THE 21 ST CENTURY RESEARCHER

THE 21

ST

CENTURY RESEARCHER

DOES THE LIBRARY STILL MATTER?

James G. Neal

Deutsche Nationalbibliothek

“Crossing Borders – The Future of Access” Conference 7 April 2014

NEW TITLE NUMBER ONE

YOU CAN’T COUNT THE APPLES

IN THE SEED

ASSURING VITALITY AND RELEVANCE FOR

THE LIBRARY

NEW TITLE NUMBER TWO

PIONEERS NEED FRONTIERS

ARE WE READY FOR

NEW TITLE NUMBER THREE

THE TROMPE L’OEIL

RESEARCH LIBRARY OF THE FUTURE

NEW TITLE NUMBER FOUR

CHAOS BREEDS LIFE

RETHINKING THE WAY SCHOLARS WILL CREATE, COMMUNICATE, AND PRESERVE

NEW TITLE NUMBER FIVE

SOMETIMES… A SCREAM

IS BETTER THAN A THESIS

KUMBAYA

RADICAL COMMUNICATION SYSTEMIC PARTNERSHIPS

DO 20

TH

CENTURY SKILLS STILL MATTER?

• Information Selection • Information Acquisition • Information Synthesis • Information Navigation • Information Dissemination • Information Interpretation • Information Discovery • Information Use • Information Application • Information Archiving

• In Support of Teaching and Learning

DO NEW SKILLS MATTER TO

RESEARCHERS?

• Libraries as Consumers

• Libraries as Intermediaries and Aggregators • Libraries as Publishers

• Libraries as Educators

• Libraries as R&D Organizations • Libraries as Entrepreneurs

DO 20

TH

CENTURY SKILLS ADVANCE

THE SHIFTING VISION OF THE LIBRARY?

• Legacy • Infrastructure • Repository • Portal • Platform • Application • Enterprise

WHAT IS PROVOKING NEW THINKING ABOUT

THE 21

ST

_{CENTURY LIBRARY?}

• Rapidly Shifting User Behaviors/Expectations

• Redundant Inefficient Library Operations

• Aging Service Paradigms

• Increasing Emphasis on Unique Resources

• Need to Achieve Scale and Network Effects

WHAT IS PROVOKING NEW THINKING ABOUT

THE 21

ST

_{CENTURY LIBRARY?}

• Advanced Open Architecture

• Mandate for Systemic Change

• Acceleration of Collective Innovation

• New Economic Context

NEW TECHNOLOGIES

AND

THE 21

ST

CENTURY LIBRARY

• Mobiles and Tablets (single, portable multi-purpose device) • Cloud Computing (distributed processing and applications) • Geo-Everything (geolocation and geotagging)

• Personal Web (customized management of online content) • Linked Data (connecting and relating structured information) • Semantic-Aware Applications (meaning to provide answers) • Smart Objects (links physical world with information)

NEW TECHNOLOGIES

AND

THE 21

ST

CENTURY LIBRARY

• Open Content (wide distribution and repurposing) • MOOC (massive open online courses)

• Electronic Book (platforms, applications, redefinition) • Data/Big Science (research information management) • Games As Learning Tools (participation and interaction)

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY TRANSFORM?

• to change in composition or structure

WHAT WE ARE/WHAT WE DO

• to change the outward form or appearance

HOW WE ARE VIEWED/UNDERSTOOD

• to change in character or condition

WHERE DO WE INTERSECT WITH RESEARCHERS?

• Physical Spaces • Web Spaces • Collections • Services • Applications • Technologies • Classroom • Laboratory • Bedside • Collaborations • Anyone • Anywhere • Anytime • Anyhow

HOW DO WE KNOW ABOUT RESEARCHERS?

• Ask • Measure • Listen • Observe • Compare • Benchmark • Experiment • Involve • Prototype • Portfolio • Evaluate • Experience (Aha)

RESPOND TO RESEARCHER EXPECTATIONS

• Content • Access • Convenience • New Capabilities • Cost Reduction • Participation • Individual Productivity • Individual Control • Organizational Productivity

ENHANCE THE RESEARCHER EXPERIENCE

• Personal Advancement/Recognition

• Contributions to Scholarly Literature • High Quality Instructional Experiences • Successful Students

• Work on Innovative Projects

• Collaboration with Interesting Colleagues • Financial Compensation

• Remuneration for Own Work

HILDRETH ON SYSTEM DESIGN

ALIGNMENT WITH RESEARCHER REQUIREMENTS

•

Audience Suitability

•

Metaphorical Consistency

•

Display Legibility

•

Simplicity of Design

•

Ease of Navigation

•

Searching Power

EMBRACE THE “HUMAN” OBJECTIVES

• Success (turn out well, attain desired end)

