Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Embrace The Hive Mind: Engaging Ill And Research Services In Unsubscribed And Oa Content Discovery, Jeffrey M. Mortimore, Ruth L. Baker, Rebecca Hunnicutt, Natalie Logue, Jessica Rigg

Charleston Library Conference

Deciding whether to support discovery of unsubscribed and Open Access (OA) content raises questions for technical and public services librarians, from the philosophical to the pragmatic. Doing so requires careful curation and monitoring of resources, and benefits from library-wide input. This paper describes the process at Georgia Southern University for vetting unsubscribed and OA resources with ILL and liaison librarians for inclusion in the discovery layer and on the A-Z database list. For the discovery layer, this involves a three-step evaluation of collections for overall metadata quality, likelihood of ILL fulfillment, and value to the library collection. For the database …

The Time Has Come... To Move Many Things: Inventorying And Preparing A Collection For Offsite Storage, Rachelle M. Mclain, Hannah Mckelvey

Charleston Library Conference

In the spring of 2019, the Montana State University (MSU) Library embarked on a large-scale inventory project that involved weeding and moving portions of their collection to an offsite storage facility within six months in order to create more student study space in the Library. The department primarily responsible for leading the project, Collections Access & Technical Services, the result of two departments merging, was also simultaneously navigating their new structure and a remodel of their workspace thus adding further challenges to the project. This poster session demonstrated how MSU Library approached and completed this project by advocating to their …

Wrangling Weirdness: Lessons Learned From Academic Law Library Collections, Courtney Mcallister, Megan Brown

Charleston Library Conference

Academic law libraries face some challenges that are consistent with larger trends in higher education. However, there are unique aspects that shape the way collections are selected, evaluated, managed, and promoted. Most electronic resources designed for legal research do not generate COUNTER compliant usage data. Many subscription resources and services that libraries provide access to are primarily geared towards non-academic customers, such as law firms and corporations. Patrons increasingly need and request research products that rely on data collection, personalization, and non-IP access controls, which complicates law librarians’ professional commitment to things like preserving patron privacy and providing walk-in access. …

Legacy Missions In Times Of Change: Defining And Shaping Collections In The 21st Century, Antje Mays, Oya Y. Rieger

Charleston Library Conference

Despite the rapidly changing information and technology landscape, collections remain at the heart of academic libraries, signifying their enduring importance in providing access to our cultural heritage. Given broader trends in research and the current information ecology of an increasingly networked, distributed, and licensed environment, building collections and developing collection polices is increasingly ambiguous. These trends impact librarians in form of ever-expanding portfolios, diffusion of effort, weakened sense of focus, and a rising sense of persistent yet unmet needs for developing new skills. This paper outlines current research on collection trends and summarizes the interactive exchanges from the 2019 Charleston …

Acquiring E-Books – Does (Should) Workflow Play A Role?, Alexis Linoski

Charleston Library Conference

The methods in which e-books can be purchased vary greatly compared to print books. In the past, a print book was purchased either as an individual title (firm order) or through an approval plan. Once the books were received, there was little deviation in how the items were processed – purchase orders were created, books were processed, invoices were input and paid. However, with e-books, the work is more complex and there are a many ways to purchase e-books – firm order, Demand (or Patron) Driven Acquisiton (DDA), Evidence Based Acquisition (EBA), yearly front-file purchases, back-file purchases, or subscription to …

Incoming!: Surviving The Barrage Of Vendor Communications, Edward F. Lener

Charleston Library Conference

For those in collection management, dealing with vendors is an integral part of the job. Yet the sheer volume of e-mails, phone calls, and other communications can sometimes leave one feeling as though under assault. This paper analyzes real-world examples of vendor communications and assesses their relevance and usefulness. It also provides tips and strategies for managing such communications effectively. Conveying library needs and expectations back to vendors, for example, is a critical step. For their part, vendors will have an opportunity to see what works and what doesn’t from a librarian’s perspective so that they may in turn learn …

Pain Points And Solutions: Bringing Data For Startups To Campus, Kelly Lavoice, Daniel Hickey, Mark Williams

Charleston Library Conference

Entrepreneurship is growing as a cross- and inter-disciplinary area of focus for higher education. From patent and tech transfer offices to business, science, and engineering programs, the demand for entrepreneurship resources and support delivered via libraries is booming. Building library collections to help patrons design, launch, and run successful businesses is challenging: Market research and private equity/venture capital resources arrive at premium prices. Increasingly, these resources must interoperate with software used to clean, analyze, and visualize data. This data is often difficult to find and deploy. Restrictive, corporate-style licenses reflect that new vendors are not yet acclimated to the academic …

