Are Academic Libraries Changing Too Slow?

Earlier this week, I've read two articles about a recent study done by the nonprofit group Ithica S+R. The results show that many college faculty are not using academic libraries as much as they used to. Some rather use general search engines and electronic resources/computer databases than go to the library. These articles were featured in Library Journal and Inside Higher Education.

So if college faculty are not going to their libraries and are depending on Google, what should academic libraries do? Academic libraries should reach out to staff as much as they reach out to students. They should go to departments heads and deans to advertise their services. They should also reach out to other faculty members by visiting their offices and classes to spread the message of the library. They can even try an open house or a library fair where all of the services are featured. And hopefully, this will also help promote the services to the students because the professors will be promoting the library.

A suggestion that the study gave was for libraries to move away from print materials and go towards electronic resources and databases. There is a double-edged sword about getting rid of print materials. It's good not to have print materials because that will allow more room in the libraries for other things. But it's also good to have print materials in case the databases break down or students can't find what they are looking for in the databases. There are also several materials that only come in print form. It is up to the individual library to decided what is best for them as in terms of their collection.

Some academic librarians feel that the study was to promote "the end of academic libraries". Of course, we don't want academic libraries to be obsolete. What is needed is for academic libraries to reach out to all the people that they serve and to be on the forefront in the evolution of materials and information.