Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Introduction: sources and methodologies for the history of libraries in the modern era
- 1 Libraries and the modern world
- Part One Enlightening the Masses: the Public Library as Concept and Reality
- Part Two The Voluntary Ethic: Libraries of our Own
- Part Three Libraries for National Needs: Library Provision in the Public Sphere in the Countries of the British Isles
- Part Four The Nation's Treasury: Britain's National Library as Concept and Reality
- Part Five The Spirit of Enquiry: Higher Education and Libraries
- 26 Introduction: Higher education and libraries
- 27 The libraries of the ancient universities to the 1960s
- 28 The libraries of the University of London to the 1960s
- 29 The Civic universities and their libraries
- 30 Academic libraries and the expansion of higher education since the 1960s
- Part Six The Rise of Professional Society: Libraries for Specialist Areas
- Part Seven The Trade and its Tools: Librarians and Libraries in Action
- Part Eight Automation Pasts, Electronic Futures: the Digital Revolution
- Bibliography
- Index
- References
30 - Academic libraries and the expansion of higher education since the 1960s
from Part Five - The Spirit of Enquiry: Higher Education and Libraries
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2008
By
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Introduction: sources and methodologies for the history of libraries in the modern era
- 1 Libraries and the modern world
- Part One Enlightening the Masses: the Public Library as Concept and Reality
- Part Two The Voluntary Ethic: Libraries of our Own
- Part Three Libraries for National Needs: Library Provision in the Public Sphere in the Countries of the British Isles
- Part Four The Nation's Treasury: Britain's National Library as Concept and Reality
- Part Five The Spirit of Enquiry: Higher Education and Libraries
- 26 Introduction: Higher education and libraries
- 27 The libraries of the ancient universities to the 1960s
- 28 The libraries of the University of London to the 1960s
- 29 The Civic universities and their libraries
- 30 Academic libraries and the expansion of higher education since the 1960s
- Part Six The Rise of Professional Society: Libraries for Specialist Areas
- Part Seven The Trade and its Tools: Librarians and Libraries in Action
- Part Eight Automation Pasts, Electronic Futures: the Digital Revolution
- Bibliography
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
There are two broad approaches to the writing of history: thematic or narrative. The former may allow for a more rigorous analysis, while the latter permits a more even flow and an easier understanding of the broad picture. The more contemporary the history, the more difficult it becomes to be objective: to see issues in their proper perspective or to give due weight to one aspect of life against another in the continuous flow of development. With that in mind, this chapter will look at the issues thematically. If objectivity is difficult for events through which one has lived, it is all the more difficult when the writer has been a participant, even if in a minor fashion, in many of the events to be related. While an attempt has been made in this chapter to present a balanced review, there can be little doubt that partisan opinions will, from time to time, have broken through. It is to be hoped that this will help to enliven the discourse, rather than distorting the reality.
The year of the Robbins Report is taken as the starting point for this chapter as the report is often represented as being the beginning of the development of mass education in this country. It was, of course, no such thing. There was a significant growth in the numbers of students in the post-war period before Robbins, with a 46% growth from 1953 to 1963. Even by 1973, ten years after Robbins, the number had risen only to 239,000, although this represented more than 100% growth during the previous decade.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge History of Libraries in Britain and Ireland , pp. 377 - 402Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006
References
Accessing our humanities collections: a guide to specialized collections for humanities researchers (London, 1998).
‘Access to research collections in the UK: the Anderson Report updated’, Library Review 47 (1998).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
‘Standing Conference of National and University Libraries [later, Society of College, National and University Libraries] and research libraries’, Library Review 47 (1998).Google Scholar
‘Looking to the future: the Consortium of Academic Libraries in Manchester (CALIM)’, in (ed.), The new university library.
‘The founding of the Standing Conference of National and University Libraries (Standing Conference of National and University Libraries [later, Society of College, National and University Libraries])’, in (ed.), University library history.
‘Research collections in the digital age: the role of Consortium of University Research Libraries’, Library Review 47 (1998).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
. Report (London, 1963) (Cmnd. 2154) (The Robbins Report).
