Editorial
Article Type: Editorial From: New Library World, Volume 116, Issue 7/8
There is a strong emphasis on innovation in this double issue of New Library World. However, not all library systems are developing at the same rate or in the same ways. Pacios assesses the progress made by some 37 Spanish university libraries in adopting the “information commons” model. The concept and its application are now well tried and tested in a number of Western countries – notably the UK and the USA. To respond to the development of the European Higher Education Initiative (EHEA), REBIUN, Spain’s higher education library network is determined to adopt the information commons model. Successful innovation requires effective and timely change management, especially where, as Pacios points out, the challenge of adopting integrative approaches to services and resources needs to be fully met. Pacios sets out the prerequisites for the development of information commons in the Spanish context, and notes the varying extents to which the university libraries in Spain have managed to implement such initiatives over the past 10 years. It is clear from the analysis that much remains to be done to match the best exemplars in some other countries, although many lessons can be learned from the analysis presented in the paper.
The future use, shape and nature of the library space is another challenge for library managers and designers, not only in terms of the development of information commons but also, more broadly, and, in consequence, a future double issue of New Library World will focus on this theme in more depth and detail. In the meantime, Moorefield-Lang looks at the specific and relatively new area of makerspaces and their associated user agreements in a range of public and academic libraries across the USA. The author’s analysis should prove useful, given the fact that the formulation of formal makerspace agreements is still in its infancy.
The use of gaming in education has been a major innovation of the past decade. Hill focuses on an innovative approach to embedding information literacy skills at the elementary school level. The case study described in this paper has particular merit for the way in which older students were actively engaged by the school librarian in the development of a three-dimensional (3D) virtual world library game for younger students to help them learn about digital citizenship and information literacy. Though small scale in nature and implementation, Hill points the way to further research in the area and notes the importance of teamwork in game design, as well as the value of embedding information literacy into a 3D world and the ways in which such an approach allows students to develop a range of real-world skills.
Kelsey’s paper describes another specific area of innovation in library and information work. This time, the emphasis is on library “technical” services, with particular reference to the implementation of EDI X12 ordering and invoicing. The case study provides a number of pointers to acquisitions librarians especially, offering useful “lessons learnt”, as well as a description of the potential efficiency and cost savings that could ensue from the adoption of such an approach.
As Pacios, in particular, concludes, managing the people dimension effectively and appropriately is the most crucial if innovation is to succeed and become fully embedded in future library operations and services. Rodriguez concentrates on ways in which training for liaison librarians can best be provided in support of new scholarly communication initiatives. The emphasis in this case study is on the use of existing internal expertise and targeted events – especially valuable approaches at a time of financial constraint and where, as Rodriguez notes, while there are limited opportunities for librarians to upskill and reskill, it is essential that continuous and continuing professional development occurs if the library services are to fully meet the challenge of new modes of provision. In this case, the focus is on scholarly communication competencies that underpin new and emerging research and publication trends.
The significant changes in the environment in which universities and colleges the world over now operate is leading, as Vanduinkerken points out, to the refinement of higher education institutions’ strategic missions so that they concentrate on what the university or college “does well” or “wants to be” and, by implication at least, what the specific organization no longer wishes to be or do.
Just as academic programmes that no longer match institutional mission are being culled, so too must library activities be scrutinized to ensure that they remain – or are capable of becoming – fit for purpose. If an activity is no longer aligned with the parent institution’s strategy, not least in terms of applicable business models and relevant financial criteria, then it is hard to see how its continuance can be justified. Vanduinkerken looks at a range of “traditional functions” found in academic libraries, as well as the “actual brick-and-mortar library” and applies various business models “as an aid to developing the entrepreneurial culture that will be necessary if the academic library is to stay viable and relevant in the twenty-first century”.
As noted and stressed in this double issue and many previous issues of New Library World, library and information services (LIS) staff need to be fully prepared for the many technology-driven innovations that are changing – or will soon change – the profession of librarianship. E-learning is one particular major innovation which the LIS personnel need to embrace fully, both in terms of their own study and development and with regard to their support for provision of learning and teaching via electronic means. Hazeri looks at the ways in which the LIS programmes might best be delivered electronically, either as well as – or instead of – via traditional means, the conclusion being that various judicious blends of online, distance and face-to-face learning are likely to yield the best results. As important in the context in which Hazeri is writing, if not more broadly, is the need to update the LIS curricula to ensure that, as already suggested, the LIS staff are fully and properly equipped for future service within the profession.
Any and every profession must continue to innovate and develop if it is to remain a profession. One of the key ways of doing this is through far-reaching and dynamic research and development programmes that culminate in published output. Jabeen’s paper assesses this output over the period of 2003-2012 through a bibliometric analysis and concludes that there has been a healthy growth in publication rates, especially at the article level, although some countries’ contribution, like that of China, has surged over the decade in question. The trends identified in the paper should prove useful to researchers and publishers alike in terms of future core areas and themes for analysis and development.
The turbulent and challenging environment – as described regularly and consistently in the pages of New Library World – in which library managers find themselves requires libraries to engage with marketing and public relations strategies, policies and approaches ever more fully and forcefully. Librarians in many countries, at least in the West, have been doing this for some considerable time as a way of preserving, protecting and enhancing their services. This has been especially true of public library services, as, for example, in the UK. However, some library systems are only now focusing on public relations activities. Ameen describes the situation in Lahore, where much remains to be done in this area of activity to develop and maintain positive images of libraries and the library services on the subcontinent.
Bruce Massis’s regular column concludes the double issue by returning to the crucial area of human resource management and the paramount importance of staff recruitment and selection. As the viewpoint paper stresses, it is vital that the correct personnel are appointed to library services to ensure that all those other things discussed in issue 7/8 – strategy, mission, service, image, efficient operations and more – can truly be delivered to the best effect.
David Michael Baker - Editor
