Introducing The Source
Trends in the Finances of UK Higher Education Libraries: 1999-2009 (Note: PDF)From the Research Information Network (RIN) website
The last decade has been a period of unprecedented change for university libraries. The rapid growth in numbers of students and staff across the higher education sector has been accompanied by the move to a substantially digital environment, with some fundamental changes in how libraries and their users operate.
As they have responded to new developments over the past decade, and changed their operations, most university libraries have seen continued growth in their budgets in real terms. The next few years are going to be much more difficult in financial terms. Libraries therefore face a period in which they will have to cope with continued rapid, perhaps transformational, change, accompanied by reductions in their budgets.
Overall, this briefing presents a picture in which library expenditure has been rising in real terms, but not as fast as expenditure - and activity - in the HE sector as a whole. So libraries face some real challenges as they prepare for a more difficult financial climate, with real and substantial cuts in expenditure.
The Value of Academic Libraries: A Comprehensive Research Review and Report (Note: PDF)
From the American Library Association (ALA) website
Academic libraries have long enjoyed their status as the “heart of the university.” However, in recent decades, higher education environments have changed. Government officials see higher education as a national resource. Employers view higher education institutions as producers of a commodity - student learning. Top academic faculty expect higher education institutions to support and promote cutting-edge research. Parents and students expect higher education to enhance students’ collegiate experience, as well as propel their career placement and earning potential. Not only do stakeholders count on higher education institutions to achieve these goals, they also require them to demonstrate evidence that they have achieved them. The same is true for academic libraries; they too can provide evidence of their value. Community college, college, and university librarians no longer can rely on their stakeholders’ belief in their importance. Rather, they must demonstrate their value.
Museums, Libraries, and 21st Century Skills (Note: PDF)
From the Institute of Museum and Library Services website
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has an aggressive research programme dedicated to providing cutting-edge information about the trends in library services and other matters. This report is intended to "support museums and public libraries in envisioning and defining their roles as institutions of learning in the 21st century." To achieve this goal, this report brings together case studies of successful 21st century projects at different institutions, outlining a "vision for the role of libraries and museums in the national dialogue around learning and 21st century skills." Along with the main report and the case studies, the report also includes a self-assessment tool, which allows museums and libraries to determine where they fit on the continuum of 21st century skills operations and programming.
School Libraries: A plan for improvement
From the Museums, Libraries and Archives (MLA) website
Whilst effective school libraries form a vital part of every child's education, enabling them to greater attainment; many school libraries are under-utilised resources, which are not embedded into the school's infrastructure and fall short of fulfilling their potential. These are the key findings in this School Library Commission report.
It is critical that all the resources available to support pupil achievement are being targeted effectively and used efficiently. The research for this report has demonstrated the powerful role a high performing school library and schools library service plays in raising pupils’ literacy levels and improving their access to knowledge. Young people who read above the expected level for their age are twice as likely as young people who read below their age to be school library users (77.7% as opposed to 35.9%). This link is not necessarily causal but it does suggest that if school libraries do not perform to the highest level there will be significant implications for pupil achievement. Cuts to schools library services will exacerbate this problem. What this Commission has established is that in many schools the school library is a wasted resource, poorly embedded in the infrastructure of the school:
- encouraging reading for pleasure but resistant to “teaching” literacy and phonics
- absent from school development plans, official guidance and inspection frameworks
- staffed (in one third of primary school libraries) by people who have no specialist knowledge of children’s literature
QR Codes – using mobile phones to deliver library instruction and help at the point of need
From the Loughborough University Library Open Journals website
With the rise of smartphones that contain integrated GPS (Global Positioning System) chips, increasing numbers of devices are aware of their own location. For most libraries, however, taking advantage of this functionality to introduce services which “augment reality”, that is overlay physical reality with a virtual layer of information in users own devices, is unfeasible.
An easier alternative to full augmented reality is to use QR (Quick Response) codes in places that link to location or context appropriate information and resources, using information embedded in the codes that is translated and acted upon by a mobile device such as camera phone. QR (Quick Response) codes are matrix codes, like two dimensional bar codes, that are easily readable by the majority of camera phones using a freely downloadable or occasionally pre-installed application.
Meeting Australia's research workforce needs (Note: PDF)
From the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Australia website
The paper identifies issues influencing Australia’s capacity to produce the quantity, breadth and depth of research-qualified individuals it requires and to provide viable and productive career pathways to its researchers. Issues are organised under the following broad themes:
- Employer demand for researchers
- Supply of researchers to Australia
- Research career pathways
The paper then proposes a set of priority focus areas and related actions for Australia to enhance its research workforce over the coming decade. Specific consultation questions are posed throughout the paper on which all stakeholder views are sought (government, public and private sector research employers, research training providers, individual researchers, students, relevant peak bodies, unions and other interest or advocacy groups).
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