Developing Digital Scholarship

. . . a welcome addition to the literature about the on-going changes in academic librarianship . . . I would recommend the book for both teachers and students of library and information science, but also for practitioners who will find interesting projects carried out by their colleagues in different libraries.

-- Elena Maceviciute * Information Research *

Developing Digital Scholarship is a critically important read for all members of private, corporate, governmental, community and academic libraries who are charged with developing and/or upgrading digital elements of their library systems for the benefit of their patrons.

-- Library Bookwatch

Coherent, well-edited, referenced and indexed, this collection hangs together, with little or no duplication. It is a very welcome addition to the sparse literature on digital scholarship. It offers a lifeline to librarians struggling to develop a coherent response to the challenges posed by the profound changes in scholarship found in modern academia. Anyone seeking to understand why, how and where libraries enable and enrich modern digital scholarship will find it useful.

-- An Leabharlann

Along with a definition and review of the existing literature on digital scholarship and librarianship, other chapters and case studies include both theoretical and practical discussions of personnel, spaces, services, and communication tools... this book provides a good framework for conversation for strategic planning purposes.

-- Linda Frederiksen * Library Journal *

As computer-assisted academic research is often diverse, dynamic and even chaotic in nature, many academic libraries are currently struggling with the increasingly pressing challenge of developing useful and adequate forms of support for scholarship based on digital technologies. Developing Digital Scholarship provides a thorough and systematic overview of the different strategies and best practices that have been developed by leading libraries in the US and in the UK. The case studies that are included in the book offer valuable insights into the various ways in which librarians can manage innovative and experimental projects that often demand new areas of expertise and new models for interacting with academic staff. The book usefully highlights the new roles and the new responsibilities that are needed when librarians aim to facilitate data-intensive, interdisciplinary and collaborative forms of research. As such, it forms essential reading for all librarians engaged in the complicated process of supporting and promoting digital scholarship. At Leiden University Libraries, we are currently setting up a new Centre for Digital Scholarship, and the book has given us much inspiration for the development of new services.

-- Peter Verhaar

Developing Digital Scholarship will be of interest primarily to library administrators who already have the context and resources to shape their institutions’ digital scholarship initiatives. It will also be useful for students who are still in the process of choosing a specialty or for practitioners desirous of broadening their skill sets. Most readers will respond to the book’s optimistic mindset, best captured in its final sentence: “The groundwork for success is rooted in the resilient attitudes and behaviours of individuals in relation to the digital environment.

-- Richard Nathan Leigh * ARBA *

Developing Digital Scholarship: Emerging Practices in Academic Libraries...combines literature review, theory, and case studies to advance our understanding of digital scholarship and the library’s role. The articles have an international bent, with authors from the U.K., Australia, and the U.S.The book will be of greatest interest to academic and other research librarians.

-- Gwen M. Gregory * Information Today *

...this collection offers a broad overview of different expressions of digital scholarship and how this developing field impacts current library practice. Given the title and the focus on skills and case studies, this collection seems to be most appropriate for academic libraries in the early stages of implementing digital scholarship services; however, it may also present relevant research and new ideas for libraries in which these services are already well established.

-- Gesina A. Phillips * Catholic Library Wor