Comments on: Vision and Visionaries: A Whole Bunch of Questions to Start off 2010 (As if you didn’t have enough of those already)

By: Prof. Wajih A Alvi

Prof. Wajih A Alvi — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 09:20:38 +0000

Thought provoking, no doubt.All confusions & misubnderstandings will disappear once we realize well what a library is? It is an institution that has come into existence long long ago to link the user to information sources, whatever the format. It also used to shoulder the responsibility of preserving for posterity these information sources. But later,with the classification of libraries into different types,this job was entrusted to a particular type of library and others were absolved of this responsibility.We began with clay tablets as records or sources of information, continued with parchment, leaves etc and finally had the print on paper. And, now we have digital resources, available physically in electronic format or accessible remotely as cyber resource. Librarian’s job continues to provide the connection. Of course in this new/emerging information landscape we have to have new operatiions to provide access and also remodel our services. But the job is the same. Definition, aims and objectives and purpose remain unchanged.Myh concept of a library simply is: a place where information sources are organised for use.
Prof. Wajih A Alvi
Kashmir

By: Dan MacDonald

Dan MacDonald — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 03:20:21 +0000

Kim,

Excellent article! I teach leadership courses for a post secondary in Canada and you have incredible insight into the fundamentals of leadership.

My humblest regards,
Dan MacDonald

By: Nancy

Nancy — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:54:33 +0000

I am the sole library staff at a young and growing university, and the library was part of the Office of Information Services for the first 5 or so years of the university’s history. This worked because the CIO was a librarian. In addition to the CIO and the University Librarian, there were 5 other IT staff in the Office of Information Services. Recently there has been a reorganization. Now my job title is University Librarian and Director of Student Services, and I no longer am in the Office of Information Services. I miss it, and think that as a librarian, I brought a unique perspective to IT and served as a bridge between the user and the technology. Who knows what the future will bring? I’m still trying to keep a close relationship with my IT colleagues, and am now learning the business of student services.

By: ellie

ellie — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:33:53 +0000

Thanks Kim. I do think as technology is becoming more integrated into so many aspects of our society it does our users a disservice to claim “that’s not our department.” I see technology training and libraries as an excellent fit segueing smoothly into other information literacy topics. I also see many bewildered students wandering in to the library unsure how to proceed with all of the online forms they need to fill out and unsure where to go for help. Our school has a phone hotline, but no in person help available. If they don’t have the skills to fill out their financial aid form or sign up for their student email account, how can I teach them how to navigate our library resources? There’s a quote I love that I’ve heard a number of times at my institution, you have to teach the students you have, not the ones you wish you had. So I think finding out what our users need and want from us is a very important step in the process, as well as whether or not it’s something we can reasonably provide.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 12:34:23 +0000

Here’s one guy who some (my supervisor among them) see as a leader, particularly for K-12 schools (this is where I’m at):

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6610496.html

By: Jean Costello

Jean Costello — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 14:03:04 +0000

Terrific post! All the right observations & questions, just the right tone. Thanks, Kim.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 12:40:07 +0000

You’re obviously American librarians – in a lot of UK universities, library and computing services have been merged for 10 years or more as Learning Resources Centres. Obviously there are still challenges for the future, but we need to be thinking about how we are going to provide information to our users rather than worrying about preserving “the library”.

By: Gareth Osler

Gareth Osler — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 12:01:11 +0000

O, wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is!
O brave new world
That has such people in’t!

– William Shakespeare, The TempestAct 5, Scene 1

How’s that for a vision ;)

By: stevenb

stevenb — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 01:57:35 +0000

I’d like to think that no matter what shape our future libraries take or how they evolve, that design will be an important process that we use to take us there. Over at Designing Better Libraries I try to share ideas on how this might work, and why design could help us to create a better library user experience. Technology will always be important as a foundation for a strong library, as are the right books and digital content for a strong collection, but what ultimately matters in my vision for future libraries is the relationships that we establish with the members of the user community. Information is increasingly commoditized and undifferentiated, so we have to ask why people will use libraries in the future – and what could we do to make libraries unique and more valuable to people. If we can’t answer those questions we may not have much of a future. So any vision needs to emphasize, I think, the important of the relationships you can build with librarians. I am not so worried about who is coming forward with a vision for the future of libraries. I do think it is critically important for librarians, perhaps with direction from the leadership, to develop a sensible vision for their library that reflects the expectations and needs of their user community – but also delivers unexpected and memorable experiences. Each library and its community are so unique in ways that a single, central vision for this profession may not be possible. If each library can create a good vision for its future, that will only help to strengthen the entire enterprise. In some recent presentations I have been speaking about the concept of library fitness and how a fit library is a future proofed library. Just as achieving personal fitness is a goal for a longer life, achieving library fitness is a strategy for organizational sustainability. I think there are some very basic strategies we can use to achieve library fitness (which I share in the talk – and in an article that should be published later this year). One person who I do think has offered some visionary ideas for the profession is David Lankes. You may want to take a look at his blog and some of his projects.