University Libraries and Digital Learning Environments

Citation

Smith, A.G. (2012), "University Libraries and Digital Learning Environments", The Electronic Library, Vol. 30 No. 1, pp. 146-147. https://doi.org/10.1108/02640471211204123

Libraries devoted to higher learning are now in the middle of the third information technology revolution. As David Ball points out in the concluding chapter of this book, the first IT revolution was writing, the second was printing with moveable type, and the third is our current digital revolution. Each of these revolutions has been difficult to adapt to. Socrates was concerned that writing would destroy the power of memory, and the character of Faust is based on an early printer who was believed to have sold his soul to the devil in order to be able to produce perfect copies of the bible. Today's academic libraries are dealing with multiple ICT issues. Perfect digital copies change completely the copyright licensing environment. Mobile devices have, in a few short years, gone from being annoying intrusions into the peaceful calm of the library, to vital study tools.

University Libraries and Digital Learning Environments is a well planned collection of chapters covering many of these issues: social media, information literacy, professional development, open access, the nature of the physical space, virtual reference, and new formats such as e‐books.

One revolutionary area of academic library practice is the institutional repository, turning the role of the library on its head. Instead of providing other institutions' research outputs to their users through onsite journal holdings, the library is now the conduit by which the institution's research output is made available to the world. Alma Swan's chapter looks at the role of the institutional repository in detail, concluding that it is the “data layer of the future” making research available to users such as small enterprises and developing countries that have traditionally found academic research hard to access.

The physical library environment is still important, and Liz Waller presents four case studies of how UK libraries are adapting to digital learning. This includes refining the concept of the learning hub, providing study spaces with Imax‐like data projectors, and of course ubiquitous Wi‐Fi. The power of virtual environment to extend the library's physical space was brought home to me recently on a visit the University of British Columbia, where students sitting with their laptops in the parkland by the library were accessing the library's Wi‐Fi, and using the power outlets thoughtfully built into the park furniture!

A neat touch by the editors is the use of Wordles (www.wordle.net), a graphic presenting the keywords from the chapter. This could lead to a new approach to speed reading, but in fact almost all the chapters repay proper attention. Some chapters read like literature reviews, referencing a lot of useful material, but not quite providing the reader with fresh insights. Fortunately this is avoided in chapters such as David Bell's, and Beard and Dale's discussion of what “reading for a degree” means in the digital environment.

University Libraries and Digital Learning Environments will be useful to any academic librarian, and a valuable resource for library education programmes and professional development.