David W. Lewis is Dean of the IUPUI University Library and Assistant Vice President Digital Scholarly Communications for Indiana University.
Beginning with the premise that in order to create an academic
library that meets scholarly needs, we first need to have a vision
or image of this future institution, Lewis reimagines academic
libraries using educator and scholar Clayton Christensen’s idea of
disruptive innovation as a launching point. The author of numerous
articles on academic libraries and scholarly communication, Lewis
urges academic libraries to develop new business models and 'find
opportunities to be the disrupter who develops new services and
products that use the available technologies' or face obsolescence.
Proposing a blueprint or 'road,' the author divides the chapters
into two parts: the forces we face and the steps down the road.
Including input from many library professionals, the concluding
chapter outlines what steps need to happen: retiring the print
collection, developing a design plan, hiring and developing the
needed staff expertise, selling the change, etc.
VERDICT: An important resource for academic librarians, higher
education administrators, and those involved in strategic planning
to help guide the discussions of how to allocate library
resources.
*Library Journal*
In his effort to reimagine the academic library, Lewis uses
business theorist Clayton Christensen's theory of disruption to
frame his arguments about the institution's future. Lewis
identifies six forces that require academic librarians to
reconceive their services and collections so as to maintain a role
in the knowledge industry of the future. Lewis then offers six
steps that staff need to take to remain relevant to their academic
communities, ending with a further ten concrete steps they should
consider taking immediately (retiring the legacy print collection,
engaging in space planning, budgeting for open access, preserving
local scholarly content, among others). The book provides a candid
and readable account of the disruptors that the profession
currently faces, and many librarians will find the content valuable
for starting conversations about the future within their
institutional settings. The use of ‘disruptive innovation’ nicely
sets the tone for the content of the book….Summing Up: Recommended.
Graduate students through researchers/faculty;
professionals/practitioners.
*CHOICE*
This book reminds me of a well-written backcountry trail guide. . .
.I heartily recommend this book. . . .[T]his is a unique book that
should be read by key members of every institution that wants to be
proactive in moving ahead into the digital age.
*Reflective Teaching*
Reimagining the Academic Library provides both a succinct overview
of the external forces that have been driving change in academic
libraries for more than the past two decades as well as proposed
steps academic library leaders and librarians should take to
address these forces and help complete the transition to a
relevant, digital 21st-century academic library. In this very
easy-to-read volume, Lewis articulates exactly why the changes he
promotes make sense based on the historical context for the
disruption we have all been experiencing as well as ongoing
technological changes. I believe this book should be required
reading for all students in library or information management
schools interested in working in academic libraries.
*College & Research Libraries*
This book will make you think. . . .Reimagining the Academic
Library will challenge academic librarian’s notions of the
traditional library and perhaps help them see their future. Highly
recommended for all librarians.
*Journal of Academic Librarianship*
David Lewis, always a thoughtful commentator on changing roles and
responsibilities of academic libraries, has skillfully painted a
picture of what the digital library looks like and explains the
driving forces that led to the transition. With collection building
no longer at the center, libraries are called upon to become
stewards of their campus-produced information and knowledge,
preparing it to be useful to the far broader networked world. What
librarians and higher education administrators will find so useful
in his work are the ten things academic libraries need to do now to
meet the needs of their users in the digital environment.
*Deanna Marcum, Managing Director, Ithaka S+R*
With this insightful and very readable book, David Lewis, a true
visionary thought leader, opens with an excellent description of
the forces that academic libraries and librarians face in an
increasingly digital world. He then offers a framework and six
"steps down the road" for re-envisioning the future library in this
context. This is a "must read" for every academic librarian and
other leaders in higher education. The concluding
chapter, "Ten Things to Do Now", and the extensive
bibliography alone are worth the price of this book.
*Maureen Sullivan, consultant and 2012-2013 president of the
American Library Association*
Reimagining the Academic Library is an insightful and
inciteful sweep of the current state of academic library context,
practice and direction. The book commands the literature
of the field, and the relevant business, economic and technology
thinking to help the profession work through the challenges
of disruption, resources, digital transformation,
professional demographics, and the new scholarly record.
David Lewis concludes his book with a rousing call to
collective innovation and action.
*James G. Neal, University Librarian Emeritus, Columbia University*
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
