A Message from the Dean of LibrariesIn 1988 I wrote that "until very recently libraries have been fundamentally nineteenth-century institutions and may be characterized as labor-intensive craft workshops. As such their organization has centered around specialized skills and knowledge applied to complex manual filing systems. Today, the Library is being transformed into a capital-intensive high-technology light industry." The main point I was making is that this transformational effect of technology is unavoidable. I believe that we have continued along this path of institutional development in the ten years since, and at an accelerated rate. I think it is obvious to us all that such change would not occur without significant changes in the context of academic libraries and post-secondary education, many driven by the force of information technology--computing and telecommunications. To play off the Oldsmobile advertisement--"it is not your father's library." However, other forces besides technology are having an equally great impact. Changes in the character of the University of Maryland loom large. We have become an honors oriented campus and a national player in research. In the last two decades the very nature of undergraduate teaching and curriculum has been transformed. This change is best defined as a shift from passive to active learning and the expectation that we don't have time in the space of four years to impart a discipline, only to teach the analytical framework and the methods of gaining disciplinary information. This means reliance on libraries and student exploration of a discipline. Over the past ten years we have been faced with prime increases for scholarly information (books, journals, electronic) that inhibit access to knowledge needed by students, faculty and our business community. The "Flagship Initiative" of the state is the first opportunity to play "catch up." It is much needed. Thus the University of Maryland Libraries, like other academic libraries, are faced with challenges on all sides and I believe are responding with solutions that will provide our students and faculty with the resources they need for classroom learning and research. Because we are the flagship public institution of the state, we will also continue to play the role of Maryland's research library. During the past two years our efforts have been guided by the Libraries Strategic Plan which is currently under revision. The changes to the April 1997 plan will be in the nature of midcourse corrections. The early results of implementation are reflected in this our first Annual Report. This report has been dedicated to the memory of Hisayo Murakami who for many years was the Manager of the Prange Collection and passed away in 1997. We all miss her.
UM Libraries Home | Annual Report Table of Contents | Next Article | Search UM Libraries © 1999 University of Maryland Libraries
|
