This afternoon I attended the fourth meeting of the Dean’s Advisory Committee (DAC) for University Libraries at Virginia Tech. During this session the DAC members discussed the future of library spaces (focusing mainly on physical environments) and the type of data/information discovery and user experiences that could support research and teaching. What is evident from these discussions is the significant transformations that are underway in libraries around the world and specifically at Virginia Tech. The library experience in the coming decade is likely to be radically different – both from a physical and virtual environment perspective – to what it was a decade ago.
During the meeting, David Ernst (University of Minnesota) and Anita Walz (Virginia Tech) provided an informative discussion on the growing field of Open Textbooks. The slideshow below includes a number of images from their presentation, which outline the need for open textbooks.
Ralph P Hall 