Digitalist life in the library

Libraries of the Future

I became aware of the JISC Libraries of the Future campaign in April when the issue was discussed at a conference in Oxford. In the past week JISC have published a brochure and this video on the topic.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjoJd_uN-7M&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]

I enjoyed watching this video keeping an eye out for familiar Oxford locations and hearing what Sarah Thomas, the director of the library service I work for, had to say. The key point in her speech for me was that of Google being our partner. I fear too many librarians still see Google as "the enemy" but I think it's pointless trying to fight against the fact that our users may go to Google to find information before they come to the library. Instead we need to be teaching them how to evaluate the information they find there and how they can access additional content, paid for by their library, through Google Scholar. Just as the library of the future will be different from today so will the role of the librarian.

I've not got around to it yet but my next step is to watch the video of the debate held in Oxford in April.