The Present Is Another Country: Academic Libraries, Learning Technologies, and Relevance

Abstract

ABSTRACT The first years of the 21st century have witnessed challenges to the traditional roles of libraries and librarians. Widespread access to information via search engines has permitted users to bypass libraries for more readily available resources whose quality, though still variable, increases steadily. Digitization initiatives, such as the Google Book Project and products by Gale and other publishers, have democratized and commercialized library holdings. As a result, libraries, particularly academic institutions, have found themselves marginalized: Two of their key roles—information gateway and the university's intellectual center—have been taken over by other sources. Yet the proliferation of learning management systems (LMS) provide an opportunity for academic libraries to dramatically increase their relevance to students and faculty by allowing them to integrate their resources—and their information literacy expertise—in a point-of-need model. With this has come the need to rethink the goals of the library and how it addresses its metrics for success. This presentation profiles coordination between libraries and LMSs being pioneered by a number of institutions. It evaluates the success of these projects and it considers the possibilities and implications for a 21st-century “learning library.”