Reaching out far beyond the traditional library clients

As I found out at WebJunction there is an interesting projekt to bring cyclists into the libraries: As cyclists rolled over all or parts of the Underground Railroad Bycicle Route (URBR) they cross many libraries on their way. They are able to recognize them because Ginny Sullivan, Adventure Cycling’s instigator of the route, had the foresight to include library locations on the detailed maps available to participants. As a result, the travelers found the local libraries along the way and found a treasure trove of resources: pointers to good restaurants, grocery stores, Laundromats, bike shops. They could use clean bathrooms and even charge their cell phones. Most significant for the URBR experience, they found libraries as the keepers of community history, often in partnership with local historical societies.
-What a good idea: to highlight the libraries on a tourist map! But in doing this libraries have to offer specialized services for tourists (e.g. exhibitions about the region).

As Betha Gutchie highlights

"libraries serve as way stations and the library staff as conductors".

This is really a nice image.
Furthermore Public Libraries have to address to other community groups, too. This also counts for Academic Libraries but in a different way: Academic Libraries have to address their services to local organizations of economy, research and politics, and -of course- to the local citizens. To strenghten the university in competing with other universities they have to support efforts to establish a central repository with all the relevant information, sources and primary data relevant to both, faculty members and sponsors.
With respect to the aforementioned project I am even more intensely thinking about:
Which innovative projects and/ or tailored services are imaginable for Academic libraries?

Universities's Intellectual Property

In Kopenhagen the first conference on Universities' Intellectual Property took place: COPENMIND (1. - 3. September 2008). The organizer Muldow said in "University Journal" that universities worldwide are inadequately communicating their innovations to the industry. Therefore he has founded the conference as a kind of marketplace for building of close university-industry relationships that holds many unexploited opportunities. This is important for efforts that should result in a commercial product or service. But what about libraries: is such a conference of interest for libraries?
Depends on the participating organizations, one could say. The truth is: Libraries need to be in contact with other organizations from other fields. Why bnot cooperating with companies like Oracle: Such a company could create the technical infrastructure, whereas librarians are responsible for the contents.
Besides libraries have to strengthen their position in their environment. For instance, researchers have to recognize the academic library through their services. Libraries have to offer the right services to establish the library as a brand so that faculty members are saying: "Yes, I am a fan of the 'LIBRARY' !"
If libraries want to be the central information provider they have to offer services that justifies it. (This is one of the things I highlighted in my final dissertation.)

The problem of inadequatly communication is existing in the LIS-environment, too. Moreover, academic libraries are challenged more than ever:

1. there is a fast and easy access to information via the Internet


2. there is a rising number of information providers


3. statistics and studies show that libraries' users and/or visits are in a decrease


4. the library has to provide a better information supply while budgets are in a decrease.

The article "Libraries in the Converging Worlds of Open Data, E-Research, and Web 2.0" presents some of the key technologies, tools, and organizations within the open data movement and conclude that these have the potential to not only increase possibilities of knowledge transfer, but ultimately generate new knowledge.

The efforts that libraries take to better their services lead to a more positive image of the library (which would be good for all stakeholders).