Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Dangerous Liaisons: Brainstorming The 21st-Century Academic Liaison, Antje Mays

Charleston Library Conference

Academic liaison roles have seen massive changes over time and grown into an ever-broadening range of duties. What began as subject-focused collection involvement has evolved into a mix of instruction, reference, and various forms of course-embedded services, all while also retaining the earlier focus on subject-specific collection management. This paper outlines current research on academic liaison roles and summarizes the interactive exchanges from the 2018 Charleston Conference Lively Session on academic liaisons (https://sched.co/GB2i). Through live polling and discussion, session participants identified key functions and core competencies for liaisons, as well as factors contributing to success or hindrance for liaison success. …

Buy, Subscribe, Or Borrow? Consumers’ Use Preferences For Information Products, Xiaohua Zhu, Moonhee Cho

Charleston Library Conference

The information industry has been exploring business models for digital information products, but it was not until recent years that the new access model, especially subscription-based services, became popular. Thanks to the advancement of streaming technology, online advertisement, and DRM technology, information providers were able to design various pricing schemes and provide various services for users with different needs. Consumers seem to favor these services increasingly, but some questions remain: Is there a significant shift in users’ general preferences for all media content? Do they prefer any particular models under specific circumstances? What factors are related to users’ preferences? This …

Data Curation Workshop: Tips And Tools For Today, Matthew M. Benzing

Charleston Library Conference

The current state of research data is like a disorganized photo collection: a mix of formats scattered across different media without a lot of authority control. That is changing as the need to make data available to researchers across the world is becoming recognized. Researchers know that their data needs to be maintained and made accessible, but often they do not have the time or the inclination to get involved in all of the details. This provides an excellent opportunity for librarians. Data curation is the process of preparing data to be made available in a repository with the goal …

Sudden Collections Coordinators: When You Don’T Know What You Don’T Know, Ariel F. Pomputius, Megan M. Daly, Trey Shelton, Patrick J. Reakes, Tara T. Cataldo

Charleston Library Conference

As new librarians enter the profession with varying levels of education and experience concerning library collection management, they may find themselves suddenly assigned the responsibility of coordinating collection activities within a subject area or for their entire library. From understanding terminology to working with acquisitions departments and from communicating with vendors to assessing resources, there is much to be learned in a short period of time. This paper will provide perspectives from five librarians at the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida (UF): the senior associate dean responsible for collections, the chair of the Acquisitions & Collections …

Textbooks Are Expensive, But Oer Can Be Challenging: Providing E-Textbook Access Through The Library, Brian W. Boling, Karen Kohn

Charleston Library Conference

Research has shown that textbook costs are rising. Open educational resources (OER), though increasingly popular, are not available for all courses and can be difficult to adopt, particularly for contingent faculty. In response to the textbook crisis and the limitations of OER, Temple University has sought alternative ways to provide textbook access to students. We have promoted OER through a grant program since 2011 and offer a website to expose assigned readings that the Libraries own in e-book format. In 2018, the Libraries also began purchasing e-textbooks. The campus bookstore sends a list of assigned books each semester. We review …

Libraries, Authors, And Literary Estates: The Complex Case Of Rosenbach V. Sendak (2016), Patrick Roughen

Charleston Library Conference

This research examines a lawsuit filed by the Rosenbach Museum and Library of Philadelphia in 2016 against the Estate of Maurice Sendak (1928–2012) to determine the distribution of some of Sendak’s collection of rare books. In the lawsuit, the Rosenbach claimed the executors of the Sendak estate had withheld a portion of the rare books to which it was entitled under Sendak’s will. This paper suggests possible ways in which institutions such as libraries, archives, and museums might anticipate and address some of the ownership-related problems that arise during the acquisition and/or loss of collections of an artist or author …

Identifying Errors In Periodical Holdings Statements: How Aul Improved Its Outdated Ils Records, Sandra G. Urban

Charleston Library Conference

The ever-increasing availability of and demand for e-content has complicated libraries’ internal records and muddied their understanding of their subscription details and holdings. Adelphi University Libraries’ technical services unit realized its catalog data had drifted significantly and no longer reflected actual periodical holdings or online access entitlements. The acquisitions librarian and her staff examined vendor-supplied subscriptions details, improved their catalog records, and documented new workflows.

Shared Print Initiatives, Chris Palazzolo, Lars Meyer

Charleston Library Conference

This paper provides an overview of the history, issues, challenges, opportunities, and obligations associated with shared print programs. Many of the library operational activities associated with participating in a shared print program have precedents or shared concerns with other operational work around collection development, preservation, and staffing in general. Activities at Emory University serve as examples for participating in shared print programs.

From Acquisitions To Collection Development, Dave Gall

Charleston Library Conference

Over the last few years, the Collection Development Department at the University of Waterloo Library has been heavily engaged in revamping a number of long-established workflows in an effort to streamline processes to create greater efficiency, collaboration, and access to documents. Hoping to take greater advantage of the accessibility and versatility offered by working with documents in digital format, and reducing the number of avenues for requests to arrive in the department, members of the department looked for ways to employ technologies and software to make the work flow more smoothly. Where these options did not exist, they improvised and …

Doing The Math: Discovering Infinity Transitioning Monograph Standing Orders From Print To Online And Deriving A Variable Formula For Success, Kat Mcgrath, Mayu Ishida

Charleston Library Conference

In 2016, University of British Columbia Science Library liaisons met with the Math faculty to consider the value of switching their beloved print monograph series to online format. Arguments of greater discoverability, findability, and access won the faculty members, and they voted in acceptance of the change. In retrospect, persuading the Math faculty of the value in switching from print to online format was an easy win. The tough part came in transforming this pledge to reality. We describe the factors making this transformation difficult, the options of purchasing the monographic series as e-books (available to us as of 2018), …

Publishers, We Love You But You’Re Bringing Us Down: The Failure Of Vendor-Supplied Marc Records, Tina Herman Buck, Sara Duff, Kim Montgomery

Charleston Library Conference

Publishers, we love your DRM-free e-books, but your MARC record options and quality need work. You’re wasting librarians’ time and not providing access to the products you’ve sold us (or are trying to). Three librarians from the University of Central Florida have a list of concerns and some bright ideas to make it better.

Using A Community Of Practice Approach To Transform: How An Academic Library Collections Unit Reorganized To Meet Growing Demands For E-Resources And Services During A Time Of Institutional Change, John Abresch

Charleston Library Conference

In recent years, technical services operations and collection management at the University of South Florida (USF) Library was operating with flat budgets, a staff organization in a state of transition, ineffective workplace communication, and a progressive loss of institutional knowledge and skill sets. During the same time, the university was characterized by a fast‐developing dynamic research and learning environment. New research endeavors and academic programs were incorporating a variety of electronic resources in their activities. In response, library administrators implemented a strategy of organizing technical services operations into a community of practice with three key elements. The three elements included …

Getting E-Books Into Courses: How Libraries Can Partner With Faculty To Ease The Textbook Affordability Crisis, Dave Comeaux, Kara Kroes Li, Jeanne A. Pavy

Charleston Library Conference

Academic libraries have implemented various initiatives to help reduce the cost students pay for learning materials. Popular initiatives including promoting open educational resources (OER), inclusive access programs, and curriculum-based collection development. A recent survey conducted by Library Journal/EBSCO identified several barriers to faculty engagement with e-books in courses. This paper will discuss those barriers, as well as the efforts at two Louisiana universities, under the leadership of the statewide academic library consortium (LOUIS), to promote both OER and library-purchased e-books, and address challenges to faculty and student engagement with these materials. In addition to these, some libraries have implemented programs …

Budgets On My Mind: Changing Budget Allocations To Meet Teaching And Research Needs: University Of Washington Case Study, Corey Murata, Denise Pan

Charleston Library Conference

In fall 2017, the University of Washington (UW) Libraries began a multiyear process to examine and update the resources budget structure and allocation model. The budget structure and allocation model at UW Libraries remained fundamentally the same for over 20 years. In that time there has been a shift toward more interdisciplinary research as well as significant changes in scholarly publishing and the acquisition environment for academic libraries. Recognizing that our budget structure and allocation model are no longer aligned with the changes in our environment, UW initiated a process with the goal of developing a model that is better …

Popular Reading Collections In Academic Libraries: Goals, Parameters, And Campus Reactions, Carol Cramer, Hilary Davis, Suchi Mohanty, Lynn Whittenberger

Charleston Library Conference

Popular reading collections are just one of myriad ways that academic libraries contribute to the cultural, recreational, and community endeavors of our campus populations. Based on the perspectives from three libraries (one private medium-sized university, one large public STEM-focused, one large public comprehensive university), this paper discusses opportunities and challenges of popular reading collections as well as collection/acquisition strategies, target audiences, promotion of the collection, use of the collection, content types (including graphic novels), and perceived impact of the popular reading collection on campus.

