Feasibility of a Primarily Feasibility of a Primarily Digital Research Library Digital Research Library Lisa Spiro & Geneva Henry, Rice UniversityCNI Fall 2009 Membership MeetingDecember 14, 2009

CSU Monterey Bay’s All-CSU Monterey Bay’s All-Digital LibraryDigital Library

"You simply don't have to build a traditional library these days”

CSU Monterey Bay’s Library CSU Monterey Bay’s Library TodayToday

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CSU MB’s Emphasis on the CSU MB’s Emphasis on the ElectronicElectronic

CSU Monterey Bay’s Library Web Site, ca. 2001

If you were to open a new If you were to open a new research library in a year….research library in a year….Would it be feasible to have a

primarily-digital collection?What would be the obstacles? What are some strategies for

overcoming those obstacles?

The Feasibility of a Primarily-The Feasibility of a Primarily-Digital Research LibraryDigital Research LibraryCLIR-funded preliminary studyInspired by question from new

university in Bangladesh about how to plan the library, but context is now US

Two-pronged approach:◦Examine challenges to a primarily-digital

library◦Study academic libraries opened since

2000Focuses more on feasibility than

implications of primarily-digital library

Environment of Constant Environment of Constant ChangeChange

It’s difficult to make definitive statements because of ongoing changes in:

◦ Content◦ Technologies◦ Policies

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How do you make decisions given such flux?

MethodMethod

Synthesis of existing literature ◦See extensive Zotero collection at

http://www.zotero.org/groups/library_in_transition

Interviews with experts on future of libraries and publishing

Interviews with leaders of new academic libraries

The Main BarrierThe Main Barrier

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The Library EcosystemThe Library Ecosystem

Most Library Purchases Are Most Library Purchases Are Not Yet Available as eBooks Not Yet Available as eBooks (2006-7)(2006-7)

Jason Price and John McDonald, “To supersede or supplement: profiling aggregator e-book collections vs. our print collections,” November 6, 2008

Approaching a Tipping Approaching a Tipping Point?Point?Many university presses struggle in

transition to digital publication, but collaborative efforts are underway

HOWEVER…Surge in◦E-book market: 2009 e-book sales up

173.9%◦Library e-book purchases: 69% of research

libraries planning increased spending◦Availability of content

Kindle: from 90,000 to 350,000+ e-books in 2 years

Google Books: 10 million+◦Use of e-books

JISC e-book study found 65% of students & teaching staff use e-books

Reading DigitallyReading DigitallyJournal articles are short enough to

be printed or read on screen Preferences in reading books:

◦Electronic for access, searching & quick browsing

◦Print for immersive reading 80% of respondents to Ebray’s 2007 Global

Faculty E-book Survey preferred print for long-form reading

◦E-books complement rather than replace print (JISC E-books Observatory Report)

Difficulties Reading Long Difficulties Reading Long Form WorksForm WorksE-book readers are emerging,

but…◦Not yet ubiquitous (expense, doubts

about single-function device, preference for print, etc.)

◦Do not yet support scholarly needs, e.g. page references, easy annotation, copy & paste, color illustrations, etc.

◦In some cases, format does matter (e.g. for book studies)

Different Uses, Different Different Uses, Different Devices?Devices?

enTourage eDGeiPhone Kindle

Kindle 2 NetLibrary

Some Books Work Best in Some Books Work Best in PrintPrint

Contemplation Artists’ Book)

Spoon (Design Book)

Print on Demand as an Print on Demand as an Interim Solution to Reading Interim Solution to Reading Books?Books?

Espresso Book Machine at University of Michigan

Digital Rights Management Digital Rights Management (DRM) Can Limit Research(DRM) Can Limit ResearchDRM limits what people can do

& thus their demand for e-books◦Copying & pasting, printing, accessing on multiple devices, loaning, etc.

Concern about who owns e-books

Amazon’s Orwellian behavior

Licensing ConcernsLicensing Concerns

There are few models for libraries loaning e-books for use with e-readersFirst sale doctrine

Interlibrary loan of licensed e-books is still very murky

Long-term access to subscription material

Are Researchers Ready to Are Researchers Ready to Embrace E-Books?Embrace E-Books?Ithaka’s 2006 survey of faculty:

◦only 16% reported that they occasionally or often use e-books

◦of these, 14 % viewed e-books as being very important now, and 26% see them having a role in the future

But researchers’ attitudes can change quickly if their needs are served (cf. e-journals, e-mail, mobile phones)

Scholars’ Worries about the Scholars’ Worries about the Transition to the DigitalTransition to the Digital

Quality of digitization (metadata, scanning, text conversion)

Confusion about how to discover e-books—catalog, federated search?

