Academic Librarianship

Michael Sensiba
Wayne State University
Library Types
• School Libraries
• Public Libraries
• Special Libraries
o Corporate Libraries
o Governmental Libraries
o Museums, Non-Profits, etc.
• Academic Libraries
o Community/Junior Colleges
o Baccalaureate Universities
o Research Universities
About Wayne State
• "As Michigan's only urban research university, Wayne
State University fulfills a unique niche in
providing access to a world-class education at an
exceptional value. Wayne State's 11 schools and
colleges offer more than 350 majors to our 33,000
graduate, professional and undergraduate students."
Wayne State Facts

• No. of faculty: 1700 full time, 1000 part time

• Colleges:
• Business Administration
• Education
• Engineering
• Fine, Performing and Communication Arts
• Graduate School
• Honors
• Law
• Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Medicine
• Nursing
• Pharmacy and Health Sciences
• Social Work
• Carnegie Class: Research Extensive and Intensive (enrollment
rank: 31st)
• Member, "Urban 21"
About WSU Libraries
• http://www.lib.wayne.edu
• 5 Libraries:
• Adamany Undergraduate
• Purdy/Kresge
• Science and Engineering
• Neef Law
• Shiffman Medical
• 59th among 113 ARL members
• Budget: $22 million ($8 million for materials)
• Volumes: 3.4 million+ items
• Ebooks: 55,000+ titles
• Film and Video: 29,000+ items
• Serials: 22,000+ titles
More About WSU Libraries

• Annual In-person Visits: 2 million+ (8 million hits to website)

• Circulation: 300,000 items
• Reference: 40,000+ questions (2,700+ virtual)
• Instruction: 560+ sessions for 12,600+ students
• Databases: 400+
• Public Computers: 800+
• Employees: 170+
About the WSU Collection

• Books • Government Documents

• Electronic Books • VHS/DVD/Film
• Journals • CD/Audio
• Newspapers • Digital Collections
• Databases • Special Collections
• Microforms • Institutional Repository
• Proceedings
• Technical Standards
About WSU Libraries Staff
• Public Services
o Information Services (Reference, Instruction, Research Support,
Subject Liaison)
o Access Services (Circulation, Interlibrary Loan, Storage)
• New Media & Information Technology
o Computer Support Team
o Web Development
o Integrated Library System Administration
o Electronic Resources Management
o Office of Teaching and Learning
o Media Services
• Technical Services
o Acquisitions
o Cataloging
o Processing
• Library Administration
• DALNET
• Library and Information Science Program (LISP)
What I Do (from my dossier)
• "Next Generation Librarian“
• Reference Desk
• Virtual Reference
• Liaison/Selection Activities
(Criminal Justice, Library and
Information Science)
• Reference, Instruction and
Research Support Statistics
• Instruction Team
• VR IM Task Force
• Ref Desk Redesign Task Force
• Staff Development and
Recognition Committee
• New Librarians Round Table
• Gadget Fair
• Greening of Libraries
• “Information Literacy Land of
Confusion” blog
• Instruction (ISS 1990, BA 1010,
Honors 1000, Drop-ins, plus my
departments)
• Student Technology Studio
• Conference Presentations
• Michigan Academy of SAL
• Michigan Library Association
• SEMLOL
• DSLRT
• ACRL
• Midwest MLA/MHLSA
• MLA iTrends Committee
• National Security Intelligence
Studies Virtual Reference Room
• Library Toolbar
• Instruction Materials Web
project
• Alerting Services
• University Outreach
My Delicious tags, via Wordle
Issues facing Academic Libraries
• Rise of Google
• Rise of Distance Learning
• Service Delivery in Volume
• Scholarly Publishing
• Intellectual Property
• Budgetary Pressures
• More with less
• Literacies and Competencies
• Library as Place
• Role in University Life
(recruitment and retention)
• Digitization
• New formats for content
• Weeding the collection
• Shift from transaction to
experience
• Customer-service vs.
teaching and learning
missions
• Adoption of social software
• Graying profession
• Digital natives
Issues in Academic Reference
• Decline of ready reference
• Delivery of reference
remotely
• Virtual reference (what
form?)
• Role of print sources
• Too many sources?
• Who provides reference?
• Budget vs. service
• Roving
• On call/tiered reference
• Computer support
• Who are the patrons?
• Instruction vs. reference
• Teach patrons or do it for
them?
• Document delivery
• Assignment integration and
awareness
• Patron information and
computer literacies