The libraries at Yale University, Connecticut, the U.S., have seamlessly evolved over the years to continue to stay at the heart of the university’s research and academic endeavours. The Yale University Library comprises 15 million print and electronic volumes in more than a dozen different libraries and locations, including Sterling Memorial Library, the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, and the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Library. The library also encompasses an innovative Preservation and Conservation Department that develops and applies leading-edge technology to maintain the library’s diverse collections, which range from ancient papyri to early printed books, rare film and recorded music collections, and a growing body of born-digital works and resources.
Susan Gibbons, the Stephen F. Gates ’68 University Librarian and Deputy Provost for Collections and Scholarly Communication at Yale University, shares with EDGE her take on the evolving roles of a library and why it is in the benefit of the students and faculty to make the most of its resources.
How have the role of libraries and librarians evolved over the years?
Some people look at libraries and see them as musty repositories for physical books. Others think that the Internet has replaced the research library. Nothing could be further from the truth. Libraries are more essential and foundational to universities, and society as a whole, than ever before.
University librarians, today, serve as guides and partners to faculty, students, and researchers navigating an increasingly complex information environment. Librarians are at the forefront of preserving, creating, and disseminating knowledge in all its forms, from using the latest science to investigate ancient texts to developing new ways of preserving born-digital materials for future generations. Our librarians play a critical role in supporting Yale faculty research that is shaping and influencing policy choices in virtually every arena.
Our medical librarians are increasingly credited as co-authors on evidence-based clinical treatment protocols because of their role in the complex searches on which the protocols are based. Our librarians are playing a growing role in research data support, helping faculty, students, and researchers collect, manage, interpret, and store enormous data sets.
How can students make the most of a library?
The vast resources of a university library, such as ours, can be quite intimidating. Consequently, we have developed a personal librarian programme wherein each new undergraduate student is assigned a specific librarian. That librarian serves as the student’s initial guide for how to best take advantage of the library’s collections, services, and expertise. That programme has been successful.
In an era of “fake news” and the manipulation of information for political and economic advantage, librarians and libraries can provide students with the tools and training to separate accurate information from inaccurate. Over time, we hope our students will see the library as a powerful constellation of place, people, collections, services, and expertise supporting every aspect of their educational experience.
What are the changes you have witnessed after digitisation of resources?
The digitisation of resources expands access to knowledge in previously unimaginable ways and begins to level the playing field globally, in terms of access to information. The digitisation of collections allows students and faculty to analyse them with the aid of computer algorithms. For example, to recognise patterns of text used across tens of thousands of books in ways that were not possible when just reading with the human eye. At the same time, digitisation creates new challenges in the form of emerging copyright issues, discovery systems, and digital preservation.
What are some contemporary challenges facing the library?
The proliferation of information creates a need for enormous investment in discovery systems, in technical expertise and infrastructure, in the preservation of physical and digital resources.
Yale, as an institution, is becoming increasingly global. Our faculty and students increasingly seek the same kind of library support they find on campus as they work across borders and around the world. This creates new challenges from securing the technology and resources to support a global enterprise to negotiating database contracts that transcend national borders.
How do students and faculty engage with the Yale University Library, and vice-versa?
Yale is fortunate to have more than a dozen iconic libraries. These spaces remain important as places for students to study, to work directly with librarians, and to interact with physical collections. We also see an increasing number of faculty teaching with rare and primary source materials in special library classrooms. We provide many workshops in the libraries to help students develop their ability to search, discover, and evaluate information.
We are constantly finding new ways to show students and faculty the different ways that the library occupies the heart of the university and supports all aspects of teaching and learning. These include a library-hosted open house and special programmes to support students during specifically stressful periods of the academic year. Our library exhibit programme includes opportunities for students to curate high-visibility exhibits based on their own research with our faculty and collections.
What efforts can an academic library take to attract more students to make use of its resources?
We are constantly experimenting with new forms of outreach. Our personal librarian programme has been effective. Partnering with faculty is also important. Many faculty now bring librarians into their classes, to co-teach or provide instruction in specific resources. Our librarians and archivists help faculty take full advantage of opportunities to teach with Yale’s extraordinary physical collections that are held not only in the libraries but also in the university’s museums.
The way forward
Libraries must continue to innovate in all the areas I have mentioned and, at the same time, to educate our various constituencies about the evolution of the library and its changing role in education and society. Our work requires a significant investment of resources. To mobilise those resources, we need to make sure that our constituencies understand what we do and our impact on the university’s mission as well as society at large. Collaborations and cooperation between research libraries are also essential.
