Response 5. Provocation

Transcription

1 Zhu, Peter (2013). Respnse 5, paper prepared fr the Cllabratin, Advcacy, and Recruitment: Area and Internatinal Studies Librarianship Wrkshp, Indiana University, Blmingtn, Indiana, Octber Respnse 5 Why advcate fr area studies librarians and cllectins? This sunds mre like a rhetrical than a substantive questin. Internatinal schlarship and internatinal studies have always fund a place at the best research universities; and internatinal studies depend n cllectins in the same way that the sciences depend n labratries. In recent years, hwever, shrinking budgets and the burgening pen access mvement have driven mre and mre libraries increasingly t rely n third parties t develp in-depth research cllectins fr the internatinal and area studies prgrams n their campuses. The prblem then becmes hw t leverage n-campus cllectins against ther institutins resurces in rder t fully supprt campus prgramming and research needs. What remains unchanged in this cmplicated envirnment is that American higher educatin is still secnd t nne and aspires t remain in that psitin; and until American educatrs and plicy makers give up that aspiratin, they have n chice but t fster strng area studies cllectins and emply the librarians wh maintain them. In America there are tp-tier universities that d nt have medical schls r law schls; but virtually n university can aspire t wrld-class status withut a strng internatinal studies prgram and supprting cllectin. Tday, riding the wave f digital technlgy and cntent develpment, research libraries are weeding, if nt eliminating, their duplicate print cllectins. While electrnic bks and jurnals are fast bridging the divide between the largest research libraries and their smaller peers, what still distinguishes the frmer are their freign language and special cllectins. This means that areas studies librarianship and cllectins remains as vital as ever. Prvcatin "Changes in academic publishing and research, tgether with grwing interest t prmte glbal cmpetencies in Nrth American universities have led t reviews f library rganizatinal structures seeking t align area studies cllectins and services with these trends. In sme cases, new area studies departments have emerged as distinct rganizatinal units in research libraries. In ther cases, such units have existed fr quite sme time. There is a grwing recgnitin that area specialists share similar issues and challenges which demand mre encmpassing appraches. Since this is a recent develpment, these area studies units are still trying t find a cmmn vice and strive t psitin themselves within their institutins, as well as at the natinal and internatinal levels." (endnte 1)

2 Zhu, Peter (2013). Respnse 5, paper prepared fr the Cllabratin, Advcacy, and Recruitment: Area and Internatinal Studies Librarianship Wrkshp, Indiana University, Blmingtn, Indiana, Octber The prs f develping r keeping intact area studies departments: All area studies selectrs share a cmmn skill set and face similar challenges and issues. Organizing them int a single unit facilitates exchange f expertise and experience. Area studies are interdisciplinary by nature, encmpassing all majr areas f the humanities and scial sciences, and rutinely extending t science, agriculture, public health, and ther areas. They d nt fit easily int a discipline-based matrix. Organizatin f selectrs int a single department reflects this cmplexity f scpe. Having a visible area studies department in the rganizatinal structure f a university research library supprts and advances the area, internatinal, and freign language studies mdel fund at almst all majr American universities. The cns f develping r keeping intact area studies departments: Area studies cllecting can appear insular: lcal prcedures and language- r cuntryspecific practices must be adpted; issues and plicies unique t thse cllectins may veer frm mainstream library peratins. This islatin can irritate utsiders; it can even bring a charge f elitism, particularly frm selectrs wh serve large clienteles n campus. Special effrt shuld be taken t enhance cmmunicatin between area studies selectrs and the rest f the library. Issues and Questins 1. "Hw can area and internatinal studies librarians demnstrate the value and impact f their cllectins and services within their libraries, but als at the campus level, as well as natinally and internatinally?" We need t stress that the greatness f a university des nt rely slely n hw many prgrams it has, but n hw distinguished thse prgrams are. Unarguably, internatinal and area studies cllectins wuld cntribute significantly t such distinctin, being essential t teaching and research, nt nly in area studies, but in ther fields as well. Gd internatinal cllectins attract faculty, students, and visiting schlars frm all ver the wrld. They als cntribute t faculty retentin since they can have a direct impact n schlars ability t cnduct research at their hme institutins. Despite the sea change high tech and the internet have brught abut, the need t train undergraduate and graduate students in the use f primary surce materials remains cnstant. In-huse area studies cllectins are the mst effective tl fr such training. 2. "Are cnventinal measurements (such as budget allcatin, cllectin size, and circulatin figures) still adequate standards fr assessing library value and impact?

