Short description:

This book discusses ways in which academic libraries can face these uncertain times. Strategic alignment with the university and its mission is a fundamental part of successful positioning, as is being flexible, adaptable and responsive to changing needs, requirements and expectations.

Long description:

Academic libraries are facing uncertain times. The international higher education environment is very volatile and academic libraries and librarians can play a major role in helping to strategically position their parent institution within it. In doing so, there needs to be clarity as to what the position of the academic library is with regard to the role and function it has within the university and how library leadership can have pan-institutional influence and impact. There are several ways in which the academic library can position itself and this collection demonstrates many of these. Strategic alignment with the university and its mission is a fundamental part of successful positioning, as is being flexible, adaptable and responsive to changing needs, requirements and expectations. Developments in research support and scholarly communications, as well as super-convergences with other academic support departments, are examples of such responsiveness.

These topics along with other emerging themes, such as library functions and institutional partnerships and collaborations, are all discussed in the book and provide the reader with a rich variety of reflections and case studies on how academic libraries, from across the globe, have addressed their position within their institution.

This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal New Review of Academic Librarianship.

Table of Contents:

Introduction: Positioning the Academic Library within the Institution: Structures and Challenges

1. Positioning the Academic Library within the Institution: A Literature Review

2. The "Idea of the University": Positioning Academic Librarians in the Future University

3. Aligning Library and University Strategic Directions: A Constructivist Grounded Theory Study of Academic Library Leadership in Australia and the U.S.A

4. How Do Academic Libraries Adapt Within an Ever Increasing Marketized Higher Education Landscape? A Comparison and Analysis of University Library Mission Statements in Germany and the UK

5. Shrink to Fit or Prune to Strengthen: Adapting the Strategic Plan in an Academic Library as Response to Environmental Change

6. Research Support at the Crossroads: Capability, Capacity, and Collaboration

7. Evolution of Research Support Services at an Academic Library: Specialist Knowledge Linked by Core Infrastructure

8. Reshaping Academic Librarianship in the Context of Twenty-First Century Scholarly Communications and Information Fluency: A Case Study of the Scholarly Communications Management Team at Imperial College London Library Services

9. Understanding Academics: A UX Ethnographic Research Project at the University of York

10. Developing Academic Engagement: A Qualitative, "Ethnographish" Study of a Devolved Library Structure at the University of Cambridge

11. The Library Leading: Knowledge Management Supporting Community College Institutional Strategy

12. Library as Forum: Building Relationships and Identity Through Faculty Speaker Events

13. From Service Providers to Collaborators and Partners: A Nondiscipline-Based Approach at a Liberal Arts College

14. "This is an Opportunity for Librarians to Reinvent Themselves, but it is about Moving Out of their Areas": New Roles for Library Leaders?

15. The View from Within: A Personal Reflection on Library Strategy Development in Three Academic Libraries

16. Converging Paths to Common Ground: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Influencing Institution Business

17. The Library at Ryerson University: A Case Study in Relationship-Building and Academic Collaboration

18. Putting the Learner at the Heart of Student Experience: The Role of the University Library in a Seven-Year Journey of Superconvergence at Northumbria University, UK