The Value of Academic Libraries in the 21st Century Ann J. Wolpert

The Value of Academic Libraries in the 21st Century Ann J. Wolpert Director of Libraries Massachusetts Institute of Technology

8th Annual Conference of the Croatian University and Scientific Libraries October 24-25th, 2008 Zagreb, Croatia

Research libraries will continue to have value in the 21st century But it is necessary to reinterpret the value proposition of libraries for the digital age: – – – –

In education In research To the nation To the world

Because of – new media – new ways of advancing knowledge

The “good old days” were not so much fun at the time. • Librarian was selected from among the faculty and raised money for collections • Lost books were deducted from the librarian’s pay • Books were chained to tables • Women were kept in back rooms so as not to distract the scholars

Traditional library collections are not as “sacred” as some assert. For example: – Tangible assets have evolved through many formats – Fires, wars, lack of money, change of focus, the collapse of institutions, have punched holes in collections – There is never enough money to provide adequate preservation support

Research libraries persist because of their total value proposition. •Collections •Instruction •Work and study spaces •Preservation and conservation •Institutional identity •Habits of mind

•Standards of scholarship •History of disciplines and individuals •Cost effectiveness •Comparative advantage •Neutral and interdisciplinary

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Medicine are defining the future. STEM is: International Interdisciplinary Inter-institutional Digital Networked

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Medicine differ from the Humanities • Deep rich historical collections are important but timeliness is more critical • Funding often available for lab based, nearterm information/data management • Early adopters of mobile delivery systems • Early recognition of shared data and data mining

All researchers and educators are discovering new communication options • Unleashed from the expense and scarcity of print • Discovering scholarship in new media • Exploring the power of html • National and international data archives • Open source software • Institutional repositories

The next generation of scholars and researchers are changing the model • • • • •

Developing countries Emerging disciplines Ambitious sub-disciplines Disgruntled editorial boards “Intellectual disobedience” regarding copyright • Harvard Univ’s rights retention strategy

The time has come to engage faculty in redefining research libraries • • • • • • •

Open access and retained rights Delivery to the desktop Place as Library Data conservation Evidence-based service design Data & non-text information resources Institutional repositories

What will the next value be for your institution’s library?

Libraries at MIT and of MIT The mission of MIT is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century. The Institute is committed to generating, disseminating, and preserving knowledge, and to working with others to bring this knowledge to bear on the world’s great challenges…

The mission of the MIT libraries is to create and sustain an intuitive, trusted information environment that enables learning and the advancement of knowledge at MIT. We are committed to developing strategies and systems that promote discovery and facilitate worldwide scholarly communication.

Opportunities and challenges abound for libraries International, inter-institutional, interdisciplinary are incompatible with structure and funding Network access control is often incompatible with license agreements New business choices (e.g., physics) to be made Competition for talent – especially technical talent – is intense

The Lady or the Tiger? •Google (or another) controls discovery/access •Publishers win complete control of content •Data mining allowed only with permission •Publishers control data as well as research publication •Books cease to exist as we now know them

•Google does no evil, digitized work is free •Fair use is preserved by congress and the courts •Universities and faculty retain necessary rights •Research data and results are open •Books find a sustainable, compatible business model

The next five years Engage a new discussion with administrators and faculty Pursue digital library developments/opportunities – especially open source and open access Collaborate with others to improve leverage Expand data curation and digital preservation activities including research Advocate for sensible information policy

“The future is like heaven everyone exalts it but no one wants to go there now.” James Baldwin