Strategies for Wired Academia:
The Most Wired Campus
Denise A. Troll
Distinguished Fellow, Digital Library Federation
Assistant University Librarian, Carnegie Mellon
Dubious Honor
No demonstrable connection
between the availability
of networked computers
& the quality
of learning & research
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Onus, Not Honor
 Probably a connection between
the penetration of networked computers
& increasing demand for desktop delivery
 Real connection between satisfying
increasing demand for desktop delivery
& increasing library expenditures
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Assumptions
 Libraries preserve & provide access
to our cultural & intellectual heritage
in the service of learning & research
 Technology has the potential to help
 Digital divides must be bridged
to unlock the potential of technology
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Inequality of Access
120
ALA Cognotes
January 2001
Millions
100
80
60
40
20
0
White American
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Native American African American
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Inequality of Available Content
2000
ARL Report December 2000
E-Journals
1500
1000
500
0
Life
Sciences
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Social
Sciences
Physical
Sciences
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Technology
Arts &
Humanities
6
Barrier Pie
Technology
Society
Economics
Politics
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Thesis
 The barrier pie is big enough
for no one to go hungry
 One key to removing the barriers
is a united effort
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Big Picture
 Most / least wired is irrelevant
 Libraries are more alike than different
 None of us can do everything
 All of us can do something
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Carnegie Mellon at a Glance
 7 colleges or schools
 3 + 2 libraries
 12,848 campus population
– 5,136 undergraduates
– 3,174 graduate students
– 1,254 faculty
– 3,284 staff
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Similar Upward Trends
 Cost of materials, equipment & staff
 Materials budget
 % spent on e-resources
 Library instruction
 Use of e-resources
 Use of ILL
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Similar Downward Trends
 Gate counts
 In-house use
 Circulation
 Photocopying
 Revenue
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Similar Collection Challenges
 Shelves are full, but we need more books
 Offsite storage has been approved,
but not funded
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Similar Staff Challenges
 Positions are being eliminated or combined
& upgraded to keep pace with needed
competencies & salaries
 Staff are struggling to cope with change
 Staff space is inadequate
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Similar Development Challenges
Show me the money.
Give me the time.
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Similar Measurement Challenges
 Traditional measures are inadequate
 Need
– Composite measures
– Standard usage reports
– Data on environmental changes
– Outcome & cost-benefit measures
– System to manage the data
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Similar User Challenges
 Users often don’t know what resources
& services the libraries do provide
 Faculty want access to e-journals,
but are reluctant to cancel print
 Compete for user attention
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Similar U-graduate Challenges
 Many turn to Web search engines first
 Want 24/7 service
 Want more electronic full-text
 Don’t distinguish library resources
 Don’t ask for reference assistance
 Don’t care about copyright
 Want immediate gratification
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Differences
 Carnegie Mellon is a research university
without a research library
 Students are more satisfied
with the University than with the Libraries
 At least 75% of e-resource use is remote
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Computer Culture
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Network Connectivity
18000
15000
12000
9000
Campus wireless enabled 2000
6000
3000
0
1995
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1996
1997
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1998
1999
2000
21
Freshmen Ownership
100%
75%
Own
Plan
No plan
50%
25%
0%
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
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Computer Ownership & Access
 % of students who purchase computers
after their freshman year is unknown
 GSIA students are required to own laptops
 Public clusters have 410 computers
 More computers in departments
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Campus Expectations
 Everyone has computer access
 Admission, registration, syllabi, course
materials, grades, etc. will be on the web
 Interaction among students, faculty,
&
administrators will be online
 The University will provide easy-to-use
software & high bandwidth networking
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Bandwidth Expectations
 Current rate is 100 megabit per second
 Campus will be re-wired in 2001
in preparation for gigabit per second
 Department pays for desktop delivery
 Users will expect gigabit rate in the library
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“Email is My Life”
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Different Library Mission
 Build a digital library
