Assembling Selection Criteria and Writing a Collection Development Policy

Bridget Sievers

Schleicher, M. C. (2010). Assembling Selection Criteria and Writing a Collection Development Policy for a Variety of Older Medical Books. Journal of Hospital Librarianship, 10(3), 251–264. https://doi.org/10.1080/15323269.2010.491424

In this article, Schleicher explains how the Cleveland Clinic Alumni Library created a framework for selection criteria and collection management for the library’s medical texts. These texts differed from the general collection in that many were historical texts or first editions, eliciting the need to create a new organization system. This was, some could be shared and not just kept in a storage closet.

By evaluating the books in the special collection, the library could potentially fill gaps left in the general collection, share resources with their consortium, and free up physical space in a building where that can be a precious resource. A unique factor in rare and special book collections that was considered in the creation of the criteria was, if the book was already available in the region/consortium, sale of the book to a collector or another organization. This is interesting to compare this to public and school library collections, where profit is rarely a consideration in selection criteria. The article gives a great insight into the considerations that need to be made for collection management of a special or academic library.

Collection Assessment and Management

Gilley, Morgan 

APA Citation:

Kachel, D. E. (1997). Collection assessment and management for school libraries: preparing for cooperative collection development. Greenwood Press.

Summary:

Inside this book, it goes into detail about the stages of collection development. Ms. Kachel goes through the stages of a collection and how to keep the collection circulating. Several appendices cover in more detail collection codes and when to weed out a collection. This is a highly informative book, which is nice because it covers the steps of a collection and how to maintain it. I thought the coolest in this book was how Kachel took the reader through the steps of a collection in order. It was nice to have a book that details a collection and how to get the most out of it.

Evaluation:

This book has so much information about collections and the assessment of them. It shares information about managing a collection specifically for school libraries, but it can also be used to an extent for public or private collections. The author also has an evaluation survey at the end for the librarian to use to see what they should weed out or not. There is so much information inside this that it could also be used as a desk reference book for any library.

Making Spaces for STEM in the School Library

Chambers, Louise

APA Citation:

Woods, S., & Hsu, Y.-C. (2019). Making spaces for STEM in the school library. TechTrends, 64(3), 388-394. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-019-00460-9

Summary:

In this paper, Woods and Hsu share a vision for how K-12 school libraries could address the inequality of STEM or STEAM education within the United States. They discuss the history of both the STEM/STEAM education and makerspace movement, and propose that the library is the perfect place to democratize and offer balance opportunities for STEM/STEAM education. Woods and Hsu offer practical advice for how school librarians will need to adjust their practice in order to achieve success, considerations for how to structure the library as a makerspace environments, and a clear discussion of what types of activities support the maker mindset and philosophy.

Evaluation:

Libraries offer a unique opportunity to integrate all subject areas within K-12 education, and this article shares a concise and clear roadmap for librarians to consult if they are interested in shifting their practice and purpose of the school library. The list of possible materials to include and ideas for learning activities to consider sharing with students is extremely helpful. The reminder to include tangible materials and creation opportunities is excellent as much of the literature and attention within the LIS community is focused on technology within makerspaces. This article emphasizes that makerspaces are at their core about the act and mindset of making, rather than the use of technology.

Reinventing Book Browsing

Chambers, Louise

APA Citation:

Kletter, M. (2020). Reinventing book browsing: Bitmoji classrooms, virtual libraries, and digital book displays engage children. School Library Journal, 66(10), 10.

Summary:

This article discusses a variety of tools that librarians are using during the coronavirus pandemic to continue connecting students with library resources. The movement to create virtual spaces to showcase books and other library materials comes out of the realization that students respond and engage with interactive visuals much more than traditional online library catalogs. These virtual spaces can also be used to provide a streamlined method for communication and connection opportunities between librarians and students, teachers, and families.

Evaluation:

One of the most popular, Bitmoji virtual libraries, is discussed in depth along with professional development resources to help librarians get started. However, other ideas for connecting students with library resources are also discussed, including using online catalog software display tools, Canvas, blogs, and animation. While there are many articles and blog posts published focused on Bitmoji virtual classrooms, this article was useful for considering alternatives that may better suit a particular student population and community.

BIPOC Collection Development

 Corrinne Abbott

266 Fall 2020

BIPOC Collection Development

Elrod, R., & Kester, B. (2020). Diverse BookFinder: BIPOC collection development for children’s and young adult collections. College & Research Libraries News, 81(10), 481–485. https://doi-org.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/10.5860/crln.81.10.481

    The University of Florida's Education Library listened to feedback and sought to increase their Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) collection. The Diverse BookFinder tool designed by researchers at Bates College was the only tool that provided data on who (race/ethnicity) is depicted but also how (context of representation). They use nine categories to describe "dominant messages conveyed": 1. Any Child; 2. Beautiful Life; 3. Biography; 4. Cross Group; 5. Folklore; 6. Incidental; 7. Informational; 8. Oppression & Resilience; 9. Race/Culture Concepts. The Collection Analysis tool helps develop a deeper understanding of the current collection and reports which gaps the collection needs to develop.

