Carl Grant

Gone Open Yet

After spending decades automating libraries with proprietary software solutions, the author decided the business model is flawed, resulting in libraries stagnating at a time they should be accelerating. A possible solution exists in open source software solutions and the author outlines the reasons for the explosion of open source software and his move to support the development. The article examines the advantages, disadvantages and misconceptions that exist about open source software and concludes with a call for libraries to examine and form their own conclusions on this exciting new option that is available to their organizations. Parts of this article were first presented as a talk at the ILS Symposium organized by Lincoln Trail Libraries System in September 2007. Some other portions are from the authors blog located at www.care‐affiliates.com/thoughts.

Value-Added Librarianship: Creating It in Our Services and in the Infrastructure upon Which We Rely

Librarianship is facing big challenges. Technology and, in particular, cloud computing are making the role of librarians as information intermediaries more transparent to the point that we risk vanishing from the process. This article examines what the mission of librarianship should be in this environment, how we differentiate ourselves from other information suppliers, and how we ensure that the values of librarianship are embedded and preserved when using technology.

The Rules Have Changed, and We Librarians Must Change as Well: A Reflection on the Future Inspired by Experiences at Midwinter ALA

Author Carl Grant bases this article on his experiences as a participant in several different events at the January 2009 Midwinter ALA Convention in Denver. Grant discusses three major threads: 1) The need for a vision for the future of librarianship, 2) The willingness to do what it will take to get there and 3) Understanding our professional obligations to make this change occur.

Supporting a Passion for New Ideas through Open APIs

Despite the many technological advances that the information industry has witnessed over the past decades, barriers to the full use of information remain. Part of this problem is due to the volume of content and data that is available today. But the information silos created by proprietary system interfaces and the resultant lack of open use of content are far more serious factors inhibiting the full use of information and ultimately the generation of new ideas. This paper will take a look at the current situation and offer some solutions to the current problem.

It’s Time to Define a New Brand for Libraries. Let’s Make Sure It Leaves People Soaring, Not Snoring.

Librarians can benefit from studying the history of other professions in order to learn from mistakes others have made. One place librarians need to be concerned about today is the library brand, which defines for user communities what libraries are all about and what kind of experience users will have in libraries. Recent research reports show the library brand as “books” and suggest an equally uninspiring new branding. This article examines some compelling brand examples from other professions and suggests some other options for librarianship.

How Librarians Can Shape the Future

The first two sections of this three-part article contrast the myopic five-year strategic plan that the American Library Association introduced just before the Boston ALA Midwinter convention in 2010 (Section 1) with a Danish view of a future for librarians that includes significant and irreplaceable work (Section 2). Section 3 of the article provides several on-line examples that illustrate how other user and professional communities are using modern electronic techniques to collect and provide timely information. These provide exemplary models which librarians can use to move ahead to develop and fulfill a significant information agenda for the nation, their institutions, and the profession.

Construction Zones on the Library Road to the Future

This article suggests that substantial and often disturbing change is the only way that libraries can achieve a bright future in an increasingly digital world. Libraries must quickly adopt mobile technology, cloud computing, eScience, and the systematic organization and dissemination of quality information—and do so within the context of collaboration with other libraries in the region, nation, and world. Fiscal shortages can not be used as an excuse to postpone imperative changes; money has to be found.

Why So Many Repositories? Examining the Limitations and Possibilities of the Institutional Repositories Landscape

ABSTRACT Academic libraries fail to take advantage of the network effect because they manage too many digital repositories locally. While this argument applies to all manner of digital repositories, this article examines the fragmented environment of institutional repositories (IR), in which effort and costs are duplicated, numerous software platforms and versions are managed simultaneously, metadata are applied inconsistently, users are served poorly, and libraries are unable to take advantage of collective data about content and users. In the meantime, commercial IR vendors and academic social networks have shown much greater success with cloud-based models. Collectively, the library profession has enough funding to create a national-level IR, but it lacks the willingness to abandon local control.

Big Changes Needed: Where to Find the Money?

This article discusses ways that librarians can find the money to make big changes within their organizations. The article discusses strategic planning, metrics, and greater operating efficiencies as sound management methods to obtain the funding to make important changes in tight financial times. The piece has a practical tone addressed to library leaders and to practitioners who are asked to make significant changes in a lean economy.

The Cooperative We Need: Open and Collaborative Library Content

This article highlights the need for database collaboration among OCLC and librarians in order to create the cooperative database that the entire library community needs to move ahead in the future. The author critiques recent OCLC strategic directions and suggests that the Dublin giant needs to focus essentially on its cooperative nonprofit roots to best serve the library community and library users in the years ahead.