Should These Clothes Be Saved?

Richers, Katherine

 

Friedman, V. (2019, 29 April).  Should these clothes be saved. The New York Times. Retrieved from

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/29/fashion/smith-college-clothing-collection.html

 

Summary

Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts has a collection of 3,000 pieces women’s clothing that’s unusual because most of it is not designer or from anyone famous. The collection has recently come under scrutiny for its purpose and value.  Many pieces are stained and have been donated by alumnae or were purchased at auction by the professor who started the collection. English, history, anthropology and math classes have studied the collection. The dresses are considered important by students and by staff because they belonged to everyday women. However, at this point it’s not a formal collection and what could happen to it without funding and institutional support sounds dismal. Moving the collection to another institution has been suggested.

 

Evaluation:

I chose this because it spoke to me on collection weeding. This isn’t even a formal collection but it’s become a valued part of a college. I wouldn’t know what to do. I like the idea of moving the collection somewhere else but the staff students seem to really like it and find it useful. The professor who started it has a point; why shouldn’t a women’s college study the clothing of ordinary women? At the same time, a museum might increase the audience.

 

 

 

Print Collections Management in the Wake of Digitization

Richers, Katherine

Sammonds, L. I., & Housewright, R. (2011). Print collections management in the wake of digitization. The Serials Librarian, 61(2), 193-195. doi:10.1080/0361526X.2011.591039

 

Summary:

ITHAKA S+R conducts surveys about scholarly publishing with faculty from American four-year universities. They have been doing so since the year 2000. Sample population is 3,000 respondents from different disciplines, age groups and experience levels. While more and more faculty are becoming comfortable with using electronic resources over print, not many faculty members are comfortable with replacing entire print collections in campus libraries with electronically accessible resources. It is suggested that this reluctance may be to the perceived stability of print collections. Out of five functions of an academic library suggested in the survey, the gateway function isn’t considered as vital as it used to be. Besides the survey, a framework for collection weeding (What to Withdraw framework) was also presented to the same population. In both cases (the survey and the framework) the researcher suggested that collection weeding and expanding electronic collections should also be based on what the community the library serves wants. In terms of weeding, the researcher from ITHAKA S+R noted that libraries often need to keep print materials to meet preservation goals. If libraries work together then they can tackle weeding choices more effectively.

 Evaluation:

This article is short but raises some interesting questions about collection weeding and the emotions associated with it. I found the part about print collections giving the impression of stability interesting.  Considering the amount of debate over internet censorship and how we as information professionals are supposed to help our patrons find what they need, how dependable are electronic sources? These sources cost money (for instance, database subscriptions) and poor infrastructure may not permit electronic access. I come from a low-income to middle class community and not everyone has consistent, good quality web access.  I think both print and electronic materials should be kept in a collection.

 

Collection Development and Management

Chase, Matthew
Fall 2016

Citation:

Lehman, K. A. (2014). Collection development and management: An overview of the literature 2011-12. Library Resources & Technical Services, 58, 169-177.

Summary:

This article provides comprehensive insight into the collection development literature published during 2011 and 2012. The author examined the issues confronting librarians as budget cuts, space limitations, and the increasing emergence of digital resources arise. In order to thrive in the new digital world, Lehman pays special attention to how collection development and acquisitions strategies are shifting toward patron-driven demand. The issues presented by the author have also provided libraries with the opportunity of innovative thinking as they strive for balance between print anddigital collections with open access resources, shared collection building, and re-purposing space beyond ownership.

Evaluation:

In addition to being a bibliographic treasure of citations on collection development trends, the article also proves to be a valuable glimpse into the ever-changing direction of the subject. In particular, it offers innovative strategies drawn from other libraries on how to address issues affecting many communities today such as budgetary and space limitations. Yet these very limitations, as the author points out, have led to new ways of building collections that better reflect their intended users.

How to Build a High-Quality Library Collection in a Multi-Format Environment

Chase, Matthew
Fall 2016

Citation:

Barstow, S., Macaulay, D., & Tharp, S. (2016). How to build a high-quality library collection in a multi-format environment: Centralized selection at University of Wyoming Libraries. Journal of Library Administration, 56, 790-809.

Summary:

This article brings up the growing trend toward the development of electronically formatted collections in academic libraries, which presents a host of new problems and insights for librarians. This trend has added further pressure on librarians charged with collection development as they navigate the increasing needs for library instruction and research help. The authors use the collection reconstruction prompted at the University of Wyoming Libraries to provide a visual demonstration of the impact had from the current direction of collection development and management. They conclude that as these collections continue to diversify in format, there is an increasing need and advantage to centralize the responsibilities to a select team of librarians with expertise on emerging trends in development.

Evaluation:

This article paints a transformative portrayal of the future collection development librarian, which is quickly becoming the present as evidenced by the University of Wyoming Libraries. There is definite promise in the centralized model presented by the authors, as keeping the responsibilities delegated to a small team of experts allowed for more efficiency in assessment and selection. However, the authors do admit to existing issues such as budgets. Although budgetary considerations were not much of a concern in their case study, they acknowledged that such limitations would slow down the process even with the new model, which isn't suprising to find. It would be curious to see such a model applied to a public or school library where budgetary limitations are a constant worry and obstacle.

Collection evaluation: a foundation for collection development

Bullard, Sherrie

Agee, J. (2005). Collection evaluation: A foundation for collection development. Collection Building, 24(3), 92-95. doi:10.1108/01604950510608267

Summary: Librarians have many strategies available for evaluating collections. This article describes three major approaches to collection evaluation: user‐centered evaluation; physical assessment; and specific subject support. Each approach employs a variety of specialized evaluative techniques. The benefit of using any of these techniques is that a focus can be developed on any aspect – subject, age, quality, or use – of the collection. Evaluating the collection allows librarians to know what resources are already available, what may be needed, and whether future collection development can be filled most effectively with print or electronic resources. The results from these techniques give justification for investment of staff time and energy in evaluation projects.

Evaluation:  Without collection evaluations that provide a clear assessment of available resources, future collection management – budgeting, format consideration, selection, or deselection – may be inefficient and at risk. Librarians in large or small libraries can employ the collection evaluation methods in this article to gain meaningful information about their own holdings. Wise collection building is dependent on a foundation of current resource assessment. This article provides some tools to build such a foundation successfully.

Labels: Assessment, Collections management, Project evaluation, Information media, Resources