Binghamton Libraries of the Future

Quiet still reigns in the libraries of Binghamton University. But don't let that fool you. A revolution is brewing. There's a loud tug of war going on. Pulling on one side is library tradition, the notion that libraries should be filled with paper books, journals and other research materials. Tugging from the other side is technological change, in the form of digital access to information.

Arbitrating the struggle is John Meador, director of University Libraries. He relishes the challenge of helping the libraries embrace technological change while maintaining vital traditional services.

"We're on the cusp of an information revolution," said Meador. "For centuries, libraries gathered and preserved a scarce commodity called knowledge. But information today has exploded. It's available in a bewildering number of formats, and not just in libraries, but everywhere. We're being transformed by the technology of network computing."

While they work to evolve, Meador and his staff are running two libraries in one. The first is a traditional physical library. The other is digital.

Exemplifying its commitment to tradition is Binghamton Libraries' recent acquisition of nearly 4,500 volumes of 19th-century and modern Chinese books. "If you are in the humanities," said Meador, "98 percent of your materials still are on paper."

Not so in the sciences, where Binghamton's digital library serves the needs of constituents on a quest for quick access to knowledge.

"If you are in physics or chemistry," said Meador, "you want the latest journals delivered digitally to your computer. They contain information you can manipulate electronically from anywhere, without ever having the need to come to the library."

To provide such "e-data," along with other technical tools focused on retrieving, evaluating and effectively using digital information, Binghamton Libraries already have introduced numerous services. Others are planned for the immediate future. These include:

Electronic Checkout and Renewal
A machine in the Glenn Bartle Library lobby makes checking out a book as simple as running it through a scanner. Users can renew books online through the University Libraries website.

Reference Help Online
As well as answering questions via e-mail, Binghamton Libraries now offer live chat reference, a service enabling users to communicate directly with reference librarians -- and receive guidance from them -- via computer.

Information Commons
In an effort to offer "one-stop-shopping," BU Libraries plan construction of an Information Commons on the main floor of Bartle Library. As well as facilitating access to the Libraries' print and digital collections, the Commons will provide equipment needed to process information gleaned from those collections into electronic papers, theses and dissertations featuring multimedia and other digital components.

Electronic Scanning of Microfilm or Microfiche
Researchers at the Bartle Library can transfer selected microfilm or microfiche files to a computerized machine called a reader. Once in the reader, microfilm or fiche articles can be scanned as documents, burned to CDs or e-mailed to the user's personal computer.

Electronic Delivery from Inter-Library Loan
Not only can users of the University Libraries fill out Inter-Library Loan requests online, they also can request that the materials they seek be delivered to them electronically. Institutions possessing the materials will scan them and send them via e-mail.

Faced with the challenge of incorporating these and other digital innovations into a library culture traditionally dependent on paper, John Meador put it best when he said, "This is a very exciting time to be a librarian!"

Added Meador: "Wherever the future takes us, I want people to say: 'University Libraries are where I need to go, regardless of what kind of format the knowledge I'm seeking is in.'"

-- Rick Marsi