Libraries of the Future brochure - Jisc

Libraries of the Future

2 | Libraries of the Future
JISC campaigns
For many years technology has been transforming education and research,
bringing about profound changes to the ways in which learners, teachers,
librarians, administrators and researchers undertake their work. JISC
campaigns are an attempt to initiate conversations about the issues that are
emerging as central to the sector.
The further and higher education sectors have responded quickly and effectively
to change, harnessing the potential of technology to support, for example,
access to a wide range of online resources, widening participation, more
student-centred approaches to learning, innovative, complex and distributed
research collaborations, and much more. However, many challenges remain.
While some of these challenges may be better addressed at the institutional
level, others may benefit from broader approaches or from national debates
about how technology can be fully integrated into the life and work of colleges
and universities and help ensure that UK education and research remain among
the best in the world.
JISC is at the forefront of many of the issues that have an impact on education
and research and JISC ‘campaigns’ are an attempt to initiate conversations
– with national organisations and with practitioners, researchers, librarians,
senior managers, administrators and others – about the issues that are
emerging as central to the sector.
As well as the Libraries of the Future campaign – the focus of this brochure –
JISC recently ran a Student Experiences of Technology campaign:
www.jisc.ac.uk/studentexperiences
www.jisc.ac.uk/campaigns

Libraries of the Future | 3
Introduction
Libraries are at a turning point. As
technology rapidly transforms the way
we access information, and resources
are increasingly available online and in
digital formats, the established role of
the library as a physical space housing
racks of books is looking increasingly
out of step with the needs of students
and researchers.
Allied with technology, library users’
needs and preferences are helping to
drive the change in libraries. Students,
researchers and teachers now expect
to be able to access information around
the clock, from almost anywhere in
the world and via a growing number of
devices, from laptops to phones.
What does this mean for the academic
library as we know it? What will it look
like in 10 years’ time? Will it exist in its
current physical form? What role will
librarians play in supporting learning
and research in the digital age?
Through the Libraries of the Future
campaign JISC has opened up these
questions to a stimulating and
enriching discussion. The debate is
grounded in JISC’s commitment to
libraries and the services they offer as a
vital part of the education and research
infrastructure and an essential part
of supporting the UK’s education
system. The campaign builds on JISC’s
rich history of supporting the library
sector to work more effectively using
technology and working in partnership
with researchers and educators.
…libraries must
rethink the way they
work and the way
that they support
learning teaching
and research.
JISC has a long-established reputation
working with libraries in universities
and colleges to put in place change
programmes and to recognise that in the
age of the internet and the other digital
opportunities, libraries must rethink
the way they work and the way that they
support learning, teaching and research.
The Libraries of the Future campaign
has taken this debate to a wider
audience, through high-profile
debates, publications and newspaper
supplements and through the new
technologies themselves, from social
networks to Twitter and Second Life.

4 | Libraries of the Future
From eLib to Libraries of the Future
Further Information
The eLib report can be found at:
www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/
publications/elibimpactstudyreport.aspx
About the eLib programme:
www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/
programmes/elib.aspx
Libraries of the Future is the latest
stage in JISC’s commitment to
understanding the needs of library
users and helping librarians and
managers to respond to them. The
campaign emerged from over ten years’
work in supporting and influencing
changes within libraries across the
education and research sectors.
JISC’s work to support change
in libraries includes the influential
Electronic Libraries programme (eLib),
which ran between 1995 and 2001
and promoted a cultural change in
academic libraries. The programme
had £15,000,000 of funding over three
years and its aim was to ‘transform the
use and storage of knowledge in higher
education institutions’.
Since JISC’s eLib programme,
academic libraries have changed
more than many of those involved
ever imagined. Duke & Jordan’s
study for JISC of the impact of eLib
demonstrated not only the extent to
which the programme had influenced
academic libraries but also how
effective it has been in the long term.
The report is based on interviews with
a wide range of stakeholders, some
international, and with others related to
the library business as well as on case
studies of ten libraries.
The report shows that eLib promoted
a significant change in UK academic
libraries: it produced a cohort of
library staff with experience of
managing sizeable projects that
involved IT, a number of whom are
making senior contributions to
librarianship and information services.
The size of the programme caused
it to permeate the whole sector and
therefore ready it for later changes,
such as those highlighted by the
Libraries of the Future campaign.
These developments have all helped
academic libraries in the UK to
compete globally. The report also
shows that appreciable elements of
the programme have remained alive
and still serve communities of users.
The report shows
that eLib promoted a
significant change in UK
academic libraries…

