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SUMMARY:Revolutions (and Elephants) in the Library: the Third Arcadia Lect
 ure - Professor Paul N. Courant\, University of Michigan
DTSTART:20111209T173000Z
DTEND:20111209T185000Z
UID:TALK34192@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Professor John Naughton
DESCRIPTION:*Abstract*\n\nDigitization is seen variously as a boon and sco
 urge\, depending on the viewer\, the issue at hand\, and sometimes even th
 e time of day. As with many polarizing\nphenomena\, there is merit on both
  sides. If we look carefully at the functions that we want libraries to pe
 rform\, we see that although most (but not all) are made technically easie
 r with digitization\, many are made organizationally more difficult\, both
  within libraries and within the institutions that support them and use th
 em.\n\nPreservation\, an essential function of academic libraries\, is the
  most straightforward example of something that is much more difficult to 
 organize with digital media than it was with print. Scholarly publishing\,
  without which libraries would have little to do\, is stuck with a set of 
 institutions and practices that are ill-suited to take advantage of digita
 l technologies. And then there is copyright.\n\nTaking as given that we no
 w live in a world where it extremely inexpensive to copy\, distribute\, se
 arch\, mix\, and remix\, it is still not entirely clear how best to respon
 d to what should be good news. The answers depend on what we want and how 
 willing we are to collaborate in the interest of achieving what we want. I
 n libraries as elsewhere\, successful exploitation of changes in technolog
 y requires changes in the way activities are organized.\n\n*The Lecturer*\
 n\nProfessor Courant is is an expert in public goods whose recent research
  has focussed on the economics of universities\, the economics of librarie
 s and archives\, and the impact of new information technologies on the sch
 olarly publishing system.  He is University Librarian and Dean of Librarie
 s\, Harold T. Shapiro Collegiate Professor of Public Policy\, Arthur F. Th
 urnau Professor\, Professor of Economics and Professor of Information at t
 he University of Michigan. From 2002-2005 he served as Provost and Executi
 ve Vice-President for Academic Affairs -- the chief academic officer and t
 he chief budget officer of the University. He has also served as the Assoc
 iate Provost for Academic and Budgetary Affairs\, Chair of the Department 
 of Economics and Director of the Institute of Public Policy Studies (which
  is now the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy). In 1979 and 1980 he w
 as a Senior Staff Economist at the Council of Economic Advisers in Washing
 ton D.C.\n\nProfessor Courant has authored half a dozen books\, and over s
 eventy papers covering a broad range of topics in economics and public pol
 icy\, including tax policy\, state and local economic development\, gender
  differences in pay\, housing\, radon and public health\, relationships be
 tween economic growth and environmental policy\, and university budgeting 
 systems. More recently\, his academic work has considered the economics of
  universities\, the economics of libraries and archives\, and the effects 
 of new information technologies and other disruptions on scholarship\, sch
 olarly publication\, and academic libraries.\n
LOCATION:Riley Auditorium\, Clare College Memorial Court\, Queen's Road
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