Scott Bennett

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Dr. Scott Bennett is currently Yale University Librarian Emeritus and a consultant to institutions and organizations related to the library and information science fields. He is also a prolific scholar and has published numerous articles on topics such as information access, digital preservation, library funding, bibliography, publishing and intellectual property, copyright, publishing history, textual editing, utilization of library space, and library education and training programs. He received an A.B. degree from Oberlin College in 1960 and his Ph.D. in English from Indiana University in 1967. A specialist in 19th Century British literature and history, he started his career as an assistant professor of English at the University of Illinois. Completing his M.S. in Library Science at the University of Illinois in 1976, he went on to serve as associate professor of library administration there. After this, he became assistant university librarian for collection management at Northwestern University. From Northwestern he moved on to Johns Hopkins University, where he was Director of the Milton S. Eisenhower Library, the university’s main library. While there, he served as a delegate to the Maryland Governor’s Conference on Libraries and Information Service helping to initiate a statewide preservation planning effort and advocating increased use of mass de-acidification to preserve library materials. He assumed the position of Yale University Librarian in 1994 and served until 2001, when he retired and took on the Emeritus title.

1 Scholarly Work
2 Library Planning and Space Renovation
3 Preservation
4 Digitization
5 Quotes
6 References
7 External Links

[edit] Scholarly Work

Though nuanced and pragmatic, Bennett’s scholarly works are notable for their theoretical, optimistic tone. If one were to pick the primary theme of his work, it would be the championing of communal knowledge and the access to it. This access can be achieved by preservation, digitization, and library planning and space renovation, three major topics of Bennett’s writings.

[edit] Library Planning and Space Renovation

As Yale University Librarian, Bennett became transfixed with library planning, construction, renovation, and restoration, and wrote several papers on those subjects. As a founder of Project Muse, a collaboration of 60 not-for-profit publishers in conjunction with the Eisenhower Library at Johns Hopkins University, he fostered changes in information use that drive innovations in the use of library spaces. Bennett believes that, when done properly, library space design situates information in the social context of learning. A synergistic situating of information and learning aligns both the library and its building with the basic educational mission of the university. Bennett has strived to create a paradigm of the library of the future based on the needs of the students. Libraries must be designed to foster effective learning. He has written, “Space that allows students to manage the social dimensions of learning, that domesticates the foundational character of knowledge (the character that dominates at most colleges and universities), and that celebrates the communal (i.e., the non-foundational) character of knowledge will indeed foster learning.”

From research done in several academic libraries, Bennett has determined that students learn in both formal and informal spaces on college campuses. Spaces that “work” serve student learning, accommodate effective pedagogies, support the integration of technologies into the learning environment, and anticipate the future. Bennett has concluded that libraries that allocate more space for group study, food services, and socializing foster widespread, effective learning. He has written, “There is no contradiction in thinking of the library as a place for socialization as well as study.”

Bennett argues that library planners must move away from a "culture of service" that bases building plans on knowledge about library operations, and toward a "culture of learning" that puts the student learning experience in the foreground. He describes library space planning at Sewanee, The University of the South, as an example of "asking the right questions" through student surveys and interviews. What furthers learning? More time spent on learning tasks and more conversations about course topics outside of the classroom. By creating environments that function as "domesticated public spaces," librarians can foster active learning in a community context. When that happens, Bennett asserts, "we will be able to align library operations and library space with the fundamental learning missions of the colleges and universities that support them."

[edit] Preservation

Bennett has categorized the preservation threats posed by digital technology into two types: technical and managerial. The technical type is beginning to be addressed; scholars and scientists have begun to explore the migration and emulation strategies for countering such threats. Regarding the managerial type, Bennett believes that, since libraries do not typically own their digital resources but simply manage them, it is unlikely that they will have any control over their preservation. To meet the challenges of digital preservation, Bennett feels that the commercial purposes of publishers and the preservation and access purposes of libraries must not be in conflict.

Librarians must stand up for the principles of communal ownership of information in the face of the commercial interests of the publishing world. He proposes this solution: the commerce of publishers is expected to sufficiently carry digital information forward over time However, when the market demand for digital information becomes less viable, its long-term preservation and access must be ensured, with the agreement of the publisher, by libraries.

[edit] Digitization

Bennett advises academic libraries to be open to the digital orientation of today’s students. He has compared the magnitude of advancements in digital technology to the introduction of moveable type, mass-produced paper, and large-scale radio broadcasting. Bennett has written, “Deriving the fullest possible benefit from digital technology is unquestionably the first grand challenge before us,” and “the mission of libraries is well-established and secure in the print world, but not in the digital arena where we have much to do toward putting in place the ownership and access rights on which communal access to information depends.”

[edit] Quotes

• “The ability to command the facts of our past and to debate their significance is fundamental to any idea of human liberty.”

• “If we are successful in meeting the challenges of scalability (funding), access, and preservation, we will be able to truly affirm that our present is the Golden Age of Libraries.”

• “There is no contradiction in thinking of the library as a place for socialization as well as study.”

• “Deriving the fullest possible benefit from digital technology is unquestionably the first grand challenge before us.”

• “The mission of libraries is well-established and secure in the print world, but not in the digital arena where we have much to do toward putting in place the ownership and access rights on which communal access to information depends.”

"Neverlet school work get in the way of your education...." scotty b!

[edit] References

Bennett, Scott, "The Choice for Learning." Journal of Academic Librarianship 32, no. 1 (January 2006): 3-13.

Bennett, Scott, “The Golden Age of Libraries,” The Journal of Academic Librarianship 27 (July 2001): 256-259.

Bennett, Scott. Libraries Designed for Learning. Washington, D.C.: Council on Library Resources, 2003. Available at http://www.clir.org/PUBS/reports/pub122/contents.html

Bennett, Scott. "Re-engineering Scholarly Communication: Thoughts Addressed to Authors," Journal of Scholarly Publishing, 27 (1996): 185-96.

Bennett, Scott, "Repositioning University Presses in Scholarly Communication," Journal of Scholarly Publishing 25 (1994): 243-48.

Bennett, Scott, “Righting the Balance,” in Library as Place: Rethinking Roles, Rethinking Space, Washington, D.C.: Council on Library and Information Resources, February 2005. 10-24.