. Scholarly communications crisis (n.p., 2001).
‘Management development in academic libraries and the Joint Funding Councils' Libraries Review’, British Journal of Academic Librarianship 9 (1994).Google Scholar
‘Cooperation among university libraries in the United Kingdom’, in (ed.), University library history.
‘Some thoughts on the design of major library buildings’, in Intelligent library buildings: proceedings of the 10th seminar of the IFLA Section on Library Buildings and Equipment (The Hague, 1997).Google Scholar
‘The British National Bibliography Research Fund: cutting across the boundaries’, Journal of Librarianship 21 (1989).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, and . ‘Co-ordinating collection development’, College and Research Libraries 44 (1983).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
‘University libraries’, in (ed.), Five years' work in librarianship 1961–65.
‘University library buildings’, in (ed.), British librarianship and information science 1966–70.
‘New model librarians: a question of realism’, Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 25 (1993).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Higher education: a new framework (London, 1991) (Cmnd. 1541).
[Bett Report] Independent review of higher education pay and conditions: report of a committee (London, 1999).
, ‘Electronic technology and its impact on libraries’, Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 30 (1998).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
‘Library management styles and structures: a need to rethink’, Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 23 (1991).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
‘The Standing Conference of National and University Libraries [later, Society of College, National and University Libraries] Graduate Trainee Scheme as preparation for professional education in librarianship and information work’, British Journal of Academic Librarianship 2 (1987).Google Scholar
, and . ‘Academic library cooperation and document supply: possibilities and consideration of cost-effectiveness’, Journal of Librarianship 21 (1989).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
‘University library organization’, in (ed.), University library history.
‘Subject specialization in British university libraries: a second survey’, Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 28 (1996).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
‘Building a university library: from Robbins to Atkinson’, in (ed.), The modern academic library: essays in memory of Philip Larkin (London, 1989).Google Scholar
‘Meeting the costs of development: the role of the British Library (Research and Development Department)’, Journal of Librarianship 16 (1984).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, and . ‘The nature of the library and information workforce in the United Kingdom’, Journal of Librarianship 17 (1985).Google Scholar
‘The role of the systems librarian in libraries in the United Kingdom’, Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 25 (1993).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
. Report (London, 1969) (Cmnd. 4028).
, and . ‘Changing dimensions in academic library structures: the impact of information technology’, British Journal of Academic Librarianship 3 (1988).Google Scholar
‘Collections, collectors and collection building’, in (ed.), The new university library: issues for the ′90s and beyond (London, 1994).Google Scholar
‘The growth of university library collections in the United Kingdom’, in (ed.) University library history.
Preservation policies and conservation in British libraries: report of the Cambridge University Library Conservation Project (London, 1984).Google Scholar
‘Who wins –the architect or the librarian? Academic library building in Britain 1984–1989’, Library Review 40 (2–3) (1991).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thatcherism goes to college: the Conservative assault on higher education (London, 1989).Google Scholar
‘Country licensing by the Finnish electronic library programme’, Helsinki University Library Bulletin (1999).Google Scholar
‘A review of the use of networking and related technologies by the UK academic library and information sector’, IASLIC Bulletin 41 (1996).Google Scholar
‘The history of academic library buildings’, in (ed.), University library history.
‘Professional education’, in (ed.), Five years work in librarianship 1961–1965.
, and . ‘A woman's place is in the – library? A review article’, Journal of Librarianship 19 (1987).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
A centennial history of the library of the University of Birmingham 1880–1995 (Birmingham, 2000).Google Scholar
(ed.). University library history: an international review (New York and London, 1980).Google Scholar
University Grants Committee. Capital provision for university libraries: report of a working party (London, 1976) (The Atkinson Report).
. Report of the committee on libraries (London, 1967).
‘The ideology of flexibility: a study of recent British academic library buildings’, Journal of Librarianship 11 (1979).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, and . ‘Subject specialization in British University Libraries: a survey’, Journal of Librarianship 14 (1982).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 3
- Cited by