Transforming Research Libraries for the Global Knowledge Society

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Partnerships and connections

Nancy Noe and Bonnie MacEwan

The role of academic libraries is both multidimensional and rapidly changing. University administrators conceive of the library in terms of its service roles to the university, with specific emphasis on its instructional and research missions. Faculty and researchers, in contrast, still view the library as a traditional repository for resource materials; meanwhile, students consider the library both a resource and social center (Lynch et al., 2007). The library has thus become a ‘scholarly community crossroads,’ a place ‘affected by and affecting its environment, its technology, and its users. Just as a crossroads connects people to other places and other resources, the academic library ...