Interdisciplinarity and Academic Libraries

Book excerpt: This volume addresses an emerging yet largely unexamined strategic priority for academic and research libraries: interdisciplinarity in the academy. As colleges and universities chart new areas for knowledge creation, teaching, learning, outreach and service, libraries face challenges in developing their response to these transformational changes in higher education. The global networked society, the convergence of multiple areas of study, and the need to address major challenges that transcend any particular discipline are framing issues for twenty-first century institutions of higher education. Library leaders must seize this exciting opportunity to place the library at the center of the emerging interdisciplinary academy by creating and delivering a transformative suite of programs, services and collections. Libraries can lift their institutions to a higher plane of interdisciplinary activity by levering their place in higher education to become the hub of interdisciplinary activity, where librarians foster innovative models of teaching, learning, research, conversation, reflection, and engagement. This book offers multiple perspectives on transforming academic library programs, collections, and services to meet transformational challenges for higher education. Experienced librarians bring an interdisciplinary perspective to collection development, information literacy, digital projects, knowledge organization, services for research centers, and other timely and relevant topics.