Transforming%20Knowledge%20Services%20for%20the%20Digital%20Age%20Redefining%20the%20Research%20Library

1
Transforming Knowledge Services for the Digital
AgeRedefining the Research Library

• Peter R. Young
• Director
• National Agricultural Library
• Wageningen, Netherlands
• 21 February 2008
• advancing access to global information for
  agriculture

2
Redefining the Research LibraryOutline

• Introduction
• Transformative Trends
• E-Science Agriculture
• Global Challenges
• Knowledge Services
• Transition Challenges
• Digital Research Library Vision

3
Introduction

• Thanks to Joke Webbink for inviting me
• It is a pleasure to visit the Wageningen
  Library
• National Agricultural Library
• Serves both USDA and USA
• 3.8M item collections
• 265 staff
• 7 Information Centers
• 90M annual transactions
• Digital transition

4
Access links to Non-commercial Content
5
Transformative Trends

• E-Science and Agriculture
• Inter-related global challenges
• Team-based research
• Inter/multi/trans-disciplinary
• Data intensive
• Multi-source channels
• Knowledge Services
• Custom personalized
• Comprehensive
• Integrated
• Research Libraries
• Integrated services
• Cyberinfrastructure
• Digital archival, preservation, curatorial
  services

6
Global Challenges

• Global climate change research
• Renewable energy alternatives
• Access to clean water sanitation
• Water resource management
• Animal human infectious diseases
• Treatment prevention
• Human nutrition
• Food quality, availability, safety

7
Renewable Energy Food

• Food, fiber, feed, and fuel
• FAO Food Price Index 37 in 2007
• Demand for biofuels - tension
• Developing nations demand more protein
• Widening gap between rich and poor nations
• Competition demand for edible cooking
  oils increasing

8
Renewable Energy Food

• Global meat demand increase
• Assembly-line meat factories
• High energy consumption
• Water pollution problems
• Greenhouse gases generated
• Corn and grain for feed
• Total world meat supply
• 71 million tons in 1961
• 284 million tons in 2007
• Demand to double by 2050

9
Scientific Research - Trends

• Inter-disciplinary team-based
• Multi-sector partnerships
• Technology intensive (E-Science)
• Modeling visualization
• Application method driven
• Instrumentation intensive
• Large-scale data accumulation
• Accelerating discovery cycles
• Focus on capturing processes, not just outputs
  and outcomes
• Shared use of resources and results

10
Knowledge Services Transition Challenges

• Search Discovery Tools
• Knowledge Content Resources
• Knowledge Services
• Transformational Opportunities

11
Search Discovery Tools

• Print
• Standard index-abstracts
• Local resource collection
• Catalog and indices
• General-use generic tools
• Libraries as gate-keepers
• Standard authorities
• Format-specific

• Digital
• Portals crawlers
• Linked content
• Integrated formats
• Object clusters
• Discipline specific tools
• Cross-domain search
• browse-able taxonomies
• federated search
• Format agnostic

12
Content Resources

• Print
• Publisher acquired
• Tangible collections
• Bibliographic control
• Fixed editions/titles
• Collection centric
• Preservation
• Facility infrastructure
• Well-established usage patterns

• Digital
• Intangible born-digital
• Complex objects
• Non-place specific
• Fluid and transitory
• Dynamic objects
• Content is king
• Multi-media formats
• Metadata registry
• Persistent metadata
• Article-level publishing

13
Knowledge Services

• Print
• Standard text-based
• Reactive
• Custodial
• Generic services
• Reference service
• Lending service
• Subscription-based services
• Private readers

• Digital
• Multi/mixed-format
• Custom services
• Consultation
• Alerts (Push)
• Email chat reference
• Unmediated services
• User tracking monitoring
• Licensed access
• Pay-per-use pricing
• Subscription licenses
• Digital rights management and protection
• Multi-source providers
• Open source
• Competitive offerings

14
Transformational Opportunities

• Visible
• Inspiring
• Innovative
• Dynamic
• Self-Initiating
• Integrated
• Convergent
• Globally accessible
• Virtual
• Customer-Centric (CRM)
• Highly respected recognized leader
• Transformational
• Evolutionary
• Diverse

• Awakening
• Fulfilling
• Well organized/coordinated
• Cooperative
• Premier
• Enterprising
• Comprehensive
• Authoritative, trusted, reliable
• Openly communicating
• Culturally significant
• Diverse support sources
• Research intensive
• Responsible costs
• Interoperative Connected

15
Digital Research Library Vision

• Personal Learning Landscape (Elgg)
• Web 2.0 Meme Map
• Web Trends
• Digital Community Development tools
• You Tube
• Face Book
• Library Thing
• Twine It

16
(No Transcript)
17
Digital Age Context
18
Web Trends

• Increasing use fastest growth non-US
• Increased vulnerabilities
• Broadband increase
• Improving search functionality
• Web 2.0 application adoption
• Software as service
• Web-enabled portable devices
• Cloud computing
• Microsoft, Amazon Simple DB, Google
• Computers as customers

19
Digital Community Development Tools

• Customized link services references
• If you liked this
• Niche community development
• 69 million visitors Facebook visitors
• 29 million uses per day
• 392 million installations
• 206 million unique You Tube visitors
• 21 billion minutes
• Implications of social networking Web 2.0 for
  Research Libraries

20
(No Transcript)
21
(No Transcript)
22
Transformational Changes?

• Why do libraries need to catalog and create
  metadata records?
• Why not use social networking tools to provide
  tags?
• Why worry about access and demand when Google
  Scholar and Books are so popular?
• Why should we be concerned about preservation and
  stewardship of archival digital content?
• Will research libraries be marginalized, or is a
  new paradigm emerging?

23
Digital Research Library Cyber-Infrastructure
Challenges

• Supercomputer simulations of complex systems
  require multidisciplinary expertise,
  computational models data
• Enormous data streams from smart sensor arrays
• Increased power of data mining
• Data validation and metadata quality enhancement
  over time
• Digital archiving and preservation

24
Global Cyber-InfrastructureDigital Research
Library Roles

• Global cyberinfrastructure (CI) can become a
  platform for routine, effective
  distance-independent activities of knowledge
  communities
• World-scale collaborative teams can be common
  place
• Cyberinfrastructure offers new options for what
  is done, how it is done, and who participates
• The digital library community has made large
  contributions to creating this vision
• We now have the opportunity (and responsibility)
  to help make it real

25
Digital Research Library Vision

• Online access to complete credentialled, archival
  literature
• Stewardship and curation services for enormous
  collections of scientific data
• Digital repositories for diverse digital objects
  as instructional material and works in progress
• Digitized special collections
• More continuous (vs. batch) open forms of
  scholarly communication
• Individual and community customization
  information services

26
(No Transcript)
27
(No Transcript)