Thank you for that wonderful introduction, Gerry (Munoff, Deputy Director of the UC Library). And, also, thank you Martin Runkle (Director of the UC Library) and Kimball Brooker (Chair of the UC Library Visiting Committee) for inviting me to address the members of the Visiting Committee this afternoon.
It is a real pleasure to be you here with you in one of the world's greatest libraries. And it is a special treat to be with our friend Bob Luken once again. I am especially pleased to talk with you about the issues facing academic libraries in the future. Before exploring these issues, however, I want to say a few words about the work of the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS).
2.) A FEW WORDS ABOUT NCLIS:
As NCLIS Chairperson, I work closely with a small but significant group of librarians and committed citizens who care deeply about books and libraries. One of my fellow Commissioners, Joan R. Challinor, has taken to calling NCLIS a group of "hyperactive do-gooders." Joan's phrase accurately reflects the spirit of our group. The Commission provides advice to policy makers on what is required to meet the information needs for our complex society. But more than a group of "hyperactive do-gooders". the Commission works at the forefront of very significant and complex policy issues, some of which are:
The Commission's 1970 statute, P.L. 91-345, authorizes NCLIS to advise the President and the Congress about policies related to libraries and information services for the American people. Along with my 15 colleagues on the Commission, I take our mission very seriously. I also know that the President takes the Commission very seriously.
Except for the two ex-officio NCLIS members (Jim Billington, the Librarian of Congress, and Diane Frankel, the Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services) the President nominates librarians and citizens to serve on the Commission for five-year terms. At present we have three academics serving as Commissioners. They are:
I am really excited about Dr. Griffiths' nomination to NCLIS. She brings an wealth of information systems experience and technology management, having consulted and taught widely. José's nomination to NCLIS is currently before the Senate; when she is confirmed (which we expect very shortly) she will officially join our citizens advisory group which, as a whole, reflects a wealth of experience, dedication, and commitment to libraries and to service.
Dr. Griffiths will be joining the National Commission at an exciting and challenging time. We are facing many large-scale policy opportunities and global challenges over the next few years. These opportunities and challenges reflect several fundamental change forces that are rapidly reshaping academic library futures.
3.) TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE AND LIBRARIES
Since President Clinton appointed me NCLIS Chairperson in November 1993, I have had the chance to make many friends in the library and information services communities. I have discussed library issues with policy makers in the Federal government; and I have exchanged views on a range of library and information policy issues with librarians, information suppliers, elected leaders, and with concerned citizens around the country, and around the world.
I feel very fortunate to have had the chance to meet so many librarians and library supporters over the last four years. Paul and I care deeply about the role of books and libraries in America, and I am delighted that the Commission offers me a chance to contribute. At times, however, I feel as if I have embarked on a course of graduate study in library science and information technology.
Now don't get me wrong, I am not exactly a cheerleader for new technology. If you live, as I do, with someone who uses a manual Royal typewriter to write books (seventeen to date), you don't take easily to computers and you aren't yet comfortable "surfing" the Internet or the Web. Although at SIU, I am finding the time to learn about e-mail and the 'Net'. Despite my limited time in cyberspace, I have learned enough about new technology developments and associated policies to be excited about the profound impact these new developments are having on our libraries in America.
After attending what seems like an infinite library conferences and participating in an endless series of professional meetings, I have developed an expert's sense of the important policy issues that relate to library futures.
This afternoon, I'm going to share some of the lessons that I've learned as NCLIS Chairperson about the issues facing libraries in the future. Following my remarks, I want to lead a discussion about the changes and challenges in academic libraries. Many of these changes result from the avalanche of new electronic information services and systems that are affecting every aspect of our institutions and society. And, for me, as for many in the academic library community, the most significant challenges we face in the next few years stem from the unprecedented pace of technological change reflected in the growth of digital information networks and electronic services. In short, I find that academic libraries are struggling to cope with the changes brought on by recent rapid advances in information technology.
4.) CURRENT NCLIS ACTIVITIES AND CONCERNS:
As I mentioned a moment ago, NCLIS was established by P.L. 91-345 (20 July 1970) to provide policy advice to the President and Congress, state and local governments, and private agencies. As a result of this mission, NCLIS conducts studies, surveys, and analyses of the information needs of the people of the U.S., promotes research and development, and recommends effective utilization of the Nation's educational resources.
Over the past 27 years, NCLIS has developed overall plans and worked to coordinate activities at the Federal, State, and local levels. But with the passage of P.L. 104-208 the Museum and Library Services Act on 30 September 1996, NCLIS was charged with added responsibility to provide general policy advice to the director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) relating to financial assistance for library services. This Federal financial assistance is provided by the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), authorized at $150 million annually. At present, NCLIS is preparing to meet next month jointly with the National Museum Services Board to begin discussing LSTA policies for the new IMLS.
