Canada: “New University of Victoria Academy Aims to Help Libraries Adapt to a Digital Future”

From The Times Colonist:

In a world where big technology companies like Google, Meta and OpenAI are at the forefront of gathering information, libraries have to react by adapting to “rapid change” in the digital realm, says a University of Oxford librarian.

Richard Ovenden, the Bodley’s librarian at Oxford, said the University of Victoria has recognized the importance of digital factors with the launch of the Kula: Library Futures Academy. Touted by the university as the world’s first library-based institute of advanced studies, the academy aims to function as an incubator hub for research, connecting people and communities to knowledge.

“It’s one of the core aspects of the Kula Academy because the world in which libraries operate is changing fast, and is becoming so much more connected to the world of digital technology, to the Internet, to social media,” Ovenden said. That means libraries have to do research “in order to keep up.”

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