In this Information Age, information is both plentiful and scarce. Google can direct you to Web pages and documents on just about any topic, but sometimes the specific article that you want to read or the primary source that you find cited is inaccessible to you or hidden behind a paywall. We are constantly finding references to and traces of more material than we can immediately access.
Librarians struggle to answer the need and demand for more: more titles, formats, source types, coverage of every sort. “More,” in fact, has many meanings, and “more” means different things to different people.
“More” is both exciting and challenging for librarians because, in addressing the call for it, we must confront what is:
- New
Make new friends
New programs, majors, faculty, fields of study, theories, applications, methods. “New” also covers what is newly- discovered (or rediscovered).
- Old
But keep the old?
Historical documents, classic texts, core publications, canons of various sorts. Also habits (of research, analysis, even of reading) and generational differences (but we aren’t calling anyone “old!”). What’s old can be new again; this is the magic of archives and special collections. And if it ain’t broke…
- Changing
…silver
Innovations, applications (and apps), enhancements, making and remaking, reworking, retooling. This is the nature of research and study.
- Constant
and gold
Change is constant, so “more” is too. But we can be constrained by our response. How do we measure value, how do we meet needs, how do we acquire “more” when we have limited space, budgets, time, staffing, and so on?
I’ve been thinking a lot about “more” in response to the recent announcement from NC LIVE regarding the 2015-2017 resource selections for member libraries. Because of rising database costs and flat budgets, NC LIVE has had to make some major changes. Our library will benefit from most of these changes, but in January, NC LIVE will be dropping databases that have been popular here. Like librarians across the state, we are looking closely at all of our current database subscriptions in order to determine what is needed at Davidson and what resources will best meet these needs.
In other words, we are evaluating the need for “more.”
Making “more” more meaningful
The perfect suite of databases, tailored just for Davidson, at a price we can afford, doesn’t yet exist, but I can dream of what this “more” would look like:
M: Meets the needs, demands, interests, and expectations of our users, at the point of need. This implies anticipating needs as well.
O: Only includes what we need at Davidson and doesn’t include unnecessary material or items that duplicate content that we have in other sources. In short, we aren’t paying for what is never used or what is not needed.
R: Realistic and fair in terms of price, licensing, terms of use, and service standards.
E: Easily accessible; adaptable, interoperable, supportable, and flexible; easy to use and apply.
In short, we want “more” to facilitate and foster innovation on campus, so that our students and faculty can continue to transform information into knowledge and scholarship. We want more, to do more.
