Designing and Managing Library Collections

 Rodriguez, Ariana

Wong, M. A. (2018). Designing and managing library collections. In K. Haycock & M.-J. Romaniuk (Eds.), The portable MLIS: Insights from the experts (2nd ed., pp. 137–151). Libraries Unlimited. 

Summary: 

Melissa A. Wong's chapter in The Portable MLIS: Insights from the Experts discusses the designing and maintaining of library collection and the principles and practices that drive them.  This includes the selection and deselection of materials, the evaluation of materials, and maintenance.

Evaluation: 

This chapter is a smart, brief introduction to the world of collection management. Wong goes into depth about acquiring materials with purpose and with guidance from the organization's set of policies. Each item must be of value to the collection and isn't collected for collecting's sake. I appreciate the sentiment about consistent ongoing evaluation of materials, both physical and digital. Physical items require routine maintenance for wear including taping and covering. Digital materials over time are subject to digital decay and irrelevance. It makes me think of how the floppy disk is now a relic and printing out physical directions on MapQuest is a thing of the recent past. Digital materials and resources need to be carefully considered for acquisition as their cost per use could be more in the long run. It runs the risk of outdated or broken links. Digital materials also have the potential to reach more patrons that may not be able to physically access the library. Remote patrons must be taken into consideration. Wong's points on the deselection process opened my eyes to why weeding is essential to collection management. Nobody is removing books without good reason and sometimes that reason is that the information inside is no longer accurate or relevant to a subject. All in all, collection management is an ongoing process. 

Cartoons?! Digitizing and Cataloging Challenges...

Nguyen, Jennifer

 

Citation:

Dyer, M. A. (2014). Full Speed Ahead: The Challenges of Cataloging a Historic Editorial Cartoon Collection. Art Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America, 33(2) 279-294.

Summary/Notes:

This article is about the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Libraries digitizing [the Charles Henry Sykes Cartoon Collection] of original editorial or political cartoons from the 1940s. Multiple library departments and staff involved in the project included the digital collections systems librarian, the digital specialist, the Digital Scanning Unit, and the metadata catalog librarian. There were cataloging issues due to missing or lack of information about cartoons donated. Image cataloging issues surrounding what the image is of versus what image is about. Scholars scrutinize the lack of cultural context provided with image digitized. And Dyer, wants us to note importance of text used in cartoon, as there aren’t many text used to begin with. Some solutions found were to obtain original newspaper and editorials the cartoons were printed in, document and note front pages of newspaper that contains cartoon to figure out the context of the cartoon. Only with context would we understand the humor of the cartoons drawn by Sykes’.

 

Reflection:

I was looking for ways and how librarians digitize images while researching for presentation 4. I tried to understand the process of digitization so that I can mention it in the digitization of a collection at the academic library I have been studying all semester. This article showed a whole other dimension of digitization that I hadn’t thought of before: cataloging and digitizing dated materials. It wasn’t as simple as I had thought of it. Apparently, it isn’t as easy as scanning and inputting the metadata information. Dyer does a great job explicating how cartoons work, the context and information to catalog, and additional research needed to fully catalog one cartoon image.

This makes me think about how Instagram functions. Images are often posted, but the source, creator, or information isn’t mentioned, just a partial caption underneath the image. Instagram will make it hard for information professionals to categorize or search for images there. But Instagram has hashtags. Some hashtags often used have nothing to do with the image, but more about what the person posting the image has done. Heck, even I have had trouble searching for a restaurant or place I randomly found an image of on Instagram. It takes me an extra 2 to 20 minutes following hashtags, tagged profiles, and locations to find an art exhibit.

            Overall, read this article if you’re thinking about cataloging, digitizing, and working with images during your librarianship. Dyer writes an easy and coherent article about VCU, Sykes, and the struggles of cataloging historical editorial cartoons.