Springing For Student Textbooks? Exploring New Directions For Library Collections, Alexandria C. Quesenberry, Paul C. Gahn, G. Randall Watts

Charleston Library Conference

Given the increasing costs of student textbooks, it is only natural that students would engage in cost-avoidance behaviors. Likewise, some professors have modified their curricular choices to avoid passing along the cost of required texts for their students. At the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, the library has licensed several databases that include access to a number of assigned student textbooks. While the provision of these textbooks was not the intent in the licensing of these resources, it is an added benefit of the subscription and their availability is appreciated by the students who may avoid individual purchases. Because …

Like A Hurricane: A Brief Narrative On The Recent Developments Of The Print Reference Collection At The University Of Winnipeg, Michael Hohner

Charleston Library Conference

A paper presented by Michael Hohner as part of the panel session Print Reference Collections: The Future is Ours.

On The Winds Of Change: Repositories, Researchers And Technologies: The 18th Health Sciences Lively Lunch Discussion, Jean Gudenas, Ramune K. Kubilius, Anthony Watkinson, John Felts

Charleston Library Conference

This year’s sponsored but no holds barred health sciences lively lunchtime gathering again was open to all. Moderator Jean Gudenas introduced this year’s three presentations: a report on a survey, a report on a research study, and a technology update. Ramune Kubilius provided a brief annual traditional update on developments in the health sciences publishing world. She then segued to highlighting some findings from a survey she and two co-authors conducted in December 2017-January 2018 of AAHSL (Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries) members on medical school institutional repositories (IRs). She focused on responses to questions about IR collections and …

Simplifying The Collections Budget To Maximize Flexibility And Increase Responsiveness To User Needs, Denise Koufogiannakis, Denise Pan

Charleston Library Conference

This paper considers management of the collections budget via fund structures. A common approach in collections budget management is to distribute allocations via format (e.g., monograph and serials), and subject areas. While tracking spending at a granular level provides more information, it also generally results in a large number of funds. As more and more materials are purchased in consortial packages or other types of "big deals,” or are simply interdisciplinary in nature, the allocation and expenditure on specific and narrowly defined funds begins to become inaccurate and less useful. Library administrators from two large Association of Research Libraries (ARL) …

Managing The Changing Climate Of Business Collections, Katharine V. Macy, Heather A. Howard, Alyson S. Vaaler

Charleston Library Conference

Librarians that support business programs are weathering competing priorities in business collection management. When making decisions to cut and add new databases, we must assess the value of a given resource by considering a variety of quantitative metrics such as usage, cost per use, cost per citation, and pricing history. In addition, qualitative criteria are increasingly important when making decisions. These criteria include, but are not limited to, content coverage, accessibility, and whether a resource can be provided in a way that supports the principles of critical librarianship. This Lively Lunch discussion provided three brief presentations, which discussed (1) how …

Budgets On My Mind: Changing Budget Allocations To Meet Teaching And Research Needs, Denise D. Novak

Charleston Library Conference

The shifting landscape of academic programs, scholarly communication, acquisition environment, and staffing patterns in academic libraries necessitates changes in resources budget structure and allocation models to align with and be responsive to this new landscape. This presentation includes case studies from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Washington. We will share changes made to our budget structure and allocation, and we would like to invite you to discuss your thoughts on budget allocation models in libraries.

Streaming Video Pda: Brace Yourself, Usage Is Coming, Marianne Foley

Charleston Library Conference

Low usage statistics for library resources are a big concern for the librarians at the State University of New York (SUNY) Buffalo State, so we were unprepared for the popularity of a new streaming video patron-driven acquisitions (PDA) program. Though it was slow to take off, when it did, usage increased suddenly and dramatically. After depleting the initial budget for the resource, we allocated more funds and then quickly depleted those additional funds. At that point, we changed to a mediated model to help control the costs, but that greatly increased work for our Acquisitions Department and raised collection development …

Destroyer And Preserver, Hear, Oh Hear! Not All Uncirculated Books Must Chariotest To A Dark Wintry Bed: How We Used The Oclc Worldcat Search Api To Inform Our Weeding Decisions With Holdings Data, Geoffrey P. Timms

Charleston Library Conference

Weeding a specialized collection, such as the geography/oceanography subset of the marine science collection at the Marine Resources Library, requires thinking beyond our own walls and users. To ensure potential access to weeded items through other libraries, as well as the preservation of items unique to our own collection, we sought an efficient and free means to incorporate national holdings data into our decision-making process. The OCLC WorldCat Search API enables bibliographic data, as well as holdings from other libraries, to be obtained easily. With a Python script we obtained holdings data for most of our several thousand oceanography items, …