Libraries of the Future | 5
JISC: Supporting libraries
JISC funds a range of programmes
and projects that support the work of
libraries and drive innovation through
technology. These include:
Digitisation
JISC is changing the world of
authoritative e-resources through its
investment in digitising content from
some of the UK’s greatest collections.
Spanning centuries, disciplines and
sources, the JISC series of pioneering
digitisation projects is unlocking a
wealth of unique, hard-to-access
material from the 16th century to the
present day, creating a critical mass of
rich, permanent digital resources for the
benefit of the widest user base possible
within UK further and higher education.
www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/campaigns/
librariesofthefuture/digitisation
e-Books
The JISC national e-books observatory
project is engaging directly with
librarians, publishers and others to
assess impacts, observe behaviours
and develop new models to stimulate
the e-books market, and do all this in a
managed environment.
www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/campaigns/
librariesofthefuture/ebooks
Repositories
Repositories are rapidly emerging
as a key element of research and
other institutional infrastructures and
libraries are playing a central role in
their establishment and development,
providing an important service to
teaching and research staff that
enables them to make their work
openly available, is easy to use and fits
with existing workflows.
www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/campaigns/
librariesofthefuture/repositories
Digital Preservation
Digital preservation is a strategic
and collaborative undertaking
requiring a range of approaches and
skills and the active involvement of
library, administrative, technical and
managerial staff roles at various levels
of responsibility. Librarians are at the
heart of these collaborative networks,
building on already established
infrastructure and communication
channels, and helping to ensure that
digital preservation is mainstreamed as
an institutional priority.
www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/campaigns/
librariesofthefuture/preservation
Research Data
Modern scientific research generates
vast quantities of data, which must
be stored, managed and curated
properly if we and future generations
are to reap the rewards of substantial
research investments. Given the
central importance of research data
and their management, libraries can
position themselves as a key element
of research and other institutional
infrastructures and bring key skills
(such as in curation and metadata) to
bear on a challenging topic that is high
on the international agenda.
www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/campaigns/
librariesofthefuture/research
Diversity and Equality
Ensuring that all students receive
the highest level of service is a vital
part of the mission of libraries and
learning resource centres. Not only a
question of legal compliance, it is, more
importantly, a matter of equality and
fairness. Academic libraries are at the
forefront of ensuring that students and
staff with disabilities and/or learning
difficulties are not disadvantaged.
JISC TechDis has for many years been
working to support cultural change in
this area.
www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/campaigns/
librariesofthefuture/diversity
The Google Generation
The JISC/British Library work on the
Google generation considers whether,
as a result of the digital transition
and resources being created digitally,
young people, the ‘Google generation’,
are searching for and researching
content in new ways and if so, how this
will shape the way they research and
search in the future. It also addresses if
new ways of searching and researching
for content will prove to be any different
from the way that existing researchers/
scholars work.
www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/
resourcediscovery/googlegen.aspx

6 | Libraries of the Future
The Libraries of the Future
campaign
In an information world in which
Google apparently offers us
everything, what place is there
for the traditional, and even the
digital, library?
In a library environment that
is increasingly moving to the
delivery of online rather than
print resources, what of the
academic library’s traditional
place at the heart of campus life?
What about the impact of repositories
and Open Access on the delivery of
library resources?
And the need to digitise and make
more widely accessible key scholarly
resources?
And what of the calls for libraries to
play a central role in the promotion of
‘information literacy’?
Through Libraries of the Future
campaign JISC has opened up – with
partner organisations and librarians
themselves – a debate about the future
of the academic and research library
that has tackled all these urgent
questions head on.
…a debate that
has tackled all these
urgent questions
head on.
The campaign has encompassed
events, printed resources, including a
Guardian supplement, and podcasts,
with the emphasis on the involvement
of everyone whose lives are touched
by libraries.
Like all JISC campaigns, Libraries
of the Future performs a number of
functions, from raising awareness to
generating discussion. Making the most
of economies of scale, it also has the
added benefit of letting decision-makers
know what is already available from
JISC while helping JISC to determine
what areas need further work.
For librarians, the debate allows
the profession to pool expertise, test
theories and disseminate ideas. It
enables library leaders to rise above
operational issues and engage in real
strategic thinking.
For student information practitioners,
it offers the opportunity to have an input
into the future of the profession that is
changing even as they train to join it.
For users of library services, the
debate allows them to have their voice
heard and offers reassurance that
their constantly evolving learning,
research and teaching needs are being
considered – now and in the future.

