Faculty-librarian collaboration in building the curriculum for the millennium: the US experience

摘要

INTRODUCTION As higher education prepares for the 21st century enormous changes are occurring due to new technological developments and the need on the part of faculty and students to acquire computer and information skills. Learning now has to be continuous and almost a "way of being."(FN1) Universities must teach their constituents to integrate learning opportunities into everything they do in order to be successful in the constantly changing work environment, in organizational work and in society. Higher education needs to look closely at the business world where strategic advantages are now more and more based on learning and teaching organizations to take advantage of evolving technology, the Internet, the global marketplace and the new economy.(FN2) In the United States the environment for higher education during the last decade has been strenuous. Funding agencies for universities and colleges have been more demanding in assessing higher education outcomes and faculty productivity. Competition for students both by publicly funded and private institutions has been strong. For-profit academic institutions like the University of Phoenix have added a new dimension to the changing higher-education environment. The demand for distance learning opportunities and the evolving virtual university have increased the strain on the already problematic academic environment. University administrators are being pressured by legislators and governing boards to perform miracles by doing more with less;producing more and better research; and graduating highly-employable individuals. Competition among colleges and universities although not new is growing stronger. Teaching, research and service, the three-part mission of universities and their libraries, are being reshaped, creating a climate for transformation and new opportunities.