Internationalization in higher education and global access in a digital age
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01435120910927556 |
| Pages | 88-98 |
| Date | 02 January 2009 |
| Published date | 02 January 2009 |
| Author | Ellen H. Hammond |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
Internationalization in higher
education and global access in a
digital age
Ellen H. Hammond
East Asia Library, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Abstract
Purpose – This article seeks to propose that – as university faculty and students increasingly
engage in research, teaching, and learning in international locations – librarians at the home campus
need to expand the geographic range of their public services planning. Specifically, it aims to suggest
that written agreements with university library partners in other countries can be used to provide
patrons with access to collections, expertise, and study space during their residence abroad.
Design/methodology/approach – The article provides an overview of agreements (the
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)) concluded by East Asia Library staff at Yale University to
secure access for Yale affiliates to the University of Tokyo and Waseda University Libraries, both in
Tokyo, Japan. These institutional arrangements facilitated a level of access not possible for an
individual researcher or student.
Findings – The agreement with the University of Tokyo is an example of a detailed reciprocal
arrangement providing both library use and borrowing privileges. The agreement with Waseda is also
reciprocal, but the written language is much less specific; nevertheless, the framework provided by
this general MOU now allows enhanced access services for patrons.
Originality/value – Unlike most of the international library exchanges and partnerships described
in library literature to date, this case study developed from the idea that agreements be strategic and
designed to serve user needs. While there is an extensive literature about serving international
students and researchers, this article provides a shift in perspective by focusing on what the “sending
institution” can do through strategic agreements to enhance library services for patrons abroad.
Keywords Higher education,Digital libraries, Academic libraries,Service delivery,
Internationalcooperation
Paper type Case study
This article examines how the internationalization of higher education in the United
States requires new thinking about access services provided by large academic
libraries. Specifically, it explores how a strategic focus on internationalization in one
American research university has created a need for global library user services and
provides a case study of how this need is being met for faculty and students going to
countries in East Asia. It further suggests that even as “access” is increasin gly
assumed to indicate online availability of metadata and full-text, one of the paradoxes
of the digital age is the increasing need to assure physical access to library collections
and services abroad[1].
Trends in the internationalization of American higher education
American universities have strongly endorsed the concept of internationalization, and
the education of “global citizens” has become a standard goal for many institutions [2].
Study abroad, the creation of branch campuses overseas, recruitment of international
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-5124.htm
LM
30,1/2
88
Received 29 July 2008
Revised 25 August 2008
Accepted 30 September
2008
Library Management
Vol. 30 No. 1/2, 2009
pp. 88-98
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0143-5124
DOI 10.1108/01435120910927556
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