Collection Development and Management Commons^™

Leading From Below: Influencing Vendors And Collection Budget Decisions As A Subject Liaison, Min Tong, Cynthia Cronin-Kardon, Steven M. Cramer

Charleston Library Conference

Subject liaisons are responsible to their facility and students for subject-specific research tools funded by the library, but most subject liaisons don’t make the final decisions on subscriptions and other big-ticket items. How can we make effective recommendations to the decision makers? And how can we influence vendors about product development, pricing, and licensing issues as subject specialists but not budget controllers? In this lively discussion, the authors facilitated discussions of these questions with a group of librarians and vendors. After presenting one common model of a budget decision making process involving liaisons, budget decision makers, and vendors, we discussed …

Migrating To Alma Without An Acquisitions Staff: Evolving Acquisitions And Electronic Workflows From Their Legacy Silos, Jennifer K. Matthews, Christine Davidian

Charleston Library Conference

When the decision was made to migrate to Alma integrated library system, Rowan University libraries had an acquisitions department and a moderate understanding of how this migration would occur. With the official announcement of the migration to Alma, the entire acquisitions team announced their retirement shortly thereafter. While Alma provided the library with an opportunity to reevaluate workflows and collaborations this was a curveball that no one was expecting.

Additionally, many resources were not traditionally tracked in Voyager, the previous library management system but tracked in Intota the previous electronic resource management system. However, these resources would now be tracked …

Should You Pay For The Chicken When You Can Get It For Free? No Longer Life On The Farm As We Know It, Sharon M. Mattern Büttiker, James King, Susie Winter, Crane Hassold

Charleston Library Conference

The scholarly publishing ecosystem is being forced to adapt following changes in funding, scholarly review, and distribution. Taken alone, each changemaker could markedly influence the entire chain of research consumption. Combining these change forces together has the potential for a complete upheaval in the biome. During the 2019 Charleston Library conference, a panel of stakeholders representing researchers, funders, librarians, publishers, digital security experts, and content aggregators addressed such questions as what essential components constitute scholarly literature and who should shepherd them. The 70-minute open dialogue with audience participation invited a range of opinions and viewpoints on the care, feeding, and …

Let’S Give Them Something To Talk About… Textbook Affordability And Oer, Linda K. Colding, Peggy Glatthaar, Derek Malone, Jennifer Pate

Charleston Library Conference

This Lively Discussion brought together librarians from Florida Gulf Coast University in Ft. Myers Florida and the University of North Alabama in Florence, Alabama. Both libraries were eager to share their experiences with others who have or are considering establishing a textbook affordability project or use Open Educational Resources (OER) to assist students succeed despite the high cost of textbooks.

Glimpsing Into The Future: Using The Curriculum Process System For Collection Development, Jennifer Young

Charleston Library Conference

One common problem facing academic libraries is the art of materials selection that ensures users have what they need when they need it, or at least the majority of the time. Methods frequently used are librarian selectors, faculty selectors, approval plans, and demand-driven acquisitions. Having close relationships with teaching faculty is pertinent when acquiring monographs to support the courses currently offered as well as those upcoming. However, when that relationship is not strong, libraries must find other methods to gather that valuable insight. This paper will cover how East Tennessee State University’s library uses the curriculum process system to inform …

Change: Watch For The Right Time, Caryl Ward, Jill E. Dixon

Charleston Library Conference

Collection budgets are an essential tool for building collections yet the amounts of allocations can ebb and flow over the years. Modifying the budget structure is an intimidating, exhausting exercise with administrative and political ramifications that affect the workload of collections librarians as well as the workflows in acquisitions departments. External and internal forces such as impending budget cuts and serials reviews, a new library system, new department heads, newly minted librarians’ learning curves, and the creation or demolition of big deals seem like roadblocks to a budget revision process. They can also be seized as opportunities to look at …

Matching Made In Heaven: Collections And Metadata Collaboration For Print Preservation, Alie Visser, Erin Johnson, Christina Zoricic

Charleston Library Conference

Following the trend of repurposing library space to meet modern user needs, Western University is undergoing a planned revitalization and renovation of its largest library on campus. As a result, 500,000 items will need to be shifted to other locations or off-site storage. In this session we will outline the impact of metadata work in shifting this large collection of material to a shared print preservation storage facility, in coordination with Western University’s Keep@Downsview partnership (https://downsviewkeep.org/). Keep@Downsview is a partnership of five universities to preserve the scholarly record in Ontario in a shared, high-density storage and preservation facility.

