How to Explore Trends and Challenges for Building Future Libraries

Abstract

Libraries need to use several different methods when determining the needs and wishes of students and academic patrons for future academic libraries and documentation centers. In this paper, the authors report findings from a survey in Romania and interviews in Norway, on what innovative issues students are imagining in future libraries. Among the trends students and academics are foreseeing are found green libraries, including green information literacy, bibliometrics/scientometrics, library as "home", makerspace (3Dprinting) and libraries as centers for documentation, for academic writing and for other necessary skills.