded librarianship is
touched upon in the context of extending the role of the librarian
outside the library. The chapters in this volume demonstrate that
just as students are extending the ways in which they learn,
librarians must embrace new roles and modalities if they are to
provide the types of support required by patrons. A typical example
of growing importance: massive open online courses (MOOCs) create
challenges and opportunities as they are constantly evolving; they
change fundamentally the way students interact with teachers, their
fellow students, any course content, and existing or new library
services. To survive, librarians need to be engaged in ways that
push beyond current professional limits in order to better support
the needs of learners. Doing this will not be an easy task, but one
that librarians are certainly up to. 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.
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.
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.
In this third volume of the series, Cutting-Edge Research in the
21st-Century Academic Library explores examples of exciting new
library services and workflows for the library profession to model
and adapt for their own communities and patrons. Included are
studies that combine data mining and business intelligence metrics
to predict future trends and behaviors; an examination of new
services related to the proliferation of mobile devices among
patrons; studies devoted to the employment of the Web and the
relation of the library's Web site to its environment and the use
of a web content strategist in the design of the library site. New
technologies are also considered: one chapter provides step-by-step
guidelines for producing videos that can be used by the academic
library for marketing, instruction, navigation, and reaching
patrons in social media sites; another chapter provides a fairly
comprehensive and detailed report for incorporating mobile
information technologies in libraries. Overviews are provided for
how to manage electronic resources in a digital campus environment
and how they affect organizational structure, workflows, and
training. Finally, the concept of linked open data (LOD) is
presented and how it has transformed library workflows, staff
expertise, and traditional metadata creation. All of these examples
of futuristic and exciting new library services and workflows
provide opportunities and experiences that the rest of the library
profession can model and adapt for their own particular communities
and patrons.
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. In this second volume of
the series, Creating the 21st-Century Academic Library, we explore
the initiatives in student learning and training that are underway
in our academic libraries. The 13 chapters range from librarians
redesigning the space in the library in order to assume control of
the campus bookstore to implementing a MOOC where the problems of
providing material to potentially thousands of students taking an
online course must somehow overcome copyright restrictions. A
chapter describes how the iPad has become the chosen delivery
mechanism for a rich array of resources that finally begin to
reflect the educational potential of the digital world. Another
chapter tells how a collaboration creates an audio archive to
enrich the experiences of patrons and raise the visibility of the
special collections unit on campus. Gamification plays a role in
two chapters and active learning is featured in another that
employs the technologies of interactive whiteboards, clickers, and
wireless slates. These approaches, employing new technologies and
terminology, signal that we have begun a new era in the definition
and design of the academic library. We can't expect the redefined
academic library to assume its final shape any time soon, if ever,
but the transformation is well underway.
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. In this second volume of
the series, Creating the 21st-Century Academic Library, we explore
the initiatives in student learning and training that are underway
in our academic libraries. The 13 chapters range from librarians
redesigning the space in the library in order to assume control of
the campus bookstore to implementing a MOOC where the problems of
providing material to potentially thousands of students taking an
online course must somehow overcome copyright restrictions. A
chapter describes how the iPad has become the chosen delivery
mechanism for a rich array of resources that finally begin to
reflect the educational potential of the digital world. Another
chapter tells how a collaboration creates an audio archive to
enrich the experiences of patrons and raise the visibility of the
special collections unit on campus. Gamification plays a role in
two chapters and active learning is featured in another that
employs the technologies of interactive whiteboards, clickers, and
wireless slates. These approaches, employing new technologies and
terminology, signal that we have begun a new era in the definition
and design of the academic library. We can't expect the redefined
academic library to assume its final shape any time soon, if ever,
but the transformation is well underway.
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.
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.
At the 2013 "Celebrating The Hobbit" conference at Valparaiso
University - marking the 75th anniversary of the book's publication
and the first installment of Peter Jackson's Hobbit movies - two
plenary papers were presented: "Anchoring the Myth: The Impact of
The Hobbit on Tolkien's Legendarium" by John D. Rateliff provided
numerous examples of The Hobbit's influence on Tolkien's
legendarium; and "Tolkien's French connections" by Verlyn Flieger
discussed French influences on the development of Bilbo Baggins and
his adventures. In discussions with the plenary speakers and other
presenters, it became apparent that a book focusing on how The
Hobbit influenced the subsequent development of Tolkien's
legendarium; was sorely needed. This collection of essays fills
that need. With Rateliff's and Flieger's papers included, the book
presents two chapters on the Evolution of the Dwarven Race, two
chapters on Durin's Day examining the Dwarven lunar calendar, and
11 chapters on themes exploring various topics on influences and
revisions between The Hobbit and Tolkien's legendarium.
Leadership in Academic Libraries highlights model examples of the
move from leadership theory into actual practice. A consideration
of leadership theories provides a working vocabulary to facilitate
discussions of abstract concepts, while specific topical
investigations and case studies illustrate those concepts and show
the manner in which theories play out in practice. Chapter authors
speak from experience as well as theoretical grounding, and include
practitioners, researchers, and formal and informal leaders. Topics
include transformational leadership across generations; developing
a research agenda in library leadership; methodologies for studying
library leadership; connections between leadership models and
library-focused research; engaging with business, psychology, and
educational administration literature; leadership styles;
organizational culture; the role of mentoring in leadership; and
the role of women in academic library leadership. Two chapters
highlight the dichotomy between positional leadership and socially
constructed leadership roles. The research methods used include
case study, survey, and action research. Extensive bibliographies
for each chapter provide a solid foundation for further research.
