Innovation in an Age of Limits

1. Innovationin an Age of Limits Jay Schafer Director of Libraries UMass Amherst ACRL Science & Technology Section – June 27, 2011

2. Perfect Storm Main Entry: perfect storm Function: noun Date: 1936 : a critical or disastrous situation created by a powerfulconcurrence of factors

3. Critical/Disastrous Situation #1 In “A Letter to His Kids,” Wired's Founding Editor Recalls the Dawn of the Digital Revolution: In the very first issue (March 1993) I wrote, "The Digital Revolution is whipping through our lives like a Bengali typhoon.“ Got a lot of grief for that typhoon reference — as if it were a pretentious exaggeration instead of the understatement it turned out to be. Should have said the Digital Revolution was ripping through our lives like the meteor that extinguished the dinosaurs. Practically every institution that our society is based on, from the local to the supranational, is being rendered obsolete. This is the world you are inheriting. Louis Rossetto “What we got right – and wrong.” Wired. June 2008

4. Critical/Disastrous Situation #2 Global economic downturn

5. The Perfect Storm – The Movie Is this the Library ???

6. Biggest Challenge for Libraries • Biggest challenge is not budgets • Biggest challenge is adapting to the digital environment

7. Attributed to Charles Darwin: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”

8. TheInformation Age and the Printing Press: Looking Backward to See Ahead James A. Dewar Rand Report P-8014.1998 http://rand.org/pubs/papers/P8014/index2.html

9. Information Age is defined by networked computers Internet dates back to 1962 when concept of packet switching and ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) was developed to maintain connectivity of the military command and control network in case of nuclear attack. World Wide Web – 1990 Google released – 2000 TheInformation Age and the Printing Press: Looking Backward to See Ahead.

10. Communication before the printing press: One to One Communication with the printing press: One to Many Communication in the Information Age: Many to Many TheInformation Age and the Printing Press: Looking Backward to See Ahead.

11. The parallels between the printing press era and today are sufficiently compelling to suggest: Changes in the information age will be as dramatic as those in the Middle Ages in Europe. The printing press has been implicated in the Reformation, the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution, all of which had profound effects on their eras; similarly profound changes may already be underway in the information age. TheInformation Age and the Printing Press: Looking Backward to See Ahead.

12. The parallels between the printing press era and today are sufficiently compelling to suggest: The future of the information age will be dominated by unintended consequences. The Protestant Reformation and the shift from an earth-centered to a sun-centered universe were unintended consequences in the printing press era. TheInformation Age and the Printing Press: Looking Backward to See Ahead.

13. The parallels between the printing press era and today are sufficiently compelling to suggest: It will be decades before we see the full effects of the information age. The important effects of the printing press era were not seen clearly for more than 100 years. TheInformation Age and the Printing Press: Looking Backward to See Ahead.

14. The parallels between the printing press era and today are sufficiently compelling to suggest: The above factors combine to argue for: keeping the Internet unregulated, and taking a much more experimental approach to information policy. TheInformation Age and the Printing Press: Looking Backward to See Ahead.

15. The parallels between the printing press era and today are sufficiently compelling to suggest: Changes in the information age will be as dramatic as those in the Middle Ages in Europe. TheInformation Age and the Printing Press: Looking Backward to See Ahead.

18. The Shift from Print to Digital Resources • Library Card Catalog and print A&I tools • Online Catalog and electronic A&I tools • Aggregator full text databases • E-journals • Digitized print/media resources • Born digital resources • E-books

19. The Shift from Print to Digital Resources Discovery • Cards • Online Catalog • Cloud Discovery

20. The Shift from Print to Digital Resources Serials • Ordering by individual title • Check in • Binding • E-journals • Open URL linking

21. The Shift from Print to Digital Resources Monographs • Selection • Acquisitions • Licensing • E-Books

22. Overcoming Limits

23. Overcoming Limits • Funding for Staffing • Retirements • Vacancies • Reassignments (voluntary) • Cost-sharing • Grants

24. Overcoming Limits • Funding for Acquisitions • Consortium purchases/License negotiations • Use analysis and cancellations • Interlibrary Loan – the collection you don’t own • Rapid ILL • Consortial borrowing

