I Want it All. And I Want it Now.

Geist, Karen

Brasile, F. (2019). I Want it All. And I Want it Now. The Washington Library
Association Journal,35(1), March, 5-7.

The article I Want it All. And I Want it Now describes how today's collections reflect a different reality.

Library collections have changed over time as new formats emerge and old formats retired. Instead of one
format replacing another, formats now coexist. We have print books, LT books, books on CD, e-books
or e-audio books. Patrons want it all. They have more options than ever to consume content. The formats are more flexible than ever allowing patrons to interact with materials on the road, in the office, or atop a mountain. Digital media circulation has grown substantially while print circulation has decreased.  This is great for the patron but presents significant challenges to many libraries. “Determining how to allocate the library materials budget has become increasingly complex in recent years,” says Helen Gutierrez Collection Services Manager with SPL. Print books have a set cost, digital item pricing is inflated often 3x that of the retail price. Digital collections vary in terms of access- perpetual or metered.  Seeking funds beyond the materials budget also had its limitations. Libraries can select fewer copies of items or eliminate certain formats. All may accomplish the goal of reducing costs but will that negatively impact patron and decrease customer satisfaction? Libraries are trying to work with vendors to develop better tools to aid in managing digital collections and demand. OverDrive is working with libraries by the addition of “Always Available” content.  OverDrive added a collection of travel books that patrons can check out anytime, as many times as they like. They also added fifty of the most popular audiobooks to provide unlimited access. The challenge is going to be how to provide our patrons with well-rounded, current collections with limited funds.

This article surprised me on a few levels.  I did not realize the actual cost of digital items and never
realized the challenges faced by any Collection Management staff.   I naively thought that you buy a
digital item and it is yours, like a book. There are so many options with various costs. Print books
are on the decline while digital items are in demand but I think that everything will level off.  I think
standardized options for digital items are on the horizon. How can it continue this way? I think more
vendors will brainstorm ideas to make working together with libraries easier and more cost effective.

Managing Electronic Resources by Ryan O. Weir

 DiBello, Amy 


Weir, R. (2012). Managing electronic resources (LITA Guide). Chicago, Ill.: ALA TechSource.

Ryan O. Weir's textbook Managing Electronic Resources was published in 2012 and predicts the library of 2020. Ebooks will change libraries and outnumber print books. University publishing houses will be making content available through Project Muse/UPCC, JSTOR, and other online platforms. The digital divide will increase in Third World countries and the poor and computer illiterate will rely on public libraries to bridge these disadvantages.

Behind the scenes, how we will work will also change radically. The split between print and electronic materials is impacting technical services departments and since everyone is already understaffed, the problems are only being compounded. Flexibility and skill acquisitions turn every day into another episode of MacGyver.

The libraries of 2020 libraries will revolve around eResources and libraries will have to find new ways to weather economic turmoil. Catalogers will be replaced with metadata specialists and job titles will be rebranded. Reference services as we know them will have to adapt to new user needs.
Distance education will increase as people become accustomed to working and learning remotely.

Special collection libraries and archives will continue to digitize and make collections available online. Consortia will become even more important and open access ventures will give vendors a literal run for their money.

Librarians have to be flexible multi-taskers who can solve problems, be technologically savvy, and able to communicate and negotiate with staff, administrators, and vendors in various contexts. They have to be courageous enough to lead and be diplomatic. They’ll be put in the tricky place of "managing" up their supervisors and stakeholders too. Managing people you supervise will require emotional intelligence, coaching, collaboration, and communication. We will need to abandon traditional hierarchies and work together as peers.

Fundamentals of collection development and management

Samnath, Kayla

Johnson, P. (2014). Fundamentals of collection development and management. London: Facet.

Summary:

Johnson’s text focuses on the evolution of collection development. This is the third edition, in which Johnson discusses how much of an impact technology has had on collection development since her first drafting of this text in 2003. Johnson covers organization models, planning, budget, and policy strategies, developing and managing collections, as well as collection analysis.

In the first section of this text Johnson explores the concept of collection development versus collection management. Johnson argues that collection development and management should be treated as separate terms, rather than being lumped together which typically seems to be the case. She defines collection development as “covers several activities related to the development of library collections, including selection, the determination and coordination of selection policy, assessment of the needs of users and potential users, budget management, identification of collection needs, community and user outreach and liaison…” (2014, p. 02). On the other hand, collection management “covers decisions about weeding, serials cancellation, storage, and the activities that inform these decisions as use studies and cost/benefit assessment” (2014, p. 02).

Johnson explores several key collection development and management responsibilities. Some of those include selection, budgeting, planning and organizing, communicating and reporting. These skills are required in order to maintain and build collections. Johnson explores how public, special, and academic libraries can utilize these methods and better their collection, which enhances the information services offered by the institution.

Evaluation:

This textbook was extremely useful for this course. I used it to pair up with our current textbook. It really helped me understand how to approach presentation three and four. There is a lot of rich content which focuses on how to budget, and how to assess both the community and the collection. Using this information, I was able to have a clearer picture of how to handle Dr. L’s presentations. I would recommend this text to any student who is new, or interested in collection development. The text begins with a list of defined terms in which really helped me get focused on the idea of collection development at the beginning of this course.

This text really is straightforward and easy to understand. It is a great way to introduce students into this topic. Not only is it easy to read, but it is also not overwhelming to new students, rather it builds confidence as well as knowledge upon how to both manage, and develop library collections. What made this text even more useful is in each chapter, Johnson applies her discussions with public, academic, and school libraries.