Future Tense: Libraries andCollections of tomorrow

PROFESSOR ANNE E TREFETHEN

Before looking too closely at the future….

IATUL Porto, May 21, 2006

The Role of Librariesin the Context of e-Science

Dr Anne E. Trefethen

Oxford e-Research Centre

Anne.trefethen@ierc.ox.ac.uk

IATUL Porto, May 21, 2006

e-Science Goals

• to enable new forms of science that are– distributed– collaborative– multi-disciplinary– information-intensive– data-intensive

• to use information technology to– leverage data as a form of science capital– to manage the “data deluge”– improve access to scientific information

IATUL Porto, May 21, 2006

Crystallographic e-Prints Direct Access to Raw Datafrom scientific papers

Raw data sets can be very large and theseare stored at National Datastore using SRB

server

(eBank slides courtesy of Liz Lyon and Jeremy Frey)

Grid

E-Experimentation

E-Scientists

collaboration

data &metadata

storage &processing

Current E-ScienceFocus: ExperimentationVirtual collaborations forlarge-scaleexperimentation & analysis

(eBank slides courtesy of Liz Lyon)

Grid

E-Experimentation

E-Scientists

Experimentation& Analysis Cycle

1

(eBank slides courtesy of Liz Lyon)

Publication &Preservation Cycle

E-Experimentation

E-Scientists

2

Grid

TechnicalReports

Reprints

Peer-ReviewedJournal &

ConferencePapers

Preprints &Metadata

InstitutionalArchive

LocalWebPublisher

HoldingsCertified

ExperimentalResults &Analyses

Data,Metadata &Ontologies

(eBank slides courtesy of Liz Lyon)

E-Experimentation

E-Scientists

Research Cycleaccess & impact3

Grid

InstitutionalArchive

LocalWebPublisher

Holdings

DigitalLibrary

E-Scientists

TechnicalReports

Reprints

Peer-ReviewedJournal &

ConferencePapers

Preprints &Metadata

CertifiedExperimental

Results &Analyses

Data,Metadata &Ontologies

(eBank slides courtesy of Liz Lyon)

E-Experimentation

E-ScientistsLearning Cycletraining and developingtomorrow’s e-scientists

4

Grid

InstitutionalArchive

LocalWebPublisher

Holdings

DigitalLibrary

E-ScientistsGraduateStudents

UndergraduateStudents

Virtual LearningEnvironment

TechnicalReports

Reprints

Peer-ReviewedJournal &

ConferencePapers

Preprints &Metadata

CertifiedExperimental

Results &Analyses

Data,Metadata &Ontologies

(eBank slides courtesy of Liz Lyon)

Grid

E-Scientists

Entire E-Science CycleEncompassingexperimentation,analysis, publication,research, learning

5

InstitutionalArchive

LocalWebPublisher

Holdings

DigitalLibrary

E-ScientistsGraduateStudents

UndergraduateStudents

Virtual LearningEnvironment

E-Experimentation

E-Scientists

TechnicalReports

Reprints

Peer-ReviewedJournal &

ConferencePapers

Preprints &Metadata

CertifiedExperimental

Results &Analyses

Data,Metadata &Ontologies

(eBank slides courtesy of Liz Lyon)

IATUL Porto, May 21, 2006

The hybrid library

‘The dominant user view of a library is of aphysical space. But libraries are services whichprovide organised access, to the intellectualrecord, wherever it resides, whether in physicalplaces or scattered digital information spaces. The‘hybrid’ library of the future will be a managedcombination of physical and virtual collectionsand information resources.’

Reg Carr, Oxford University

IATUL Porto, May 21, 2006

Conclusions

• Publication of data and “paper” becomingintegrated in the digital scholarly research cycle

• Libraries will move further to the “hybrid” model– Institutional repositories

• e-Science brings with it the data deluge – needsfor data management and curation skills

• e-Scientists also need library training in discoveryand access

• Have implicitly touched on Open Access but aspolicies begin to apply to data as well aspublication research outputs, then the above willbe even more so.

The world we live in…

Courtesy of Christine Borgman

Publishers

Courtesy of Tony Hey

Linked Data standardsand tool sets

Visually defined query

What is this?

Data

it is an amphora

… and here are similar objectsin the archive

Allowing innovative visiontechniques– Andrew Zisserman

Collections of the future?

Library Services of the future?Data mining, visualisation?

Libraries – information infrastructure ?

Shannon Mattern,Library as Infrastructure

Future tense– digital/physical divide ?- cultural?

Implications for use of collectionsDigital platforms have

enabled new forms of collaboration

allowed bringing together of disparate collections

democratised the experience and interpretation of heritagecollections,

have complemented and not replaced the richness and importanceof a physical encounter

have provided the context to give the physical collection itsprominence

Is the future all digital?

Mansueto Library, University of Chicago(2011)

NCState University

What does this mean forOxford?

Rethinking our space… opportunity to rethink the RSL

to provide collaborative space tosupport interdisciplinary working

to integrate a broader set ofinformation services

to think of collections beyond librarycollections

Rethinking the division

ASUC?

Focusing on the “Value proposition” within the University

Identifying areas we might work better across the division – digital strategy,commercial activities

Sharing best practice and building on successes across the division

Contributing to the mission of theUniversityThe University Collections contribute to

Improved research capabilities and collaboration

Enhanced learning experience

Supporting widening participation and broadening access activities

Increasing public engagement

GLAM share their globally significant collections to inspire research,learning and enjoyment for the advancement of knowledge and abetter understanding of the world we live in.

Gardens, Libraries and Museums

Questions?