The Future—My Take

1. The Future—My Take Or, Random Musings from the Chairlift . . .

2. “The Times, They Are A’Changing. . .” • Today’s students live a life shaped by technological innovations • Undergraduates immediately go online often with a general web search

3. So Does an Earlier Generation “’I live on the Internet,’ General Powell said. He cited his favorite site: www.refdesk.com. . . . The reference site is so comprehensive, General Powell said, he has thrown out all his encyclopedias and dictionaries.” --New York Times, 1/26/01

4. We Have New Clienteles • Distributed learners • Alumni • Non-affiliated users of locally-created digital collections

5. Changing Emphases within Research Libraries • Commitment to the digital library • Commitment to alumni • Commitment to collaboration • Lower value placed on traditional services

6. Access to More and More of Our Resources is Digital • Digital collections have broken the constraints of time and space • Users of electronic resources continue to need assistance • Reference assistance should also break the constraints of time and space

7. In-Person Transactions are Dropping

8. This is Not Just a Cornell Phenomenon

9. We’re No Longer the Only Game in Town • AskJeeves receives over 4,000,000 queries per day • Remember Colin Powell!

10. Our Challenge • We must use traditional strengths and values to build new programs and services • We must create a new paradigm wherein we no longer define ourselves, our professional roles, and our services solely—or chiefly —in terms of “the desk”

11. Vision • Users will have digital access to high quality reference services anytime from anywhere • Reference service will be a key component of the digital library • Digital reference should be “High Tech and High Touch”

12. Guiding Values • The core values which have informed our services and programs for years must inform our new services and programs

13. Traditional View of Reference • Librarian and Library are the centers of the universe • Users come to the desk in the library for service • Desk hours reflect library needs • Users come to the library for instruction

14. A New View of Reference • Users are the center of the universe • Services revolve around users • Reference services are available digitally and physically • Reference services are synchronous and asynchronous • Reference service hours meet users’ needs

15. We Take Instruction to Our Users • Library instruction is presented on the web • Library instruction is presented in wired classrooms • We create a mobile, wireless lab for use in non-wired classrooms • Library instruction is presented in the library

16. We Must Continue to be Willing to Experiment and to Take Risks!

17. Create New Reference Services, Programs, and Models of Service

18. Expand and Enhance Digital Instruction

19. We Must Continue to Grow Professionally and Develop New Skills

20. Three Years Out • More time spent on digital reference • Harder to define primary clientele • Longer hours of service {24/7 model} • Streaming media services to remote users

21. And If We Don’t Make These Changes? • We will become increasingly irrelevant to our users • We will lose administrative and institutional credibility • We will likely lose staff and resources through reallocation • We will be marginalized and eventually reorganized out of existence

22. A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation. --Edmund Burke