LC NL 3_2B 6/1/05 9:38 AM Page 1 newsletternewsletter Volume 3 ■ VNumberolume 1 2 ■ ■ NumberJune 2005 1 ■ ■ ISSN:April 20031549-3725 In this Issue Welcome features Dear Colleagues, 2-3 Changes for Librarians It gives me great pleasure to introduce this issue of 4-6 Embracing Change at Singapore’s Library Connect, writing in late May from my Oxford office Newest Polytechnic Library where, outside the window, February and June weather seem to 8-9 Special Libraries Association be competing for dominance with intermittent gales wreaking Launches CLICK University havoc on the tree blossom. All in all a typical British spring! Michael Mabe research watch If the seasons are telling us that change is in the air, publishers and librarians can be in no doubt that change has been the order of the day for a 7 Leadership: The More We Know number of years. This forms one of the main themes of this issue of Library Connect. the More We Need to Know Bas Savenije of Utrecht University looks at the changing role of libraries and librarians center of attention in the increasingly digital universe, while Celestine Lau embraces some revolutionary technological and cultural changes in her Singapore Republic Polytechnic Library 10-11 Five Quick Questions for Bernard Aleva, where encouraging readers to talk means saying “Shhh!” is a thing of the past. At Managing Director, Engineering, Elsevier, Netherlands times of great change we all yearn for direction and guidance, so it seems entirely appropriate that the other theme of this issue is on leadership in the library world, 10-11 Researchers Speak Up: I appreciate with a fascinating article by Peter Hernon of Simmons College, Boston. libraries because . Although most of my time at Elsevier is devoted to dialogue with scholars, their community connections research funders and institutions, I also attend conferences in Europe and the US 12-13 Success Story: RSS Moves into the where librarians, publishers, vendors and scholars meet on common ground. My Mainstream at the University of main interest as a researcher and commentator is in encouraging a deeper and wider Alberta Libraries understanding by all involved parties of the forces that govern scholarly communication. Many of you may have heard me speak (or read articles I've written) about these 13 Ask UCD: Should my library staff have some usability experience? matters at the Charleston Library Conference, our own Library Connect seminars or other occasions. What strikes me above all is the continuing need for communication behind the scenes whether it be face-to-face, electronically or in print. I hope you will feel as I do that the Elsevier Librarians Speak Up: How does your Library Connect program and these newsletters are a major contribution to 14-15 background as a librarian help you and your furthering that essential dialogue. colleagues improve customer focus at Elsevier? As E. M. Forster wrote in Howard’s End (although probably not with us in mind): 19 Full Moon “Connect, . only connect.” on the road Best Wishes, 16-17 On the Road in Brazil, China, France, Italy and the US 18 MLA from the Inside Out Michael A. Mabe staying connected Director of Academic Relations, Elsevier, Oxford, UK Visiting Professor, Information Science, City University, London, UK 20 Upcoming Events Library Connect Practical Assistance Pamphlets 1 15 Ways to Promote Effective Use of Online Resources Coming Soon! 2 How to Get Published in LIS journals: A Practical Guide 8 Library Marketing Resources: An Annotated Bibliography 3 15 Ways to Support Your Authors 4 Ways to Use Journal Articles Published by Elsevier 5 How to Design Library Web Sites to Maximize Usability Library Connect pamphlets are available online or in print from the Elsevier booth at upcoming How Libraries Are Training Users on E-resources: Best Practices 6 conferences (see page 20). What Counts and What Doesn't? An Insider's Guide to Usage Reports 7 www.elsevier.com/libraryconnect Library Connect Editorial Office ● 525 B Street, Suite 1900, San Diego, CA 92101, USA ● Phone: +1-619-699-6379 ● Fax +1-619-699-6380 ● [email protected] LC NL 3_2B 6/1/05 9:38 AM Page 2 FEATURES Changes for Librarians Developments in technology and resulting irrespective of the location where that changes in user behavior are transforming information is physically stored. Of course, both the library and publishing worlds. libraries still buy books. But the number Founded in 1584, Utrecht University of books bought is decreasing annually, Library is older than the university it as is the number of books circulated. serves. Library Connect invited Bas Savenije, With the majority of scholarly journals the university’s librarian to share his Bas Savenije now electronically available, many thoughts on some of the many recent libraries are cancelling print subscriptions changes and their implications for the its physical collection. They want to in favor of electronic access. In addition, library and its staff. search, retrieve and process information, a growing number of peer-reviewed and they need computer facilities to do journals are available without a Bas Savenije, University Librarian, Utrecht so. Consequently, the library building is subscription fee as a result of the University, Utrecht, Netherlands becoming a learning resource center. worldwide Open Access movement. Back office processes and However, libraries are not restricting The changing role of libraries financial issues themselves to simply providing access. O ver the past few decades developments It is also their task to provide additional Back office processes such as selection in information technology have brought services. They provide search facilities and acquisition are changing dramatically. many changes to university library enabling users to search simultaneously To a large extent, these processes are services and infrastructure. in journal packages from multiple being replaced by license negotiations. The financial aspects of licenses differ The first wave of library computerization publishers. They develop personal alerting systems according to profiles greatly from traditional subscriptions, took place in the seventies. Manual making it necessary to develop new back-room activities, such as acquisition, defined by users themselves. They select (often with the help of research financial models for the distribution distribution and cataloguing, became of costs within the university. computer-controlled activities. This groups) the relevant open access period also saw the introduction of resources for each user group. They Where printed journals are replaced various electronic databases and the develop portals to help users search by electronic ones, the handling of online public access catalogue (OPAC). and organize information sources documents is also changing. A rational relevant to their analysis of the workflow processes work. And they give Finding themselves in a competitive involved will be necessary before advice whenever it libraries understand how to manage “environment, libraries are encouraged to innovate is needed. this particular change efficiently. outside traditional library functions to maintain In providing all of Competition their competitive advantage. these services and working to inte- Out of the blue, libraries are suddenly faced with competition. Publishers are During the second wave of library grate them with research and learning, ” libraries continue to facilitate universi- developing services directly for end computerization, which began in the users. Google has developed Google nineties, the focus was on the deployment ties’ primary processes. Scholar: a search engine directed of computer networks providing access towards scholarly information. However, to remote electronic information. Since Some important implications the library’s competitive advantage then, access to electronic information is for the library remains knowledge of research and no longer limited to so-called secondary learning, and direct contacts with faculty information. Primary information has Buildings and students. This should enable also become available electronically. libraries to create added value around On the one hand faculty are visiting the new and existing information sources In this new electronic world one library building less and less frequently. in the form of services tailored to each far-reaching consequence is the In STM disciplines especially, faculty specific target group. decreasing prominence of the library’s rely heavily on journals which are now physical collection and the corresponding electronically available. On the other Innovation increase in the importance of information hand, large numbers of students still Finding themselves in a competitive reference. The library is becoming a visit the library, but their reason for environment, libraries are encouraged gateway, referring users to information doing this is no longer primarily to use to innovate outside traditional library 2 LC NL 3_2B 6/1/05 9:38 AM Page 3 FEATURES As the library is constantly changing, a “different kind of manager is needed: one who is About Utrecht University Library able to both create and implement change. Utrecht University Library (UBU), founded in 1584, is an umbrella functions to maintain their competitive also for new” developments. Libraries organization of Utrecht University advantage. A good example of this is often use open source software (for Libraries. Part of the library is the creation of institutional repositories: