Transformational Change in Health Sciences Libraries: Space, Collections, Roles.
Websites and Bibliography
Websites
- The Future of Libraries: Beginning the Great Transformation
proposed by Thomas Frey, the Executive Director of the DaVinci Institute - Trends and recommendations
Taiga 4 Provacative Statements presented at ALA 2/20/09
- Library as Place: Rethinking Roles, Rethinking Space
Council on Library and Information Resources (2005)
Contents: The Library as Place: Changes in Learning Patterns, Collections, Technology, and Use by Geoffrey T. Freeman
Righting the Balance by Scott Bennett
From the Ashes of Alexandria: What’s Happening in the College Library? by Sam Demas
The Ultimate Internet Café: Reflections of a Practicing Digital Humanist about Designing a Future for the Research Library in the Digital Age by Bernard Frischer
Space Designed for Lifelong Learning: The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Joint-Use Library by Christina A. Peterson
The Johns Hopkins Welch Medical Library as Base:
Information Professionals Working in Library User Environments by Kathleen Burr Oliver - Changing physical library space -Planning and design of new academic library. 11th European Conference of Medical and Health Libraries. June 2008 Finland.
Powerpoint presentation – Changes in technology ( more eresources) and changes in pedagogy (more collaborative process) are the causes for physical changes in libraries. Libraries should include conference rooms, seminar rooms, computer labs. Survey results indicated quiet study space is important. Premises are less important than customer service.
Additional Websites contributed by Suzanne Shultz
Director Hoover Library, Wellspan Health, York , Pa
- Survival of the Fittest: The Future of Hospital Librarians
Presentation by Ruth Holst at the ARISHL Meeting, June 18, 2003 - Harold B. Shill and Shawn Tonner. Creating a Better Place: Physical Improvements in Academic Libraries,1995-2002. Originally published in College and Research Libraries 64(6):431-466, 2003
- Harold B. Shill and Shawn Tonner. Does the Building Still Matter? Usage Patterns in New, Expanded, and Renovated Libraries, 1995-2002.Originally published in College and Research Libraries 65(2):123-150, 2004
- Libraries in the Digital Age. NLM Newsline, Spring 2005, Volume 60, Special. 19 pages
- “Information Behavior of the Researcher of the Future: a ciber briefing paper.” 11 January 2008
Bibliography
Note: links are to the PubMed or PubMed Central citations where available.
Adamson, M. C. and B. P. Bunnett (2002). "Planning library spaces to encourage collaboration." Journal of the Medical Library Association 90(4): 437-41.
Most librarians can give examples from their own experience in which a library's physical space was either ill suited to the work to be performed or, in some unfortunate cases, a genuine barrier to productivity. In an effort to correct or avoid these situations, planners of library renovations or new construction make pre-design studies of individual workers' tasks and workflow at the work-unit level. In this article, the authors discuss how a pre-design review of library and institutional values influenced the course of a library renovation. The identification of collaboration as the major theme of the library and the institution's strategic directions drove renovation decisions and resulted in a facility that supports and promotes this concept.
Beam, P. S., L. M. Schimming, et al. (2006). "The changing library: what clinicians need to know." Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine 73(6): 857-63.
Over the last two decades, changes in technology have allowed academic medical center libraries to bring the world of biomedical information to the physician's computer desktop. Because digital libraries have grown so rapidly and in so many ways, some clinicians may be uncertain about the services and resources that are available to them. This article explains how clinical faculty can best utilize their library to support their research and patient care. It addresses some of the most common myths about the "new" medical library, and it highlights innovations in library resources and services that can help physicians to better access, use and manage medical information.
Bennett S (2006) “The choice for learning.” Journal of Academic Librarianship 32 (1):3-13
We are building conventional library space without making the paradigm shift our digital environment requires. The chief obstacles to change lie in our conception of readers as information consumers, in our allegiance to library operations as the drivers of library design, and in the choice made between foundational and non-foundational views of knowledge. We have the choice of focusing on the delivery of electronic information and abandoning many of our claims on physical space or of designing library space for learning. The latter choice is illustrated by a thought experiment involving the reference desk.
Bowden, V. M. (1998). "Health sciences library building projects, 1996-1997 survey." Bulletin of the Medical Library Association 86(1): 46-56.
Nine building projects are briefly described, including four new libraries, two renovations, and three combined renovations and additions. The libraries range in size from 657 square feet to 136,832 square feet, with seating varying from 14 to 635. Three hospital libraries and four academic health sciences libraries are described in more detail. In each case an important consideration was the provision for computer access. Two of the libraries expanded their space for historical collections. Three of the libraries added mobile shelving as a way of storing print materials while providing space for other activities.
Bowden, V. M. (1999). "Health sciences library building projects, 1998 survey." Bulletin of the Medical Library Association 87(4): 415-36.
Twenty-eight health sciences library building projects are briefly described, including twelve new buildings and sixteen additions, remodelings, and renovations. The libraries range in size from 2,144 square feet to 190,000 gross square feet. Twelve libraries are described in detail. These include three hospital libraries, one information center sponsored by ten institutions, and eight academic health sciences libraries.
Byrd, G. D. and J. Shedlock (2003). "The Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries Annual Statistics: an exploratory twenty-five-year trend analysis." Journal of the Medical Library Association 91(2): 186-202.
This paper presents an exploratory trend analysis of the statistics published over the past twenty-four editions of the Annual Statistics of Medical School Libraries in the United States and Canada. The analysis focuses on the small subset of nineteen consistently collected data variables (out of 656 variables collected during the history of the survey) to provide a general picture of the growth and changing dimensions of services and resources provided by academic health sciences libraries over those two and one-half decades. The paper also analyzes survey response patterns for U.S. and Canadian medical school libraries, as well as osteopathic medical school libraries surveyed since 1987. The trends show steady, but not dramatic, increases in annual means for total volumes collected, expenditures for staff, collections and other operating costs, personnel numbers and salaries, interlibrary lending and borrowing, reference questions, and service hours. However, when controlled for inflation, most categories of expenditure have just managed to stay level. The exceptions have been expenditures for staff development and travel and for collections, which have both outpaced inflation. The fill rate for interlibrary lending requests has remained steady at about 75%, but the mean ratio of items lent to items borrowed has decreased by nearly 50%.
Campbell J. (2006) “Changing a Cultural Icon:The Academic Library as a Virtual Destination.” EDUCAUSE Review 41(1): 16–31. Services suggested “providing quality learning spaces; creating metadata; offering virtual reference services; teaching information literacy; choosing resources and managing resource licenses; collecting and digitizing archival materials; and maintaining digital repositories.”
Cain, T. J., R. L. Rodman, et al. (2005). "Managing knowledge and technology to foster innovation at the Ohio State University Medical Center." Academic Medicine 80(11): 1026-31.
Biomedical knowledge is expanding at an unprecedented rate-one that is unlikely to slow anytime in the future. While the volume and scope of this new knowledge poses significant organizational challenges, it creates tremendous opportunities to release and direct its power to the service of significant goals. The authors explain how the Center for Knowledge Management at The Ohio State University Medical Center, created during the academic year 2003-04, is doing just that by integrating numerous resource-intensive, technology-based initiatives-including personnel, services and infrastructure, digital repositories, data sets, mobile computing devices, high-tech patient simulators, computerized testing, and interactive multimedia-in a way that enables the center to provide information tailored to the needs of students, faculty and staff on the medical center campus and its surrounding health sciences colleges. The authors discuss how discovering, applying, and sharing new knowledge, information assets, and technologies in this way is a collaborative process. This process creates open-ended opportunities for innovation and a roadmap for working toward seamless integration, synergy, and substantial enhancement of the academic medical center's research, educational, and clinical mission areas.
Clemmons, N. W. and S. L. Clemmons (2005). "Five years later: medical reference in the 21st century." Medical Reference Services Quarterly 24(1): 1-18.
In 2000, three groups of health sciences librarians-new library school graduates, those currently working at a medical library, and medical library directors-were interviewed about the status and future of medical reference librarianship. Five years later this follow-up article summarizes the responses from many of the same librarians about the biggest changes, newest trends, evolving roles, challenges, and hopes for the future.
Funk, C. J. (1998). "Evolving roles of life and health sciences librarians for the twenty-first century." Bulletin of the Medical Library Association 86(3): 380-4.
The twenty-first century will provide exciting challenges for life and health sciences librarians that will force us to redefine our position in the world of information. This rapidly changing environment influences the profession in a variety of ways including whom we serve and through what service, how and where we practice librarianship, and even the very composition of the profession itself. We must look at the changes in society and make the appropriate reciprocal changes in how we educate future librarians, how we market the profession, and how we develop the profession as a whole. We, as life and health sciences librarians, need to meet these challenges head on in order to continue the evolution of the profession well into the twenty-first century.
Gray SA, Brower S, Munger H, Start A, White P.(2001) "Redefining reference in an academic health sciences library: planning for change." Medical Reference Services Quarterly 20(3):1-11.
Deciding that changes in the pattern of questions at the reference desk required focused consideration, the reference librarians at the Health Sciences Library of the University at Buffalo held a planning retreat. Technology-induced changes in the information-seeking behavior and reference needs of the library's clientele caused a reassessment of how these needs could best be met and what is the best use of librarians' time. The librarians considered current trends in reference in other academic libraries, the specific needs of the clientele of the Health Sciences Library, and the strengths and expertise of the library staff. The results of this structured discussion produced ideas for redefining reference to provide customized services for the clients and environment.
Hill, T. (2007). "Fear, concern, fate, and hope: survival of hospital libraries." Journal of the Medical Library Association 95(4): 371-3.
“Decision makers are asking, “Why have hospital libraries?” …libraries must communicate..the library's return on investment …. demonstrate hospital libraries contribute to excellent clinical care.”
Klein, M. S. and F. Ross (1997). "End-user searching: impetus for an expanding information management and technology role for the hospital librarian." Bulletin of the Medical Library Association 85(3): 260-8.
Using the results of the 1993 Medical Library Association (MLA) Hospital Libraries Section survey of hospital-based end-user search services, this article describes how end-user search services can become an impetus for an expanded information management and technology role for the hospital librarian. An end-user services implementation plan is presented that focuses on software, hardware, finances, policies, staff allocations and responsibilities, educational program design, and program evaluation. Possibilities for extending end-user search services into information technology and informatics, specialized end-user search systems, and Internet access are described. Future opportunities are identified for expanding the hospital librarian's role in the face of changing health care management, advances in information technology, and increasing end-user expectations.
Kronenfeld, M. R. (2005). "Trends in academic health sciences libraries and their emergence as the "knowledge nexus" for their academic health centers." Journal of the Medical Library Association 93(1): 32-9.
OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to identify trends in academic health sciences libraries (AHSLs) as they adapt to the shift from a print knowledgebase to an increasingly digital knowledgebase. This research was funded by the 2003 David A. Kronick Traveling Fellowship. METHODS: The author spent a day and a half interviewing professional staff at each library. The questionnaire used was sent to the directors of each library in advance of the visit, and the directors picked the staff to be interviewed and set up the schedule. RESULTS: Seven significant trends were identified. These trends are part of the shift of AHSLs from being facility and print oriented with a primary focus on their role as repositories of a print-based knowledgebase to a new focus on their role as the center or "nexus" for the organization, access, and use of an increasingly digital-based knowledgebase. CONCLUSION: This paper calls for a national effort to develop a new model or structure for health sciences libraries to more effectively respond to the challenges of access and use of a digital knowledgebase, much the same way the National Library of Medicine did in the 1960s and 1970s in developing and implementing the National Network of Libraries of Medicine. The paper then concludes with some examples or ideas for research to assist in this process.
Lee, T. H. (2005). "Quiet in the library." New England Journal of Medicine 352(11): 1068.
“The library at my medical school has never been a better place to work. The journals are shelved in perfect order. The copying machines have no lines. Quiet, comfortable places in which to read are plentiful. The reason: hardly anyone goes there anymore…”
Lindberg, D. A. B. and B. L. Humphreys (2005). "2015--the future of medical libraries." New England Journal of Medicine 352(11): 1067-70.
“…Multimedia "digital libraries" feature rich interconnections among genetics research data, aggregated clinical and public health data, published literature, and high-quality health information in many languages. … Digital libraries derive much of their value from the selection, organization, analysis, and linking performed by highly skilled human beings aided by increasingly advanced software systems — in other words, digital libraries still need librarians...”
Ludwig, L., J. Shedlock, et al. (2001). "Designing a library: everyone on the same page?" Bulletin of the Medical Library Association 89(2): 204-11.
Excerpts are presented from an interview by the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association buildings projects editor with four academic health sciences library directors: one who had recently completed a major library building project and three who were involved in various stages of new building projects. They share their experiences planning for and implementing library-building programs. The interview explores driving forces leading to new library buildings, identifies who should be involved, recalls the most difficult and exciting moments of the building projects, relates what they wished they had known before starting the project, assesses the impact of new library facilities on clients and services, reviews what they would change, and describes forces impacting libraries today and attributes of the twenty-first century library.
Ludwig, L. and S. Starr (2005). "Library as place: results of a delphi study." Journal of the Medical Library Association 93(3): 315-26.
OBJECTIVE: An expert consensus on the future of the library as place was developed to assist health sciences librarians in designing new library spaces. METHOD: An expert panel of health sciences librarians, building consultants, architects, and information technologists was asked to reflect on the likelihood, desirability, timing, and impact on building design of more than seventy possible changes in the use of library space. RESULTS: An expert consensus predicted that the roles librarians play and the way libraries are used will substantially change. These changes come in response to changes in technology, scholarly communication, learning environments, and the health care economy. CONCLUSIONS: How health sciences library space is used will be far less consistent by 2015, as space becomes more tailored to institutional needs. However, the manner in which health sciences libraries develop and deliver services and collections will drastically change in the next decade. Libraries will continue to exist and will provide support for knowledge management and clinical trials, provide access to digital materials, and play a host of other roles that will enable libraries to emerge as institutional change agents.
Lyman, P. (1996). “What is a digital library? Technology, Intellectual Property, and the Public Interest.” Daedalus 125 (4): 1-33. Lyman’s intellectual overview of digital information includes a discussion of the politics, governance, social context and accessibility of cyberspace.
McKinnell I.(2008) Challenges for the next 25 years. Health Info Libr J. Dec;25 Suppl 1:47-8.
McKinnell concludes that health libraries must participate in clinical decision making, must integrate with other digital systems such as patient electronic records, must support open access and apply Service Oriented Architecture
Moore, M. E., S. Garrison, et al. (2003). "Reinventing a health sciences digital library--organizational impact." Medical Reference Services Quarterly 22(4): 75-82.
What is the organizational impact of becoming a digital library, as well as a physical entity with facilities and collections? Is the digital library an add-on or an integrated component of the overall library package? Librarians see sweeping environmental and technological changes. The staff members feel exhilarated and challenged by the pressures to adapt quickly and effectively. Librarians recognize that a Web presence, like other technology components, must be continuously enhanced and regularly re-engineered. The Health Sciences Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is reinventing its digital presence to better meet the needs of the community. This paper provides a case study focusing on major changes in planning processes, organizational structure, staffing, budgeting, training, communications, and operations at the Health Sciences Library.
Nelson, P. P. (2003). "Current issues in the design of academic health sciences libraries: findings from three recent facility projects." Journal of the Medical Library Association 91(3): 347-51.
Planning a new health sciences library at the beginning of the twenty-first century is a tremendous challenge. Technology has radically changed the way libraries function in an academic environment and the services they provide. Some individuals question whether the library as place will continue to exist as information becomes increasingly available electronically. To understand how libraries resolve programming and building design issues, visits were made to three academic health sciences libraries that have had significant renovation or completed new construction. The information gathered will be valuable for planning a new library for the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and may assist other health sciences librarians as they plan future library buildings.
Shedlock, J. and F. Ross (1997). "A library for the twenty-first century: the Galter Health Sciences Library's renovation and expansion project." Bulletin of the Medical Library Association 85(2): 176-86.
A renovation and expansion project at the Galter Health Sciences Library of Northwestern University strikes a balance between traditional and future libraries, library ambiance and high technology, old and new. When guided by a vision of future building use, renovation projects can succeed in meeting many institutional goals as a viable alternative to new library buildings. Issues addressed include planning considerations, architectural history, library design, building features, information technology considerations, and ideal library space design when new construction is not possible.
Weise, F. (2004). "Being there: the library as place." Journal of the Medical Library Association 92(1): 6-13.
The value of the library as place is examined in this Janet Doe Lecture. The lecture, which is intended to focus on the history or philosophy of health sciences librarianship, presents an overview of the library as a place in society from ancient times to the present. The impact of information technology and changes in the methods of scholarly publication from print to digital are addressed as well as the role of the library as the repository of the written historical record of cultures. Functions and services of libraries are discussed in light of the physical library facility of the future. Finally, librarians are asked to remember the enduring values of librarianship in planning libraries of the future.
Wood, E. H. (2000). "Health sciences librarianship in the new millennium." Medical Reference Services Quarterly 19(1): 1-8.
Is the millennium really a critical point in time or just part of a continuum, in which health sciences librarians have always been innovators? Librarians have always had special knowledge that enabled them to identify, collect, organize, and distribute information. They have always embraced new technology, from the printing press to the Internet. As a profession, we must continue to promote how our particular skills can reinforce our role in the health care field.
