'A New Model for Research Support: Integrating Skills, Scholarship, and Technology in a South African Library Consortium' Poster presentation from the Living the Future 7 Conference, April 30-May 3, 2008, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / The project - A New Model for Research Support: Integrating Skills, Scholarship, and Technology in a South African Library Consortium - aims to model the transformation and enrichment of support to researchers offered by South African academic libraries. The guiding premise of this project is that the three institutions should take advantage of existing strengths as South Africa’s leading academic libraries to sustain, improve, and consolidate the troubled research enterprise in South Africa. Funded by the Carnegie Corporation this innovative program seeks to achieve its objectives through a multi-pronged project with three closely interrelated components: 1. Building a sophisticated Web-based shared portal which will provide access to a wide range of international and local electronic content for postgraduate students and academics; 2. Enhancing the skills of existing library staff in order to create a critical mass of support for research to be offered by librarians with real subject expertise (the South African Library Academy at the Mortenson Center and observation at a major US research library). 3. Creating a technologically sophisticated physical space - a 'one-stop shop' - for postgraduates and academic staff who need assistance with research.

'A Digital Oral History and Transcription Project of the First Bilingual/Bicultural School in the US' Poster presentation from the Living the Future 7 Conference, April 30-May 3, 2008, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / The University of Arizona Libraries is partnering with the UA College of Education, Historical Museum of South Florida and the University of Miami Special Collections Library to create, and make electronically accessible, an oral history of the first federally funded bilingual/bicultural school in the country in Miami, Florida (Coral Way Elementary). The national impact of this original bilingual program influenced federal legislation and Arizona’s educational system. Much of the existing published information about the school, such as text book references are either incorrect or incomplete. The poster session will map out the process of planning and implementing this outreach and collaborative effort. It will describe the plans for the oral history project which will capture through personal interviews the stories and memorabilia of those teachers, administrators, students and their parents involved in the first five years of the program (1963 – 68).

Poster presentation from the Living the Future 7 Conference, April 30-May 3, 2008, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / The University of Arizona Libraries offers its users more than just access to our print collections - we also provide electronic document delivery, presentation practice rooms, group study rooms, and helpful research and reference assistance in person, by phone, or by live chat or email. These services support the academic needs of our students and our campus. Campus life, however, is more than academics - and that’s where the Pima County Public Library (PCPL) steps in. Visit the "Town and Gown: Public and Academic Libraries Collaborate in Service" poster session and see how Pima County Public Library and The University of Arizona Libraries launched an exciting new collaboration that brings PCPL librarians to campus to increase awareness among students, staff and faculty of the great online and branch services that all of our public libraries offer.

Conference proceeding from the Living the Future 6 Conference, April 5-8, 2006, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / Developing a work environment that engages all staff, commits to continuous improvement, and promotes teaching and learning in line with University programs all while managing budget cuts. Sound impossible? We don't think so. At the University of Cincinnati, University Libraries has undergone a dramatic transformation through the introduction of a strategic planning process that embodies elements of appreciative inquiry, equal treatment of staff and faculty, training in facilitation and listening, and embracing leadership potential at all levels. Our presentation will focus on the strategic planning process implemented at UC: including; setting the stage, "planning the plan", staff input and development and implementation. We will share how we have "operationalized strategic planning" as we begin our second three-year planning cycle.

Conference proceeding from the Living the Future 6 Conference, April 5-8, 2006, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / Panelists will respond to the following questions. *What are the 3 critical opportunities for libraries that we must pay attention to in the next 5 years? *What are the characteristics of strategies that we need to learn in order to be successful? *What are the risks we need to be ready to take?

