tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14910575.post7580964513378324024..comments2023-10-04T11:35:50.986-04:00Comments on Out of the Jungle: Future of Academic Libraries?James Milleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07368391001719650329noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14910575.post-77937145122376916102009-09-24T18:11:17.450-04:002009-09-24T18:11:17.450-04:00It all comes down to the needs of the particular l...It all comes down to the needs of the particular law school, and, as you say, that doesn't lend itself to easy measurement.Marie S. Newmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01526344204731209021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14910575.post-59323297785158688052009-09-24T16:53:49.021-04:002009-09-24T16:53:49.021-04:00Great post, Marie. This is so typical of the very...Great post, Marie. This is so typical of the very disturbing comments you hear so often from deans and central administrators who think they can save money on libraries by centralizing functions or pare things to the bone. And they reveal such a lack of understanding about what libraries are really doing these days. It also reveals some screaming needs in our standards, doesn't it? If we want non-librarians to understand what libraries are about, don't we need standards that measure them?<br /><br />We have just been discussing among the academic librarians, how we would want our libraries ranked or evaluated. And the question is very difficult because we have trouble coming to any agreement on a standard measure among the librarians who are participating, for instance, for the services we supply to our law schools. Should we be looking at the number of reference questions answered? How should that be defined? Should we be counting the number of classes taught by the librarians? Some schools don't let the librarians teach. So how do you compare schools on that basis? How about other things to measure and compare? Every item somebody suggests raises issues because they are not standard at all schools. Libraries are so keyed to the law school they support that it becomes very difficult to create a standard for services, and yet services are where libraries now live.Betsy McKenziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16824582240163409553noreply@blogger.com