“Lazy” or incomplete researchCitation practicesNeed for the physical objectEphemerality/ preservation concernsAuthoritativenessLoss of serendipity in browsing shelves

Resistance to Off-Site Resistance to Off-Site StorageStorage

Librarians’ Concerns about Librarians’ Concerns about Transition to DigitalTransition to DigitalNew roles, new skills requiredFear of change (job loss,

organizational culture, etc.)Preservation concernsInsistence on the continued

importance of print in fostering immersion, serious scholarship

Difficulty adapting to new workflowsBut libraries are adapting, exploring

new models such as patron-driven acquisition

The Difficulty of Integrating The Difficulty of Integrating E-books into Library E-books into Library WorkflowsWorkflows“evolving” environment (ARL

Survey)80% of librarians responding to

2007 eBrary survey found e-book acquisitions models confusing.

Heterogeneity of:◦Business models (lease or buy?)◦Licenses◦Formats and standards◦DRM schemes

EconomicsEconomicsLibrary’s role as a public good,

serving as an intermediary in support of scholarship

Budget is generally one of the highest – if not the highest – on research university campuses◦Median overall budget of ARL libraries in

2008: $24.8M◦Median materials budget: $10.5M◦Average number of staff: 260◦Median E-materials expenditure: $5.4M

(53% of total materials expenditure)

Library $$ vs. Research $$Library $$ vs. Research $$

Difficult to find research expenditures average for ARL institutions, but can look at total federally funded research

Total 2008 research: $54.7BTrends

◦ARL materials expenditures average increase of 9% from 2007 to 2008

◦Federal research funding decreased 2.5% during the same period

Publishing IndustryPublishing Industry“Produce once, make available for all”

works better in digital environmentExpensive print and distribution

displaced with rapid replication/distribution

Publisher value-add services shifting◦Editorial contributions not as valued in digital◦Publishers controlling market by releasing

digital 4 months after printOpen Access repositories serving

scholarly needs (arXiv, PubMed Central, IRs)

Varied purchase/subscription models for e-books makes budgeting difficult

Cyberinfrastructure costsCyberinfrastructure costshardware + software + services +

research + educationTechnology costs

◦ Increased power to support computers, storage

◦High availability configurations to ensure reliability, availability

◦Support for e-readers and other viewers◦Multimedia hardware and software◦High-end cameras, audio equipment◦Resources needed for digital

preservation of content

Cyberinfrastructure costs Cyberinfrastructure costs (cont’d)(cont’d)Digital content requires services to

support text/data mining, visualization◦Computer scientists vs. traditional library

staffOngoing informatics research to

support analysisScience data curation expertise

requires scientific backgroundTraining to use tools with digital

content

Virtual ConsiderationsVirtual ConsiderationsCosts associated with high levels of

staffing can shiftMany services can be provided virtuallyStaffing profile will change: fewer staff,

but higher salaries (programmers, computer scientists, informatics researchers, data curators)

Collaborative experiments already underway (2CUL, shared print, shared bibliographic services)

Collection development of e-resources may be better achieved by aggregators than local staff

Is an All-Digital Library Is an All-Digital Library Economically Feasible?Economically Feasible?The economic considerations are still

shifting dramatically, putting budget planning at risk

Greater risk in not budgeting for e-environment since trend clearly shows migration in this direction

Preservation ConcernsPreservation Concerns“The best preservation system ever

invented was the old-fashioned, pre-modern book.” (Robert Darnton)

Technical Issues:◦Hardware◦File formats

Social Issues:◦Who has responsibility for preservation?◦Who will pay? ◦How can we trust custodians of

information?

