The Data-driven Library of the Future | Higher Ed Beta @insidehighered

"Last November, Portland-based library design consultant Aaron Schmidt wrote on Twitter that he wanted to create logos and visual identity packages for libraries. His first rule: 'no likenesses of books.' It goes without saying that libraries are changing from repositories for journals and books to engaged community centers which offer new services that not only respond to innovative research but help shape it. As a former programmer and now the head librarian at the John G. Wolbach Library that serves the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, I am constantly asking myself and our patrons what those services are, and what they can – and should – be. Our scientists are accustomed to working at the edge of the known world. Accordingly, and because of our collaboration with NASA’s Astrophysics Data System (ADS), a major digital portal, we are situated to act as testing ground for new interactive services that answer the question 'When everything is online, why come to the library?' For me, the path to a relevant, 21st-century library lies beyond digitization (our collections are moving closer and closer to open access, so digitization is paramount for their preservation and dissemination) in creating 'serendipitous discovery.' If we’re able to offer a tool – a visual display, a 3D printer, a gesture-based interface, an Oculus Rift for visualization simulation, a Makey Makey for inventing new links to monitors and other devices – that tips off a researcher’s interest and causes him or her to run back to an office or study carrel or computer and say 'Eureka!' then we’re making a strong argument for the library as a place ..."