Policy Route Map for Academic Libraries’ Digital Content

Koulouris, A., & Kapidakis, A. (2012). Policy route map for academic libraries’ digital content.

            Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 44(3), 163-173.

            doi: 10.1177/0961000612444299

As policies for academic library collection management are created currently, they have to be flexible enough to allow for copyright laws of e-resources. When e-resources are acquired they can be accessible in several different levels. These resources can have access restrictions anywhere from proprietary and only reproducible upon consent to open access. The library’s collection management policies have to be adapted to accommodate such widely varying accessibility.

Going Digital but Not Bookless

Nicole J. Hoback

Reference:

Polanka, S. (2012). Going Digital but Not Bookless. In No Shelf Required 2: Use and

            Management of Electronic Books. (pp. 1-16). Chicago, IL: ALA Editions

Summary:

Chapter One of Polanka’s book discusses the changes libraries are going through to ensure that they are staying relevant with the current times and for their patrons. The text discusses several libraries across the nation, both academic and public that are finding themselves at a crossroads of where to focus their attention and funding. The struggle for many libraries is not just budgets, but space, and the lack of it. Libraries are now turning to electronic material rather than filling up their shelves. Many libraries across the nation are finding that the square footage they have is just not enough for all the print material. Both academic and public libraries are storing print collections in storage facilities and instead of refilling the shelves; they are rethinking their space. In California a public library branch announced that they would be turning one of their branches into a technology resource space, which enraged branch users. As Polanka explains, the difficulty with eResources is getting the public on board, which can be difficult, because when one thinks of a library they imagine a large space filled with books. Transforming libraries spaces and reinventing them will be a difficult task not only for libraries, but for users to grasp as well.

Evaluation:

Overall I really enjoyed this book chapter, because the author not only discussed the positives of eBooks, but also the negatives. There was a balance to the arguments made and the struggles that libraries are facing. No matter the downside to eResources, for libraries to remain relevant in a digital age it is important that libraries explore all of their options when selecting new material. I am personally very prone to using print material, but I also understand that digital is the future. As the author stated it is hard for users to go away completely from print and print may always remain, but there has to be a variety for users and allowing patrons to have a selection in reading format.

The Future of Libraries Has Little to Do with Books

Brandes-Miesner, Marta

Spinks, R. (2015, January 4). The future of libraries has little to do with books. Good: A magazine for the global citizen. Retrieved from http://magazine.good.is/articles/public-libraries-reimagined

Summary:

 In this article, the author talks about how libraries are reinventing themselves by becoming vibrant and attractive community “hubs”. The article emphasizes the need to develop libraries into places where patrons can become not only digitally literate, but digitally fluent. The future of libraries according to this article is encompassed by its free services, by being a community gathering space, and by fulfilling patrons’ needs for connectivity. The first “Bookless Library” has been built in San Antonio, Texas. The author described it as a “digital hub”. This library is all digital, cloud-based, and has over 10,000 eBooks and eReaders for the public. The author states though that with its plethora of auditoriums and creative spaces to relax, work and meet in, library materials seem like an afterthought. Nonetheless, the sentiment of this article is that reimagining and recreating the library as a place for people to gather works well for the future of libraries.

Evaluation:

This article is interesting in its ability to present images of future libraries, and those that have already been moving in this direction. Imagining that this is one of many directions future libraries will take is obviously plausible. However, the idea that libraries will become more community spaces to meet rather than to go to for the purposes of gaining something is not as plausible. There are so many existing places to meet, study, gather, etc. People go to libraries to “acquire” something-knowledge, information, Internet access, assistance, leisure materials, peace & quiet, solitude to study, etc. not only for the space itself. So while the author presents a vision of the future that is sleek and stylish and seemingly new, the article neglects to include the very reason libraries exist in the first place. They exist to impart information or knowledge (regardless of its format) and to act as a point of entry for equitable access to that information and knowledge. Without these two factors, these “gathering spaces” are just that.