October 20, 2013
[templelib] James Neal, Columbia University
At Temple University’s symposium in honor of the inauguration of the University’s new president, on Oct. 18, 2013.
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NOTE: Live-blogging. Getting things wrong. Missing points. Omitting key information. Introducing artificial choppiness. Over-emphasizing small matters. Paraphrasing badly. Not running a spellpchecker. Mangling other people’s ideas and words. You are warned, people. |
Jim Neal, University Librarian [so cool!] at Columbia Univ., begins by noting that Bill Withers uses “I know” 26 times in “There Ain’t no Sunshine When She’s Gone.” Jim knows 26 things about libraries, he tells us. [Jim speaks quickly. He elaborates each of these. I can’t get it all.]
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We must build a national broadband information infrastructure. The library community has to be at the table.
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Identity management
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Build the digital library
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Mine the information
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Content mgt gateways for discovery, supporting different types of workflows.
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Preserve and archive the content
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Integrate Web 3.0: social network, collective intelligence, software as service
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Enhance student experience
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Support course management systems. “MOOCS cannot be successful without libraries at the table.”
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Support faculty
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Support Big Science
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Transform scholarly publishing
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Advance open source, open standards, open archives, open linking, open knowledge, Open Access
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Managing repositories. Persistence and version control.
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Support policies
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Fight the copyright wars. Support Fair Use.
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Develop new markets and products. Inculcate a competitive attitude.
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Work globally
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Respond to user expectations
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Accountability and responsibility
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Rethink library space planning. Start with the user, not the collection. Create a playground, not a sanctuary.
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New collaborations
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Develop the library workforce with new recruitment and development strategies
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New organizational models that move away from hierarchies, to a loosely coupled organization.
“This is a massive strategic agenda,” Jim acknowledges. Academic libraries have to pursue risk and experimentation at their core. We have to radicalize library sharing, moving beyond Kumbiyah.
He cites Mel Brooks’ History of the World, Part 1. Brooks comes down from the mountain with three tablets:
Jim gives us his own five lost commandments:
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Value libraries.
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Preserve our freedoms.
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Embrace your human objectives.
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Advance the revolution.
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Care about each other.
