The most current statistics of the ARL’s longitudinal study of service trends in academic research libraries reveal some interesting transitions over the past 10 years:
- Library staff are collaborating and networking in far larger numbers.
- The total number of library staff has decreased slightly; whereas, the total number of students served has increased significantly.
- Reference librarians are relied on for research assistance only half as often today as they were just 10 years ago. (Perhaps patrons can not find one or do not know how librarians can increase both the efficiency and effectiveness of the research process.)
- Reliance on internal materials, i.e., those owned at point of access, has decreased 25%; whereas, reliance on external materials, i.e., those that must be borrowed from other libraries, has increased 158%.
Personal observations of the above trends:
- Sharing knowledge and information is what being a librarian is all about.
- Cross-training and multi-tasking are two extremely important skills for information professionals to master.
- Outreach and advocacy prevent – or at least postpone – obsolescence.
- While library budgets shrink, the number of published works – and library patron’s ability to learn of and want access to them – has increased. Therefore, libraries must share and patrons must wait.
Linda Summers