From The Winter Of Messy Data Into The Spring Of Standardization: E-Book Vendor Data Reenvisioned, Bonita Pollock, Brian Falato, Xiying Mi

Charleston Library Conference

The University of South Florida (USF) Libraries run several projects which involve the collection and display of ebook vendor metadata including seven evidence-based acquisitions (EBA) programs, one patron-driven acquisitions (PDA) program and the eBooks for Classroom Plus (EB+) database. These projects are the main focus of the Libraries’ Textbook Affordability Project (TAP). The TAP initiative’s goal is help reduce textbook cost to students by providing faculty with ebook alternatives. The metadata used in these projects is collected from a variety of vendor sources including titles lists, K-Bart files entitlement lists and Marc records. Compiling data from various sources into a …

Spring Forward: Collaborating To Build And Assess A Collection Of Learning Objects, Stephanie A. Jacobs, Audrey Powers

Charleston Library Conference

Delivering innovative information literacy instruction to an ever-growing student population requires some resetting of previous practices and ideas. Collaboratively developed interactive learning activities that address library skills and the research process presented in a flipped-classroom style may represent a useful innovation in this area. This paper addresses the ongoing project at the University of South Florida (USF) Tampa Library in which interactive digital learning objects are developed, embedded into all sections of a university course via the online learning management system, assessed, and reworked.

Has American Exceptionalism Made The United States An Outlier On The Global Academic Stage?, Michèle V. Cloonan

Charleston Library Conference

This paper considers whether American exceptionalism has reduced the standing of the United States in the world—and whether it has impacted our ability to remain innovative. The paper is based on my presentation on a panel on this theme at the Charleston Conference 2018. The panel considered key international social issues in which Americans have become outliers, such as climate change, health care, and gun control. It also focused on research in the cultural heritage sector. Here I expand on my remarks about the origins of exceptionalism and its possible impact on libraries, archives, and museums. This issue is not …

African American Studies Collections And The American Season Of Redemption, Courtney Becks

Charleston Library Conference

In a Journal of Academic Librarianship article that appeared in 2000, Susan A. Vega García writes about the “dearth of empirical research that has examined multicultural diversity in terms of actual collecting patterns of academic and research libraries [...].” (Vega García, 2000) This article, nearly 20 years old, is one of the few that actually address the topic of African American Studies collections specifically in the LIS literature. Though there is, in fact, a literature of “diversity” in library collections, it lumps together an array of groups whose only commonality is having been labelled Other in the U.S. This lumping …

Cost Per Use As An Electronic Resources Evaluation Parameter: Can You Use It Under Extraordinary Circumstances?, Luis Joel Crespo

Charleston Library Conference

In 2017, the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) suffered two extraordinary events that substantially affected library services. From March through June 2017 the university was closed due to a student strike that affected daily activities and academic services. In September of the same year, our country was hit by the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in its history, which left the whole island without power and communications infrastructure for many months. In both scenarios, access to electronic resources was seriously affected.

Usage reports are important for, among other things, evidencing the use of electronic resources in a certain collection, justifying …

Sso’S Utopian Promise Is Based On Flawed Assumptions, Heather N. Shipman

Charleston Library Conference

Single-sign-on authentication (SSO) for licensed library e-resources is growing in popularity, touted as a valuable tool supporting the personalization of user experiences while maintaining user privacy. Such proposals, however, are based on assumptions that are not well supported by evidence. This paper addresses three such flawed assumptions: that SSO assures privacy; that all authorized patrons have SSO credentials; and that personalization is desirable to libraries and their patrons. In reality, privacy is merely one possible SSO configuration, not a guarantee; walk-in library patrons do not have SSO credentials; and there is a growing body of evidence that existing personalization algorithms, …

Library Space Transformed, Jared L. Howland, Rebecca Schroeder

Charleston Library Conference

Beginning in the fall of 2017, the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University undertook a project to assess our science collections due to a planned expansion of our library information technology department. Our teams evaluated 18,578 shelves of content and decided to either (1) keep an item on the shelf, (2) or move it to on-site auxiliary storage, or (3) withdraw it. They worked with fellow subject librarians and faculty around campus to communicate about the work being done and offer opportunities to review the potential withdraw material before it left the building. Despite the need to make …