Lorcan Dempsey

The Network Reshapes the Library: Lorcan Dempsey on Libraries, Services and Networks

Since he began posting in 2003, Dempsey has used his blog to explore nearly every important facet of library technology, from the emergence of Web 2.0 as a concept to open source ILS tools and the push to web-scale library management systems. More than just a commentary on the issue of the moment, the more than 1,800 posts have offered thousands of readers valuable perspective and insight as well as a visionary approach to libraries' future. In a compendium that library planners, administrators, and technology staff will find endlessly stimulating, Varnum offers an expertly curated selection of entries from Dempsey's blog. Showing where libraries have been in the last decade and also where they're heading now, this book covers such keystone topics as

• Networked resources
• Network organization
• The research process and libraries' evolving role, featuring the seminal post "In the Flow"
• Resource discovery
• Library systems and tools such as search indices and OpenURL link resolvers
• Data and metadata
• Publishing and communication, including blogs, social media, and scholarly communication
• Libraries, archives, museums, and galleries as "memory institutions"

The book concludes with a selection of favorites hand-picked by Dempsey himself. As one university librarian put it, Dempsey's "dual ability to explore an issue and to reveal the higher-order trends is spot-on for understanding our volatile environment." That unique and thoughtful analysis is on full display in this book.