Katina Strauch’s memoir, Doing the Charleston, which will be published this week, tells the story of her career in librarianship alongside the history of the Charleston Conference, which she founded in 1980. In this excerpt, she looks ahead to the future of libraries. As Katina puts it, many will disagree, and that’s okay!
Die aufgeführten Aspekte bieten sicherlich einiges an “food for thought”:
Obviously, no one knows what the future holds, but here are a few so-called “predictions” to start conversations.
We must reduce the silo mindset. A silo is a closed way of organizing work into separate areas that are unable to communicate with other systems. Public services, technical services, and administration are silos, which can run the risk of not being able to communicate with other areas. A silo refers to the way grains are stored, assuring that the components can be kept separate. However, shifting trends and technology mean that silos can create barriers to collaboration across departments. Silos and the silo mindset must be broken down.
End users deserve a place at the negotiation table. Who exactly are end users? The person or persons who uses or is intended to use a product. End users do not technically or typically have the expertise of product designers, and, in fact, are usually overlooked, which may be the reason to seek their input.
We must rethink our aversion to commerce and commercial companies. Great numbers of librarians bristle at the name “Elsevier,” a noble company that has served the knowledge industry since 1880. Where does this aversion come from? Is it a matter of the definition of the word “profit”? Profit means coming out ahead. Does this always involve money? No. You can get a benefit from your experience, for example, or your involvement or participation in a nonprofit. Let’s face it: commercial companies have the pocketbooks, personnel, and, yes, the interest in taking risks. AI and all the new tech that people are so enthused over are profit-motivated.
Startups are everywhere and will become more dominant. They will depend on investment and confidence about the future. What’s a startup? A newly established business or the process of setting something new in motion. It is in the first stage of operation, generally founded by one or several entrepreneurs who want to test a product or service for which they believe demand exists. Startups may frequently have the benefit of enthusiasm, youth, forward thinking, and probably some naivete. They also frequently do not reach their full potential by becoming successful.
How important is technology as a partner? How do we define technology? Technology is the study of scientific knowledge in order to create tools and processes that can change the world. It is a capability given by the practical application of knowledge. It is broader than computer technology, meaning it is important in several other processes.
Open access (OA) is a set of practices through which research outputs are distributed online, free of access charges or other barriers. There are numerous levels of open access (green, gold, hybrid, and others). These levels, as well as predatory publishing, have muddied the discovery layers enormously. Can librarians and scholarly publishers develop more robust discovery tools to make OA more viable?
Libraries have been too passive when it comes to changing with the times, so the times changed them. Academic libraries will survive in some form, if only to train students to wend their way through the maze. Books and journals in the past have always been our go-to access tools. But as virtual tools and players—like ChatGPT and AI—emerge, books and journals must take a back seat.
Cataloging/metadata will disappear/be replaced by AI developments.
Interlibrary loan will disappear/be replaced by AI and OA.
Libraries made little effort to organize the explosion of information, and now it’s too overwhelming to even try.
Both librarians and publishers have access to huge amounts of data that is organized differently. We must join forces to organize and use the data to our best advantages.
Older, more mature librarians, publishers, vendors, and so on must be more respected as partners and must become more vocal. Let’s talk.
Artificial intelligence is the latest fad, but will it become a boondoggle—that is, give the appearance of adding more value than it is?
The Global South will have a seat at the table. Like end users, the Global South has an important perspective that must be shared in and with the ecosystem.
Consortia may break up or consolidate. Their goals must be shared and consolidated.
Publishers and libraries share much in common. Rather than bumping heads in disagreement, they need to agree on possible ways to move forward.
Finance will still be a necessary partner but will become part of operating expenses rather than a driving force.
Many of you will disagree with my predictions, and that’s okay! I’ve had a grand time watching it all, and I am confident the sky’s the limit as we reimagine libraries!
“Im Softwarevergleich sind die Literaturverwaltungsprogramme EndNote, Citavi und Citavi Web, JabRef, Papers, Paperfile, Mendeley und Zotero enthalten. Es werden verschiedene Kategorien wie technische Voraussetzungen, Datenimport, Zitieren, gemeinsame Bearbeitung und Usability verglichen. Ziel des Vergleichs ist es, Nutzenden eine Entscheidungshilfe an die Hand zu geben, welches Programm für Ihre Zwecke am besten geeignet ist. Vielleicht kann der Vergleich auch noch Anregungen zu der intensiven Diskussion um Citavi, Zotero und EndNote geben.
Sie können den Softwarevergleich gerne weiterverwenden und verlinken. Das Dokument ist auf deutsch und englisch verfügbar. Mit dem jeweiligen Permalink landen Sie immer bei der aktuellsten Version.
Ein herzliches Dankeschön geht an alle Testerinnen und Tester der unterschiedlichen Literaturverwaltungsprogramme für die wertvolle Unterstützung und Ihre Geduld. Ohne Sie könnten wir das Angebot nicht aufrecht erhalten.”
“The Special Libraries Association (SLA), a global organization dedicated to supporting information professionals and specialized librarians, has announced it will begin a dissolution process after 116 years of service to the profession.”
[Meldung auf der Homepage; Hinweis kam von ASpB auf LinkedIn]
“An executive order issued by the Trump administration on Friday night, March 14, calls for the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the nation’s only federal agency for America’s libraries.”
(und einem Orang-Utan als Bibliothekar, der keine Lust hatte, sich in den Menschen zurückverwandeln zu lassen, der er einmal war, weil es viele Vorteile hat, als Bibliothekar ein Orang-Utan zu sein – man erreicht zum Beispiel besser die hohen Bücherregale)
Golf von Mexiko? Golf von Amerika? Die von Donald Trump vorgeschlagene Änderung der Meeresbezeichnung “Golf von Mexiko” in “Golf von Amerika” wirkt sich momentan auch in Nachfragen bei unserer Kartenabteilung aus. Die #StabiBerlin ist ständiges Mitglied im #StAGN, die im Zuge des Diskurses vor einiger Zeit eine Stellungnahme veröffentlicht hat. Alle Infos dazu 👉 https://blog.sbb.berlin/golf-von-mexiko-golf-von-amerika/
Heidrun Wiesenmüller machte gestern auf bibnez darauf aufmerksam, dass die Library of Congress zwei geografische Schlagwörter verändern möchte. Die Einspruchsfrist war nur noch gestern: man merkt daran, dass das schnell umgesetzt werden soll. – Nun merkt man, dass an Metadaten auch Deutungsmacht hängt und dass es besser wäre, diese Deutungsmacht hinge nicht an einer staatlichen Institution … – Jedenfalls Dank für den Hinweis, ich habe gestern noch geschrieben. Und wer dennoch einen Kommentar abgeben mag: listcomments@loc.gov
Ich habe gerade den Beitrag “Die Bibliothek und das Lachen” von Elmar Schenkel in BUB gelesen, könnte ja noch als Ergänzung zum Bibliothekshumor von letzthin durchgehen. Jedenfalls erwähnt Schenkel dort das “Negativmodell” Umberto Ecos oder besser das “Modell einer schlechten Bibliothek”, ein Text zum Bibliothekshumor sondersgleichen. Komischerweise ist sie nicht in den Quellen angegeben. Im Netz ist sie mit etwas Mühe aufzufinden, hier auf S. 15ff.