– Lead development of tools & techniques
– Provide multimedia collections
– Conduct research to reduce costs
– Transform scholarly publishing
– Transfer knowledge & technology
 Solve our space problems with a triage
of digitization & off-site storage
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Digital Library Initiatives
 Distributed electronic library – 1989-1992
– Mercury Electronic Library
 Full-text journal images – 1991-1997
– The University Licensing Program (TULIP)
 Digital archives – 1993-1999
– Heinz Electronic Library Information Online
System (HELIOS)
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Digital Library Initiatives
 Visual Content – 1998-1999
– Art Museum Image Consortium (AMICO)
 Multi-media delivery system – 1999-present
– Digital Information Versatile Archives (DIVA)
 Metadata capture system – 1999-present
– MetaScan
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Digitization Projects
 Visual materials
– Swiss Posters – 1999-present
– Slide Collection – 1999-present
– Andrew Carnegie Collection – 2000-present
 E-reserves
– Text – 2000-present
– Audio – 2001
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Digitization Projects
 Smart Web Exhibits (IMLS) – 1999-2001
 Copyright renewal records for books – 2000
 Books
– 1000 Book – 2000-present
– Posner Collection – 2001-2002
– Million Book – 2000-present
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Copyright Permissions Project
 Random sample of books in library catalog
 94% copyright protected
 Codes: in/out of print, publication &
publisher type & origin
 Letters
– 83% of copyright protected
– 60% of these received follow-up letters
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Results
 35% no response
 13% provided address, returned unknown
 29% permission denied
– Average time 115 days
 22% permission granted
– Average time 91 days
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22% Granted Permission
 39% (7% sample) full permission
– Digitize, OCR, provide full-text searching
– Free to read web access for all Internet users
 61% (11% sample) restricted permission
– 39% access to Carnegie Mellon users only
– 22% fee for use (average $100)
– 6% permission for a limited time
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Digital Library Services
 Instruction
– Evaluating Information on the Web – 1999
– Information Ethics – 2001
 Reference
– Automated Reference Assistant – 1999-2001
– Chat Reference – 2000-present
– Library of Congress CDRS – 2001
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Automated Reference Assistant
User Interface
Inference Engine
Resource
Database
Reference Interview Algorithm
Query Classification Algorithm
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Electronic & Print
Resources
36
Usage & Usability Research
 Part of library culture since 1990
 1995-2000 – Sirsi Unicorn / WebCat
 2000-2001 – DLF Distinguished Fellowship
– Usage & usability data survey
– Study the information-seeking & usage
behaviors of students & faculty
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Transforming Publishing
 Educating faculty & provosts
– Cost, quality & rights
– Accept e-journal articles for promotion
 Providing or supporting alternatives
– Portal: Libraries & the Academy
– Journal of Social Structure
– Philosophy journal
– Find trusted partners
to archive
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Lessons
LessonsLearned
Learned
 Plan strategically
 Act opportunistically
 Change course as needed
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Have an R&D Policy
 Develop software ONLY
– When user needs & expectations
cannot be met with existing software
– Using supported components
– Following standards
 Conduct usage & usability studies
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Collaborate
 Seek partners with diverse expertise
 Cultivate investors
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Develop Skills & Virtues
 Leadership
 Management
 Communication
 Conflict resolution
 Organizational
 Patience
 Flexibility
 Humility
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Cultivate Culture of Assessment
 Make decisions based on data
 Collect data that serve strategic purposes
 Train staff to gather, analyze, present data
 Know when to settle for “good enough”
data & “quick & dirty” research
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Be Involved
 Participate in creating or revising standards,
guidelines & best practices
 Lobby vendors to provide comparable
usage statistics in manageable formats
 Negotiate licenses that suit your needs –
when your strategies work, share them
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Be Proactive
 If necessary, design new measures
for
your purposes – if they work, share them
 Help transform scholarly publishing
– Educate faculty & administrators
– Accept e-journals for promotion
– Host publications “born digital”
– Support cheaper alternatives
– Encourage archiving & migration
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Digital Library Facts of Life
 Development is risk
 Everything takes longer than expected
 The only constant in life is change
 The only thing you can change is yourself
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Conclusion: Have Some Pie
Technology
Society
Economics
Politics
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We Must Interlock to Unlock
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troll@andrew.cmu.edu
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