A Note from the Dean

The connections we create between content and library users have been changing quite a bit since the advent of the World Wide Web. Providing access to research materials increasingly refers to steering users to digital or online materials or images via the library Web site rather than directing them to the stack areas of our libraries to retrieve books. This is where some confusion about our involvement in the process sets in. I often encounter faculty, and sometimes students, who tell me rather apologetically that they do not use our libraries as much as they did in the past. I immediately ask how often they find themselves using electronic journals, online databases, and e-books. They consistently respond: “All the time.” The delivery of this information via the Internet frequently masks the reality that the UC libraries are spending a good portion of their budgets to cover the subscription and licensing fees that make this content so readily available 24/7. While we might prefer to be more visible in this process, our clear mission is to support teaching, learning, and research and we are committed to doing that by using the variety of pathways available to us.

Interestingly, at the same time that libraries can said to be increasing our “digital” connections to users, we are also experiencing more frequent in-person contacts with students – rather through our greater involvement in the classroom or the provision of one-on-one service as with the development of e-portfolios or through our daily interactions with students at our service desks. We are also discovering how vital our “library space” is for students, especially undergraduates, both from how they actually use our facilities on a daily basis and by what they tell us through surveys. The upshot is that we live in interesting times and relish the multiple library roles that require a 360°, 24/7, cross-generational state of mind.

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