Merging Library and Computing Services at Kenyon College: A Progress Report.

Abstract

18 A s merged library and computing service organizations become more common on college campuses, individual organizations have begun to develop greater variety in structure and focus. Kenyon College (see the sidebar on page 20) in particular has created a uniquely integrated library and computing services unit whose evolution and progress are described in this article. Kenyon’s president, Robert A. Oden Jr., recalls that when he was a young assistant professor at Dartmouth College in the late 1970s, he was asked to chair a search committee for a new Director of Libraries. The charge came from John G. Kemeny, co-author of BASIC and originator of time-sharing — as important a contributor as any single individual in advancing the information explosion of the past quarter century. Kemeny said, “This search, Rob, will be the last the college ever holds for a Director of Libraries, because this director’s successor will instead be the Director for Libraries and Computing. As all colleges will eventually do, we will soon merge these two now separate divisions.” That prediction turned out to be premature, but Kemeny was correct when he predicted the coming merger of libraries and computing centers at many colleges and universities. In 1995, when we at Kenyon College began to consider embarking on just such a merger, President Oden consulted a number of head librarians and directors of computing or information technology centers. They were nearly unanimous in recommending the course we were considering, although often with the caution that such a merger would be challenging. They were right.