When we commissioned the authors to write for our book we anticipated that these practitioners, operating at the forefront of their respective fields, would stimulate and

provoke debate about academic libraries now and in the future. When we read the chapters as they were delivered we were not disappointed. We hope the reader will be

struck by two seemingly disparate aspects of their content. On the one hand each chapter is highly individual, not only in style and content, but also in approach and reflection. On the other hand common themes emerge: notably the opportunity afforded by technology (especially mobile technology), the importance of training and development for library staff, and evaluation, as well as the interdependence of teaching and research and the role technology plays in bringing these even closer together. To

focus these synergies and differences we decided to use word clouds to introduce each chapter. As we ran each chapter through Wordle[1] we saw themes and patterns

emerging; we hope that readers of the book will find this a useful and stimulating contribution to each chapter and the book as a whole. A word cloud for the entire book

has been created for the cover, demonstrating in a very graphic way the breadth and depth of the content

Beard, Jill

Dale, Penny

Holland, Matt

English

Bournemouth University Research Online

Editors’ IntroductionPenny Dale, Jill Beard and Matt HollandWhen we commissioned the authors to write for our book we anticipated that thesepractitioners, operating at the forefront of their respective fields, would stimulate andprovoke debate about academic libraries now and in the future. When we read thechapters as they were delivered we were not disappointed. We hope the reader will bestruck by two seemingly disparate aspects of their content. On the one hand eachchapter is highly individual, not only in style and content, but also in approach andreflection. On the other hand common themes emerge: notably the opportunity affordedby technology (especially mobile technology), the importance of training anddevelopment for library staff, and evaluation, as well as the interdependence of teachingand research and the role technology plays in bringing these even closer together. Tofocus these synergies and differences we decided to use word clouds to introduce eachchapter. As we ran each chapter through Wordle[1] we saw themes and patternsemerging; we hope that readers of the book will find this a useful and stimulatingcontribution to each chapter and the book as a whole. A word cloud for the entire bookhas been created for the cover, demonstrating in a very graphic way the breadth anddepth of the content.This opening chapter by Sue McKnight describes the significant role that academiclibraries have in creating, supporting and participating in digital learning environments,today and into the future. Throughout the book the contributing authors reflect from awide range of viewpoints both where academic library services are today, and how theywill deal with the challenges ahead to ensure that academic libraries remain a reality inthe world of digital learning environments.Sue highlights one of the central themes to emerge from this book, that of the pivotal roleof staff working in our academic libraries. She identifies that the greatest challenge willbe changing the mindsets of those staff and capitalising on the fact that academiclibrarians are blended professionals, with multi-faceted skills and responsibilities thattranscend the physical and virtual library. As more and more learning becomessupported by blended and online modes of delivery, librarians have to move out of theirtraditional roles and engage not only in the virtual learning environment (VLE) and thepost-VLE environment, but also the physical and virtual library. These skilled staff willdevelop new ways of working and new partnerships. The future will not recognise the siloof the academic library, or an academic library and information technology convergedservice. The library’s services, its staff and the resources that it manages and deliverswill engage across the campus and be embedded into the curriculum and theadministration of our universities.Other contributors return to the theme of staff development throughout the book, notablySheila Corrall in Chapters 4 and 15,  and we have been heartened by the breadth anddepth of the recognition of this important topic.Peter Godwin gives his chapter a provocative title to focus on the phenomenon knownas Web 2.0, now often referred to as social media. Peter gives a fascinating insight intothe opportunities, and possible pitfalls, of Web 2.0 and leaves the reader to ponder whatwill happen when social media merge with mobile technology. The release of the AppleiPad in spring 2010, just as this book was being completed, is perhaps just a foretaste ofwhat is to come with one device for accessing, communicating and creating content. AsPeter points out, the increasing move to electronic publications has caused variousvoices to raise doubts over the need for physical library buildings in the future.  