Signs of Hope for International Collections and Services The Future of Foreign Language Collections in Transformational Times: What is at Stake? CEAL Plenary March 24, 2010 Deborah Jakubs Rita DiGiallonardo Holloway University Librarian & Vice Provost for Library Affairs Duke University

Crisis in foreign acquisitions Few researchers relative to other areas Use statistics Uncertain future supply of area studies library specialists Rising costs and budgetary competition Digital threat Traditional area studies questioned

Platform compatibility Faculty interest in new fields and new media New interdisciplinary collaborations Diversity of models for digital dissemination Rising costs of access to electronic information Impact on print acquisitions of trend toward digital Uneven availability of full-text databases and discriminatory costs of their creation

We are not that different. Impact of globalization and internationalization. The original interdisciplinarians. University librarians are paying attention.

Collaborative digital initiatives hold promise. Collections are growing. Area studies collections are special collections. Distributed, cooperative collection development is working.

What evidence do we have that foreign language collections are threatened? Whats missing? Why has there been so little formal collaboration among East Asian collections and librarians? Have demand and circulation changed? Is outsourcing the future? Where will the next generation of East Asian/area studies librarians come from and what skills must they bring? What should a university librarian know about foreign language collections in transformational times?