At the same time, the National Commission is engaged in a cooperative project with the Government Printing Office (GPO) to study and assess standards issues related to electronic government information. This project focuses attention on the standards and costs of a transition to electronic information dissemination and access which is affecting the Federal Depository Library program. The results of this NCLIS study will help plan future Federal information policies. 5.) ACADEMIC LIBRARIES: FUTURE TRENDS
While the Commission's work by law is directed toward broad national and international policies which affect libraries and information services, much of our concerns relate to those of academic libraries. With so much popular attention currently focused on changing technology, however, it is helpful to view the current situation from an historical context. In that vein, let me share with you my favorite quote from John Brademas, who, incidentally, worked on drafting language for the NCLIS law when he served in Congress. He has written in his 1989 book In Praise of Libraries that....
"Libraries and librarians today, whether in the U.S., Britain, France, or Spain, are operating on the frontiers of automation and technology. Yet complex as the new library world has become, libraries remain fundamentally about readers, writers, and books."
-- John Brademas, President of New York University (1989)
I believe that libraries will continue to be about books and readers for the foreseeable future. This extended transition is not towards an entirely 'digital' library, but rather towards a mixed media future where libraries and librarians integrated printed textual resources with different electronic media to meet the service needs of the community.
In a similar fashion, Charles Lowry, Director of Libraries at the University of Maryland, recently shared the following reflections on the scholarly information process from the perspective of the past:
"In the last twenty years...the landscape of scholarly information has changed, but I still observe that past is prologue to the future for libraries. The trick is to maintain steadily a valued past while making the hard decisions about what we will do that is new...Libraries as they have been organized for the past one-hundred years are being transformed as scholarly information becomes 'digitally mediated'. Whether we like it or not, the 'information age' we live in has meant the use of computers as a chief means for moving full text, images, numeric data and bibliographic information. As much as any modern institution, universities are information driven organizations and libraries are their key information agency."
-- Charles B. Lowry, Director of University of Maryland Libraries.
(1996)
Just as the scholarly communications process is undergoing transformation in response to change, so today's academic library is being reshaped in response to changes in:
In essential ways, the forces of change within the university, in the world of higher education, and in scholarly communications generally, are challenging the academic library of the future. Indeed, Peter Lyman, Director of Libraries at the University of California at Berkeley wrote recently about the transformational nature and potential of the emerging new information infrastructure. He writes that....
"Access is the killer application. It is not the computer, but the Global Information Infrastructure (GII) that is the historic innovation which has the potential to fundamentally change higher education - because the GII is a communications medium, and as such has the potential to change the social relationships which constitute the organization of scholarly communication, teaching and learning, and administration."
-- Peter Lyman, University Librarian, University of CA/Berkeley
(1996)
As many in the academic library community are aware, concern for changes in large policy issues absorb a great amount of time, energy, and creative thinking lately. These are summarized by the following trends:
Just as major industries and governments are challenged to do more with less, so academic libraries are facing similar demands for improved performance and productivity. But the impact of these changes on the human resources, especially the role of the librarian within the academic library, is of increasing concern. Carla Stoffel, Dean of Libraries at the University of Arizona has some suggestions for us in this regard. She has written that:
"Librarians should...focus on education, knowledge management, assessment, connection development, information resource development, and aspects of information provision that require the unique education and professional expertise of a librarian. Instead of remaining in the library waiting for customers to ask, librarians need to be out on campus working with customers and making them aware of, and knowledgeable about, information and telecommunication policy issues. Librarians must be highly visible and seek to integrate what they do into the fabric of the institution's instructional and research programs."
-- Carla J. Stoffle, Dean of Libraries, The University of Arizona (1996)
In the academic community of the future, libraries and librarians will be more in demand than ever, both for traditional services and collections (BOOKS) and for new information technologies (Internet/World Wide Web). The academic library of the future will be a place, with buildings on campuses, but its services will be based on a re-conceptualization of the library's role. This new role involves the academic library and librarian serving as active partners working closely with students, faculty, scholars, researchers, and university administrator.
This same future is depicted by Jim Neal, Director of Libraries at Johns Hopkins University when he writes that...
"The library will play a central role in the development of the campus information environment. Rather than being told what technology to adopt, library staff will be integral in determining what the next innovations will be."
-- James G. Neal, Director, Johns Hopkins University Libraries (1996)
Finally, then, let me close with a quote from one of librarianship's visionaries. Paul Evan Peters was, until his untimely death last October, the founding director of the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI). Paul's vision of the future is one of clarity and conviction. His advice offers a clear focus for our consideration of academic library futures. He wrote that...
"I believe that the most important contribution that individual libraries and librarians can make to this evolutionary process is to embrace the networked information environment represented by the contemporary Internet, adding the sorts of values to that environment that only libraries and librarians can add....I deeply believe that networked information tools and strategies will change our art and our science, as well as our craft and our methodology.
-- Paul Evan Peters, Coalition for Networked Information (1993)
Thank you for the honor of addressing this distinguished group. It has been a real pleasure.
In order to start off discussion, I'd like to quote a few predictions made by James G. Neal whom I quoted earlier. Do you agree with the following statements?