IN DEPTH ‘‘


Peter Findlay, (peter.findlay@jisc.ac.uk), Subject Matter Expert Digital Scholarship (Content & Discovery), Jisc.


University libraries have already under- gone huge changes in technology over the last 40 years or more and in many instances were early adopters of digital technologies because they had to be.


Approaching digital transformation in higher education libraries


Jisc is working with academic libraries in higher education to develop a library centric view on its digital transformation framework. Here Peter Findlay looks at why a library-specific­


­focus­for­digital­transformation­is­needed,­and­what­comes­next.


MANY organisations are undergoing dramatic change in their digital working. Taking control of the processes which drive these changes has become known as digital transformation. EDUCAUSE defines digital transformation (DT) as “a series of deep and coordinated culture, workforce and technology shifts that enable new educational and operating models and transform an institution’s operations, strategic directions, and value proposition.” 1 We have been building on this definition, specifically in the context of higher education (HE) institutional digital change through our work with partner insti- tutions by co-designing the approach to DT.


Why libraries?


In 2023 Jisc published its Framework for digital transformation (DT) in higher education (https:// tinyurl.com/2625dd82). More recently we have brought 45 organisations, including CILIP, together to co-design a library view, or lens, on our framework. We wanted to address the role of libraries in DT because, when we conducted a survey, with members of the group, we found that only seven libraries (30 per cent of 24 respondents) felt the library was sufficiently involved in institution-wide digital transformation activities whilst libraries tend to be active in many functions of the institution.


University libraries have already undergone huge changes in technology over the last 40 years or more and in many instances were early adopters of digital technologies because they had to be. The ever-grow- ing digital information market, where hard copy books form only a small part of the publisher offer and in which digital products have come to dominate


28 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL


during the early part of the 21st century, has driven this change. We know that libraries have been the purchasers of databases, finding aids and electron- ic catalogue records, all of which are essential to running a library. Books too are now often electron- ic, and journals are entirely, making procurement systems completely digital. Libraries also often lead on staff development and students’ digital capabil- ities work. This all means that libraries play, or can play, a pivotal role in digital transformation, but their contribution is not always recognised, understood or solicited within their institution. The Digital Transformation Library Lens (DTLL


– https://tinyurl.com/JiscDTLL) seeks to develop specific insights into library digital development approaches and relate these to the original framework. We want to see how these insights can be relevant to entire organisational change but before focusing on librar- ies, it is useful to look at the original framework as it has all the core components to support digital change.


The DT framework


The framework is a digitally focused change support mechanism and relates to other global business change methodologies, however it maps directly to HE business processes and activities. Success- ful digital transformation requires effective digital leadership, appropriate investment, robust secure infrastructure, stakeholder engagement, and digi- tally capable staff and students. To ensure compre- hensive coverage of these categories of activity the framework is broken down into six elements:


l Organisational digital culture; l knowledge creation and innovation;


Autumn 2025


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