Chapter 9 Learning Objectives

After completing this chapter, readers should have a better understanding of:

• the history of academic libraries;

• the inextricable link between the context in which these libraries operate and the expertise, collections, and services they provide;

• the characteristics and needs of primary academic library constituents, students, and faculty; and

• the roles in an academic library that support learning and research.

Chapter 9 Instructor PowerPoint

Downloadable PowerPoint presentation and PowerPoint notes for course instruction. These files are only accessible to instructors who have adopted Information Services Today: An Introduction (3rd ed) for their course. To request access, please click on the images below or email Sandy Hirsh.

Chapter 9 Discussion Questions

The following questions are included in the textbook.

1. Open access to scholarly and educational resources is a growing trend to address accessibility and affordability issues and to accelerate research and innovation. What roles and practices can academic library professionals play and adopt to advance openness?

2. This is an exciting time in academic libraries as trends in research expand to a global team of researchers, especially in sciences, technology, engineering, and medicine. How can academic library professionals lend their expertise to organize, manage, and steward the outcomes of research?

Additional questions proposed by the author but not included in the textbook.

1. What are the most striking changes in academic library roles as a result of the digital era? Which roles remain constant?

2. As more and more specialized roles develop in academic libraries, which roles do you think require domain expertise in library and information science?

3. List as many academic library roles as possible that have been impacted by technology. Which functions have not?

4. Discuss how academic library roles will often support both research and learning. Why is this the case, and what value might this have for both the researcher and student?

5. Which academic library roles sparked your interest and why?

Related Chapters

The following chapters are referenced in Chapter 9 and may assist in expanding your classroom instruction and discussions.

• Chapter 2: Libraries, Communities, and Information: Two Centuries of Experience

• Chapter 3: Librarianship: A Continuously Evolving Profession

• Chapter 4: Information Communities

• Chapter 5: Information Needs

• Chapter 7: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

• Chapter 13: Information Intermediation and Reference Services

• Chapter 15: Curation and Preservation

• Chapter 17: Accessing Information Anywhere and Anytime: Access Services

• Chapter 18: Teaching Users: Information and Technology Literacy Instruction

• Chapter 20: Creation Culture and Makerspaces

• Chapter 27: Managing Collections

• Chapter 29: Data Management, Analysis, and Visualization

• Chapter 36: Open Access

• Chapter 39: Career Managem0ent Strategies for Lifelong Learning

• Part 5: Managing Information Organizations

• Part 6: Information Issues