Library Technology for a User-Centered Future in Academic Libraries

Lee, Amy

Citation:

Evans, G., & Schonfeld, R. C. (2020, January 23). It’s not what libraries hold; it’s who libraries serve: Seeking a user-centered future for academic libraries. Ithaka S + R. https://doi.org/10.18665/sr.312608
 

Summary:

The OhioLINK consortium’s Transforming the Integrated Library Systems (ILS) working group engaged the nonprofit consulting agency Ithaka S + R to help with research and development of their vision for the ILS of the future- a library management system that is truly user-centered (instead of print-collections centered) and empowers academic libraries to align services with their academic institution’s strategic direction to “support student success, research excellence, and broad community engagement”. This report first covers the shortcomings of the ILS products prevalent in the market today, which were created for the management of largely print collections and have not been adequately updated to meet the shifts to management of larger, digital, shared, and distributed collections and system connections. The highlight of this report presents the OhioLINK working group’s detailed vision of an ILS system of the future that allows academic libraries to continue fulfilling their core business function (the management of print and library collections) while also being strategically updated in four key areas to serve their users and their academic communities optimally based on recent trends in academic research, learning, and teaching: user-focused systems, facilitated collections, institutional integration, and integrated business intelligence. 

Evaluation:

This report is helpful for systems librarians evaluating ILS products used for their academic library as well as for strategic planning for library systems, services, and management as we embrace the increasingly digital and user-focused library collection. It offers insights into the shortcomings of present ILS systems, trends in academic library collection management and e-resource usage, and potential solutions for creating an ILS product that offers enhancement of library services. This class has studied how libraries are updating collection and connection development strategies to remain relevant and useful in the Digital Age, and it was interesting to see that library systems/technological products used to manage these collections have not only failed to keep up with recent shifts to the increased usage of digital resources, but may actively inhibit libraries from realizing their full service potential. 

This study contained many interesting findings about current academic library user behaviors and needs, technological capabilities required by academic library staff to manage their print and digital collections, and the technological features that are missing and necessary in ILS products that could address these user and staff needs. One finding I found particularly interesting was that academic library users (primarily students and faculty of an academic institution) do not start their resource discovery and access journey at the library as a physical or virtual starting point, but are often funneled into an academic library’s ILS system from elsewhere like Google or Google Scholar searches. Given these findings, the study's recommendation for providing seamless access to library resources based on a user’s entitlements across a variety of groups, including public library, alma mater, current institution, and other institutional affiliations, is an ILS feature that would be especially beneficial for users that does not currently have a straightforward implementation. 

Performing these research and visioning exercises is a great way to assess the current performance of library technologies, evaluate library collection and service goals in both idealized (without having to worry about technical limitations) and realistic forms,  and actively identify next steps to ensure a library is making progress in both technology development and strategic planning that aligns with their overarching vision for collection and connection development.

Librarian willingness to learn technology

Faubion, Kathy

Maceli, M., & Burke, J.J. (2016). Technology skills in the workplace: Information professionals’ current use and future aspirations. Information Technology & Libraries 35(4), 35-62. doi:10.6017/ital.v35i4.9540

Descriptive Summary: This study of librarians began with technologies used, such as database usage, and also looked into technologies librarians would like to learn, such as coding. There was a discussion of barriers to learning or using technology in the libraries, such as lack of training opportunities or funds to implement changes. The results were broken down by how long the librarian had been employed with the interest in learning technology peaking at 3-5 years.

Evaluation: An interesting study because it addresses the attitudes of librarians towards technology and how willing they are to learn more.

Keywords: technology, library technology, librarian, online information services

Re-examining the role of public libraries

Lara, Veronica

Garmer, Amy K. (2014) Rising to the Challenge: Re-Envisioning Public Libraries. Washington DC: The Aspen Institute. 66p.

The Aspen Institute is an organization that creates a platform by which groups or communities can discuss ideas regarding various programs, promote leadership, and take action for the betterment of society.

The Aspen Institute published its report, Rising to the Challenge, in 2014 in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  This report was the result of a study aimed at determining the need for public libraries to re-envision their role in the communities they serve.  It is clear that libraries are a vital information resource.  In many cases, public libraries are communities’ only opportunity to gain access to resources, especially those online.  

