Durch einen Hinweis in den OCLC Abstracts (Vol. 12, No. 11 vom 23.03.09) bin ich eben gerade über den Artikel „The Library Rebooted“ im Magazin „strategy+business“ gestolpert.
Im Artikel geht es darum, wie Bibliotheken auch künftig relevant bleiben:
Even in an era when you can “Google” just about anything, many libraries have remained as vibrant, dynamic, and popular as ever. They’re staying that way by redefining the business they’re in.
Um den Artikel zu lesen, muss man sich bei „strategy+business“ registrieren. Ich habe das mal gemacht – und schon nach den ersten Zeilen des Artikels kann ich feststellen: es hat sich gelohnt!
Wer sich nicht registrieren möchte oder keine Zeit hat, den kompletten Artikel zu lesen, kann über die OCLC Abstracts die 7 wesentlichen Punkte „how to stay relevant“ in Kurzform nachlesen:
- Rethink the operating model. Many of the old assumptions about running a library are outmoded and need to be set aside.
- Understand and respond to user needs. Libraries should develop advanced capabilities to build aggregated profiles of users, or what retailers call customer segmentation analysis.
- Embrace the concept of continuous improvement. Approach the innovation challenge with an entrepreneurial mind-set: test, measure, refine.
- Forge a digital identity. Clearly, there is no way that libraries could transform themselves into leading-edge Internet organizations, such as Google, even if they wanted to. But some experimentation is in order.
- Connect with stakeholders in ways pure Internet companies cannot. What libraries can do, on the community library side, is take advantage of their local strength, and, on the research library side, share their service-oriented expertise in new ways and through new channels.
- Expand the metrics. As they refine their mission, libraries will also have to change how they measure success.
- Be courageous. The environment in which libraries operate has certainly shifted, and the challenge for those running them is to figure out the evolutionary path they should follow.