The Full Electronic Academic Library

Bill Drew, The Baby Boomer Librarian, is asking today about Academic Libraries and Library 2.0 on his blog and on COLLIB-L, the email discussion list for college librarians. He wants to know why more academic librarians aren't talking about it. I think the consensus is along the lines of "because we're too busy implementing it (whatever it is)."

With that backdrop, I was taken in far too long by the article "The Fully Electronic Academic Libary (R)" by Norman D. Stevens in the January issue of the College & Research Libraries journal (Here's an abstract but that gets you nowhere near the gist of the thing--you'll have to be a member to get it from that page. I was also able to pull it up from Wilson's Education Full Text database).

It's hilarious and so unexpected in an academic journal. I think the people in the lunch room must have thought I was nuts laughing over my C&RL.

This is Library 10.0, I'd say. Not only are books and papers not collected, no paper is allowed in the building. "This will require users and staff to use their imagination rather than simply to print out copies of information to take home that they might never look at again."

The administration of the library is by consensus using an amazing system that I can't possibly describe as well as the article. But I know we'll all support this aspect:

Salary levels will reflect the shared administrative responsibilities as well as the productive nature of the staff's professional assignments. The minimum starting salary will be $100,000.

The biblioblogosphere will be pleased to see that Michael Gorman has been named a fellow to The Fully Electronic Academic Library. But don't get your hopes too high for the legitimacy of that--Ted E. Behr is the Curator of Artifacts.     #

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