Yetdespite the move to e-resources the higher education sector has continued to invest in itslibrary buildings, understanding the continuing relevance of the physical library in the21st century. The impact of mobile technologies as we move beyond the VLE and theeffects of economic down- turns will undoubtedly cause further re-evaluation and debate.Liz Waller expands on this theme in Chapter 5.Jacqui Weetman DaCosta provides both a comprehensive overview of informationliteracy in digital learning environments, and an exploration of the role of informationliteracy within digital environments. Some common definitions of ‘digital literacy’ areoffered, along with a comparison to ‘information literacy’ and she discusses the digitallibrary and its relationship to information literacy.  The chapter reviews opportunities forinformation literacy development in academic libraries and the different ways in whichthese are practised in digital learning environments. Jacqui also considers staffdevelopment to enhance staff skills in information literacy and teaching.  The chapterconcludes with a review of recent digital initiatives and reports and the role thatinformation literacy has (or has not) played in them.In Chapter 4 Sheila Corrall discusses professional education, and the skills andknowledge needed to deliver successful library services in an increasingly digital world.She points out that professional education for library and information work is affected bynumerous influences in the general global environment in addition to developmentswithin our own education sector and in professional practice. She considers key driversand themes including internationalisation, interdisciplinarity, technology and theeconomy. This chapter also describes contemporary trends in library education both inthe UK and in the US.To inform the discussion on physical space, Liz Waller’s review uses four case studiesat the Universities of Warwick, Edinburgh, Leicester and Nottingham Trent that in manyways summarise building and design trends in the United Kingdom during the firstdecade of the 21st Century. Liz observes that what has become evident through thesedevelopments is a strategic response to specific institutional contexts. Institutions are notgeneric clones of each other; each institution learns from earlier examples and followingcustomer consultation develops a space response to fit their own needs.Liz concludes that evaluation of our learning spaces will be essential in ensuring that thespaces delivered within our libraries are contributing to the institutional mission,improving learning and research. In this area the JISC funded Study of EffectiveEvaluation Models and Practices for Technology Supported Physical Learning Spacesproject (JELS) sought to identify and review the tools, methods and frameworks used toevaluate technology supported or enhanced physical learning spaces. Liz makes thepoint that evaluation is an area in which the library sector will need to develop further inthe immediate future; there is further detailed discussion of evaluation in Chapter 13 byAngela Conyers and Philip Payne.Rachel Geeson’s chapter blends the physical and virtual environments and looks atservice delivery. Specifically she considers the issues involved with implementing andrunning a chat enquiry service, from choosing an appropriate product to staff training andpublicity. The experiences of a number of UK Higher Education Institutions currentlyoffering chat enquiry services are discussed at various stages. Aspects of moreadvanced use, such as web ‘co-browsing’ and virtual advice by appointment are alsoincluded. The chapter closes by considering what the future holds for virtual adviceservices and the potential impact of the growth in mobile technologies. The outcome ofthe proliferation of mobile technologies will surely be a step change in how wecommunicate with all our library users in the future.The continuing role of the academic library supporting learning, teaching and research isby no means a foregone conclusion. This chapter by Penny Dale and Jill Beard looks atsome examples from library history of services that have vanished because they havefailed to respond to changes in user demands and expectations. It considers what theterm ‘reading for a degree’ means in digital learning environments and looks at thepartnerships needed to support students.Reading lists have long been synonymous with printed books and journals. The authorstake the experience at BU, where changes to the Copyright Licensing Agency rules haveenabled book chapters and journal articles to be scanned and made available at unitlevel. This has enabled other enhancements to the blended learning environment tohappen, for example the short loan collection to be replaced by more study spaces, andacademic staff have been more involved with the possibilities of the digital library.The next three chapters focus on research, and begin with a contribution by AlmaSwan on institutional repositories (IRs). Alma points out that IRs are becoming essentialtools for universities, to enhance the visibility and impact of their research on a nationaland international stage.Alma identifies advantages for institutions in implementing IRs. If the whole researchoutput is collected in the repository, then it becomes part of the university’s managementinformation system. Managers can see what is being produced, by whom, when, andwhere outputs are being formally published. Such analysis informs future planningactivities