Libraries in the Digital Age: What If...?

A workshop to be held in conjunction with ECDL 2007 16-22 September, Budapest, Hungary

ECDL 2007 Workshop - Abstract

Date: 21st September 2007
Duration: 1 Day (9am - 4pm approx.)
Registration: Available Now - Please note you can register for this workshop as a one day event (cost approx. 100 euros before 31 July) if you are not attending the full conference.
Early registration deadline: 31st July 2007 (places are limited)
Final registration deadline: 31st August 2007, cost approx. 125 euros for booking between 1st and 31st August
Travel/Arrival information: Follow this link to the ECDL website
Workshop Details: View More

Extended Abstract:

Managing the pace of change remains a significant challenge for institutions grappling with the need to respond strategically to the range of possibilities and challenges presented by information and communications technology (ICT). New pedagogical approaches and new learning and teaching models can evolve in isolated pockets within institutions and are not always embedded into wider institutional practice or linked to strategic plans. Managing and enabling access to quality resources that can support this changing practice is difficult enough within a formal managed context. The developments in Web 2.0 technologies and so-called 'Social Software' bring with them even more possibilities and challenges for academic teams, learning technologists and librarians.

How well institutions respond to these challenges is likely to have a significant impact on the learner experience. How far students will want to integrate their own personal use of social software such as Flickr and MySpace with the more formal institutionally managed learning environments, spaces and repositories raises interesting questions. How flexible institutions can be depends on their perceptions of risks around being innovative and balancing these risks with potential benefits. There is also the issue of supporting the wide range of staff involved in the learning and teaching process who may have to considerably adapt their roles and responsibilities.

Institutions are also having to consider how to integrate these virtual and physical environments into a coherent and supportive learning space. Many are currently considering how to offer a flexible workspace which provides appropriate choices and a range of different opportunities for learning. Taking a holistic approach to this integration requires vision and a leap into the future. These are all issues that we hope to address in this workshop which offers a structured framework within which participants can envision and analyse a range of futuristic but plausible scenarios for libraries in the 21st century. The workshop will take place in a World Café type setting. The World Café (http://www.theworldcafe.com/) is a growing global movement to support 'conversations that matter' in a range of education. Public sector and community organisations.

Participants will look at some examples of emerging technologies and how they are being integrated with digital content to support the learning process. Using a Scenario Planning approach participants will then envision a learning future based around each of these examples and consider what this might mean for libraries both conceptually and as physical learning spaces. Participants will consider the benefits and risks of each scenario then work collaboratively to design the physical and virtual attributes of an idealised 'library' that builds on the best of each.

Brief Description/Objectives:

'Libraries in the Digital Age: What If...?' is a workshop to consider the strategic implications of emerging technologies and pedagogic approaches for the library community. The workshop will take place in a World Café environment and will use a scenario planning approach. No previous knowledge of the technique is required as participants will be fully briefed and the workshop facilitated by a group of convenors. Participants will:

  • be introduced to a range of emerging technologies and gain an understanding of their educational potential.
  • have the opportunity to review a set of case studies.
  • be introduced to the concept of Scenario Planning and consider its application to their own field of work.
  • undertake a creative exercise that will stimulate ideas for the development of learning support in their own institutions.
  • The outcomes of the workshop will be made available in a format that stimulates further debate amongst the wider community.