Libraries, Leadership, and Scholarly Communication

A creative thinker on topics related to library collections and scholarly publishing, Rick Anderson does not back away from controversy. “Whenever we, as members of an organization like a library, are forced to choose between good things, we may start by trying to figure out some way to have both things,” he writes in the preface. “But in many cases, that will turn out to be impossible and we’ll have to decide which good thing is going to take priority over the other. We can’t make that decision without invoking values, and the moment we start invoking values is when the conversation can take a really difficult and interesting turn.” When it’s time for your organization to make choices and set priorities, this collection of essays, articles, white papers, and blog posts will provide conversation starters for your strategic discussions. Anderson offers engaging, persuasive arguments on a range of timely topics, such as: the decline of print; patron-driven acquisitions; Open Access (OA); blacklisting publishers and relations with publishers’ sales reps; patron privacy; symptoms of zealotry; unintended consequences of the print-on-demand model; and how to define library value. Ideal for browsing, the ideas in this collection will kickstart your brainstorming sessions and spur your organization to confront choices head on.