1. Chemistry librarianship:
What’s on the horizon?
How do we get there?
Are Chemical Information Professionals Ready for the Future?
CINF Division, ACS National Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT
March 23, 2009
Elizabeth Brown
Scholarly Communications and Library Grants Officer
Binghamton University Libraries

2. How did we get here?
1.
2. What’s on the horizon?
3. How do we get there?
Questions

3. Technology

Library Operations

Globalism

Service Standards, Mission

1. How did we get here?

4. Web 2.0: Social software

 Cell phones: Mobile, wireless
communication
 Publishing
◦ E-journals
◦ User generated content
◦ New publishing models (Open Access)
◦ Digital (Institutional) Repositories
Technology

5. Open Science: Chemistry

 Open Source Chemistry
 Chemistry Development Toolkit (CDT)
 Useful Chem
Technology

6. Budgets

◦ Shrinking resources
◦ Journal inflation, creation
◦ E-resources
Assessment

◦ Justify space, costs, services, staff
◦ Collections budget assessments, reallocation
Staffing

◦ Responsibilities, workload
◦ Expectations from administration, patrons
◦ Temporary, nonlinear projects, staffing
Spaces

◦ Multiuse spaces
◦ Storage for low-use items
◦ Combined service points
◦ Shared facilities
Library Operations

7. Greater international student presence

◦ International Programs
◦ Language
◦ Cultural expectations: copyright, plagiarism
Multi-national research collaborations, foundations

◦ Partnership in International Research in Education (PIRE)
program, NSF
◦ John F. Fogerty International Center for Advanced Study in
the Health Sciences BRAIN program, NIH
◦ Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
◦ Elsevier Foundation
Globalism

8. Access 24/7

Contact by

Usability, design expectations

Full text access

SciTechNet

Science Commons

ACS Network

Service Standards

9. Technology

◦ More open source applications
◦ Greater system interoperability
◦ Greater emphasis on usability, design
◦ Increased use of Repositories:
Subject, Institutional (Digital)
◦ Digital projects, preservation, standards
◦ Large Scale scanning projects
2. What’s on the horizon?

10. Publishing (2-3 years)

◦ Open Access will grow
◦ More author reporting mandates from funding
agencies (NSF)
◦ Post Open Access publishing models will
emerge
◦ Journal title, volume will disappear: article will
stand alone
◦ Libraries will take on new or expanded
publishing roles
preservation, editorial work , printing
2. What’s on the horizon?

11. Library Operations

◦ Technology skills
◦ More hours, less staff
◦ Collaborative projects – within and between
libraries, other groups
2. What’s on the horizon?

12. Globalism

◦ Stronger ties, collaborative programs
◦ More exchange of talent, skills
◦ Subsidies for third world countries
◦ International scholarly programming
Service Standards

◦ Greater demand to provide service
◦ Greater expectations for librarians to provide technical help
◦ Increased Campus partnerships
computing services

Publishing

technology transfer

research reporting

assessment

2. What’s on the horizon?

13. Awareness
1.
2. Evaluation
3. Integration
4. Re-Prioritization
3. How do we get there?

14. Put the user at the center

 How does population benefit?
 Listen to patron feedback
 Retire outdated practices
3. How do we get there?

15. Awareness, Evaluation
O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference

 O’Reilly Tools of Change (TOC) for
Publishing
 23 Things
 WebWare 100 Annual Awards
3. How do we get there?

16. Integration, Prioritization
2009 Horizon Report, New Media

Consortium/EDUCAUSE
Higher Education IT and Cyberinfrastructure:

Integrating Technologies for Scholarship , EDUCAUSE
Fostering Learning a Networked World, NSF

No Brief Candle: Reconceiving Research Libraries for

the 21st Century, CLIR
The Research Library’s Role in Digital Repository

Services, ARL
Current Models of Digital Scholarly

Communication, Ithaka/ARL
3. How do we get there?

17. Presentation link: Slideshare

Thank you!