Additional Bibliography
contributed by Suzanne Shultz
Director Hoover Library
Wellspan Health, York , Pa
Balas Janet I. Does Technology Define Librarians' Roles?
Computers in Libraries 21(10):58-60, Nov-Dec 2001
Presents the experiences of the author as a librarian and discusses the question of whether technology defines the roles of librarians. Idea that technology gives librarians tools to better serve patrons; Outlook for the future of the library industry
Block, Marylaine. How To Become a Great Public Space.
American Libraries 34 (4):72-74,76 Apr 2003
In an exclusive interview for 'American Libraries,' Fred Kent, founder of the Project for Public Spaces, and Phil Myrick, PPS's assistant vice president, talk about transforming libraries into great public spaces. What qualifies do people value in public spaces? How do you know? Using techniques like time-lapse filming, systematic observation, surveys, and town meetings, we've found four qualities. Every great public space has access and linkages, comfort and image, uses and activities, and sociability. hat are some other great library buildings and what are they doing right? The Multnomah County Library in Portland, Oregon, is linked to everything around it. The Beaches branch library in Toronto also does a great job of bridging the adjoining neighborhood park to the sidewalk. What do you think is the first thing library directors should do when planning an expansion or a new building? Don't think about the building first. Start with desired uses. Hold community meetings to find out what activities the residents would like access to, and then think about how to combine those uses. Encourage young people to participate. Teens can be valuable community builders; one of our Web pages (www.pps.org/tcb/index.html) shows successful collaborations, including the Burton Barr Central Library, a teen center inside Phoenix's central downtown library designed and run with the help of teens. Start by understanding that the future of libraries lies in making them a place where people want to be. This depends on a city's public and private sectors understanding how public libraries can anchor the community, and the role they can play in meeting many needs. Greater community involvement can build support for new library programs and policies, and strengthen the library's role as a civic gathering place and stimulus for neighborhood revitalization.
Presents interviews with Fred Kent, founder of the Project for Public Spaces (PPS) and Phil Myrick, PPS's assistant vice president, about transforming libraries into desirable public spaces. Discusses qualities people value in public spaces; great library buildings and what they are doing right; the first thing library directors should do when planning an expansion or new building; and whether a brand-new central library building can help restore a dying downtown. (AEF)
Braun, Linda W. New Roles: A Librarian by any name.
Library Journal 127(2): 46-49, February 1, 2002.
Examines how the Internet has brought new duties and new organization structures to traditional library jobs. Realization that to meet customer needs, most staff have to be trained to provide resources in both traditional print and digital formats; Examples of how technology has changed the job titles of some librarians; Librarians as computer instructors; Areas in which librarians need help as technology trainers. INSETS: Julie James: Staying Curious;Projecting Librarians' Roles;The Value of Technologies.
Campbell, Sandy. Print to electronic journal conversion: Criteria for maintaining duplicate print journals.
Canadian Library Association’s Feliciter 49(6): 295-297, 2003.
Focuses on the criteria developed by the Science and Technology Library Selectors Team in Canada for maintaining print copies of duplicate journals. Details of the Canadian National Site Licensing Project; Involvement of cost burden in making decisions to duplicate electronic subscriptions in print; Selection of content not reproducible in electronic format.
Cardina, Christen and Wicks, Donald. The changing roles of academic reference librarians over a ten year period.
Reference and User Services Quarterly. 44 (2): 133-142, Winter 2004.
This study assessed the role changes that occurred for academic reference librarians from 1991 to 2001. It provides information related to the types of job activities performed and the relative amount of time spent on these activities by the librarians who took part in the study. A list of traditional as well as newly developed duties of reference librarians was developed. These duties were incorporated into a questionnaire that was distributed to reference librarians currently working in academic libraries. Subjects of the survey were randomly selected from six geographic regions of the United States. Eighty-two of the eighty-seven questionnaires that were sent out were returned; sixty-eight were usable. The data were then analyzed using the Statistical Program for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Results showed that changes occurred in the types of jobs most frequently performed, as well as in the amount of time spent on particular jobs. The number of reference tools used by librarians also increased over the ten-year period surveyed. More change was planned in the near future by most of those surveyed. Of the respondents, 46 percent said they were more satisfied in their jobs in 2001 than they were in 1991, 13 percent were less satisfied, and 37 percent had no change in their job. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Connaway, Lynn Silipigni. Physical Space for Virtual Services and Collections.