Comparison And Review Of 17 E-Book Platforms, John Lavender, Courtney Mcallister

Charleston Library Conference

The University of Michigan Press, with support from the Mellon Foundation, asked John Lavender, of Lavender Consulting, to conduct a review of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Humanities E-Book collection (HEB) following its launch on Michigan’s new Fulcrum platform. ACLS-HEB is an online collection of over 5,400 high-quality humanities books from over 100 publishers. Now that the market for e-books has matured, part of the review was a comparative study of e-book platforms run by publishers, university presses and e-book vendors; 17 platforms were selected. The review looked at the key features offered by each platform, how they …

Down The Rabbit Hole We Go Again (The 19th Health Sciences Lively Lunchtime Discussion), Susan K. Kendall, Ramune K. Kubilius, Sarah Mcclung, Jean Gudenas, Rena Lubker

Charleston Library Conference

This year’s sponsored, no holds barred health sciences lively lunchtime gathering was open to all. It began with greetings from luncheon sponsor, Rittenhouse. The moderator, Rena Lubker, introduced the session and provided introductory remarks about this year’s three presentations: a commentary on issues that keep us up at night; a report on considerations to make when leaving big deal licenses and entering into new, OA friendly arrangements; and more discussion about the impact of expansions on libraries of academic medical affiliation. All three topics provided fodder for lively discussion at the end.

Ramune Kubilius provided her brief annual update …

Piloting The Surge: Streaming Video And Academic Libraries, Joanna Kolendo, Azungwe Kwembe, Charlene Snelling

Charleston Library Conference

Chicago State University’s Gwendolyn Brooks Library decision to trial and acquire Kanopy, A Patro-Driven-Acquisition video streaming service, was completely a patron-demand-driven undertaking. The decision to obtain this service was led by faculty interest in the resource and ranged from the initial inquiry for a trial by a foreign language faculty member to its PDA model, which has allowed faculty to select the films purchased. The article discusses the acquisition process, set-up steps for making the trial and then the resource available to the CSU community, and the steps taken to promote the resource.

Primary Rights And The Inequalities Of E-Book Access, Roën F. Janyk, Arielle R. Lomness

Charleston Library Conference

The e-book landscape is in a constant state of flux. More recent developments include new acquisition models, advances in platform usability and navigation, more lenient DRM provisions, and improvements to simultaneous user access licenses. However, what has not been addressed recently are the inequalities in e-book access for libraries across the world due to ‘primary rights.’ Territorial rights versus world rights is a licensing issue affecting libraries globally, and yet little is being done to address the inequalities of access. Join our discussion that will examine the ‘unavailable in your country’ message libraries often see alongside e-book purchase options, review …

Strategic Reinvestments Of Journal Packages At The Pennsylvania State University, Mihoko Hosoi

Charleston Library Conference

In the face of budget challenges, organizational strategy changes, and the new open access (OA) policy, the Pennsylvania State University Libraries (PSUL) are reevaluating negotiations and collections of ‘big deal’ journal packages. While a growing number of libraries are considering cancelling subscriptions to ‘big deals’, PSUL has been taking a careful approach in containing cost and making sure that faculty and students have access to resources that they need. Current efforts include: renegotiating ‘big deals’; cancelling low value titles in title-by-title agreements; obtaining single agreements for the entire Penn State; promoting green OA for future subscription negotiation purposes; and renegotiating …

Trot So Quick: Addressing Budgetary Changes, Star Holloway, Jeff Bailey

Charleston Library Conference

This session discussed the planning and implementation of strategies taken by the Dean B. Ellis Library to address a significant budget reduction that went into effect in FY19. Holloway and Bailey covered methods taken to optimize a reduced collection development budget and distribute funds to various subject areas in an equitable and justifiable manner. Presenters reviewed meetings conducted with faculty to clarify the new budget and resource alterations. Examples of data provided to stakeholders was shared. Topics covered include deadlines implemented for resource renewals and requests, methods used to track and disclose information regarding the process, and interactions with vendors …

Begin At The Beginning: Revamping Collection Development Workflows, Elyssa M. Gould, Jennifer Mezick

Charleston Library Conference

“Begin at the beginning,” the King said, very gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.” This paper describes how two librarians newer to the University of Tennessee Libraries refreshed collection development workflows at the Libraries after a reorganization. This reorganization distributed tasks across departments in a different manner due to the new departmental configurations. In this new matrix environment, more communication was required to achieve desired outcomes, but more buy-in was also needed from constituents such as the subject librarians. This paper describes how a new Collections Committee was formed to make decisions on high-dollar …

Tip Of The Iceberg: Part 2, Discovering What's Hidden, Rich Gause

Charleston Library Conference

Remote storage for large collections is becoming common, making those books inaccessible for physical browsing by researchers. The main libraries at Temple University and the University of Central Florida (UCF) each have approximately 1.3 million print items on-site. Both libraries are storing 90% of their collections in automated retrieval systems with 10% remaining available for browsing in open stacks. In Part 1, “Choosing What Shows,” Karen Kohn, Temple’s Collection Analysis Librarian, describes the decisions and processes used for the 10% left physically visible. This second part explores UCF’s efforts to improve discoverability of the items in storage. The visual aspects …

