A New Synthesis: Research Resources to Research Experiences

Abstract

Libraries should develop a new model for providing information resources and analytical tools for the use of scholars working in the current multidisciplinary research environment. This model, A New Synthesis, based on today’s research experience should replace the present concept of the “collection budget.” Sources are proliferating and traditional scholarly resources are no longer at the core. Research itself has changed. Previously, finding information was primary, but now information is plentiful and today’s challenges are to understand, analyze, and extract insight from these vast resources. To address this challenge, newly designed libraries are appearing that are radically different, reconceptualizing learning spaces, technological infrastructure, and research labs for scholars and students. Yet, the concept of the collection budget is little changed. We must embrace a paradigm that allows us to envision holistically the development and investment necessary to support current research. To enable expanded capacity for supporting today’s Grand Challenge research and to ensure the critical relevancy of academic libraries in this endeavor, we must employ a new synthesis. Sources can no longer be viewed independently from the tools needed to analyze them. Critical elements include: redeploying funds to an array of open platforms; shifting the focus from access to knowledge creation; and investing in spaces, technology, and people that will help researchers solve problems in new ways. We are at a moment when building these services and placing them at the heart of libraries requires fundamental organizational and financial change. Reconceiving current spending on collections is essential to this change.