Oct. 15, 2002
An Interview With GW's Librarian
Siggins Discusses Future of Library and the Threats
Posed by Corporations
ByGeorge!:
In our last
Word 4 Word, Dean William Frawley (CCAS) discussed how people need
to access libraries in different ways. Based on trends, statistics,
and pure observation, what are some ways library usage has changed?
Jack Siggins: He put his finger on one
of the biggest changes, perhaps the biggest change, and that is the
access that is now available remotely and electronically. It has led
to a change in the research behavior of students — not so much
among faculty — that is taking advantage of the quickness and ease
of access to information in order to save time. That has both good and
bad results.
ByG!:
Have you noticed any changes in the number of people who visit the libraries?
JS: There have been two obvious changes
and influences on the number of people coming in and using library facilities.
The first is the availability of electronic resources. A lot of people
prefer, as Dean Frawley was expressing, to do their research remotely
or at least to make it more efficient. Another factor has been the increase
in the number of students by a significant factor over the last five
years. This has placed a burden upon our seating capacity and our resources
— reference librarians, equipment, computers. The other thing that
has affected access to the GW libraries is the marked improvement in
the intellectual capacities of the students. In other words, we’re
getting a higher grade of students these days as indicated by several
factors including SAT scores. This means that students are much more
eager to come to the library to do their work. There are a couple of
things that have not changed. Despite all of this electronic and remote
access, the demand for seating in Gelman Library has increased, even
beyond what the increase in the number of students would indicate. Plus,
students still rely on our staff to get answers to questions. The demand
for books and hard copy materials has not decreased. On the contrary,
it’s increased.
ByG!:
A recent cover story in The Chronicle of Higher Education indicated
challenges for universities across the country in maintaining journal
subscriptions and purchasing new books. In a broader context, why is
this happening?
JS: There’s a phenomenon going on
here in regards to price increases for library materials. This has been
underway for 10–15 years. It’s a battle that the librarians
at academic and research libraries have faced over that period of time
with increasing alarm. The effect is that prices for library materials
have been increasing on an annual basis at a level that is higher than
the inflationary rate of our economy as a whole. The national inflationary
rate is about 4–4.5 percent. For the library collections, it has
been much higher, and many times it has been double that rate. At present,
the inflationary rate for buying books, electronic materials, and journals,
averages out to about 7.5 percent per year. This has been a real challenge
not just for the libraries, but for the universities to figure out how
to deal with. In the Gelman Library System (not counting law and medical
libraries), the budget we have for purchasing library materials from
year to year is about $4 million. If you factor in the inflationary
rate of 7.5 percent, then that roughly equals $350,000. That amount
of money increases from year to year. This is a heavy burden for the
University to try and keep up with. It is not a burden that is unique
to GW. It faces every single library in the country, but it’s especially
hard on the academic and research libraries.
Why is this the case? It comes down to one general change in our publishing
and information industry. There is a gradual coming together of the
vendors and publishers under a few companies. So what we have is an
oligopoly, but we’re heading toward a monopoly. The control of
information around the United States and around the world is falling
increasingly into the hands of a few companies such as Elsevier and
even Walt Disney is involved in this, as well as foreign conglomerates.
They are cornering the market on information sources. So what are the
choices that the libraries have? Well, the choice we’ve always
had is if it’s too expensive, we don’t buy it. But that’s
self-defeating. If we don’t buy a certain number of subscriptions,
all it does is reduce their income and they’ll raise the price.
There’s a major danger here and I get quite exercised about this
because it impacts our democracy and a fundamental element of our freedom
— access to information. These major international conglomerates
now control what information we are able to give students, faculty,
and researchers. They are pushing at every political level they can
in the United States Congress and in the state legislatures. They are
lobbying with huge power to get more control by changing copyright laws
and also by pushing through laws at the state level, which determine
contractual relations between the vendors and the librarians. One of
the most dangerous now is called Uniform Computer Information Transactions
Act (UCITA). It’s a uniform law that was developed by the publishers
and these corporate oligarchies. It’s being pushed by their lawyers
through state legislatures and by their lobbyists. If passed, it would
give tremendous control over contractual relations with libraries and
would dictate what the librarians can do with that information. In other
words, we would have to accept whatever contractual terms they impose
on us, which usually include restrictions on interlibrary loan, photocopying,
on giving access to anybody except under the terms these companies dictate.
Thus far, the UCITA law has only been passed by two states, Virginia
and Maryland, but it’s being pushed by other states. Through the
careful uninformed and unreasoned debate that has taken place in these
two state legislatures, this law has been passed. There is reconsideration
in Maryland because the American Library Association, the Association
of Research Libraries, and other groups have gotten wind of this and
are fighting. This is a major danger to the populace. I think this is
one of the biggest threats to American democracy. Unless the state legislatures
and the Congress wake up and see what the issues are and start meeting
the needs for free information, they are likely to throw away one of
the most basic elements of an informed citizenry.
ByG!:
The library system is one of the most prestigious in North America,
evidenced by its election to the Association of Research Libraries and
the acquisition of its two millionth volume last year. The Gelman Library
is in the midst of a strategic plan, so what are some of the short-
and long-term goals?
JS: We’re eager to support the program
in Academic Excellence that has been outlined by President Trachtenberg
and Vice President for Academic Affairs Donald Lehman. We think this
is critical to meeting the University’s goal of providing the best
education possible and producing the best graduates. The librarian’s
role is to assist in a variety of ways. We need to be able to test the
skills of incoming freshmen and see where some may be lacking the minimum
skills they need to take full advantage of their education. Our goal
is to find a mechanism for assessing every single incoming freshman,
preferably before they get here through Colonial Inauguration. Once
we identify those people who are below-par in their skills, we then
will instruct them. A major part of our goal is to instruct all the
undergraduates, but freshmen to start, in how to do research, develop
writing skills, and to get the most out of libraries and classroom instruction.
We have taken on a large part of the responsibility for instructing
students on how to do research. We’re working closely with faculty
and we’re trying to get more faculty engaged. We’re looking
forward to setting up a permanent electronic classroom facility. We
have received a significant donation of $100,000 from a GW graduate
who is going to pay for the electronic equipment to make this a state-of-the-art
facility in Gelman Library. Now we’re looking for support to construct
the classroom either through a donor or from the University.
ByG!:
What are your thoughts on Georgetown University’s decision to rejoin
the Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC) after it left several
years ago?
JS: Up until the time that Georgetown rejoined,
WRLC, among all of its member libraries, had a total of 4.5 million
volumes. With the addition of Georgetown, that comes up to about seven
million. So GW students now have access to one of the biggest academic
and research libraries in the world.
ByG!:
What books are you reading?
JS: I have a variety of interests. I am
currently reading a book of poetry by Stanley Kunitz, who was previously
poet laureate of the United States. I am also reading some books given
to me by a friend who works at the CIA. And one of the books I’m
reading, edited by Robert J. Sternberg, is entitled, “Why Smart
People Can Be So Stupid.” It’s an analysis of how very smart
people seem to make very stupid decisions at various times. It deals
with a lot of the people who are on the public scene, including Bill
Clinton and George W. Bush. It is fascinating.
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu
