At Temple University’s symposium in honor of the inauguration of the University’s new president, on Oct. 18, 2013.

Jim Neal, University Librarian [so cool!] at Columbia Univ., begins by noting that Bill Withers uses “I know” 26 times in “There Ain’t no Sunshine When She’s Gone.” Jim knows 26 things about libraries, he tells us. [Jim speaks quickly. He elaborates each of these. I can’t get it all.]

1. We must build a national broadband information infrastructure. The library community has to be at the table.

2. Identity management

3. Build the digital library

4. Mine the information

5. Content mgt gateways for discovery, supporting different types of workflows.

6. Preserve and archive the content

7. Integrate Web 3.0: social network, collective intelligence, software as service

8. Enhance student experience

9. Support course management systems. “MOOCS cannot be successful without libraries at the table.”

10. Support faculty

11. Support Big Science

12. Transform scholarly publishing

13. Advance open source, open standards, open archives, open linking, open knowledge, Open Access

14. Managing repositories. Persistence and version control.

15. Support policies

16. Fight the copyright wars. Support Fair Use.

17. Develop new markets and products. Inculcate a competitive attitude.

18. Work globally

19. Respond to user expectations

20. Accountability and responsibility

21. Rethink library space planning. Start with the user, not the collection. Create a playground, not a sanctuary.

22. New collaborations

23. Develop the library workforce with new recruitment and development strategies

24. New organizational models that move away from hierarchies, to a loosely coupled organization.

“This is a massive strategic agenda,” Jim acknowledges. Academic libraries have to pursue risk and experimentation at their core. We have to radicalize library sharing, moving beyond Kumbiyah.

He cites Mel Brooks’ History of the World, Part 1. Brooks comes down from the mountain with three tablets:

Jim gives us his own five lost commandments:

1. Value libraries.

2. Preserve our freedoms.

3. Embrace your human objectives.

4. Advance the revolution.

5. Care about each other.

Categories: libraries, liveblog, open access dw