• Happiness (well-being and contentment)

• Productivity (achieving results or benefits)

• Progress (forward movement or betterment)

• Relationships (personal connections or attachments)

• Experiences (observation or participation)

CONSTRAINTS ON ACCESS

TO SCHOLARLY INFORMATION

Market Law Norms Technology

INFORMATION

SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION

CREATION

EVALUATION

DISTRIBUTION

USE

PRESERVATION

SHIFTING ECONOMICS/TECHNOLOGIES/PLAYERS

THE URGE TO PUBLISH

• Communication

• Academic Culture

• Preservation of Ideas

• Prestige and Recognition

• Profit

SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION

• Community of Creation

• Community of Production

• Community of Distribution

• Community of Consumption

• Community of Use

SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION

• Notification Service Layer

• Registry Layer

• Discovery Layer

• Content Aggregation Layer

SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION

FUNCTIONS

• Information Generation and Creation

• Authoring

• Informal Peer Communication

• Editorial and Validation

• Ownership, Privacy, and Security

• Distribution

SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION

FUNCTIONS

• Storage

• Preservation and Archiving

• Information Management

• Location and Delivery

• Recognition

• Diffusion

ELECTRONIC SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION

RESEARCHER OBSERVATIONS

• Discipline Diversity • Importance of Trust • Importance of Credibility • Velocity of Communication • Meritocracy • Organized Skepticism • New Economics • Vertical Integration

• New Modes of Discourse • Democratization

• Expanded Readership

SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION

CONCERNS

• Choking on the Proliferation • Location of Quality Marking

• Corporate Economy Overtakes Guild Economy • Dysfunctional Market

• Intellectual Property Ownership

• Darwinian/Capitalistic/Socialist Solutions • New Models of Digital Scholarship

DISCUSSIONS WITH RESEARCHERS

• Scholarly Publishing Issues Now Being Discussed in Disciplines

• Concern About Future of Scholarly Monograph

• Role of Subventions and Subsidies for Publication • Market Impact on Research Topics and Treatments • Migration or Coexistence of Print and Electronic

• Importance of Electronic Access to Historical Literature • Role of Google/Search Engines

DISCUSSIONS WITH RESEARCHERS

• Critical Importance of Linking/Browsability

• Role of Pre-Print and Disciplinary Repositories • Role of Conference Proceedings/Grey Literature • Concern About Open Access Models

• Fundamental Importance of Peer Review/Impact Assessment

• Concern About Long-Term Archiving • Faculty Retention of Copyright

QUALITY ASSESSMENT SYSTEMS

• Peer Review

• Peer Review Lite

• Citation Measurement

• Use/Hits Measurement

• Open/Community Peer Review

• Career Review

OPEN REVOLUTION

• Open Source • Open Standards • Open Archives • Open Text • Open Linking • Open Design • Open Research

• Open Course Content • Open Reference

• Open Aggregation • Open Storage

OPEN ACCESS

• Business Model

• Publishing Strategy

• Library Pledge Model

• Publisher Contract Model

• University Policy

• Subsidy Strategy

• National Policy

• Social Policy

• Disciplinary Strategy

• Individual Decision

RESEARCHER

AND

LIBRARY

CORE INTERESTS

• Competitive Market

• Easy Distribution and Reuse

• Innovation Applications of Technology

• Quality Assurance

BUILDING THE DIGITAL LIBRARY

QUALITY = CONTENT + FUNCTIONALITY

• Published/Licensed Content • Primary Content

• Open Web Content • Institutional Content

• Research Data Content • Multimedia Content

• Archive as Repository HOLD • Archive as Persistence ACCESS • Archive as Curation SECURE • Archive as Steward CARE

• Analog

• Digital Conversion • Born Digital

• Disaster Preparedness

ADVANCE THE REPOSITORY MOVEMENT

• Discipline Repositories • Institutional Repositories • Data Repositories • Departmental/School Repositories • Individual Repositories • Learning Repositories • Government Repositories • National Repositories • Publisher Repositories

WHAT IS E-SCIENCE?