The first half of this report focused on the significant changes to the way information is created and gathered.  Overwhelmingly, the shift has been significantly digital.  However, many communities (ie. learning communities) find it difficult to keep up with technology literacy or find access to online tools.  According to the University of Maryland Information Policy and Access Center, “62% of public libraries are the only source of free Internet in the community” (qtd. in Garmer, 2014, p. 16).  With this in mind, what do public libraries need to do to provide resources for their community? Public libraries should be thinking about how their new technologies are helping people connect to and use the digital resources they need.  New technologies such as free video conferencing and audiovisual editing commons are being added to more and more public libraries (p. 25).  These technologies can be used to create a connected, educated, participatory community. 

The report then goes on to discuss strategies by which public libraries can meet the technological needs of its community.  The author lays out 4 guidelines the library should strive for.  First, library services should match the goals of the community.  The library should be built around the patrons’ desires and needs.  Libraries should be reaching out to these communities to assess their needs and act accordingly.  Second, libraries should be endeavoring to diversify content format.  Information searching is rarely done in print anymore.  E-books, online journals, and other digital content should be provided to users.  Broadband access is no longer a luxury; Internet connection is integral to the success of a communities citizens.  From online classes to online job searches, the people need to be connected.  Third, libraries must procure a sustainable source of funding to ensure their longevity.  The study shows that state and federal funding accounts for only about 8% of a library’s funding.  All other funding comes from various sources in the local community.  In that case, libraries should actively be seeking business partnerships to not only maintain the services they currently offer, but to plan for growing and improving resources and services.  Finally, libraries should cultivate leadership by actively collaborating with the community.  The community members should be driving content and services within the library.  To do that, they must have a voice that can demand that their needs be met. 

Thinking of a re-envisioned library like this is inspiring.  The idea that libraries will no longer be “information silos” is one that gives me hope for the future of libraries.  As a library student, I have heard many people express concern about the current landscape of information science.  This is not a “bad time” to be getting into libraries; this is the best time.

An electronic version of the report can be found here.

Florida College and University Libraries Adopt Next-Generation Technology

Florida College and University Libraries Adopt Next-Generation Technology

Salazar, Araceli

Retrieved from: http://news.uwf.edu/florida-college-and-university-libraries-adopt-next-generation-technology/

This article is about public colleges and universities across Florida using new technology to share books, journals and other educational resources. It talks about how Florida legislature provided $1.5 million dollars to implement this new system.  This new system will connect over 40 college and university libraries and allow libraries to manage their work within one system from any device.

“A new responsive website design will allow students to access material from any device, anywhere and anytime. New features for librarians will improve the ability to find, track and share material, process new acquisitions, and analyze usage.”

This article was an interesting read because I am aware of interlibrary loans but unaware there was a system that will connect multiple libraries. I believe it would be interesting to see once the system is up and running. I am also interested at the analysis it’s capable of giving. Colleges and universities are rich with different collection, so to see it all in one system is amazing. 

The Future of Libraries

McGuire, Morgan

Future Rooms:  The Intelligent use of Space. (2015, January 15) Tech Learning. Retrieved from: http://www.techlearning.com/resources/0003/future-rooms-the-intelligent-use-of-space/69818

The Future of Libraries

Library collections today are all about strong connections.  Both collections and connections are heavily influenced by technology.  It’s not just about the books anymore.  Technology has a big influence on how people connect to information and to one another.  Successful libraries know that patrons and students want to access collections on-line. Information is being made accessible via the Internet and online catalogs.   Librarians are incorporating technology into collections, and it’s important for patrons to know that connections, to and through technology, are a big part of information services today.  When I came across this article about technology and libraries and space, I had to stop and listen.

According to author Ellen Ullman, educational trends are shifting.  Libraries, and in particular school libraries, are not what they used to be.  The days of the quiet libraries and study halls with rows of books are fading.  The library is no longer a place to sit quietly.  Rather libraries are incorporating more elements of learning commons.  Library space is less about owned items and more about shared collections and connections.  The library as place is about experimentation, creativity, collaboration, and 21^st century skill sets. 