Libraries of the Future | 7
Libraries of the Future activities
Printed resources: read the
debate
Guardian supplement: Libraries
Unleashed
Articles explore open access, the
phenomenon of ‘Library 2.0 – the
integration of user generated content
with traditional library content – e-books,
new business models, digitisation, digital
preservation and more.
http://education.guardian.co.uk/
librariesunleashed
CILIP supplement
Articles offer an insight into the vital
but often behind-the-scenes services
that JISC provides as an agent of
transformational change across UK
higher education as a whole.
Survey of Librarian Staff
The survey showed that senior
academic librarians believe that
managing and promoting e-resources
and e-content will be their main
challenges over the next few years.
www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/documents/
attitudinalsurvey2008librariansreport
JISC/SCONUL Library Management
Systems study
Briefing paper and report on library
management systems procurement
www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/
documents/librarymanagementbp
Podcasts: listen to the debate
University of Oxford and Harvard
University talk the future of libraries
OCLC’s vice-president, Karen Calhoun,
talks libraries, the future and learning
Information literacy the ‘democratic
right’ of every learner, say Scottish
experts
An interview with Lynne Brindley
Listening to students – Innovative
responses
Library spaces for the ‘Google
Generation’
Beyond the Google Generation report –
next steps
Supporting users with disabilities –
challenges and opportunities
Creating 21st century learning spaces
Towards the research library of the
future
Google and librarians – A transatlantic
discussion
Find all these podcasts, and more,
here: www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/
campaigns/librariesofthefuture/
podcasts
Web 2.0: Join the debate
Blog: http://librariesofthefuture.
jiscinvolve.org
Social network: http://
librariesofthefuture.ning.com
Events
What is the Library of the Future?
Watch the video of this debate here:
www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/campaigns/
librariesofthefuture/debate
National E-textbook Debate
From eLib to the Library of the Future
Challenges for the Digital Librarian
Find reports and audio from
these events here: http://
librariesofthefuture.jiscinvolve.org/
category/jiscconference08

8 | Libraries of the Future
Debating libraries of the future
In April 2009, in Oxford, JISC held a
high-profile debate on the future of
libraries. Expert speakers included
Sarah Thomas, head of Oxford’s
Bodleian Library, Robert Darnton,
head librarian at Harvard University,
and Santiago de la Mora, European
Partnerships Lead at Google UK.
In front of an audience in the lecture
theatre and a virtual audience in
Second Life, where the event was also
broadcast, and via the blogosphere and
Twitterverse, participants from across
the world considered some of the key
challenges that will shape the library of
the future if it is to survive.
The speakers tackled some of the
key issues of the campaign, from
the new skills required for libraries
to remain relevant and visible, to
fostering partnerships between
public and private; discerning users’
increasingly diverse needs; and how to
meet the future information needs of
researchers given the changing models
of scholarly communication.
Video of the full debate can be seen here:
www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/campaigns/
librariesofthefuture/debate
If you’re standing still, change
looks fast. If you go with the flow, it
will seem effortless. Libraries remain
thrilling places and the future of the
library is bright. Libraries will continue to evolve
but remain true to connecting knowledge-seekers
with the accumulated knowledge of the past for the
advancement of individuals and society.
Sarah Thomas, Bodleian’s librarian and director, Oxford University Library Services
The librarian of the future will
not come from the librarian of the
present. The librarian of the future
will be a revolutionary.
Peter Murray Rust, Unilever Centre for Molecular Informatics