3 Zhu, Peter (2013). Respnse 5, paper prepared fr the Cllabratin, Advcacy, and Recruitment: Area and Internatinal Studies Librarianship Wrkshp, Indiana University, Blmingtn, Indiana, Octber Is there a need t develp alternative measurements t gauge the impact f area and internatinal studies library services and cllectins n institutinal gals, student learning, and faculty achievement?" Cnventinal measurements are still imprtant benchmarks fr gauging the strength f a library and its impact n its cnstituency. But increasingly imprtant are electrnic measurements, particularly an institutin s digital capacity fr meeting patrn needs thrugh, fr instance, remte access and in-time, lcatinfree services and infrmatin delivery. Usage statistics are ften inaccurate and can be skewed. Mre imprtantly, they d nt take int accunt the missin f the research library, whse cllectin pririties cannt be determined by the number f vlumes charged ut in a given perid f time. One respnsibility f the research library is t prvide materials nt universally available and nt cnstantly in demand; this is what distinguishes it frm a lcal public library r a cllege library. Research libraries cllect fr psterity as well as fr their present cnstituency. Nnetheless, it can be argued that as English-language academic publicatins becme increasingly available nline, the need t maintain them in print decreases prprtinately. This is nt true, hwever, when it cmes t freign publicatins (as there is nt yet such a cyber-cllectin) nr will it becme true in the freseeable future, fr a variety f technical, ecnmic, cultural, and geplitical reasns. Therefre fr many area studies cllectins, cllecting fr psterity is still the nrm and will remain the nrm. Interlibrary cperatin in cllecting materials in all languages is increasingly imprtant. What we must reslve is what ur lng-term bligatins t ur cllecting partners will be, and hw we can ensure that ur key research prgrams and cllecting areas will be supprted as fully as pssible. The challenge will be t develp fair, cst-effective, efficient mdels fr cllectin develpment amng all partners. It is imprtant t develp assessment tls fr interlibrary cperatin, and t share infrmatin n hw peer institutins have restructured their cllectins budgets t accmmdate new cllectin and service prgrams. Other measurements may include the library s ability t integrate student learning and faculty research int library services, and t incrprate librarians expertise int the teaching and research paradigm, pssibly thrugh teaching, research cnsultatin, data creatin, navigatin, data and cntent curating, r curseware develpment. Beynd cllectins, we need t enhance the discvery experience and infrmatin aggregatin acrss natinal bundaries, such as web archiving f nline resurces.

4 Zhu, Peter (2013). Respnse 5, paper prepared fr the Cllabratin, Advcacy, and Recruitment: Area and Internatinal Studies Librarianship Wrkshp, Indiana University, Blmingtn, Indiana, Octber "As libraries respnd t changes in the academy, publishing, and the infrmatin landscape, hw can we psitin area and internatinal studies cllectins and services as central t the educatinal missin f the university?" Lk at emerging areas f research. One apprach wuld be t analyze new faculty research interests in light f current cllecting practices, then redirect area studies cllectins in that directin, making them mre central t faculty needs. Take a practive apprach t the changing landscape f academic publishing, especially with respect t brder-crssing, trans-disciplinary, and interdisciplinary research and teaching, media studies, scial netwrking, and digital humanities and scial sciences. The age f big data is here, and we need t cnsider hw ur cllectins and services will adapt t it. Cnsider the future f Title VI f the Natinal Defense Educatin Act. This will have a prnunced impact n area studies cllectins. We need t assess ur current reliance n Title VI and develp a strategy fr maintaining and develping ur cllectins in the event that Title VI is phased ut. 4. "Hw can we best cmmunicate the values and cntributins f the library t diverse cnstituencies n campus and beynd? Is the time ripe fr intrducing strategic planning fr area and internatinal studies cllectins and services?" We can cmmunicate ur values and cntributins thrugh venues such as prfessinal publicatins, newsletters, websites, seminars and cnferences, the media (newspaper and televisin), and library turs. 5. "The current fcus n glbalizatin in Nrth American universities prmtes an educatin based n a brad understanding f scieties arund the wrld thrugh the study f freign languages and the acquisitin f area-based knwledge. What des this mean fr area and internatinal cllectins and services in research libraries? If greater demand fr internatinal resurces is anticipated, hw can we advcate fr cntinued supprt fr cllectins and services that adequately supprt the teaching and research missin f the glbalized campuses?" Internatinal and area studies cllectins dvetail int the current trend f internatinalizatin. The direct relevance f area studies cllectins t internatinalizatin cannt be veremphasized. Internatinal academic prgrams are becming increasingly ppular, encmpassing the prfessinal schls and extending t the establishment f verseas campuses and research centers. Internatinal and area studies cllectins shuld supprt thse prgrams as well as the schlars and alumni returning frm thse prgrams. Frm strng partnerships with faculty and students. Integrate library services such as interactive, up-t-the-minute infrmatin delivery int their academic endeavrs glbal discvery, student training, curse develpment t

5 Zhu, Peter (2013). Respnse 5, paper prepared fr the Cllabratin, Advcacy, and Recruitment: Area and Internatinal Studies Librarianship Wrkshp, Indiana University, Blmingtn, Indiana, Octber demnstrate that internatinal and area studies cllectins are a vital cmpnent f building a glbalized campus. Endntes 1) The italicized texts here and belw are extracts frm the Prvcatin n Theme III.