So what are 21^st century skill sets?  The physical aspects of the library are no longer driven by silent reflection and study, but rather 3D printers, maker spaces, spaces for creating art with video, and music labs.   Libraries that are able, are dedicating space for patrons and students to create and learn through experimentation.  Judging from the article, school libraries will still promote reading, but the learning experience is much more tactile, much more hands on.

According the article, students, educators, and administrators that have incorporated “maker-space” and “learning common” space into the physical library have been pleased with the results.  Some school libraries have been redesigned all together and no longer appear to fit the definition of library; “other projects include turning the high school library into a media center with a TV studio, recording studio, and café”. The library of the future is not about passivity, but about engagement and hands on learning.

Open Source Library Services Platform

Greta Acosta

Breeding, M. (2016, April). EBSCO supports new open source project. American Libraries. Retrieved from: https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2016/04/22/ebsco-kuali-open-source-project/

EBSCO Supports New Open Source Project


The survival and future of libraries begins with such innovative projects as the one featured in this article. The project borrows from the very successful business models of tech industry giants such as Apple. Instead of developing one rigid software, EBSCO will fund a platform where collaborators are given the autonomy and flexibility needed in order to expand and maintain the system.

"Its launch opens a new chapter in the library technology industry—potentially wielding an even greater impact than the latest rounds of mergers and acquisitions."

Millennials & Libraries

Wilson, Shibrie

Manalli, S. (2015, August 20). Millennials Among US. Retrieved from http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2015/08/millennials-among-us/

There are different names to describe Millennials, such as "the Next Generation, the Echo Boomers, the Y Generation, or the Generation Why?" Millennials were introduced to technology during early part of their lives and have not lived without such. This generation is extremely different in comparison to prior generation in regards to how they view the world. According to the article a survey found that 77 percent of millennials are interested in libraries  due to "information accessed, stored, and applied." Study found that millennials would like to transform libraries in which enhance technology. Millennials provide a fresh perspective to patrons of all ages and different scopes of technology.

Opinion:

I thoroughly enjoyed this article because it provided positive feedback about millennials and their contributions to technology. Millennials are an asset to library community and have the gift teaching all patrons about technology and its importance.  Millennials can bring a new since of excitement to library programs. 

Collections Redux: The Public Library as a Place of Community Borrowing

Poster: Curtin, Shane

Söderholm, J. j., & Nolin, J. j. (2015). Collections Redux: The Public Library as a Place of Community Borrowing. Library Quarterly, 85(3), 244-260.

Summary:

This article discuss the social history of libraries, from the castellated hideouts of Enlightenment academics to the front lines of social reform movements, to the post-Ford commercial world and the digital age. IT analysis how the idea of a self regulating information sphere (aka the internet) and capitalist ideas regarding unfair competition have led to the downscaling of library services as a whole. There are numerous interesting ideas here- like the idea of the anti-collection (the things the library “has” even though they aren’t actually part of its collection, and place oriented research (the library as a social space). It discusses how much of current library talk seems to demote the physical collection and play up digital, but questions wether this idea is genuine, or merely a strategy to be perceived as cutting edge. They advocate a more tempered approach to development, with emphasis on both print and digital resources. They define a library as “ place built around a collection and a collection built around a place”, and their conclusion, though not explicit, seems to be that libraries need to make collection development decisions re: print versus digital based on local patron needs, not according to the philosophical ideals held by those in change of collection development.
I found this quote particularly poignant:
“For more than a century the public library has engaged in developing its (supposed) field of expertise, from a literacy of literature aimed at supporting social welfare through knowledge, as ultimately embodied in books, to a literacy of information aimed at supporting equitable access, not clearly embodied in anything. “

Analysis:

I appreciate this article for not being the cookie cutter “Rah Rah Digital collections” fare.

The notion of digital collections as the end all and be all of libraries really grinds my gears. First of all, digital is only eh way of the future because people insist upon it. Consumers insist upon it because hey are easily suggestible, because they like toys, and because pundits tell them it’s progress. Markets insist upon it because it is profitable. While it has many advantages, it has no supremacy of form to hard copy. Digital life comes with its own sets of problems, like file decay (any preservationist will tell you that digital materials are not invulnerable or immortal)sever failure, hackers (a growing epidemic), and screens that disrupt our brain waves (to name a few).  We are working on solutions to these issues, reverting the old way might be much less trouble.  But it seems that print versus digital has become like Democrats versus Republicans; it is perceived as a zero sum game where coexistence is deemed neither desirable nor possible.