Pros:

1. The Diverse BookFinder contains other categories as well as BIPOC, including: disability, diverse family, economic struggle, LGBQ, STEM, gender, religion ; 2. As of Summer 2020, DBF is adding more titles (picture books, middle school, and YA) ; 3. Free and seemingly easy to use.

Cons:

1. Currently, the DBF only includes 3,210 titles (since 2002). (If the grant is no longer funded, the collection might cease to get updated) ; 2. The titles are not included in the analysis ; 3. No information available on intersection of topics in metadata.

Excellent collection-mapping resource

 

Bushing, Mary. (2006). Collection Mapping and Conspectus. Retrieved November 21, 2020 from www.varastokirjasto.fi/kokoelmakartta/julkaisut/esitelmat/Mary_Bushing_Conspectus.pdf.

By far the most useful resource I encountered this semester regarding collection evaluation and mapping is a PDF of a slide presentation by Dr. Mary Bushing. In it, she lays out an organized procedure for evaluating library collections. Bushing’s collection map system, called a conspectus, has 24 large categories, with subjects like biology, philosophy, language & literature…etc. These 24 large categories have nearly 4,000 cumulative subdivisions. Music, for example, is subdivided into dramatic art forms, non-dramatic art forms, music for mixed voices, women’s voices, men’s voices, and so on (8). Bushing suggests using a scale of 0-5 to evaluate each large category in a library collection. A score of 0 indicates that the library has not made conscious efforts to collect items on the subject, rendering it “out of scope” (11). A score of 5 indicates that the collection is exhaustive and well-maintained (23). In addition, her system has indicators for languages in which materials are available, current collection level vs. the goals of collection development and its preservation. Over all, she makes an argument that the conspectus is a tool that enables librarians to make daily decisions and policies around their collections (especially about budgets), explain their resources to library patrons, and track changes in the collection. This resource is clearly laid out, practical, and extremely helpful for any librarian who may need to make decisions about collection management in their careers.

Moulton, Kristina. 

Wiersema, J. (2020, November 17). 'Get Lit!': Virtual book club to focus on racial equity. Retrieved November 18, 2020, from http://www.therepublic.com/2020/11/17/get_lit_virtual_book_club_to_focus_on_racial_equity/

I wanted to highlight this article as it is particularly relevant to the discussions we've been having not only in class, but every day. The Bartholomew County Public Library saw a massive and sudden increase in usage and requests for books on racial justice after the death of George Floyd earlier this year. As a result, the library was gifted a grant from Indiana Humanities. While other libraries in the system used the grants to purchase physical and digital resources on this topic, the Bartholomew County Public Library decided to purchase materials that would help create a virtual book club on racial equity called "Get Lit!" The project is aimed at young adults, with the goal being to promote literacy and boost minority voices. 

While reading this article I thought that this was a very effective way to engage younger adults during a pandemic. It promotes the library and its services by reaching out to people on a topic that is important and timely. Creating the time and space for having these discussions can often be tricky, doubly so due to COVID. This is a great example of how, thinking creatively, we can still manage to do this. Considering the collaborative nature of a club like this, I thought this was especially relevant!  

  

Donabedian, D., Carey, J., & Balayan, A. (2020). Collection Development at Two Armenian University Libraries: A Conversation with Librarians and Faculty. LIBER Quarterly, 30(1).

 

Donabedian, Carey and Balayan address the restrictions that two academic libraries faced in Armenian. The universities were American University of Armenia in Yerevan, Armenia and Yerevan State University.  Faculty at both universities talked about having to get material online and at times illegally from Russian websites because the libraries were not filling their request for items.  Librarians talked about having e-resources that are never used or that only 100 students used the rare book collection.

The American University librarians addressed the fact that they are not just an academic library, but they also function as a de facto public library,  “Legally we are not a public library, but we act like a public library.” (Donabedian, Carey and Balayan, pg 11, 2020)  Because of difficulties getting books, AUA orders books from Amazon.

The faculty discussed their view that they do not have a say in what is ordered, even though some departments like the History Department send a list of books over to the library requesting new material be added.   The breakdown in communication between the librarians and faculty makes it difficult for the library’s collection to be useful to its patrons.

 Proctor, J. (2020). Representation in the Collection: Assessing Coverage of LGBTQ Content in an Academic Library Collection. Collection Management, 1-12.
 
Julia Proctor, examines the Penn State University library (PSUL) system to find out about the holdings of material related to LGBTQ+ people. Proctor points out that collections have been evolving for decades and some for centuries.   She discovered that for the PSUL system 37% of the material in the collection was Lesbian related, and that it had 5,606 holdings with the term Gay.  The article addresses the youthfulness of the area of LGBTQ+ academic scholarship coming unto its own in the 1990s.   In the end Proctor states, “assessing the collection for content relating to under-represented groups should not be a one-time effort. Building and shaping library collections requires ongoing, evolving assessments.