A “Must Read” by Lorcan Dempsey “Thirteen Ways of Looking at Libraries, Discovery, and the Catalog: Scale, Workflow, Attention”
Here’s a MUST read and share article written by Lorcan Dempsey (OCLC Vice President and Chief Strategist) published on EDUCAUSE Review Online. As you would expect from Dempey, the article is loaded with material that makes you think and that you’ll want to discuss with others. Well done Lorcan!
Here’s a Summary of the Article (via OCLC Research)
This article discusses the position of the catalog and uses it to illustrate more general discovery and workflow directions for libraries. There is a renaissance of interest in the catalog and catalog data. Yet it comes at a time when the catalog itself is being reconfigured in ways which may result in its disappearance as an individually identifiable component of library service. The catalog is being subsumed within larger library discovery environments and catalog data is flowing into other systems and services.
Note: This article is a slightly amended version of a contribution of the same name to Sally Chambers, ed., Catalogue 2.0: The Ultimate User Experience (London: Facet Publishing, 2013).
Direct to Full Text Article (via EDUCAUSE Review Online)
See Also: Video: Lorcan Dempsey’s “Reconfiguring Library Boundaries” Presentation
See Also: Conference Paper by Lorcan Dempsey: “Libraries and the Informational Future: Some Notes”
Filed under: Data Files, Journal Articles, Libraries, News, Publishing

About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.