Furthermore we are always talking about access- but equal access in a digital world requires the elimination of all economic disparity. A disenfranchised person with no computer experience is still probably best served by walking into the library and being handed a book on their subject of interest. Yet, librarians by-and-large seem to buy into the “tehno-hubris” that digital is always better. Perhaps they will be purchasing drones for their loved ones this Christmas…?

All this talk of the “digital divide” is rather insipid, because it does not merely seek to raise awareness of a disparity of access, but implies that there is something wrong with not being plugged in. The only reason it is becoming impossible to survive without being online is because people are arbitrarily choosing to convert to digital services that worked much better the way they were before… I recently tried to park in a lot that charged by the hour. It turned out there was no kiosk at which to pay. The only way to pay was to download an app and use a credit card over the phone. This is about 100 times less convenient that the standard procedure, but wait… It must be better, because it involves technology! False. It not only marginalizing everyone without a cell phone (and arbitrarily making a phone necessary in a situation when there was no logical reason one should need a cell phone) it also incapacitates people who lost their phones, who are out of batteries, or who don’t have the data to download yet another pointless app. How is this supposed to work in the long term? Will every parking lot have its own app? How convenient. What colossal morons orchestrate these things, I wonder? Or are these things just the by-products of a society caught up in a technophilic zeitgeist.

As librarians we should be embracing technology that actually improves access for patrons in need, but we should not abandon print material because most patrons, in my experience at least, still prefer it. There were some recent studies that found out people don’t read the majority of the ebooks they purchase, and another on how children still prefer physical books to screens. Who knows how it will all play out...

In abandoning out own loyalty to the classic image of the library, and in eshewing print materials for the exclusively digital, we betray a significant portion of our patrons, and betray ourselves, accelerating the demise of our own profession, and giving more credence to the arguments of those who say libraries are not necessary. The news media and the pundits tell us digital is what people want, but instead of listing to talking heads, why don’t we ask patrons? As the article points out, every community is different. Every person is different. The library should be accountable to its patrons, not to external notions of what a library should be- notions handed down from the media and would-be futurists gabbing into the blogosphere. The library should be what the patron’s want it to be. If it can adapt to their needs, it will always remain and prosper.  If, on the other hand, we become nothing more than a physical directory to digital resources, then we WILL be unnecessary. I’ve no wish to  fight progress, but let's be certain first that the conversion to an all- digital world is actually an improvement.

Adoption of e-Book Readers Among College Students

Nicole J. Hoback

Reference:

Foasbert, N. M. (2011). Adoption of e-Book Readers among College Students: A

            Survey. Information Technology & Libraries. 30(3), 108-128.

Summary:

In the article “Adoption of e-Book Readers among College Students,” discusses the 2011 college student survey from the urban, four-year public college, Queens College, on varying aspects concerning e-Books and e-Readers. 1,705 students participated in the survey and showed positives about e-Readers and e-Books, but not all were so enthusiastic. The main analysis of the survey was to understand who owns e-Readers and how do they use these tablets. In a 2010 a survey conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life, found that only 5% of Americans owned an e-Readers. At the time Amazon and Barnes and Noble e-Readers were around $300. While this seems hard to imagine, now that one can purchase an Amazon Kindle Fire for as low as $49.99. Of the students who participated in the survey, 401 students stated that they use e-Books, but not on an e-Reader. Price was the largest obstacle as to why the students were not willing to purchase an e-Reader, but acknowledged that if the library were to purchase e-Readers that they would check one out. This survey not only gives an insight into the students feelings about e-Readers, but also how even a few years of technology development can change the once foreign e-Reader into a popular student option.

Evaluation:

While I found this survey very useful, it also is a testament to how quickly technology development and opinions of these technologies can change. Since the survey indicated that the price of e-Readers was the biggest deterrent from purchasing one, I would like to think that the purchase of these devices has been on the rise since the dramatic drop in price, since this interview was conducted. I think that reading older surveys, especially those based on technology, are great to reference when seeing how technology has changed and developed, but it is important to understand that changes in technology have changed and evolved since 2011, when the survey was conducted.