• scientific research that involves extensive reliance on technology infrastructure and digital archiving of research data

• based on cyberinfrastructure, the aggregate of

software, hardware and other technologies, as well as human expertise, required to support current and future research discoveries

• a system of people, processes, training, security, standards, policies, and capabilities

OPEN DATA

… the idea that data should be

freely available for everyone to use and

republish as they wish, without restrictions

from copyright, patents, or other mechanisms

of control

BIG DATA

… a collection of data sets so

large and complex that it becomes

difficult to process using on-hand

database management tools or

SUPPORT THE NEEDS OF BIG DATA

• Federal/Funding Agency Mandate

• Massive Data Sets

• Unstructured Data/Curation

• Extraction

• Distribution

• Collaboration

• Visualization

• Simulation

LIBRARY CAPABILITIES TO SUPPORT

E-SCIENCE

• Policies and Principles Related to Open Exchange of Scholarly Information

• Development and Maintenance of Institutional and Domain Repositories

• Integration and Interoperability Tools for Information Distribution and Discovery

• Business and Technical Strategies for Long-Term Archiving • Understanding of Archival and Life-Cycle Aspects of

THE R&D ENTERPRISE IN THE LIBRARY

• New Knowledge Creation

• Laboratory for Experimentation

• Magnet for New Skills/Capabilities

• Venue for Faculty Collaboration

• Venue for Corporate Collaboration

• Solve Library Problems

• Solve Information Problems

• Solve Technology Problems

THE R&D ENTERPRISE IN THE LIBRARY

• Potential for Capitalization/Technology Transfer • Foundation and Federal Funding

• Library Credibility and Visibility • Support for Decision Making • Organizational Culture

• Digital Library Program Development • Organizational Risks

MARKET THE LIBRARY

• Match Capabilities of an Organization with Needs and Wants of Communities Served

• Existing Products to Existing Markets

MARKET PENETRATION

• Existing Products to New Markets

MARKET EXTENSION

• New Products for Existing Markets

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

ADVOCATE THE INFORMATION POLICY AGENDA

• INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM • PRIVACY • CIVIL LIBERTIES • EDUCATION PROGRAMS • RESEARCH PROGRAMS • INTERNET DEVELOPMENT • TELECOMMUNICATIONS • GOVERNMENT INFORMATION • APPROPRIATIONS • WORKFORCE POLICY

• FIGHTING THE COPYRIGHT WARS

POLITICAL ADVOCACY

THE RESEARCH LIBRARY ROLE

• Knowledgeable Resources for the Community • Political and Legislative Advocates for

Community Interests

• Educators of Community on Priority Issues • Documenters of Impact of Legislative Actions • Promoters of Campus and Community

Coalitions

ARENAS FOR COLLABORATION

•

Centers for Excellence

•

Mass Production

•

New Infrastructure

•

New Initiatives

THE LIBRARIAN/RESEARCHER RELATIONSHIP

• Servant

• Stranger

• Parallel

• Friend

• Partner

• Customer

• Team

CAPABILITIES OF THE 21

ST

_CENTURY

LIBRARY INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL

• Deep Subject, Process, or Technical Expertise • Deep Service Commitment

• Commitment to Research and Development • Commitment to Assessment and Evaluation • Communication and Marketing Skills

• Project Development and Management Skills • Political Engagement

• Resource Development Skills • Commitment to Rigor

WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR

LIBRARY STAFFING?

• Professionals With Diverse Academic Backgrounds • Wide Range of New Professional Assignments

• New Roles of Support Staff and Students • Messy/Fluid Organizational Structures

• Impact on Values, Outlooks and Styles

• Impact on Campus Understanding, Recognition and Respect • Impact on Organizational Relevance and Impact

THEORY OF LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT

-1950

Period of EXCLUSIVITY

1950-1970

Period of POPULARIZATION

1970-1990

Period of DISCORD

1990-2010

Period of DECADENCE

2010-2015

Period of POLYGAMY/KUMBAYA

2015-2020

Period of PARABIOSIS/SYNERGY

2020-

Period of PARTICULARISM

SUPPORT THE NEEDS OF RESEARCH

• Navigate, Analyze, Synthesize

• Open Research/Continuous Scholarly

Communication

• Scholarly Products to Scholarly Process

• Expertise Databases/Subject Ontologies

• Data Management Consulting

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS

The library is being driven by five fundamental shifts. Primal

innovation: creativity as an essential component of our organizational and individual DNA. Radical collaboration: new, drastic, sweeping and energetic combinations across and outside libraries. Deconstruction: taking apart traditional axioms and norms, removing the incoherence of current concepts and models, and evolving new approaches and styles. Survival: persistence and adaptation which focuses more on the

“human” objectives of our users, that is success, productivity, progress, relationships, experiences, and impact. Particularism: deep

specialization and rich responsibilities in the face of rampant shared and open resources. How do we respond to these revolutionary trends through our shifting geography, our essential expertise, and our

advocacy of the public interest? How do we remain indispensable to the researcher?