University Libraries and Digital Learning Environments

Citation

Toland, E. (2012), "University Libraries and Digital Learning Environments", Library Review, Vol. 61 No. 1, pp. 60-61. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242531211207442

As digital technology continues to advance, libraries are increasingly caught up in the ICT revolution which presents challenges in developing new ways of working. This set of papers aims to describe how university libraries are currently responding to the challenges and how they might respond in the future.

The book starts with a broad overview based on current practice and ends with a future vision. In between there are fourteen chapters dealing with a range of specialist digital services and resources. Although all of the contributors have different voices, there is a central argument coming through – that technological change offers libraries opportunities to develop in new and exciting ways and librarians are well‐placed to maximise these.

This positive stance is exemplified by a number of key papers. In a broad ranging introductory chapter, McKnight observes that academic libraries have always faced up to technological changes, building positively on the challenges of each new era. She argues that the library can continue to hold its position at the centre of the university, but recognises that library staff will need to show continuing resilience, adaptability and creativity in doing more with fewer resources. Da Costa suggests that one of the roles that library professionals need to expand upon relates to helping students develop information literacy skills. Students now arrive at university with well‐developed technological skills. However, this apparent boon masks serious problems in finding and processing information; students spend a lot of time locating information but little time in reading and evaluation. Da Costa argues that librarians should play a major role in developing appropriate search strategies and evaluation on the part of students.

Walker takes up a question posed by McKnight regarding whether in the future libraries need to be an actual physical space, or can merely exist as a virtual environment. On the basis of a set of case studies she shows that by developing innovative learning spaces and support services, the physical library can still be central to learning, teaching and research in HE institutions in the digital age.

In a discussion on the current status and future of digital repositories, Swan provides a comprehensive account of technical, cultural and policy issues and outlines barriers to further developments in the field. She identifies several aspects of repository management that need to be addressed in order to allow institutional repositories to achieve their full potential. These include copyright and licensing issues, levels of engagement with researchers, data curation and exploring new means of interoperability, e.g. the SWORD protocol. In a complementary chapter on repositories, Holland and Denning show how some of these issues can be taken forward by presenting a report on two case studies illustrating successful implementation.

In the final paper, Ball looks ahead to further developments in digital libraries and the provision of e‐resources. He points out that before the digital age, each university library tried to amass a collection of the print outputs of other universities to make these available to scholars and students. This was an impossible task and very costly to attempt. The advent of digital repositories means that each university can now collect the research outputs of its own academics and make these available digitally to all. He also examines the information supply chain from creation to use, demonstrating how electronic publishing has significantly altered this process. Ball argues that librarians should take advantage of the available technology to explore new ways of managing resource provision and access those which can benefit library users and the institution.

The topics and chapters discussed above are chosen to illustrate the main themes of the book. The remaining chapters deal with more specific topics including social media, virtual research environments, professional education, continuing professional development and virtual advice services. Although there is a general coherence, there are inconsistencies between some of the chapters. Geeson, for example, in a discussion of instant text messaging seems to be encouraging librarians to take a reactive role, using technology to give students immediate answers to queries. This is at odds with Da Costa's argument that what students need is not more speedy answers to questions, but to learn from library professionals how to ask the right questions in the first place and how to think critically about the information they receive.

Overall, the editors have struck an appropriate balance between general discussion of themes and coverage of specific aspects of digital learning environments. There are strong, authoritative overviews and a mix of more specific topics, all of which are highly relevant to the immediate future of the development of university libraries. In the case of a book dealing with the implications of changing technology when the rate of change is increasing, it is inevitable that a degree of obsolescence is built‐in to the text. However, despite this, the book is useful in affirming the skills of academic librarians and pointing to a wide range of development opportunities offered by advances in scholarly communication.