Academic libraries article......

While scanning the daily newspapers today (noh I don't do it for pleasure, it is part of my job trust me!) I came across this article in The Guardian. I have highlighted some of the sentences in the article which made me nod my head while reading. I must admit, despite being a Librarian I hardly read books anymore, strange world isn't it?

In The Guardian, Tuesday 18 August 2009:

Academic libraries are undergoing a quiet revolution

Being a librarian these days is all about technology and customer service; no time to stick your

Anne Hannaford has a passion for what libraries can mean for people. Photograph: Andrew Fox
Thirty years ago, says Professor Jane Core, director of library and learning services at the University of Northumbria, people went into librarianship for a quiet life that had a bit of cachet. If they think that now, however, "they may be disappointed," she says. "Here, our focus is on working with people and with information." There's not much spare time to stick your nose in a book.
Applying for a job in a university library because you "love reading" isn't going to get you very far these days. These hallowed repositories of academic knowledge have changed beyond recognition over the last decade, and the people recruited to work in them have to be willing to embrace new technologies and customer service with an alacrity that would likely horrify the shushing custodians of the past.
The digital revolution in the late 1990s transformed – and is still transforming – everything, explains Toby Bainton, secretary of the Society of College, National and University Libraries (Sconul).
"It's been a mixed blessing," he explains. "Distributing and sharing information is much easier, but things are much more complex behind the scenes. Students think that what they see on their screens is free, but information is very valuable and has to be bought, so often what they see is very strictly controlled by contract."

I am not going to insert more of the article, don't want the newspaper to come after me! But you should be able to read the rest of it on the Guardian's website.