James Neal: What fundamental shifts do next-generation libraries (and universities) need to make?
Speaker Series - The Future of the University and the Future of Learning
Read James Neal's presentation
Next-generation libraries (and universities): What fundamental shifts are needed?
About this session
James Neal is University Librarian Emeritus at Columbia University. From 2001-2014, he served as vice-president for Information Services and University Librarian at Columbia University, providing leadership for university academic computing and a system of 22 libraries. He has identified four fundamental shifts in library collection development, which resonate well beyond library collections:
- Primal innovation: revising fundamental purposes
- Deconstruction: creative reassembly of key functions
- Radical collaboration: cross-institutional partnerships
- Survival: deep focus on users’ needs and goals
James Neal is University Librarian Emeritus at Columbia University. From 2001-2014, he served as vice-president for Information Services and University Librarian at Columbia University, providing leadership for university academic computing and a system of 22 libraries.
Previously, he served as the dean of University Libraries at Indiana University and Johns Hopkins University, and held administrative positions in the libraries at Penn State, Notre Dame, and the City University of New York.
In addition to his service as a member of the OCLC Board of Trustees, Neal serves on the Council and Executive Board of the American Library Association (ALA), and recently completed a three-year term as ALA Treasurer.
He has served on the Board and as president of the Association of Research Libraries, on the Board and as chair of the Research Libraries Group (RLG), and on the Board and as chair of the National Information Standards Organization (NISO). He is a member of the Board of the Freedom to Read Foundation and the Board of the Digital Preservation Network. He has also participated on numerous international, national, and state professional committees, and is an active member of the International Federation of Library Associates (IFLA).
Neal is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences, consultant and published author, with focuses in the areas of scholarly communication, intellectual property, digital library programs, and library cooperation.
He was selected the 1997 Academic Librarian of the Year by the Association of College and Research Libraries and was the 2007 recipient of ALA’s Hugh Atkinson Memorial Award and the 2009 ALA Melvil Dewey Medal Award. In 2010, he received the honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Alberta.