It has long been apparent to academic library administrators that
the current technical services operations within libraries need to
be redirected and refocused in terms of both format priorities and
human resources. A number of developments and directions have made
this reorganization imperative, many of which have been accelerated
by the current economic crisis. All of the chapters detail some
aspect of technical services reorganization due to downsizing
and/or reallocation of human resources, retooling professional and
support staff in higher level duties and/or non-MARC metadata,
"value-added" metadata opportunities, outsourcing redundant
activities, and shifting resources from analog to digital object
organization and description. This book will assist both catalogers
and library administrators with concrete examples of moving
technical services operations and personnel from the analog to the
digital environment. This book was published as a special double
issue of Cataloging & Classification Quarterly.
Volume 6 of the series Creating the 21st-Century Academic Library
is focused on academic library technical services operations, and
ways that they have been transformed and reimagined for working in
today's higher education environment. The literature on the place
and role of technical services, technical services librarians,
technical services staff, and technical services operations has
expanded and grown in the last few years as decreased budgets, a
focus on essential public services, and information discovery on
the Internet has driven the profession to re-examine the need or
importance of this back-end (or hidden) library department. Topics
discussed in this book include frameworks for the networked
environment, roles for metadata librarians in the areas of research
data and digital initiatives, the renewed focus on the discovery of
information and its place in academic libraries, the new "normal"
in academic library technical services operations, emerging roles
and opportunities for technical services managers, the re-training
and re-skilling of technical services staff, hidden collections and
needed or unexplored areas of expertise with technical services
librarians and staff, the faceted application of subject headings
(FAST) and obsolete or outdated subject terminology within Library
of Congress Subject Headings, and a conversation about downsizing
and moving forward within a law library technical services unit.
In this third volume of the series, Cutting-Edge Research in the
21st-Century Academic Library explores examples of exciting new
library services and workflows for the library profession to model
and adapt for their own communities and patrons. Included are
studies that combine data mining and business intelligence metrics
to predict future trends and behaviors; an examination of new
services related to the proliferation of mobile devices among
patrons; studies devoted to the employment of the Web and the
relation of the library's Web site to its environment and the use
of a web content strategist in the design of the library site. New
technologies are also considered: one chapter provides step-by-step
guidelines for producing videos that can be used by the academic
library for marketing, instruction, navigation, and reaching
patrons in social media sites; another chapter provides a fairly
comprehensive and detailed report for incorporating mobile
information technologies in libraries. Overviews are provided for
how to manage electronic resources in a digital campus environment
and how they affect organizational structure, workflows, and
training. Finally, the concept of linked open data (LOD) is
presented and how it has transformed library workflows, staff
expertise, and traditional metadata creation. All of these examples
of futuristic and exciting new library services and workflows
provide opportunities and experiences that the rest of the library
profession can model and adapt for their own particular communities
and patrons.
Volume 6 of the series Creating the 21st-Century Academic Library
is focused on academic library technical services operations, and
ways that they have been transformed and reimagined for working in
today's higher education environment. The literature on the place
and role of technical services, technical services librarians,
technical services staff, and technical services operations has
expanded and grown in the last few years as decreased budgets, a
focus on essential public services, and information discovery on
the Internet has driven the profession to re-examine the need or
importance of this back-end (or hidden) library department. Topics
discussed in this book include frameworks for the networked
environment, roles for metadata librarians in the areas of research
data and digital initiatives, the renewed focus on the discovery of
information and its place in academic libraries, the new "normal"
in academic library technical services operations, emerging roles
and opportunities for technical services managers, the re-training
and re-skilling of technical services staff, hidden collections and
needed or unexplored areas of expertise with technical services
librarians and staff, the faceted application of subject headings
(FAST) and obsolete or outdated subject terminology within Library
of Congress Subject Headings, and a conversation about downsizing
and moving forward within a law library technical services unit.
This book follows the author's successful "Innovative Redesigns"
and "Reorganizations of Library Technical Services," with even more
case studies and surveys. As before, it focuses on ways that
technical services departments in libraries are meeting the
challenges of new formats, new work duties, and changing jobs in
the wake of less money and a decreasing job force. Bradford Eden's
international cast of contributors represent the best in practice;
and topics cover such essentials as the impact of computers and
technology on workflow enhancement (particularly Web 2.0), changing
staff roles, and communications challenges. All in all, a plethora
of new ideas for tech services heads and staff in libraries and
larger organizational institutions determined to maintain the
relevance of their department.
In the changing modern-day library, the area of technical services
has undergone radical redesign and reorganization not just once,
but many times in the last thirty years. Shrinking budgets, new
electronic formats, the advent of the Internet, and technological
innovations have drastically changed the face of library technical
services departments and presented new challenges, such as finding
and hiring qualified catalogers; dealing with the exponentially
expanding range of print and electronic formats; reorganizing
workflows due to staff reductions; and trying to find answers for
organizing and describing information in its many manifestations.
The first part of this book explores the future of technical
services through surveys, research essays, and insightful opinion
pieces. The second part focuses on redesign and reorganization
efforts through a number of fascinating case studies. The majority
of these case studies come from academic library technical services
departments, highlighting efforts to meet and deal with challenges
through a myriad of options. For anyone involved in the day-to-day
supervision, management, and future of a library technical services
department, this book will provide food for thought, as well as
practical lessons.
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