Attaining Sustainable Digital Libraries

Steve O’ConnorUniversity Librarian

Attaining Sustainable Digital Libraries

Disruptive Libraries

Feng Chia University12 December 2008


What is normal?• Financial tsunami• Changing world geo-political world• Altered world communication patterns• Election of President-Elect Barrack

Obama• Unexpected change has dominated


‘Normal’ varies from era to era

• Rate of change in our own lives• Dependent on our observation and

awareness of our worlds• A further factor is the extent to which we

can influence the environment• No one is immune from change


“ You can’t stop change from coming… you can only usher it in and work out the terms. If you are smart and a little lucky, you can make it your friend”

Barrack Obama

Time Nov 17, 2008: 25

“ You can’t stop change from coming… you can only usher it in and work out the terms. If you are smart and a little lucky, you can make it your friend”Barrack Obama

Time Nov 17, 2008: 25


‘Rear Vision Mirror’• Looking to the past

helps to understand how the future happens

• Remember the past • Remember how to look

forward from that time• Rates of change can be

determined


Uncertainty and ‘Wei Ji’• If we were able to predict the future, we

would be rich• A crisis can mean different things to

different people: may not even be a crisis!• With every crisis there is an opportunity• Opportunity can make people super-

people if they have the skills


Disruptive Technologies

• Clayton Christensen Innovator’s Dilemma• Disruptive technologies

– Initially limited functionality eg PC’s, diaries, PDA’s

– Eventually DT’s have enough functionality for most people


Five PrinciplesClayton Christensen Innovators dilemma

1. Companies depend on customers and investors for resources

*Do not meet current customer need fail2. Small markets do not solve growth needs of large

companies *Emerging market first mover advantage ..margins too small

for large companies..new markets often larger3. Markets that do not exist cannot be analysed *Market research and planning good for sustaining

technologies


Five Principles ……..4.Organisation’s capabilities define its disabilities

*Capability in processes and values…work against organisation implementing change

5. Technology supply may not equal market demand

*Technology improvement provides greater performance than market can absorb


Just two…………• Markets which do not exist cannot be

analysed– What are the future markets for Libraries?

• An Organisation’s capabilities define it’s disabilities– What do we see our capabilities?

• Storage; cataloguing; information services????– These are our disabilities!!! What are our

future strengths???


What is the disruptive technology for Libraries?

• Three main disruptions….– One, Digital delivery destroyed the Traditional

Library model

– Two, Google has made the library catalogue redundant

– Three, the above two have made the old Librarian role redundant


….an Opportunity!!• How do we create a new Business Model

for the Library?• How do we develop the new Librarian with

a new set of skills?• How do we alter the direction and shape of

our organisations and the training organisations?


Strategic Thinking

Future Focus

Strong

Weak

Weak Strong

Mindless Action

Futures Trap

Paradigm challengingstrategies

Within paradigmstrategies


Characteristics of the new direction

• Digital, digital, digital……• Users are more remote… or, at least,

many of our interactions are with an unseen clientele to content which cannot be seen either

• New modes of learning • Cost pressures… everywhere• Most especially, User expectations are

very different


Characteristic: Digital• Not everything will be digital and if it is… it will

cost significant amounts of money– Google Books never free……….

• Collaborative storage for low-use research materials

• Focus on good choices ofTechnology to invest in


0

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1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19

Period

Use

Normal Life Cycle 一般的生命周期


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Period

Use

Life Cycle with Spikes 跳跃的生命周期


Life Cycle with Long Tail 长尾巴的生命周期



How many copies?• Is everything digital?• Is everything which is digital, digital

forever?• What is the redundancy rate for

technology?• How many copies of journals need to be

retained to ensure a digital copy can be made in 100 years?

Candace Arai Yano “Optimising the number of copies for print preservation of research journals. October 2008


• JULAC is establishing a KHD350 Million low use print robotic repository

• A shared collection• No Duplication of

content• Shared capital

ownership and management

JURA


Characteristic: Remote• How do we relate to users we never meet? • Impacts of technological horizons

– Far beyond the campus for access and license arrangements

• Meet on the terms of our future users– Generation Y

• Seamless to content– From wherever to wherever


Characteristic: Learning• Engage in new digital environments such as

Second Life– Avatar Librarians– Library resources linked to learning courses

• Our staffs need to learn to manage in a collaborative environment– Need different managerial styles– Need to be even more creative and forward thinking– Need to be qualified teachers


PolyU Library Second Life

Second Life address: hkpolyU Campus










Characteristic: Cost Pressures• Increasing value of Consortia• Roles of Consortia changing further

– OCLC ‘disintermediation’– Merger of large consortia into even bigger

consortia– JULAC’s Consortiall saving HKD27 million in

2007


Characteristic: User Expectations• Increasing expectation of service, instant

service• JULAC commenced HKALL

– Empowered users to go to or have materials brought to them… at no cost

• JULAC also introduced RAPID to make articles available in 24 hours

• PolyU is creating collaborative spaces


Independent libraries


Hierarchical libraries in a system…centralised


Networked libraries…Local Regional or International


Imagination, knowledge and methodology

• Choices need process• Processes describe the journey• Journey needs knowledge• Knowledge needs to avoid being

‘blinkered’• Imagination is supreme, it allows for

creativity


Imagining a Library

Individual Library– Preferred Library

Scenario– Strategic Plan


Imagining a system• Nothing remains the same• Evolution of Consortia• Members are libraries• No longer a collection of libraries• What are the drivers influencing the future

of consortia?


What ‘wei lai’ should we choose?

• Important to understand options / alternatives

• Important to scope out the alternatives

• Is there a difference between Scenario Planning and Strategic Planning?• Important not to engage in strategic planning too early



What is sustainability?• A state of mind.. to think completely

‘outside-the-box’ !• A state of preparedness• Aware of developments and trends in

allied and even unrelated disciplines• Motivated to grasp and shape the future


• Obama said ‘You can make change your friend !’

• You can choose to position yourself ahead of the pack

• You can choose to be ‘out there’, or to wait for the future to happen to you


Disruptive Librarians and

Libraries will make the futureAnd

Make it a sustainable one!


Xie Xie Diajia

Documents

Attaining Sustainable Digital Libraries