ALCTS Forum response to Ithaka

We Should Worry

My Concerns with the results of the Ithaka S + R

2010 Library Survey

ALCTS Forum, June 27, 2011ALA Annual Conference

JENICA P. ROGERSDIRECTOR OF LIBRARIES, SUNY POTSDAM

65% of respondents do not feel that their library has a well-developed strategy to meet changing user needs and research habits.

Answer: NO one, but without a plan, there’s no reason NOT to do it

Question: Who thought this was a good idea?

Leadership is crucial.Follow-up Questions: • How many library directors are doing “some”, if not “enough”, planning?• How many library directors want to do strategic planning but don’t feel equipped or supported to do it?• How do the answers from this 65% inflect the results of the rest of the survey?

63% of Library Directors don’t feel they have enough information to deaccession print journals available online.

How much MORE information do you need?

OR, COULD IT BE POSSIBLE THAT YOU’RE TOTALLY OVERENGINEERING THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION?

Print journals are dead tech.Follow-up Questions:• Are universities and colleges responding differently to this question?• Do the libraries holding tightly to print holdings have a mission that makes that a critical choice?• What local circumstance makes print more important than space?

Nearly 100% of Library Directors

indicated that “Supporting faculty

instruction and student learning” is

a priority in their libraries ...

... but only 40-65% indicated that “working with instructional

technologists…” and “working with faculty to

incorporate digital information resources into their curricula”

were also high priorities.

WE ARE NOT MAKING SENSE:

Collaborate or Die.Follow-up Questions:• How much does institutional politics - and faculty perceptions highlighted in the 2009 study - inflect these responses?• Do librarians have the skills to be effective partners with faculty in this arena?• Would a strong supporting leadership voice make a difference?

75% of Library Directors still think it’s very important that libraries be “gateway”s for information access.

Not only did that ship sail, but then it sunk in the harbor. Get a new ship.

Seriously. We need a new ship.Follow-up Questions:• When will we begin focusing on sustainably leveraging our collections and metadata?• What skills, training, and knowledge do we need to get there?• What myths are we holding onto that keep us focused on portals and gateways?

This is not my vision of the future(I would like a future that makes some sort of logical sense)

We deserve better.What will it take to get us there?What new questions do we need to ask?What skills do our decision-makers need?What knowledge? What attitudes?