Transcript The Problem - Florida Board of Governors

The future of academic libraries
information services
DANIEL GREENSTEIN, VICE PROVOST,
ACADEMIC PLANNING AND PROGRAMS,
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
JULY 19, 2010
Ask, from an institutional perspective
…about the investments institutions will (or will not)
make in their academic information services (of
which libraries form only a part)
 in transformational times
 when funding is scarce,
 not evenly distributed across higher education
segments (or organizational information silos) and
 focused appropriately on academic departments
The university or college is the unit of
analysis here because…
they are the vehicles through which investment will
flow (or be redirected) into academic information
services…
…often as a result of often very difficult budget tradeoff decisions which pit those services against the
departments of Chemistry, Philosophy, and Law.
So I am not asking…
what can be done in/for libraries…
but what information services the institution
requires to achieve its strategic objectives
But first a word about transformational times…
Florida’s story is impressive – more degree
production / participation, less funding
Enrollment growth…
350,000.00
09/10
08/09
300,000.00
250,000.00
200,000.00
150,000.00
100,000.00
50,000.00
0.00
03/04
98/9
...has driven revenues
$3,500,000,000.00
$3,000,000,000.00
$2,500,000,000.00
$2,000,000,000.00
$1,500,000,000.00
$1,000,000,000.00
$500,000,000.00
$0.00
1998/99
2003/04
2008/09
2009/10
But per capita funding has declined
$10,000.00
$9,800.00
$9,600.00
$9,400.00
$9,200.00
$9,000.00
$8,800.00
1998/99
2003/04
2008/09
2009/10
Forcing the system to do more with
less with predictable results
 time to degree
 greater integration of
distance learning
 faculty salaries?
In the libraries…. revenues have followed
student numbers upwards
$50,000,000.00
$45,000,000.00
$40,000,000.00
$35,000,000.00
$30,000,000.00
$25,000,000.00
$20,000,000.00
$15,000,000.00
$10,000,000.00
$5,000,000.00
$0.00
1998/99
2003/04
2008/09
2009/10
…but declined as proportion of state
appropriation and fee revenues
$10,000.00
$9,800.00
$9,600.00
$9,400.00
$9,200.00
$9,000.00
$8,800.00
1998/99
2003/04
2008/09
2009/10
…forcing per student expenditure down
$180.00
$160.00
$140.00
$120.00
$100.00
$80.00
$60.00
$40.00
$20.00
$0.00
1998/99
2003/04
2008/09
2009/10
And this in an era of continued
increases in
 the cost of library materials (__%)
 utilities (__%)
 staff salaries (__%)
 employer health benefit contributions (__%)
and…
…user expectations (or is it library
aspirations)
 after more and more e-resources
 integrating resource discovery services
 surfacing more rare and special collections
 retrospective digitization
 institutional repositories
 electronic theses and dissertations
 curated born-digital collections
 and digital preservation
and next generation digital library services
The response has centralized investment in
services libraries need (FCLA, CCLA)…
but cannot afford so well acting independently
This has enhanced local library service at lower cost
without encroaching on autonomy, prerogative or
strategic direction
In effect, it has seeded the cloud(s) from which library
services are increasingly drawn
for packaging and localization...
In the future…
 the clouds will get bigger; the libraries smaller
 shared services will achieve even greater scale and
reach
 distinctions between libraries & information services
(on campuses and in clouds) will get more blurred
Unless we witness a seismic shift in higher education
public policy, in educational standards, or both
But the same case can/should be made in terms of
service quality, not budget
Some grand challenges to
illustrate direction
Challenge 1. Rationally manage
print collections
Combine these profiles of book production…
and library holdings…
with market tendencies to
 mass digitization [of the legacy]
 e-book formats [for current or in-print]
and multiple distribution mechanisms for digital
source files
…redundant management of print materials is
insane
To stop the insanity
 secure digital and print in scaled regional
repositories
 integrate resource discovery services and
 aggressively exploit new delivery options
Nothing either new or rocket science
Challenge 2. Treat open access
as acquisitions
Given the rising cost of journal
subscriptions…
http://www.sennoma.net/main/archives/2009/04/scholarly_journals_vs
_total_se.php
…and apparent appetite for title growth
Serials – Vol.16, no.2, July 2003 Michael Mabe The growth and number
of journals
…chasing journal subscriptions
skywards is insane
especially while supporting open-access
collections
…of various dimension
Optimize open access investment by
 supporting them as part of library collections
strategies and budgets
 forcing realistic budget trade-off decisions
 and weaning us off dependence on unsustainably
priced content and/or our penchant for managing
two systems side by side
Challenge 3. Build special
collections strategically
While collecting the general uniquely, collect
the unique, generally
…with a less parochial
view of collections
contents
One that is agnostic…
…to composition
…format and source
Imagine a “special collection”…
…that supports and reflects a new
discipline of local strategic importance
fostering publications (traditional)…
…and open access
Focusing on science as well as
humanities disciplines
…potentially beginning with significant
heritage collection
and helping define an institution’s
distinctiveness and research strength
Challenge 4. Integrate shared
services across information
domains
WARNING: THESE ARE LESS CHOATE
THOUGHTS…
...about educational materials which are
currently evolving in e-learning services…
in libraries…
and in the cloud
I can’t help think we are missing an
opportunity for a coordinated approach
46
course name/ sequence
# students
course name / sequence)
students
Calculus 1-3
48876
US history 1-3
6129
General Chemistry 1-3
38131
American Government & Politics
5321
Physics 1-3
37854
Accounting I
4994
Freshman composition 1-2
31583
Introductory Astronomy
4603
Biology 1-3
Other math (precalculus, linear
algebra . . .)
29084
International Relations
3762
24236
Linguistics
3749
Macro and micro economics
20651
Comparative Politics
3560
Introductory Psychology
Statistics
Organic Chemistry 1-2
Spanish 1-4
17091
15447
13472
12268
Oceanography
Myths
Ethics
Introductory Philosophy
3512
3487
3466
3355
World history 1-3 and survey
9503
Introduction to Business
3274
Cultural Anthropology
9224
2776
Introductory Sociology
8556
Logic
Linear Algebra & Differential
Equations
Western Civilization 1-3
Nutrition
Writing
7776
7433
6698
TOTALS
2455
392326
Data is an opportunity to build
expensive redundant infrastructure
So is virtual help – naturally crossing
institutional not departmental boundaries
Challenge 5. Consolidate library
space and administration?
Or is that a bridge too far
These challenges represent a massively heavy
lift, but they would
leverage exceptional (world-class) infrastructure in
order to
 eliminate redundant effort
 save cost without encroaching on service
 and if done properly, return real value to universities
and colleges whose investment would be at once
essential to sustain and focus the effort
And would free up resources for use where needed
most
Key challenges
 Communicating the benefits
 Leadership and a first mover problem (kick-starting
an economy for shared service will require
intervention at the VC level)
 Scope creep – driven by the possibilities in the online
information space, and the needs of the few
 Threat to local autonomy
 Threat to the local academic library and academic
librarian
But if one is looking at permanent budget
reductions, enrollment growth or both
…than an orderly advance
beats a disorderly one
And will ensure faculty, students, and staff
have persistent access to the information they need
for research learning and teaching
In the future, the academic library…
is fundamentally changed…
in order that it may remain the same