I highly recommend reading: “ARL STRATEGIC THINKING & DESIGN - membership meeting Columbus May 5–8, 2014.” It is one of the most thought-provoking items I’ve seen from library-land in quite a while.
As someone on the younger side of library leadership, I sometimes worry about my role over the next few decades. Will it involve dismantling the print collections that librarians have invested the last century building? Will budget cuts greatly reduce staffing levels? Will we be constantly justifying our existence since everything is online?
There is a general bleakness about the future of higher education itself so it is easy to worry about the long-term stewardship of our organizations. That’s what I appreciate about this document from the ARL sessions -- it presents an optimistic and opportunistic, bold vision for the future. Thanks ARL.
Here are some highlights:
- Our ways of working, ways of creating value, & ways of innovating must be reframed.
- Major shift in thinking about libraries:
- From information as curated and cataloged with incremental knowledge construction to information as ubiquitous, pervasive, and knowledge construction as a fast and moving target.
- From 20th-century learning as push-based along discipline lines with requisite authority and canons to 21st-century learning as pull-based, inquiry-driven, individually motivated, collaboratively constructed, and with lifelong potential.
- We are engaged in A NEW SET OF CHALLENGES AND CONFLICTS without a clear set of solutions or end
states . . . this requires crossing traditional boundaries of what we do and who we do it with . . .
- DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES let us operate differently (from the digital humanities to digital 3-D fabrication) . . . and EMERGING VISUALIZATION METHODOLOGIES let us see differently . . . a new (21st century) ontology is emerging . . .
- In 2033, the research library will have shifted from its role as a knowledge service provider within the university to become a collaborative partner within a rich and diverse learning and research ecosystem.
- If the research library shifts from its role as a knowledge service provider within the university to become a collaborative partner then it becomes a more valuable knowledge and service partner for the university, which is, itself, becoming more distributed and more connected. And if we think about unbundling research libraries from single sites—single universities—then they can take on other roles and other partners
- The research library, which shifts from its role as a knowledge service provider within the university to become a collaborative partner that catalyzes evolution.
- The research library can and will increasingly unbundle itself from a predominantly service role to a single home institution.
- Downloading for personalized information access and use; uploading for provenance and enriched context.
- A convener of ‘conversations’ for knowledge construction?
- An inspiring host; a boundless symposium; an incubator; a 3rd space both physically and virtually; a scaffold for independence of mind; and a sanctuary for freedom of expression
- A global entrepreneurial engine?
- Technology will be ubiquitous and will function in a more seamless interaction between humans and machines; physical and virtual spaces will be more responsive.
- The research library can and will increasingly unbundle itself from a predominantly service role to a single home institution.
- Shifting from stocks to flows—from courses to information on demand
- Shifting from content to context—from generalized to specific and contingent
- Reinforcing and amplifying the broader social function of the research library
- Orchestrating conversations that build new insights,
knowledge, and even fields (data ethics, for
example)
- Orchestrating and capturing conversations around work
- Helping disciplines to update themselves
- Start with a few key disciplines that are working on complex
—"wicked”—problems or just have the interest or need: (engineering, health sciences, psychology, environmental, theater)
- The data behind the metrics of publishing, which influence decision making, are not controlled by the academy
- INNOVATION LAB
and (VENTURE) CAPITAL FUND (sign me up!)
- Innovation in our field around tools and practices staying out ahead of the game
home lab and a practice of “pop-ups”
These are just a few fragments that intrigued me. Check out the full slide deck. I’m looking forward to seeing what ARL does next and hope to be able to participate in some manner.