The Open Landscape Environment As The Expanse, Barbara I. Dewey

Charleston Library Conference

Building on the 2019 ACRL/SPARC Forum on Collective Reinvestment in Open Infrastructure, this program will explore how libraries can make different commitments to fund content created by open infrastructures. Library collections increasingly promote and reflect such open content and many have chosen to contribute to funding those products. There is not one formula or roadmap to underwrite the publishing and distribution costs of these open resources. There are many variables and considerations as some open content corresponds to serials and others are books or monographs. Open access content is increasingly found in nearly all subject areas, as scholarly publishing models …

Change – Watch For The Right Time Structuring Collections Budgets To Meet Current And Future Needs, John P. Blosser

Charleston Library Conference

Over the years Northwestern University Libraries has implemented various methods of allocating to the collections budgets, moving from traditional methods to ones that are more flexible and responsive to the needs of the times. The libraries have endeavored to keep the benefits of any previous allocation methods when thinking of new ways to allocate so that the important points of meeting the needs of the current research and teaching programs are still being met.

Something To Talk About: The Intersection Of Library Assessment And Collection Diversity, Roxanne Marie Backowski, Timothy Ryan Morton

Charleston Library Conference

Academic libraries have increasingly recognized the need to collect diverse materials. Simultaneously, academic libraries need to continue to develop additional measures to evaluate collections for diversity as well as connect to collections to their users and their campus initiatives and priorities. This paper features perspectives from two academic libraries and shares how both are grappling with not only assessing collections for the equity, diversity, and inclusivity, but also to place those collection efforts in the broader picture of institutional values and goals.

A New Synthesis: Research Resources To Research Experiences, H. Thomas Hickerson

Charleston Library Conference

Libraries should develop a new model for providing information resources and analytical tools for the use of scholars working in the current multidisciplinary research environment. This model, A New Synthesis, based on today’s research experience should replace the present concept of the “collection budget.”

Sources are proliferating and traditional scholarly resources are no longer at the core. Research itself has changed. Previously, finding information was primary, but now information is plentiful and today’s challenges are to understand, analyze, and extract insight from these vast resources.

To address this challenge, newly designed libraries are appearing that are radically different, reconceptualizing …

What Are Students Saying About Their Reference Needs?, Damon Zucca

Charleston Library Conference

Libraries and publishers rely on transactional data to support evidence-based decision making. However, by itself quantitative information does not provide a full picture. To anticipate the evolving needs of our audience we also need to hear from the individual users themselves. In this article, I will review the findings from several recent examples survey-based research into the question of how students use reference materials in and outside of their libraries. What are students actually saying about their needs and preferences when it comes to reference? While some uses cases for reference are moving out of the library into the open …

The Time Has Come For Ebooks, Or Has It?, Gabrielle Wiersma, Leigh Beauchamp

Charleston Library Conference

For many years, librarians and industry experts predicted that electronic books would surpass print books as the format of preference. The advantages that digital books provide seemed to all but guarantee the demise of print. But something happened along the way. Numerous studies during the last decade have demonstrated that print still has a place for libraries, vendors and most importantly, end users. So what’s happened – why hasn’t that time come like it has for journals? And will the “tipping point” for books ever arrive?

One explanation is that eBooks have not met user expectations, but optimizing user experience …

The Time Has Come... To Build, Reflect, And Analyze Connections Between Qualitative And Quantitative Data, Jordan S. Sly, Leigh Ann Depope, Cynthia G. Frank, Stephanie M. Ritchie

Charleston Library Conference

This paper will address the development process of a qualitative evaluation tool to aid in the thorough analysis of library resources at the University of Maryland. Specifically, our project looks at the use and added value of this tool for the building, reflecting, and analyzing the connections between qualitative and quantitative data. This will allow for more meaningful justifications of budgetary decisions compared to cost and use metrics alone. Given the necessity for meticulous review of continuing resources, our project addresses a request for enhanced transparency from the university faculty and library oversight bodies and serves as a useful tool …

Making Collection Management Manageable: A Three-Phase Approach To An Annual Subscription Review, Hannah Pearson

Charleston Library Conference

Annual subscription reviews are a normal part of many libraries’ operations, but this process is time consuming and can be particularly challenging for institutions with small e-resources staffs. The approach pursued by the Michael Schwartz Library at Cleveland State University includes strategies other libraries may find helpful in moving beyond cost per use in their reviews.

In early fiscal year 2019, the Michael Schwartz Library identified a need to systematically review all subscriptions annually. The library operates with a flat budget and cancellations are often required to manage inflation.