portal: Libraries and the Academy - Volume 5, Number 1, January 2005, pp. 127-131
When discussing the information environment and how information is used, they cannot be better described than by the words of Bob Dylan in the song, "The Times They Are A-Changin": If your time to you is worth savin' Then you better start swimmin' Or you'll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin'. As librarians, we need to understand better how people are acquiring and using information--"start swimming," or we may "sink like a stone." Users from the Alexandrian Library in 331 BC would easily recognize that they were in today's modern library. The physical attributes of the collection would be different, but they would know they were in a library. What happens to the library as place when the collection becomes increasingly electronic? New libraries continue to be built -- to house the libraries' physical collections, provide access to electronicmaterials, and serve as a physical place where people come to read and to study. Fifteen years ago new libraries were being built to accommodate public access terminals. It was rare to see a user with a portable computer. Now that libraries and campuses are wired, the user is becoming unwired. What is the future of the library as a physical space? In 2003…
Gabbard, Ralph B.; Kaiser, Anthony; Kaunelis, David. Redesigning a Library Space for Collaborative Learning
Computers in Libraries, v27 n5 p6-11 May 2007
The reference desk at Indiana State University's (ISU) library offers an excellent view of student work areas on the first floor. From this vantage point, the reference librarians noticed students, especially in the evening and on weekends, huddled together in small groups, with one student at the keyboard of a laptop or desktop computer. The others were standing, kneeling, or sitting nearby, straining to look over the first student's shoulders to catch a glimpse of the monitor. After watching this scene play out repeatedly, a survey of the campus was made to see what kinds of space and equipment were available for students to work on collaborative projects. There were no such facilities. The library is the only centralized location where new and emerging information technologies can be combined with traditional knowledge resources in a user-focused, service-rich environment that supports today's social and educational patterns of learning, teaching, and research. However, libraries traditionally have not provided either space for or an atmosphere conducive to collaborative activities. This article describes how a library space was redesigned for collaborative learning. (Contains 2 tables and 3 figures.)
Kuhlthau, Carol C. Rethinking libraries for the information age school: Vital roles in inquiry learning.
School Libraries in Canada. 22 (4):3-5, 2003.
Focuses on the changes in the condition of library in the school for providing proper information to children. Use of inquiry process in the approach of learning; Role played by teacher-librarians in the schools; Charges of education to prepare students for society; Abilities need to be successful for students in the information age; Strategies for inquiry based learning.
Maclean, Gerry. Opportunity for change in the future roles for the health library and information professional: meeting the challenges in NHS Scotland.
Health Information and Libraries Journal 23 (suppl 1) 32-38, Dec 2006.
Background: NHS Education for Scotland (NES) is the Special Health Board responsible for supporting best practice in education, training and development for all staff groups within NHS Scotland. As part of its remit, the Knowledge Services Group within NES is responsible for the e-Library, a national electronic resource providing and supporting access to the evidence base. The Knowledge Services Group also supports the national development of library services to NHS Scotland. Aims: This article aims to provide a reflective overview of some recent challenges within the health library and information field in Scotland, and the positive role opportunities these have afforded. Methods: The information was gathered through extensive professional interaction with staff across the sector over the first year of establishing the new role of Librarian Staff Development Manager. Focus: New roles have emerged for health library and information professionals generally; for example, in response to new technology or new user groups. The development of the NHS Scotland e-Library provides examples of role development that emerges symbiotically from core skills applied to a new situation or applied in an innovative way. Role development among health library and information professionals operating at the local service level can be both reactive and proactive. Working together, the partnership between the national Knowledge Services Group and local library and knowledge services for NHS Scotland has resulted in the emergence of additional new roles, extending the role portfolio of the local professional (for example, the Librarian–Tutor role) and supported by other national infrastructures (for example, the competency framework initiative). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Schwartz Candy. Digital libraries: An overview.
Journal of Academic Librarianship 26(6):385-393, November 2000.
Presents an overview of the basic components of digital libraries (DL). Examples of various DL; Reasons for creating DL; Types of metadata associated with a digital object in a repository; Range of library services supported by DL.
Thomas, Mary A. Redefining library space: Managing the co-existence of books, computers, and readers.
Journal of Academic Librarianship 26(6):408-415, November 2000.
Presents library design planning strategies that integrate digital products and print collections based on patron needs. Library building programs; How to incorporate maximum flexibility in reading areas and stacks; Details on designing of library space for support services.