We will …

From Big Ideas To Real Talk: A Front-Line Perspective On New Collections Roles In Times Of Organizational Restructuring, Meghan J. Ecclestone, Sally A. Sax, Alana P. Skwarok

Charleston Library Conference

Academic libraries across North America are restructuring to meet user needs in an e-preferred environment, resulting in major changes to traditional collection development roles and workflows. Responsibility for collection work is increasingly assigned to functional librarians dedicated to collection development activities across a broad range of subject areas, often serving an entire faculty or college. This paper discusses the history, process, and outcomes of the transition to functional collection development roles at two mid-sized universities. Both Carleton University and the University of Guelph support a wide range of undergraduate and graduate research needs from a single central library, but have …

Reason Minus Zero/No Limit: Trying To Bring It Back Home, Thomas C. Reich

Charleston Library Conference

Negotiations connected with database renewals are sharply critical and ultimately impact renewal decisions. Today, academic libraries face an ever-consolidating marketplace, often accompanied by disruptive cost increases that toss sound reasoning aside. Instances of super-exponential cost increases transfigure once reasonable practices based on sound criteria to unsustainable subscriptions and inappropriate access models. Most troubling is that libraries have seldom been asked to participate in stakeholder discussions before these models and decisions were made. The paper reviews University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Libraries struggle with these changing metrics. In context, the paper looks at how recent political upheaval in Wisconsin has overturned Wisconsin’s …

Six Impossible Things: Moving Kbart Into The Next Decade, Andrée Rathemacher, Robert Heaton, Noah Levin, Christine Stohn

Charleston Library Conference

KBART is one of the most successful NISO recommendations today. Formally supported by over 80 organizations across all stakeholder groups, it enables a standardized transfer of data between content providers and knowledge bases. Most recently KBART added an automated process to transfer holdings data to localize an institution’s knowledge base holdings. While KBART was originally built to focus on journal and book data, the world has moved on—the different flavors and nuances of open access, the increased use of audiovisual material, holdings at the chapter and article levels, and issues around translations, transliterations, and author names are just some of …

Approvals, Slips, And Dda! Oh My! The Yellow Brick Road To Collaborative Approval And Dda Profiling, Keri Prelitz

Charleston Library Conference

In the last several years, approval profiling has changed significantly and grown increasingly complex, particularly due to the prevalent shift toward collecting in electronic formats. While approval profiles have been predominantly e-preferred for some time, the growth of demand-driven acquisition (DDA) has led to new license models, modes of acquisition, and tighter integration of DDA with approvals. With the advent of the DDA-preferred approval plan came options for the inclusion of multiple e-book platforms as well as complexities involving publisher embargoes. Additionally, the numerous approval and DDA profile parameters, workflow options, and administrator settings vary widely, resulting in a seemingly …

Canceling The Big Deal: Three R1 Libraries Compare Data, Communication, And Strategies, L. Angie Ohler, Leigh Ann Depope, Karen Rupp-Serrano, Joelle Pitts

Charleston Library Conference

Canceling the Big Deal is becoming more common, but there are still many unanswered questions about the impact of this change and the fundamental shift in the library collections model that it represents. Institutions like Southern Illinois University Carbondale and the University of Oregon were some of the first institutions to have written about their own experience with canceling the Big Deal several years ago, but are those experiences the norm in terms of changes in budgets, collection development, and interlibrary loan activity? Within the context of the University of California system’s move to cancel a system-wide contract with Elsevier, …

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. …

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 …

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.

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 …