Previously, subscription reviews were in response to immediate needs (e.g. budget …

Communicating Collections: Strategies For Informing Library Stakeholders Of Collections, Budget, & Management Decisions, Laura Pascual, John Abresch, Anna Seiffert

Charleston Library Conference

A challenging aspect of the collection management process is effectively communicating with stakeholders about library resources.  Communication can range from obtaining patron feedback integral in collection planning to effective messaging elaborating on collection budgets and cancellation decisions.  It has also become increasingly necessary to explain the various acquisition models that affect the landscape of library content and use of electronic resources. In this paper, the University of South Florida will present the results of a survey of the approaches used in academic library websites to communicate collection policies along with related considerations, statistics and data, justifications, and factors affecting selection …

Collections Data, Tools, And Strategy: Applying R, Tableau, And Excel To Print Assessment, Lori M. Jahnke, Chris Palazzolo

Charleston Library Conference

As is the case at most academic libraries, collection assessment has become an essential component of collection management and development work. Although much of the assessment focus has disproportionately fallen on e-resources, print collections remain fruitful areas for evaluation and review. At Emory, print collections, including a complex approval plan, continue to be a significant component of our overarching collection strategy (in volume and expenditure). However, shifting priorities for library space and the growth of interdisciplinary programs and centers within the University are placing a higher demand on subject librarians for communication and coordinated decision-making regarding print acquisitions. As a …

New Usage Reports, New Insights! How To Use Your Counter Data In Decision Making Processes, Athena Hoeppner, Sonja Lendi, Kornelia Junge

Charleston Library Conference

Librarians have been receiving COUNTER Release 5 reports since February 2019 and are becoming familiar with the new robust usage data. In this paper three experts explain how the new usage reports provide greater clarity and how they give insight into users’ actions. Athena Hoeppner outlines the new reports and metrics and explains how to interpret book usage data and how to use the data effectively in decision making process. Sonja Lendi focuses on journal usage data and the differences between Release 4 and Release 5 of the COUNTER Code of Practice. She also explains Distributed Usage Logging (DUL). This …

Reference: Product Categories In The Digital Age, Kathryn Earle

Charleston Library Conference

In September of 2016, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc launched a new division charged with creating digital resources for the academic library market. A number of these have Reference at their core. This paper outlines in brief the logic for creating the new division and the role of Reference within the resources. It then summarizes research we have undertaken since the division’s inception to establish how ‘product categories’ (ie, encyclopedias, monographs, images etc) are valued by academics and librarians, the aim of which is to create products that are user-focused. And finally this paper provides a brief case study of our most …

Talking Of Many Things: Dashboards For Reference Services Decision Making, Hui Hua Chua, Rachel M. Minkin

Charleston Library Conference

Staffing challenges are well-documented in reference services, but the use of dashboards to support data-driven scheduling for in-person and virtual reference shifts are not often discussed. This poster examines how Michigan State University Libraries utilized data-influenced decision-making and dashboard design iterations to streamline reference staffing and adapt to evolving conditions over the course of three years. This required continuous communication between dashboard users and creators and constant iteration of visualizations and designs to ensure dashboards remained relevant and current. Limitations of a purely quantitative data-driven strategy are also discussed at the conclusion of the final year.

Flipping The Model: A Values-Based Consortial Approach To Journal Negotiations, Genya O'Gara, Cheryl Duncan, Edward F. Lener, Beth Blanton-Kent, Anne Osterman, Summer Durrant, Alison Armstrong, Georgie Donovan, Tamara Remhof

Charleston Library Conference

When negotiating journal pricing, the disadvantages libraries face are well documented. In addition to financially incompatible acquisition models that are out of sync with both library budgets and any predicted growth, libraries are also presented with rising inflationary costs, content added to an already overloaded system, and vendor consolidation.

Pricing issues are further exacerbated by traditional negotiations, where libraries begin negotiations based on the offers made by publishers and vendors. These offers too often are predicated on historical spend and coupled with list prices that come with few explanations for their sums. Big package deals, that arguably expand access to …

“They Didn’T Teach This In Library School”: Identifying Core Knowledges For Beginning Acquisitions Librarians, Lindsay Cronk, Rachel M. Fleming

Charleston Library Conference

Library workers new to acquisitions or taking on new acquisitions duties can find themselves lost without appropriate resources. We often hear the refrain “they didn’t teach this in library school.” Basic introductions to issues confronting acquisitions librarians can be hard to find and out-of-date. Meanwhile, emerging issues are addressed in journal literature, but few reviews of the issues are available to provide background to newcomers. While professional development opportunities strive to provide sure footing to acquisitions newcomers, we can often fall short, leaving our new colleagues feeling adrift.

Through a positive and structured discussion we will explore the existing and …