The future of academic librarianship has been at times a murky question. However, as librarians and in turn, their academic centers, begin to grasp current and new and incoming digital technologies the unknown future becomes a traversable frontier. In the introduction the editors introduce the idea that “success is dependent on acquiring a clear understanding of what is required by the customer base.” This collection of essays helps the academic librarian succeed in their field by offering a wide range of themes such as rethinking these areas: marketing and communication, support for academic practice and resource delivery. Within each theme, there are three essays from different authors providing a variation of each overarching theme by looking at a variety of case studies from universities in Australia and the UK.
Rethinking Marketing and Communication: the first section looks at the three ideas of digital marketing, Reference 2.0, and service in transition. Within the academic library world, the patron base has shifted; their world now revolves around a commodity of digital offerings. Librarianship should be first and foremost devoted to the needs of the customer base, which means understanding and utilizing the same technologies that this group is making their own. The competent library realizes in order to remain healthy and survive in its usefulness, it will find as discussed, its ultimate purpose is to be customer-centered rather than library-centered.
Rethinking Support for Academic Practice: the second section visits the three ideas of Open Educational Resources (OER), supporting early-career researchers in the booming data management industry and examines the Digital Tattoo project. By remaining open to evolving new skills, librarians are able to welcome the OER world. Librarians should strive to seek out key areas in this new field, joining in on collaboration, teaching information literacy skills, and being able to grade the information’s usefulness. Furthermore, such as in data management, something current librarians must complete to stay relevant is acquisition of new skills, constantly learning in order to remain updated on the changing pace of information. The Digital Tattoo project allows for the intersection of old and new ways of thinking through information, making room for critical thinking while also acknowledging new skills need to be learned while forming digital identities.
Rethinking Resource Delivery: the third section reviews the advent of mobilizing library resources, improving discovery through recommendations and review of the digital environment of libraries and international branch campuses. Times have changed from when a computer completed library digitization. Today’s patrons utilize a variety of e-formats to access information; the most recent being the move to smart phones and tablets. Libraries and information services need to become mobile, while taking into account there will be a period of trial and error. The key is to perceive the users’ needs and serve them as such. With library services and title selections, it is can be helpful to examine data of user action to provide future recommendations for students. And perhaps one of the largest challenges facing the academic librarian today is how to take all of the above from this book and provide the same efficient and understandable information and services to those who are studying digitally and abroad.
In closing, how we think, work and function as librarians and information specialists will need to change as the lives of our customers transition to a digital world. These various case studies provide excellent real life scenarios and suggestions for all of those working in librarianship and as an extension – digital technologies. As an academic librarian, I found the breadth on the topic of academic librarianship in the digital age to be thought provoking, full of useful suggestions and useful in my own career. I would heartily recommend this title to both established and brand new academic librarians. We work and live in a transient landscape that moves and shifts at a lightning-fast pace. If we fail to take the time to learn these digital technologies and how they can best serve our patron base, we may very well lose our relevance in this space.
