Institutions

Lam-inating libraries ... redux

Lorcan 1 min read

The shared interests between libraries, archives and museums (LAMs) has been an important line of work for OCLC Research. It is also of course a recurring service, organizational and policy issue in many contexts.
A related issue is also of considerable interest for libraries. As we move into a digital environment, library work can increasingly understand and benefit from archival and museum perspectives and professional practice.
As libraries digitize primary materials, or as they begin to curate research data or learning materials, an archival perspective becomes more important. Provenance and context are of interest, and changes to resources over time need to be tracked and managed. Appraisal practices may have lessons. The value of resources as evidence becomes central.
As libraries provide access to abundant digital materials, how to selectively present them or to construct narratives around them becomes more interesting. Thinking explicitly about structured learning support is a topic. The notion of exhibition comes into play, a central museum activity, alongside education.
Note: this is a slightly updated version of a blog post I did last year. This attracted some interesting comments.
Note 2: There is probably a blogging best practice about recycling or amending entries. I have chosen to republish rather than update the content and date of the original entry. Which means that any comments do not carry over.

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