Libraries of the Future | 9
We must digitise
and democratise. The
problem with many
libraries is that they
serve a particular body, for example
students. We need to open them
up – not by opening physical doors,
but through digitisation. The point
is not to turn our backs on the
world but to make the most of this
extraordinarily rich university setting
in order to share the wealth.
Robert Darnton, Harvard University librarian
Librarians are very well-placed
to make a difference and secure an
enviable reputation for our profession
if we continue to watch, listen, think,
analyse, collaborate, share, test and try and if we
deploy real leadership skills, displaying a genuine
willingness to keep reinventing ourselves and our
old skills to match the changing environment we
find ourselves in at any stage.
Jean Sykes, chief librarian and information services director
at the London School of Economics

10 | Libraries of the Future
Where next for Libraries of the Future?
The question that JISC is addressing
at the moment is: how do we build the
future and what should that future
look like? We are at a time of immense
change in the way that people think
about academic libraries. We are
faced with challenges of reduced
resource and ever-growing expectation
from end-users, in a world where
the ubiquitous search engines have
created an impression that all content
is available at the click of a mouse,
instantly and for free. Leaders in
libraries are asking themselves hard
questions about their future priorities –
what kind of service will they provide in
five years or ten years? What services
are core business and which can be
withdrawn? Can services be shared
between institutions on a regional or
national level, or by institutions that
share a similar mission?
Each library needs to drive forward its
own strategy for how it responds to the
changes afforded and challenges posed
by the digital environment, including
the choice of where it makes sense to
share infrastructure, services and even
people. At the same time, we know that
there is huge potential in coordinating
activity between libraries. The UK
library sector has a strong track record
in taking this approach, but we can do
much more – and now is the time to put
this into place.
JISC is working with thought leaders
in the library world to debate the
following questions:
• What might a UK library
infrastructure look like in five or
ten years – at a local, regional and
national level?
• Which digital services might be
prioritised for sharing between
institutions and which need to be
retained ‘in-house’?
• Is the current resource discovery
infrastructure still fit for purpose –
and if not, how should it change?
• What might a future library
management system include?
• How can libraries support the
increased need for support of
research and learning in the digital
world?
• How can the library use technology
to play an active role in knowledge
transfer to other sectors?
To move from the present library to
what is required in the future is an
immense challenge at three levels:
people, processes and infrastructure.
JISC will use the outcomes from the
debate to guide institutions in how to
plan their futures.
Sarah Porter, JISC Head of Innovation
JISC is driving
innovation in libraries
through technology.
We see technology
as both an enabler of
change as well as a
change agent in itself
so technology can help
people to do things
better but, also, people
will have to change
to use technology
effectively.

Libraries of the Future | 11
Further information
Key organisations
British Library
www.bl.uk
Research Information Network
www.rin.ac.uk
Research Libraries UK
www.rluk.ac.uk
SCONUL
www.sconul.ac.uk
A selection of JISC and other
resources
Digitisation
JISC Digitisation programme
www.jisc.ac.uk/digitisation
‘Digitisation in the UK’
www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents/
JISC-Digi-in-UK-v1-final.pdf
Licensing
JISC Collections
www.jisc-collections.ac.uk
Knowledge Exchange
www.knowledge-exchange.info/
Default.aspx?ID=154
Strategic Content Alliance
www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/themes/
eresources/contentalliance.aspx
e-books
www.jiscebooksproject.org
Resource Discovery
Google Generation report
www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/
programmes/resourcediscovery/
googlegen
JISC Resource Discovery programme
www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/
programmes/resourcediscovery
Library Management Systems
JISC and SCONUL Library Management
Systems Study
www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/
programmes/resourcediscovery/
libraryMS
Repositories
JISC Repositories programme
www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/
programmes/digitalrepositories2007
Repositories Support Project
www.rsp.ac.uk
Sherpa
www.sherpa.ac.uk
Library spaces
JISC’s Design for Effective Learning
www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/
programmes/elearning_innovation/
eli_learningspaces
SCONUL Library Design Award
www.sconul.ac.uk/groups/space_
planning/design_award
e-Lib
e-Lib evaluation report
www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/
publications/elibimpactstudyreport
For further information, please go to:
www.jisc.ac.uk

Libraries of the Future
This document is available in alternative formats
For more information: www.jisc.ac.uk/librariesofthefuture
Further information about JISC:
Web: www.jisc.ac.uk
Email: info@jisc.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)117 331 0789
Document No: 589
Version 1.1, June 2009