Beyond Walls—Libraries in a Digital Age

Managing an academic library is a delicate exercise: while maintaining an outstanding collection of print materials, the library must offer an expanding array of digital resources and the professional expertise to teach and guide users-preferably 24 hours a day.

Smith libraries must develop print and digital collections structured to support an ever-widening variety of courses and research interests. Annual subscriptions to digital journals and indexes range from a low of $150 to a high of $24,700 for a science index. In 1999, the libraries paid $87,500 for electronic materials; in fiscal 2003, they paid more than $513,035 and have requests for many items that they cannot afford to purchase.

While remaining the traditional location for obtaining materials from historic documents to the latest science texts, the library is becoming a virtual presence wherever research is pursued-in the classroom, laboratory, residences, across town, or across the world. And while maintaining collections in more established disciplines, it must build new collections in areas of study that are emerging in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities.

These multiple demands—for expanded information in a variety of media, extended locations and services, and additional collections-are changing the libraries' appearance as well as their functions.

As teaching becomes more collaborative and hands-on research the norm, the physical aspects of the library are being altered to accommodate different ways of working and patterns of use. Students who study for extended periods want to curl up in comfortable chairs, or they may need small areas useful for studying in teams. They work at odd hours, using both print and digital materials. They frequently need to communicate with other students, some of whom may be in another state or country. And because students use the Web as a research tool, they expect to find a full array of the library's holdings and sophisticated databases available online.

An electronic classroom has significantly increased the amount of teaching and assistance for students and faculty pursuing online research. Renovations of existing spaces are aimed at providing better lighting, more ergonomic and comfortable seating, and more group study areas. Digital collections have expanded beyond indexes to include more online texts.

The costs to increase capabilities in three areas-physical spaces, collections, and services to users-are significant and permanent.

Visit the libraries website