University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries Magazine 2018SpringLibrariesForJoomag | Page 4

All Ways Forward!
D
rawing a long, rewarding professional
career to a close can be a sentimental
time. I’ve been blessed with mentors who’ve
given generously of their time and talents,
colleagues who’ve made challenging work
enjoyable, and a loving family that’s always
there for me. Retiring from the University is,
however, bittersweet, with fond memories
of great friends and accomplishments along
with all the uncertainties of retirement and
possible next chapters in the story.
I recall being introduced to the South
Asian bibliographer during one of my
first visits to Memorial Library as an
undergraduate. I was a political science major
with a focus on the politics of South Asia, and
I had a lot to learn! I was fortunate to have
Professor Henry Hart as my major professor
in the Department of Political Science.
At that time, Memorial Library required
undergraduates to place a request to have
books brought to them. It was a hallmark
of 20th century North American research
university libraries to open their book stacks
to all those who ventured in.
4 | LIBRARIES Spring 2018
Since those days,
much has changed.
The technologies
have changed many
times over, the work
in libraries has changed, and yet people keep
coming to the library! We see over 3 million
visitors per year in UW–Madison Libraries
with many millions more using electronic
resources remotely. There are scholarly
disciplines that rely principally upon the
availability of print, some that rely solely on
electronic and digital content, and many that
use each and every format available to them
to accomplish their research and scholarship.
Libraries and librarians today are in the
business of information management.
Space will always be important in
libraries. There was a time when the library
was practically the only location on campus
where a student could find a quiet place to
study or write a paper. Today there is more
competition on campus for such spaces. What
differentiates the library from other spaces is
the type of service and the expertise provided
by professional library staff. It is critically
important to test new concepts of space usage
in planning for the future of library facilities.
Ed Through The Years Ed Van Gemert is seen through the 1980s
and 1990s with UW–Madison Libraries colleagues, during his time at WiLS (top
right), as well as with current Chancellor, Rebecca Blank. Photos courtesy Irene
Zimmerman, Nancy McClements, and Susan Van Gemert.
Research and scholarship are becoming
more multidisciplinary. Scholars today use
a variety of resources for their research,
teaching, and learning. It’s not print or
electronic, but rather print and electronic—
and much