Weighing in on 21st Century Library Collection Development

OCLCVideo. (December 5, 2011). Library collections in the 21st century. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bofpsEciiQ

VP for Information Services and University Librarian at Columbia University, Mr. James Neal describes what he thinks are the four most important aspects of 21st century library collection development.  See his short interview here.  My favorite and I think something that we have touched on quite a bit in this class is what he calls, radical collaboration; a notion of "rather than standing side by side, standing with one another".  It is not enough for libraries to survive by supporting one another independently, but forming groups and coalitions that share and support is fundamentally more sustainable.  What would this look like for school libraries, I wonder?  LAUSD libraries for example share database subscriptions and a digital library of both paid and free materials is supported at the district level, but what if other districts in the southern California area were to pool resources this way?  Or better yet, what if school librarians were to collaborate on digital curation of OERs?  Our profession is only strengthened by collaborations, and similarly is the service we provide to our patrons, in my case students.  The California History Project for Fourth Graders (curated by INFO 250 and 266 Information Science graduate students) is a good example of a project which calls for librarians and other educators to pool resources to benefit the whole.  Click the link here to see this example.

How else can radical collaborations enhance collection development?


J. Hasselberger
Spring 2016