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Strategic Directions for Digital Libraries

ARL released an extended and updated version of their "Strategic Thinking and Design Initiative" report. While the report is a long 126 pages, I've provided a few highlights that I think could also serve as strategic directions for digital libraries:

Recognized Shifts that are occurring - Page 19 (PDF page 21) 
  •  Within two decades, the research library will have transitioned its focus from its role as a knowledge service provider within a single university to become a collaborative partner within a broader ecosystem of higher education. 
  • Research libraries will be even more intimately engaged in supporting the full life cycle and activity range of knowledge discovery, use, and preservation, as well as the curating and sharing of knowledge in diverse contexts of the university’s mission and of society more broadly.
  • ARL—the organization—will enable and catalyze research libraries to leverage and mobilize individual assets toward the collective advancement of learning, research, and societal impact.
Assumptions- Page 21 (PDF page 23) 
  • The research library of the future will be a megalibrary at different scales; it will aggregate vast amounts of data, text, and media-rich content. 
  • Local collections and expertise will be increasingly valuable. 
  • Technology will be ubiquitous and will function in a more seamless interaction between humans and machines; physical and virtual spaces will be more responsive.
  • The research library can and will increasingly broaden its role from a predominantly service role within a single home institution. 
  • The research library has less inertia than the university. It can and should assume a leadership role in the evolution of the larger university system, which is also undergoing transformation.
  • A new financial model is necessary.
New Roles for the research library - Page 21 (PDF page 23) 
  • An augmented information lens for engaging and empowering individual users.
  • An open Symposium for facilitating and empowering exploration and exchange within an academic community.
  • A mega-library ecosystem for building powerful collaborative capacity
  • A knowledge trust for providing enduring, barrier-free access for all research inquirty


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