Keywords
Universities; Libraries; Positioning; Strategy; Information Technology; Partnership
Description
Technology has transformed how teaching and research happen, and the strategies and priorities of higher education institutions are continually evolving in response to emerging demands. Positioning itself optimally in a changing organisation is a key challenge for any academic library. The positioning of the library in the institution impacts its status, resources and opportunities. Technology has made effective positioning more challenging, competitive and fluid. This paper examines positioning challenges libraries face on campus and outlines some approaches to advancing their position in the institution.
Digital publishing and communications have moved academic libraries from a position of monopoly for access to scholarly publications to being only one of many information providers seeking to fit into new academic workflows. The digital shift has blurred the identity of the library as a change in emphasis from collections to users progresses. Buildings have been adapted from a collections-centric to a more social focus, with services increasingly co-delivered with IT or other partners and staff from backgrounds outside librarianship joining teams. Optimal staffing structures and roles are uncertain. Academic libraries face complex issues of collaboration and competition with other units on campus which, while partnering with the library in areas of mutual benefit, also rival it for resources, credit and leadership. Updating the often-traditional perceptions of libraries held by key stakeholders is a further positioning challenge.
By recognising and acting on these challenges libraries can overcome them to advance their position. An agenda of strong contribution to institutional priorities, close connectivity with stakeholders, exercising both leadership and partnership, and selling clearly the library’s new identity and value proposition will progress the library in its parent organisation, as will acting globally to realise the opportunities of open scholarship.
Included in
Technology and the Positioning of the Library on Campus: Challenges and Opportunities
Technology has transformed how teaching and research happen, and the strategies and priorities of higher education institutions are continually evolving in response to emerging demands. Positioning itself optimally in a changing organisation is a key challenge for any academic library. The positioning of the library in the institution impacts its status, resources and opportunities. Technology has made effective positioning more challenging, competitive and fluid. This paper examines positioning challenges libraries face on campus and outlines some approaches to advancing their position in the institution.
Digital publishing and communications have moved academic libraries from a position of monopoly for access to scholarly publications to being only one of many information providers seeking to fit into new academic workflows. The digital shift has blurred the identity of the library as a change in emphasis from collections to users progresses. Buildings have been adapted from a collections-centric to a more social focus, with services increasingly co-delivered with IT or other partners and staff from backgrounds outside librarianship joining teams. Optimal staffing structures and roles are uncertain. Academic libraries face complex issues of collaboration and competition with other units on campus which, while partnering with the library in areas of mutual benefit, also rival it for resources, credit and leadership. Updating the often-traditional perceptions of libraries held by key stakeholders is a further positioning challenge.
By recognising and acting on these challenges libraries can overcome them to advance their position. An agenda of strong contribution to institutional priorities, close connectivity with stakeholders, exercising both leadership and partnership, and selling clearly the library’s new identity and value proposition will progress the library in its parent organisation, as will acting globally to realise the opportunities of open scholarship.