Research Libraries UK Virtual Conference "Transforming the Library - the Library transforming - the transforming Library", March 17-19, 2021 | RLUK

Perhaps there has been no more opportune time for us to examine the transformational power of research libraries. The stress test of Covid-19 has been a considerable challenge for our institutions, but it has also underlined the fundamental importance of research libraries and their vital role in supporting scholarship and research, and also their remarkable tenacity in adapting to a mercurial ‘new normal’. The research paradigm is shifting, and the wider context in which we operate grows ever more complex. This year has, in many ways, accelerated some of these changes, including in the overnight shift to a remote, digital working environment, the impact of how research is now approached, conducted and consumed, and the urgent need to overhaul a dysfunctional scholarly publishing system. Current events have focused our attention on critical activities, but we also wish to look to the long term and how we might achieve an optimal future for the research library, build resilience to what possible futures may bring, and embed true diversity of thought, ideas and experiences within our institutions and practices. The conference is an excellent opportunity for professionals to connect, discuss and debate together in order to help shape the research library of the 21st century. The RLUK Conference is open to all.