University Libraries and Digital Learning Environments

摘要

Libraries devoted to higher learning are now in the middle of the third information technology revolution. As David Ball points out in the concluding chapter of this book, the first IT revolution was writing, the second was printing with moveable type, and the third is our current digital revolution. Each of these revolutions has been difficult to adapt to. Socrates was concerned that writing would destroy the power of memory, and the character of Faust is based on an early printer who was believed to have sold his soul to the devil in order to be able to produce perfect copies of the bible. Today's academic libraries are dealing with multiple ICT issues. Perfect digital copies change completely the copyright licensing environment. Mobile devices have, in a few short years, gone from being annoying intrusions into the peaceful calm of the library, to vital study tools. University Libraries and Digital Learning Environments is a well planned collection of chapters covering many of these issues: social media, information literacy, professional development, open access, the nature of the physical space, virtual reference, and new formats such as e-books.