Evolution of the academic libraries’ role: a survey inside Sapienza University of Rome

Abstract

In last decades, the Italian university system and the academic libraries have changed deeply. This article aims to define whether these changes have modified – or may modify in the future – the libraries’ role inside and outside university and their impact. To answer these questions, a survey was conducted on the libraries of Sapienza University of Rome. The aim was to define the role and the impact of university libraries in the present and to understand what behaviour they should adopt in the future to maintain or strengthen their support function for the three university missions.

The survey made use of the mixed methodology suggested by the ISO 16439 standard. Firstly, evidences of the libraries’ role and impact were inferred from structure and activity data, whose analysis led to the segmentation of libraries by the type of role they play. Then, the survey focused on the libraries’ future, through interviews with some Sapienza librarians. In addition to some ideas for the improvement of communication between the Sapienza University’s libraries, the survey revealed four different types of role that the Sapienza libraries play and the intention for the future – shared by librarians and the university library system – to move towards a single model of library, which manages to play a role and have an impact on all university missions.