Conference proceeding from the Living the Future 6 Conference, April 5-8, 2006, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / In this presentation I will review the theories of business strategy developed by Clayton Christensen and his colleagues in his three books - the Innovator’s Dilemma, Innovator’s Solution, and Seeing What’s Next. I will apply this work to academic libraries and scholarly communication and will show that academic libraries are likely to be disrupted by new technologies and their application by competing organizations. I will then show that libraries also have the potential to drive, and benefit from, disruptive change especially in the scholarly communication value chain. The result should provide guidance to academic librarians in establishing strategies, organizational structures, and values that will position academic libraries in the scholarly information and learning value chains in ways that will assure their relevance to our various clienteles. The result should provide attendees with a basic understanding of the most important of Christensen’s theories and how they can provide insights into the current state of academic libraries and help to chart the future. This work will build on my article, (Lewis, David W. "The Innovator’s Dilemma: Disruptive Change and Academic Libraries." Library Administration and Management 18(2):68-74 April 2004. Available at: http://idea.iupui.edu/dspace/handle/1805/173), but will advance and develop it in significant ways.

Conference proceeding from the Living the Future 6 Conference, April 5-8, 2006, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / Contemporary 21st Century libraries face unprecedented challenges. Anticipating appropriate responses depends on activating and extending what organizational members know and how they leverage it. To develop a more 'knowledge-able' workplace, library faculty and staff at California Polytechnic State University employ evidence-driven systems thinking (Checkland/United Kingdom) fortified by workplace information literacy (Bruce/Australia). This knowledge creating approach to evidence-based information practice informs repurposing the library, re-inventing systems, and refocusing personnel. Boundary crossing information exchange and reflective dialogue promote appreciative inquiry and enable collective sense-making. Shared commitment to collaborative participatory design activities ensure consideration of diverse stakeholders’ viewpoints and intensify interactions with student and faculty user communities. In transforming data into evidence through dialogue, relationships, roles, and responsibilities continuously evolve. Intersubjective capacity building promotes ongoing learning among library colleagues and with campus stakeholders. Interactive evaluation and assessment outcomes ensure heightened levels of engagement with the learner and alignment with the institution.

Conference proceeding from the Living the Future 6 Conference, April 5-8, 2006, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / The University of Chicago's Joseph Regenstein Library Bookstacks Department has used a number of management techniques to successfully improve its overall operations. Process mapping was undertaken and resulted in significant changes to major processes and jobs, while continuous process improvement allows us to resolve issues as they arise. A multiple method approach works best because the Regenstein Library is a large organization with many processes, systems and structures. While these processes have led to major improvements - making materials available more quickly and accurately to users and by reducing time and staff needed to perform daily operations - the Department continues to search for ways to improve its overall operations. In examining other businesses for best practices, we have begun to focus on lean manufacturing, an initiative centered on eliminating all waste in manufacturing processes. These principles also apply to service organizations. Lean manufacturing promises dramatic changes in a short period of time and the speaker will report on how this method is being used to improve overall operations.

Conference proceeding from the Living the Future 6 Conference, April 5-8, 2006, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / Assessing the impact of new grant initiatives is tricky, especially when the goals of the project are far-reaching and significant organizational change is called for. We will describe how we approached the assessment of an IMLS-funded grant initiative to build a national corps of diverse new professionals ready for work in metropolitan public libraries across a variety of American neighborhoods. Starting with the impacts on Scholars, researchers and program leaders further uncovered multiple levels of impact in organizations, the profession, and the public library industry. Their "hot off the press" evaluation provides insights on effective new paths for building recruitment and retention strategies in organizations and for building bridges between academic and practical experiences, and, consequently, significantly shaping a preferred future for the "business" of public libraries in cities.

Conference proceeding from the Living the Future 6 Conference, April 5-8, 2006, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / In 1992, the Association for Research Libraries Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Literacy Project introduced libraries to GIS technology in response to the distribution of electronic geospatial data by the US Census Bureau and the availability of relative inexpensive GIS software. Since that time, there have been many technological and other changes that have affected the range of GIS services libraries provide, such as increased availability of online geospatial data, online interactive mapping, and integration of GIS into non-geography classes. What’s on the horizon? How will changes in libraries, technology, and GIS affect GIS services in libraries? The University of Arizona Library’s Arizona Electronic Atlas project, in consultation with other units on campus, is exploring how we can design a web-based “decision-support” geospatial tool that will help students and faculty analyze various scenarios or models to help make better decisions on various issues such as groundwater management, land use planning, housing development and wildfire prevention.