Like many industries, the academic library has undergone profound changes over the past five years due to the emergence of new technologies. This has forced many institutions to rethink how they manage the administrative tasks of collection, curation and acquisitions while radically changing the role of the librarian. Today's librarian is more likely to help students and patrons access library resources than to perform administrative tasks. This poses a challenge for many schools, colleges and universities who are forced to redistribute staff or reallocate tasks due to the different skills required. But far from seeing this as a problem, certain avant-garde university institutions are taking advantage of the opportunity to redefine the role of the librarian. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay Traditionally, academic librarian roles are filled by candidates with a Master of Library Science (MLS) degree. But some universities are starting to see the benefit of hiring candidates with doctorates to help provide specialized knowledge to students. The goal is to make the librarian a more integrated part of the learning process. So, rather than simply facilitating learning, librarians will become valuable liaisons, able to provide students with specialized field knowledge. So where does this leave the curatorial and management tasks of the traditional role of the librarian? How curation and selection will be managed in the future Vendors and software companies have a role to play in ensuring that curation and ordering methods are reliable and robust. All library management systems should be able to provide accurate information about the publications currently available on the system and any new books that are due to be published. Traditionally, this information is used by librarians to make decisions about which books to purchase. However, because librarians have limited knowledge in each discipline, this can lead to the purchase of books that contain duplicate information with books already held by the library or do not provide the in-depth coverage required to support the academic curriculum. This problem can be resolved by gathering more detailed metadata from publishers. Library management systems can then use this metadata to provide more accurate information to faculty members. This allows lecturers with specialist knowledge to make more informed decisions about which books should be added to the library's collection. Through this system, potential book purchases could also be made available to students for review before a purchasing decision is made. After all, they are the ones who will use these books the most. It therefore makes sense to involve them from the start of the acquisition process. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Personalized Essay The benefits of this system are twofold. This frees the librarian from the tedious task of administrative conservation and acquisitions. And it allows the library to purchase books that are better suited to the curriculum...