Technology is most frequently mentioned as the agent of change in libraries. However, in the 1960s and 1970s, another major revolutionary change took place: the library as warehouse of scholarly materials and place of study became a learning and service organization committed to lifelong learning. In academic libraries that specialize in serving business, medical, or technical users, there is a need to provide services beyond the walls of the library and university, long after graduation. Many libraries are providing information services to alumni and public patrons who seek access to the wealth of information resources amassed in libraries; to the personal research services a librarian can provide; and to other library services that cannot easily be maintained or afforded on an individual basis.

 Business Community

The Management Library is reaching out to the business community to provide services through our Business Information Service (BIS). BIS provides expert, confidential research, using state-of-the art resources that allow for quick response or rush information (many times same-day guaranteed) and fast document delivery via telephone, fax, email, or messenger service. Though BIS is a fee-for-service operation, it is not designed to generate revenues, but to recover its costs.

The array of clients includes local businesses, corporate librarians, consultants, marketing specialists, small business owners, technology and other managers, non-profit groups, and anyone who needs accurate and fast business information. BIS is available to anyone; users pay an annual membership fee and the associated research costs to obtain the information they need. Many of our clients are alumni who work for companies that do not have adequate information resources.

 Alumni

Once individuals leave academe, whether they are working in a corporation, as family practitioner physicians in a rural area, as technology researchers developing patents, or as individual business owners, they are often operating without a strong information net. The Management Library believes in the value of lifelong learning and is committed to providing access to information long after the formal academic experience ends. In addition to BIS, the Management Library works with the Owen School and the University to provide information services to Owen and other university alumni. Alumni have access to special services designed especially for them. After graduation, any alumnus may obtain an alumni VUcard from the Vanderbilt Card Office, which allows them free access to the Management Library and other libraries on campus. This entitles them to borrowing privileges; in-library use of electronic databases and resources that are not restricted; access to the library-wide ACORN online catalog, and in-person reference assistance during the hours that the information desk is staffed.

Students studying
in the
Management Library