3.3 Library services and referencing
In a 2005 blog post Lorcan Dempsey argues that libraries need to “be in the flow”. This argument is made with particular reference to a student’s “learning landscape” as described by David Tosh and Ben Werdmuller. Dempsey states that “as network behavior is increasingly supported by workflow and resource integration services, the library must think about how to make its services available to those workflows.”
In a more recent article Smita Chandra and Vivek Patkar[1] argue “Library services should be integrated with LMS such as WebCT, Blackboard, DesireLearn, ANGEL or Moodle at the point of need to be most effective.”
In “Building the 21st Century Library” it is recommended that: “Libraries should look for increased value from their principal library-wide computer systems, ensure that those ‘library management systems’ are integrated with other institutional systems and look to break down barriers between library users and resources.” (http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/resourcediscovery/lmsstudy.pdf) From the library perspective, benefits of integrating reference management tools into the learning environment will include:
- Provision of library services at point of need
- Increased usage of bibliographic management tools, providing increased value for money
[1] Chandra, S. and Patkar, V. (2007) ‘ICTS: A catalyst for enriching the learning process and library services in India’, The International Information & Library Review, Vol. 39, No. 1. 1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.iilr.2006.11.001
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