VW’s Histories

And the lessons learned along the way

First History: the personal one

First Library Job; student worker in Acquisitions at Wake Forest

OHIO STATE

LCS – Library Control System -Homegrown system.

Ohio State Health Sci Lib The Randtriever

Ohio College Library Center

http://www.media-visions.com/itv-qube.html

The Source

Library school

Library School

• Kent State Extension Program• Research Project -

Back to Ohio State and the HSL

1980-1983

Biological Sciences Library1983-1988

).

University of California, Santa Cruz

Furman University

History 2 – The library history

70,80s – Collection becomes emergent. Ohio State• Selection of collection by faculty but transition to

librarians –part of the professionalization of librarians.• Collection becomes an emergent entity – more than

the sum of its parts.• Libraries are very different –everything designed for a

particular organization.• Branches, subject specialists, instruction.• Excitement about technology, rapid rapid change,• Communications Revolution• Major problems were starting to show – scholarly

communication, space issues.

80.90s –The Turn-Key Library –Web 1.0

• OCLC – share the costs of cataloging – catalog cards looking alike.

• OPACs – several vendors, catalogs looking alike.• Easy to use. Easy to maintain,• Vendors make a lot of decisions.

• Collections start looking the same -Web• Closing, consolidation of branches.• Loss of subject specialists, user focus• Packages, publishers are making a lot of decisions• Cancellations, low budgets, consortia

• “Chaos ”is beginning• Librarians losing “control”

• Users• Losing mastery

90,00’s “Chaotic” Structure Emerges –Open Society –Library 2.0

• Transition to digital format almost complete• Librarians are greatly untethered from building

problems –subject specialist can work in different building, in user offices and take library with them

• Subject specialist model now being used to organize librarians in Main Libraries – diffuse librarian, enmeshed librarian. Branch subject specialists without the branch.

• Focus back on user• Format agnostism turns into whatever format works

for content – or choices of format for same content.

00,10’s – That’s for you to tell me!

……And I can’t wait to see.