This report from the Council on Library and Information Resources and the Digital Library Federation examines the changing needs and expectations of humanities scholars in the rapidly changing digital environment. The project was undertaken on the principle that the future development of research libraries should be enlightened by the actual practices and needs of scholars.
The authors began to observe and interview humanities researchers in 1999 to determine how these academics work, how they integrate technology into their research, and in what way future technology might offer new opportunities for these researchers. Humanities researchers have been perhaps unjustly labelled as some of academia’s greatest technophobes, so the authors appropriately reviewed how well humanities scholars have adapted to the rapid technical changes in research libraries in recent years. The report offers ample examples of traditional paper and electronic sources and other newer digital resources their subjects used, how well they were integrated into their research, and why the scholars were discouraged with certain electronic resources. The text also seeks to explain the why and how of researchers’ methodologies, something which information providers often assume they know without necessarily having adequate use surveys to support those assumptions. The report includes reasonable recommendations for the course libraries and information centers may pursue in the continuing effort to provide a high level of access and assistance to the traditionally solitary humanities scholar.
This report is of use to bibliographers, public access and reference librarians, as well as archivists and special collection librarians and others who work closely with scholars conducting research in the humanities. The report’s study of the electronic resources used by humanities scholars and how they are integrated into the research process is valuable to professionals who must try to select which resources will be of the most use in the face of shrinking acquisitions budgets. Similarly, the investigators’ interviews and observations provide insights into the expectations and preferences of humanities researchers for information professionals supplying assistance in the scholar’s search for appropriate source material.
