Perception Matters

Richers, Katherine

 

Powers, B. (2016). Perception matters: What message are we sending to faculty with departmental book allocations? Collection Management, 41(4), 221-227. doi: 10.1080/01462679.2016.1242443

 

Summary:
In this article, the author focuses on how the faculty of a university can help build a collection as well as how changing budget allotments can bring libraries more in line with their modern-day purposes. Do budgets accurately reflect types of materials in the library? Some have tried to shift the focus of the budget from acquisitions to access.  She looks at the possibility of eliminating departmental budget allocations, and notes how the college where she worked did not adequately reach out to faculty on the subject. The library sent out emails about the book collection and did not explore anything different for other collections. Librarians and faculty at her college rarely went over budget so rethinking the allocations would not have been too problematic. In 2016, the college finally restructured their budget to encourage faculty to work with librarians to develop subject-based collections in different formats.

 

Evaluation:
All the budget politics were confusing, but I understood it. Thinking back to the Sammonds and Housewright article I posted, I think physical books are too closely associated with libraries. While I am a great fan of books and I believe that we should have analog materials, the prevalence of the internet and electronic formats demands differ materials. The college’s library should have emailed the faculty about more options besides the book budget.

 

 

 

 

Use of Collection Development Policies in Electronic Resource Management

Pozzebon, S. (2012). Use of collection development policies in electronic resource management.

            Collection Building, 31(3), 108-114. doi: 10.1108/01604951211243506

Pozzebon provides an analysis of collection development policies in academic libraries. Many policies are not equipped to address e-resources. Many policies, surprisingly, only address specific portions of the collections held. The reason for the tendency to create incomplete collection development policy is to avoid constantly changing policies to accommodate changing content. The author suggests that policy should be made complete and updated as much as possible because of the changing content.

The 2.0 Librarian

Hubschman, Amy

Resource:
Partridge, H., Lee, J., & Munro, C. (2010). Becoming "Librarian 2.0": The Skills, Knowledge, and Attributes Required by Library and Information Science Professionals in a Web 2.0 World (and Beyond). Library Trends, 59 (1-2), 315-335. doi: 10.1353/lib.2010.0029

Summary:
This peer reviewed article focuses on the specific traits that will be required by librarians working in today's digital age.  The article gives an insight into the growing trend of the new "Librarian 2.0 Professional" and what skills will be necessary to properly operate an efficient library of today.  The article compares libraries and librarianship of the past to those of the present, as well as, those of the future.  The article discusses library collaboration, library adaptability, and the ever-changing collection development of successful libraries.

Evaluation:
This article is a good example of how the place and role libraries and librarianship is constantly changing.  The patrons of today have different needs and wants than those of the past. Most importantly this article addresses the ways in which a successful library and an efficient librarian are current, relevant to their patrons, and meet their ever-changing collection needs.