Jason Vaughn.
Library Hi Tech 2005 V 23 Issue 1 pp 34-49.
I had a lot of trouble accessing this article. The link on the syllabus landed me on emerald. I registered with emerald, paid the money on my card, and then their server was unavailable each time I tried. I tried again the next day and they allowed me to sign in, but kept asking me to register when I already had.
Thank goodness for our TAs! Wan-Yin Hong responded promptly to me twice and led me to the right place. Thank you!
I am incredulous that I had to pay $35.50 to read this article. I understand the debate of information online and ownership of information. Still, I cannot justify that this was money well-spent.
That being said, I enjoyed reading Mr. Vaughn's article.
A unique and cutting edge technologically based academic library, led by an imaginative and energetic leader, created and pulled off an amazing feat, and it sounds like they have been on top of the many changes that necessarily come with a library which focuses on technology.
Lied Library seems to be an example of the library of the future which we have been reading about thus far. Librarians spent far less time shelving books, and many hours installing, rotating and updating computer software.
It seems there is a pull between wanting to attract as many people to the library as possible, and a need to curtail public use for the sake of the student body members, whose tuition supports the library.
Lied Library reads as an ultimately fragile place with a huge overhead. Not only do they have to replace PCs every 3 years and servers and printers nearly as often, technology has increased the library's need for paid staff.
Vaughn writes that he hopes the funding for the library is present in the future. Without huge amounts of funding, Lied Library would collapse into itself very quickly.
Maybe now I am understanding more the need to charge over $35 for the privilege or reading 15 pages about the set-up and initial stages of evolution of a technological behemoth.
1 comment:
Hi Maggie -- I am also interested in public vs. student usage at places like the Lied Library. The students are the source of the library's funding, of course, but it seems like a library has a responsibility to the local community as well. I know access for non-students varies from school to school; I wonder if there are any consistent standards for the minimum public access to academic libraries (at least among public schools).
Also, I had a lot of trouble getting to the article at first too, but after a lot of trial and error I managed to get to it without paying any money. The technical forums on courseweb were helpful. I logged onto the remote library access, went to the list of journals, looked up the Emerald database, and then looked up the appropriate issue of Library Hi Tech.
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