and budget allocation decisions of research managers. In countries such as theUK, where there are national research assessment processes, repositories will provide abase layer of data to underpin research assessments.There is a broader vision to explore as well. Repositories will form the data layer of thefuture – the layer where research articles, datasets and other digital items that supportresearch will be located. This system will support the e-research (or e-science) agenda,facilitating the sharing of research data and their curation and preservation. New serviceswill work on this data layer, aggregating, analysing and disseminating content, andproviding researchers with the means to organise and display their own content in newways.Alma reflects on progress so far in technical, cultural and policy areas, discussing thebarriers that have already been surmounted and those that threaten future progress.Matt Holland and Tim Denning continue the research theme and consider theimportance of IRs in support of research, focussing on three areas; how the IR fits withthe university organisation; how to promote the use of the IR to end users andcontributors; and how to secure long term benefits for the broadest range ofstakeholders. They incorporate two short case studies into the discussion, and include adescription of the implementation of Bournemouth University Research Online (BURO).Virtual research environments (VREs) are the subject of the next chapter by MelissaTerras, Claire Ross and Claire Warwick. Recent developments in online resourceshave led to the establishment of VREs: suites of applications, services, and resourceswhich aim to enhance the research process by aiding scholars to carry out a range ofcomplex research activities. The definition and concept of what constitutes a VREcontinues to evolve, as developers attempt to create flexible and adaptable frameworksof resources to support both large and small scale research across a variety ofdisciplines. VREs are often integrated with digital library and virtual learningenvironments (VLEs), to allow users to analyse and manipulate existing digital researchdata.To ensure the success of VREs, it is essential that developers liaise closely with the usercommunity they are providing services for. This chapter discusses the potentials inherentin VRE technology, whilst addressing the relationship that such environments have totheir users. A case study involving the JISC funded Virtual Research Environment forArchaeology (VERA) project is presented to demonstrate that close integration with therelevant community is crucial if a VRE is to provide computational tools that reflectresearch practice. This chapter also stresses the necessity to include users into asystems design process, and highlights the opportunities that exist for librarians tobecome more involved in the creation, management, and curation of VREs and theirrelated research data.Moving from the space, students and research agenda in HE to supporting degree levelstudents in Further Education (FE), Jane Russ reminds us that the concept of studying aHigher Education programme at a Further Education Institution (FEI) in the UK is notnew. In partnership with Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), FEIs have been deliveringFoundation Degrees, the most recent manifestation of HE in FE, for nearly ten years.Many colleges are now delivering top-up programmes for their Foundation Degrees withconsiderable success. At Kingston Maurward College, for example, it is now possible insome disciplines for students to start College on a day release or a diploma programmeat 14 and continue to study at the College until they graduate with a BSc HonoursDegree. Many of these Foundation Degree and Honours graduates go on to find highlyspecialised professional careers or move on elsewhere to undertake postgraduatestudies.In the early days of Foundation Degrees, there was much discussion about thepracticalities of delivery, such as ensuring access to resources, and the more esotericaspects of delivery, such as the student perception of identity with the partner HEI.Libraries and Learning Resources Centres have always played a key role in thesediscussions.This chapter reviews briefly how many of the initial concerns relating to deliveringresources in the HE and FE environment have been tackled and, for the most part,overcome. It goes on to explore the opportunities and challenges faced by the emerginguse of virtual learning environments.International students are increasingly important to HE, and Frank Trew looks at thesupport offered to international students by library services at UK academic institutions,with some mention of services at US and Australian universities as points of comparison.He describes a range of projects and support services, and asks “What are we doing forinternational students?” During the course of the research for this chapter Frank foundhimself confronted by the question “Why are we doing it?” and writes about thisexperience, and his changing thoughts on an answer to that question.The book returns to one of the themes identified in the opening chapter and referred toby several other contributors, that of evaluation and performance measurement. AngelaConyers and Philip Payne agree that libraries and their services to support learning andteaching are being transformed as dependence increases on electronic resources. Theyobserve that previous perspectives on library quality are being challenged in the searchfor new measures of use and performance.  