The Reinvention of the U.S. Academic Library - by Donald A Barclay (Hardcover)

About the Book

Focusing on U.S. academic libraries, Rewiring the Academic Library begins by providing a concise history of the traditional role and function of academic libraries from their earliest times up to the dawn of Digital Age and the spread of digital technology into all aspects of academic research and scholarly communication.

Book Synopsis

Focusing on U.S. academic libraries, The Reinvention of the U.S. Academic Library begins by providing a concise history of the traditional role and function of academic libraries from their earliest times up to the dawn of the Digital Age and the spread of digital technology into all aspects of academic research and scholarly communication. This introduction is followed by chapters analyzing how digital technology has transformed, over the course of a few swift decades, not only the role and function of academic libraries, but also the nature of scholarly communication itself.

Specifically, The Reinvention of the U.S. Academic Library will consider how digital technology has changed the way academic libraries:
- Acquire and exercise bibliographic control over collections.
- Provide equitable access to information. Allocate and utilize library space. Instruct and guide students, faculty, and others.
- Relate to the larger academic and scholarly publishing communities. Sustain scholarly communications.

Review Quotes

"It isn't often that one gets to review a book that is both historically accurate and entertaining, but Donald Barclay's excellent retrospective of the changes in academic libraries between 1990 and 2025 is just that." --CHOICE

About the Author

Donald A. Barclay worked as an academic librarian from 1990 until his retirement in 2022, during his library career holding positions at New Mexico State University, the University of Houston, the Texas Medical Center, and the University of California, Merced. Barclay began working at the University of California, Merced in 2002, before ground was broken on what would become the first (and thus far only) new U.S. research university of the twenty-first century. The unique opportunity of creating an academic research library from the ground up at a time when digital technology was expanding into every aspect of human life and radically transforming scholarly communication allowed him to both closely observe and actively participate in the biggest technological change to hit libraries since the advent of printing from moveable type.

Barclay has authored numerous articles and books over the course of his career on topics ranging from the literature of the American West to children's literature to library and information science. His book, Fake News, Propaganda, and Plain Old Lies: How to Find Trustworthy Information in the Digital Age, was published by Rowman and Littlefield in June 2018 and spent two months as an Amazon #1 New Release. His follow up book, Disinformation: The Nature of Facts and Lies in the Post-Truth Era, was published by Rowman and Littlefield in 2022.

Barclay earned his bachelor's degree from Boise State University and holds masters' degrees in both English and Library and Information Science from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to working as a librarian, he spent four years teaching college writing as well as ten seasons working as a wildland fire fighter, mostly as a member of a U.S. Forest Service Hotshot Crew. He lives in Merced, California with his wife Caroline Dawson and their three daughters, Tess, Emily, and Alexandra.