Digital Preservation Digital Preservation ResearchResearchSolutions to digital preservation do not

exist in a final formChallenging research questions still

addressing preservation of formats, media and information

Research projects leading to emerging standards and practices (e.g. PLANETS)

Libraries and funders need to acknowledge the necessary investment

Emerging Solutions to Emerging Solutions to PreservationPreservationCollaborative print storage facilitiesBringing e-books into digital

preservation programs, e.g. (C)LOCKSS, Portico

National libraries as custodians of electronic resources

Emerging shared, distributed private networks (e.g. MetaArchive, DuraCloud)

Incorporation of emerging standards into repositories (e.g. OAI-ORE, PREMIS)

Case Studies of New Case Studies of New Academic LibrariesAcademic Libraries

Broome Library, CSU-Channel Islandshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/rittenburg/2733973716/

Why Look at New Academic Why Look at New Academic Libraries?Libraries?Post Internet-revolutionMore freedom in defining mission

and prioritiesNot as encumbered by legacy

collections or processesLimited resources force creativity

What is the 21What is the 21stst Century Century Library?Library?“Should a twenty-first-century

academic research library be organized along the lines of public services, technical services, special collections, and all the other traditional library divisions, or should its organization take some new form? Should the new research library have books or truly be an online operation? What form should the library building itself take? What kind and how many staff would be needed?” (Donald Barclay, “Creating an academic library for the twenty-first century”)

Libraries We ExaminedLibraries We ExaminedUC Merced (2005)CSU Channel Islands (2002)Olin College of Engineering

(2002)Soka University (2001)Arizona Health Sciences Library-

Phoenix (2007) A. T. Still Learning Resource

Center (2002?)NYU-Abu Dhabi (2010)

Define and support the core Define and support the core missionmissionAsk the right questions

◦Merced: Not “where is the reference desk going to be?” but “how are we going to provide reference services?”

◦Olin: “Does this work well electronically or do they need it in tactile form? What makes sense now?”

Match collections to priorities◦Olin: Realia collection

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Be flexible in offering access Be flexible in offering access to information to information

“Container-neutral” policy: get information to patrons in most appropriate format

Just-in-time rather than just-in-case collections

Adopting e-journals frees up space & staff time◦Less processing, cataloging &

acquisitions work◦More space for collaborative areas

Collaborate with other Collaborate with other institutionsinstitutionsif you’re starting up an academic

library, “you better have a good consortium” (Steve Stratton, CSU-CI)

UC Merced holds about 80,000 print books (600,000 digital books), but it offers rapid access to 34+ million volumes in the UC system

Consortial licensingCollection sharingShared responsibility for preservationKnowledge sharing

Develop new service Develop new service modelsmodels“Libraries will be services based

organizations and not collections based any more” (Price & McDonald)

Design services to support institutional needs◦A.T. Still: Evidence-based medicine

Plans for NYU-Abu Dhabi Library:◦Support not only collections, but tools

for analyzing & organizing information◦Collaborate to publish scholarly work

Decide what can should be Decide what can should be done locally and at the done locally and at the network level network level UC Merced:

◦Purchases shelf-ready books that are already cataloged, labeled, and RFID-security-tagged

◦OCLC catalogs gift books◦Outsources web site◦“We still use library professionals to

select and catalog books and mange databases, but they happen to be distributed everywhere, they’re not in our building… The product is what we care about.” (Bruce Miller, UC Merced)

Re-imagine librarian rolesRe-imagine librarian roles

CSU Channel Islands: all staff work at reference & circ desk, resulting in greater collaboration and common focus on service

UC Merced: “user communication and instruction librarian” rather than reference librarian; team collection-development model

Olin: small staff means everyone has multiple roles

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Build flexible facilities that Build flexible facilities that support collaboration and support collaboration and interactioninteractionLibrary as “third

space” supporting collaboration & interaction

Flexible, configurable

Lots of technology support UC Merced Library

The Results? Service The Results? Service MattersMattersWhen people first enter the library,

they may be surprised by its small size and lack of books, but “most people know that it’s much bigger than it looks.” (Jacque Doyle, Arizona Health Sciences Library-Phoenix)

“It’s all about service. I’ve not found anything on the downside to being digital.” (Steve Stratton, CSU-CI)

Researchers “don’t need to know how we do it, but whether they are getting what they need, and they are.” (Bruce Miller, UC-Merced)

What is the Feasibility of a What is the Feasibility of a Primarily-Digital Library?Primarily-Digital Library?Depends on the kind of

library◦Probably: special library

(medical, law); teaching library; distance-ed library

◦Not yet: research libraryStill some significant

barriers: technical, cultural, economic, policy

But libraries should plan for digital future on the near horizon

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Future WorkFuture Work

More systematic research on new libraries◦More interviews, site visits, surveys

(?)◦Expand focus globally

Beyond feasibility: ◦Strategies for the transition to digital◦What are the implications of the shift

to digital for libraries & scholarship?

Questions? Suggestions?Questions? Suggestions?

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