25. Overcoming Limits • Funding for Operations and Facilities • Salary savings • Fundraising

26. Limits Drive Innovation

27. Limits Drive Innovation: Tech ServicesThe Last Recession • Consolidated vendors • E-selection • Shelf ready books • Use-based collection decisions • “Just in time” vs. “Just in case” • Expedited document delivery/ILL services

28. Limits Drive Innovation: Tech ServicesThis Recession Five Colleges Consolidated Tech Services • Unify the user experience across the five libraries • Maximize efficiencies so staff can deal with new “21st Century” tasks • Provide cost savings where possible

29. Limits Drive Innovation: Tech ServicesThis Recession Acquisitions Budget • 80% electronic resources • 20% print resources Technical Services Staffing • 80% print resources • 20% electronic resources

30. Limits Drive Innovation: Tech ServicesFive Colleges Consolidated Tech Services The Dream – Print Resources • Consolidation • The “One Centralize Technical Services” Model The Dream – Electronic Resources • Common Collections • Common Discovery • Discovery tool to supplement OPAC • A-Z E-journal list • A-Z Database list • Expedited article delivery – Rapid ILL

31. Limits Drive Innovation: Tech ServicesFive Colleges Consolidated Tech Services The Reality – Print Resources • Consolidated vendor • Shelf ready books • Reduce unnecessary duplication The Reality – Implementation Issues • Perceived “disrespecting” of past work • Perceived disregard of “local value added” • Loss of local control • HR Issues • Re-location of employees • Benefits/Retire issues • Unions

32. Limits Drive Innovation: Scholarly Communication • ScholarWorks@UMassAmherst • Institutional repository • Cloud solution - Digital Commons • E-Theses/dissertations • E-journals • E-Conference proceedings

33. Limits Drive Innovation: Scholarly Communication Campus Partners • Provost • Showcase faculty • Community engagement • Vice Chancellor for Research • Showcase research • NIH mandate • NSF data plans • Dean, Graduate School • Electronic theses/dissertations • Dean, Commonwealth Honors College • Honors theses

34. Limits Drive Innovation: Scholarly Communication Open Educational Resources • Joint Provost/Library “Open Education Initiative” Grants • $1,000 each for 10 faculty • $71,950 estimated savings to students

35. Limits Drive Innovation: Facilities Five Colleges Depository (the Bunker) • Single shared copy • Affiliates programs for JStor Collection • Expansion New England Regional Depository (the NERD) • Discussions this summer • Single shared copy

36. Limits Drive Innovation: Facilities • Learning Commons • Procrastination Station Café, Library services, Technology services, Writing Center, Student tutoring, Assistive Technologies Lab, Academic advising, Study Abroad advising • Teaching Commons • Library services for faculty, Academic Computing, Office of Faculty Development • Multimedia Student Production Hub (Fall 2012)

37. Limits Drive Innovation: Facilities – coming attractions • Research Commons • Library services, Office of Contracts & Grants, Office of Commercial Ventures and Intellectual Property • Graduate Commons • Graduate students

38. Limits Drive Innovation: Digital Initiates • Digital Strategies Group • Metadata Working Group • Digital Creation and Preservation Working Group • Data Working Group • Streaming video – e-reserves • CREDO – Special Collections Fedora repository • Digital Image Library

39. The Future (5 to 10 years out)

40. The Future (5-10 years out) • Cloud discovery • Digital Media and Information Literacy • Tablets and handheld devices rule • Re-define “e-books” • Multi-media • Open Educational Resources • Open Access E-Publishing

41. The Future (5-10 years out) • Cloud collections • Cloud technical services • Caring for the legacy print collections • Maintain small current print collections, print on demand • Move legacy print collections to depository

42. The Future (5-10 years out) • Emphasis on Special Collections • Digitization • Data curation for locally created resources (digital humanities, E-science, digital repositories) • Preservation of local digital scholarship

43. The parallels between the printing press era and today are sufficiently compelling to suggest: Changes in the information age will be as dramatic as those in the Middle Ages in Europe. TheInformation Age and the Printing Press: Looking Backward to See Ahead.

44. Attributed to Charles Darwin: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”

45. Thank You Jay Schafer jschafer@library.umass.edu