The rapid transition for libraries in the digitalworld calls for a stronger evidence base to inform change management.As we invest increasing sums in e-services and digital infrastructure, we need to knowthat this represents value for money. This chapter considers such questions as: How canwe show that our services are cost-effective? What e-measures exist and how can weuse them to evaluate the library’s performance? How do e-measures differ fromtraditional input and output measures for libraries? The student experience, and thestudent perspective, are increasingly important to our institutions.  In a student-centredenvironment, it is not just about finding out whether students are happy with our services(although this is important). It is increasingly a matter of how we can involve students andstaff in the design and development of services and gather their perspectives on what weare doing.Measurement of cost-effectiveness and satisfaction are valuable to us in managing ourlibraries. However, there is an increasing pressure for libraries to demonstrate theirimpact. Angela and Philip ask what approaches and methods can be adopted to help usshow that our performance in the digital age makes a direct contribution to learning andteaching.The possibilities of the digital future require new models for procurement, innovation andexploitation. Emma Crowley and Chris Spencer describe the skills staff need to deliverresources in hybrid and digital environments. The chapter demonstrates the innovativeways that librarians use to procure and exploit the wealth of resources available in adigital world. They also describe the technological developments that can be adopted toimprove workflow processes and they highlight the challenges faced on this fascinatingjourney.We end with two chapters that look to the future. Staff development has been a recurrenttheme of this book and in her second chapter Sheila Corrall discusses continuingprofessional development (CPD) and workplace learning in electronic environments. Shepoints out that CPD has become even more important than before in the changing digitalenvironment as shown by the introduction by professional bodies of formal schemes forrecording progress. Information schools are offering both open programmes andbespoke courses to meet needs for updating and training in new specialties, andemployers and practitioners are using a variety of methods to meet their ongoingeducational and development needs.  Work-based learning, leadership developmentprogrammes and on-the-job learning in the workplace are now recognised as convenient,cost-effective and flexible methods that can be offered to staff at all levels.Mentoring schemes, reflective writing and portfolio building have also become morecommon as their value has been demonstrated through formal incorporation intoprofessional qualifications and active promotion through supporting workshops. Severalof our contributors have identified the vital role that staff training and development has inthe digital future, and this chapter shows the reader some excellent examples of what isbeing done, giving some pointers for provision needs in the near future.Finally David Ball quotes from Karl Marx to challenge views about the third ICTrevolution.  He signposts that we are on the threshold of the third, electronic ICTrevolution and that its effects will be as fundamental as those of the previous revolution –the invention of printing.The links in the information value chain are discussed – creation, publication,aggregation, access and use – with a particular focus on the differences between printand electronic formats for scholarly communication.  There follows an analysis of thecosts of scholarly communication through journals and monographs, and of the trends inpricing and negotiation, particularly the effect of the big deal.  It is noted that the largestcost is in the time of users of information, not in subscriptions: savings here could faroutweigh any potential savings through big deals. David points out that the electronic age has the potential to turn academic librarypractice on its head: a library will collect all the research outputs of its own scholars, andmake them available to the wider academic community, instead of collecting, storing anddisseminating the research outputs of other universities. He highlights a number ofmeasures to facilitate change, particularly in terms of repositories and open accessjournals.In our opening remarks we anticipated that the practitioners we had asked to contributeto our book would stimulate and provoke debate about academic libraries now and in thefuture.  We hope the result presents the reader with an exciting journey through thedevelopment of the digital learning environments in academic libraries, and a clearervision of the immediate future.  Along this journey we hope readers will find many pointsof reflection and debate to inform their practice now and into the future.------------------------------------[1] http://www.wordle.net/

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