There are huge challenges facing the library and information science profession owing to the rapidly changing environment in which it exists. Librarians need to be 'blended professionals' who can take all their professional skills and experience, and adapt them to different business models, strategic challenges and communities of practice. This topical edited collection will stimulate strategic and innovative thinking and question the status quo. It will be a 'must read' for leaders and future leaders of the profession, who will be challenged to align library services with the changing demands of the academic community and the work environment. Edited by a thought leader with an international reputation, it will bring together renowned authors from across the globe who are breaking traditional moulds and boundaries in a way that will have a profound impact on the way libraries and library services are conceptualized in the years to come. They represent the key links in the knowledge chain: authors, publishers, academics, community knowledge creators, librarians and institutions. The five most compelling messages the book will contain are:

Foreword - Dame Lynne Brindley Introduction: We create the future! - Sue McKnight 1. Waiting for the barbarians: seeking solutions or awaiting answers? - Derek Law 2. The delete generation: how citizen-created content is transforming libraries - Penny Carnaby 3. Libraries as places: challenges for the future - Andrew McDonald 4. Web 2.0: redefining and extending the service commitment of the academic library - James G Neal and Damon E Jaggars 5. Second Life and libraries: boom or bust? - P Charles Livermore 6. Some new business ideas in the HSS publishing space: what may librarians expect? - Frances Pinter 7. Loosely joined: the discovery and consumption of scholarly content in the digital era - Paul Coyne 8. Knowledge management, universities and libraries - Helen Hayes and Philip G Kent 9. Libraries and the management of research data - Martin Lewis 10. The leadership of the future - Liz Wright 11. Adding value to learning and teaching - Sue McKnight 12. In search of the road ahead: the future of academic libraries in China - Michael Robinson