The Academic Research Library in a Decade of Change

245 Pages·2007·1.087 MB·English

by  Reg Carr (Auth.)

The Academic Research Library
in a Decade of Change
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The Academic Research Library
in a Decade of Change
R C
EG ARR
Chandos Publishing
Oxford · England
Chandos Publishing (Oxford) Limited
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Stanton Harcourt
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UK
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First published in Great Britain in 2007
ISBN:
978 1 84334 245 8 (paperback)
978 1 84334 246 5 (hardback)
1 84334 245 6 (paperback)
1 84334 246 4 (hardback)
© R. P. Carr, 2007
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The material contained in this publication constitutes general guidelines only and does not
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Development editor: Arnold Jones.
The cover design includes photographs of four university libraries: Manchester,
Cambridge, Leeds and Oxford. The photograph of Manchester (John Rylands Library) is
used courtesy of the University Librarian and Director, The John Rylands University
Library, The University of Manchester.
Typeset by Avocet Typeset, Chilton, Aylesbury, Bucks.
Printed in the UK and USA.
Printed in the UK by 4edge Limited - www.4edge.co.uk
For Dr Fred Ratcliffe, mentor and friend
– the doyen of British university librarians
Foreword
Timeliness is of the essence; and in the case of libraries, we
have been needing a book that takes us through the immense
changes of the last 10–15 years but that also looks forward
to what might emerge as the global information system
ultimately settles into a new pattern. Our particular age has
a strong tendency to exaggerate; but one must not underrate
the effect of information technology and the World Wide
Web on libraries. These technologies have genuinely
transformed libraries and have also been deeply disruptive
of traditional processes – although thankfully libraries still
retain their most important social characteristic of providing
an environment where scholars and students can read and
reflect.
Every librarian and every country has grappled with the
implications of the changes, and Reg Carr is ideally placed
to provide an overview of the efforts made to come to terms
with them. He has been one of the major players around the
world, and for most of the period has also led one of the
world’s great university libraries.
These changes need to be seen in the context of a world
where information has become a much more important
commodity, where university research and development is
now seen by governments as critical to a nation’s future
wellbeing, and where there has been a major expansion in
the numbers attending university. In parallel with all this,
the World Wide Web has come to offer a means of
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The Academic Research Library in a Decade of Change
disseminating knowledge which was unforeseen a
generation ago. Libraries are in some sense caught in the
middle of this scene. Their critical role in teaching continues
unabated and, indeed, is probably more, rather than less,
important at this time. But their role as the principal
repository of research information is being changed
profoundly; indeed, we are only in the midst of this
particular aspect of the ‘library revolution’.
What should countries do about these changes? The UK,
with Reg Carr as an ever-present element in developing the
responses, has seen itself at the forefront in seeking
solutions. But as this book demonstrates, there are many
issues that we have not resolved satisfactorily. One of these
is monetary: universities have not adequately reflected in
their budgets the increasing costs of providing information.
Another, and perhaps much more important, issue is
structural, in that university libraries – even the mighty
Bodleian – are comparatively small players, and so
cooperation and coordination have come to be
acknowledged as a key way forward.
The chapter headings indicate that it is these issues which
have dominated Reg Carr’s time in Oxford and his national
contributions: the digital age, modernising library processes,
cooperation and the financial strains. Looking forward, he
contemplates the deluge of information and the capacity of
the next generation of information technology to handle
vast amounts of information. But he ends where his book
begins – with the good old book in hand!
Professor Sir Brian K. Follett
Oxford, London, and Stratford-upon-Avon
x
About the author
Reg Carr has spent the whole of his professional career in
university libraries – in Manchester, Surrey, Birmingham,
Cambridge, Leeds and Oxford – and for the last two
decades he has occupied a position of leadership in the
academic research library world. He became Director of
University Library Services & Bodley’s Librarian in Oxford
in 1997, after serving for the previous ten years as University
Librarian at Leeds. During the 1990s he also served as
Secretary of the Consortium of University Research
Libraries (CURL), as Chair of the Standing Conference of
National and University Libraries (SCONUL), as a member
of the Board of the Joint Information Systems Committee
(JISC), and as the first non-North American Chair of the
Research Libraries Group (RLG). As the Director of one of
the world’s great research libraries during the last decade he
has played a significant part in shaping the global research
library agenda; and as Chair of JISC’s Committee on
Electronic Information (CEI) from 1998, he has been closely
involved with many of the national developments which
have defined and shaped the digital research library.
The author may be contacted via the publisher.
xi
Acknowledgements
Among the very large number of colleagues and friends with
whom I have had the pleasure and privilege of working over
the past decade on the various issues covered in this book, I
should like to express particular thanks to the following, for
reasons which they will best understand: Jo Agnew, Michael
Anderson, Mary Auckland, Chris Bailey, David Baker, Neil
Beagrie, Bahram Bekhradnia, Lynne Brindley, Sarah Catliff,
Alice Colban, Dave Cook, Michael Cunningham, Marilyn
Deegan, Lorcan Dempsey, Richard Ekman, Nancy
Elkington, Kim Erskine, Brian Follett, Peter Fox, Fred
Friend, Tony Hey, Nike Holmes, Robert Horton, Chris
Hunt, Alastair James, Clare Jenkins, Derek Law, Norbert
Lossau, Nigel Lovett, Cliff Lynch, Jim Michalko, Ronald
Milne, Richard Ovenden, Malcolm Read, Laurence
Reynolds, Chris Rusbridge, Bill Simpson, Chris Skarakis,
Paul Slack, John Tuck, David Vaisey, and Don Waters.
I am grateful also to Glyn Jones, of Chandos Publishing,
for stimulating me to write this book.
xiii
Introduction
Looking back at the many issues affecting the development
of academic research libraries over the last decade, it seems
clear that the last ten years have been a period of faster,
greater and more continuous change than has ever before
been experienced in the long history of the libraries that lie
at the heart of academic research institutions. It is perfectly
possible, of course, that the next few years may bring even
more dramatic developments; but those who have worked in
academic research libraries since the mid-1990s have been
through a time of ‘white water’ change such as none of their
predecessors ever knew. This book sets itself the task of
conveying at least some sense of that extraordinary
experience.
In 1987, the writer published (with James Thompson) the
fourth edition of An Introduction to University Library
Administration (London, Clive Bingley). But things have
moved on so far and so fast in the 20 years since the writing
of that monograph – which served for a time as a standard
text in library and information schools – that it now looks
like a museum piece. In some respects, therefore, the present
volume may be seen as fulfilling at least part of the function
of an updated (though very different) version of that earlier
title.
Since 1997, the writer has been privileged to be
responsible for the direction of one of the leading research
libraries of the UK; and the views expressed in the chapters
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