Decision-Making in the Absence of Certainty: A Study in the Context of Technology and the Construction of the 21st Century Academic Library (Acrl Publications in Librarianship)

Decision-Making in the Absence of Certainty is an in depth study of the often surprising decision making process at five American universities that built new libraries at the dawn of the 21st century. Their collective decision to invest many millions of dollars in technology and physical space is a testament to their perceptive commitment to a vision that the very best for students and faculty is a library where both technology and the physical space are well designed.

Mash explores such questions as: How do we bring together the richness of physical space and the effectiveness of technology to achieve a learning environment that reaps the best of both? What decision making model can help library leaders face ambiguity about the future as they navigate this complex, high stakes, and expensive task? Readers will gain personal and professional insights that expand to any setting where high stakes decision making is combined with ambiguity and complexity.