Collection Creation as Collection Management: Libraries as Publishers and Implications for Collection Development

Corley, Jennifer

Gwynn, D., Henry, T., & Craft, A.R., (2019). Collection Creation as Collection Management: Libraries as Publishers and Implications for Collection Development. Collection Management, 44(2-4), 206-220.

In this article, Gwynn, Henry, and Craft examine the activities at the University of North Carolina - Greensboro's library in creating open education resources, establishing digital archives, publishing journals and acting as an institutional repository for collaborative scholarly projects. The authors contend that by creating content and facilitating the publication of digital items that libraries are acting as outlets for spreading scholarly content and creating their own collections as needed by their community. The article also examines how the addition of metadata from the library leads to improved access for users and supports the dissemination of published information.

While the article claims to examine libraries acting as publishers across the spectrum of academic libraries, the authors mainly focused on UNC Greensboro, an institution which is not necessarily representative of the majority of academic libraries in the nation, as the university itself has over 1,000 faculty members and much more financial support in the terms of digital infrastructure and full-time staffing for their digital publication initiative. The primary challenge for other universities and college libraries to act as a publisher of open educational resources, open textbooks, and digital journals will be both funding and staffing. As current technology and digital resources allow for libraries to find more and more open resources to meet the needs of their patrons, being a publisher will become a more viable option for academic libraries seeking to enhance their collection.

E-books: Are We on the Same Page?

Ogden, Kaylene

Bozarth, S., & Zhong, Y. (2016). E-books: Are we on the same page?. Journal Of Electronic Resources Librarianship, 28(4), 232-253

Summary:

EBooks are increasingly popular throughout all types of libraries. In order to effectively include eBooks in an academic library's collection, it is important that the library first determine students wants and needs so that the library does not spend its budget frivolously.  

For this study, a survey of students, staff and faculty was sent out, with a response of 630, the majority of which were student responses.  Demographic data was also gathered.  The study found that 62% of students had read an eBook compared to 84% of faculty, with the most common use of eBooks for students being personal, class assignment, and required text.  48% of students found eBooks through and internet search, compared to only 23% who used the library catalog.  Across all three categories, most respondents learned about the eBook collection from the survey itself, followed secondly by an instructor or librarian.  Use of eBooks was overwhelmingly done through Amazon.  The most common reasons for using eBooks were 24/7 access, extra features such as highlighting, price, and ability to search within the books.  In comparison to print, students were more likely to prefer print for required texts and digital for research.  While many respondents were not aware of the eBook collection, faculty said they were more likely to recommend eBooks to be purchased.  A major takeaway from this study is that the library's eBook collection needs better marketing.

Evaluation:

This article is a great example of how important it is to do research on current and potential users when trying to develop a collection.  A huge part of collection development is marketing, that means both knowing your market (the students, faculty, and staff) and promoting to them as well.  The findings about what kind of eBooks students and staff are most interested in will be useful for this particular library's collection.  It may have been more prudent to start this kind of "market research" before purchasing eBooks, in order to use the library's budget more effectively.  This research can't be generalized, but the idea is a great one that can be used by school, public, and academic libraries alike when deciding what sort of eBook collection to develop (or if they are going to develop one).  

Reference is dead, long live reference

Pierucci, Jessica

Terrell, H. B. (2015). Reference is dead, long live reference: Electronic collections in the digital age. Information Technology and Libraries 34(4), 55-62. doi:10.6017/ital.v34i4.9098

Summary

The role of print reference in the library is becoming increasingly unclear as electronic information becomes more and more ubiquitous. The author explains that only about 10% of print reference collections are now used. Some librarians have expressed concern about the print reference collection diminishing in size and use, citing concerns of browsability of print, potential reliability issues for electronic sources, and access for those without library cards who therefore cannot use library internet. The author dismisses these concerns, explaining how ready reference is now best handled using mainly electronic resources in the current information environment and many electronic sources used in the library have no more issues with reliability than print sources. In addition, the author thinks the concern about patrons without internet access is better and more cost effectively addressed in ways other than keeping a mostly unused print reference collection for this group of patrons. For example, San Francisco Public Library has the Welcome Card allowing those who don’t qualify for a library card (often due to lack of an address or proper identification) to use computers and check out one book at a time, giving the user limited library privileges. The author cites this as a much better solution to the concern of those without ability to get library card being able to only use print than keeping unused reference material around.

Evaluation

The article’s title is a bit deceiving. The author doesn’t think reference itself it dead. Instead the author thinks the reference print collection is dead and needs to be dramatically weeded in favor of more highly used electronic reference resources. I’m happy that’s the case as I think reference is still important to help patrons develop valuable search skills and find what they want in the library’s collection. This just happens increasingly online.

I agree with the author’s assessment of the print reference collection as in the library where I work I’ve seen how rarely the librarians turn to print to answer reference questions. They generally favor library databases and other electronic resources. They show patrons how to search these resources to find the information they want to answer their inquiry. I was happy to see a passionate argument for weeding a rarely used part of the library’s collection. In a time of ever-shrinking budgets it’s great to find the places where the library can cut acquisitions and weed out unused material to put funds toward well-used parts of the collection.

A library of design: Electronic collections inspire modern research spaces

Pierucci, Jessica

Hampton, N. (2015). A library of design: Electronic collections inspire modern research spaces. Codex: The Journal of the Louisiana Chapter of the ACRL, 3(2), 68-79. Retrieved from http://journal.acrlla.org/index.php/codex

Summary

This article discusses the transition to focusing on curating an electronic collection at the Xavier University of Louisiana Library Resource Center. The library lost part of its collection when 18 inches of water flooded the first floor during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The library did not have money available for easy replacement of lost materials at the time so the library relied on gifted items and interlibrary loan instead. In 2013, noticing the print materials left were not well used, the library undertook a collection evaluation and determined the best and most cost efficient way forward was through collecting electronic versions of many materials, including many journals, and getting rid of print versions to open up library space for a new information commons area where shelving could be removed after weeding. Feedback showed the project transitioning to more electronic resources and using the freed up library space for an information commons was overall a success.

Evaluation

The article is a great example of what I see as a likely future of academic libraries where parts of the print collection that duplicate the online collection move to just online, freeing up the library's physical space for study space. The article specifically discusses the transition of the library's journals, which I think are a prime candidate for removal from the print collection when the material is accessible, and more easily searchable and findable, online. Where I work we've weeded to only keep the last five years of print journals where we have online access and in the future I would be unsurprised if there's a decision to cancel all of these print subscriptions where we have online access to avoid duplication and free up shelf space for other uses. I really liked seeing how well this transition worked at one school and the benefits of having a nice new collaborative space for students to use in the library. I'm curious to see more examples of this transition and how it plays out in different types of library spaces in the coming years.

The Bookless Library

Kumar, Amy

NPR. (January 15, 2013). A New Chapter? A Launch Of The Bookless Library. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2013/01/15/169412670/a-new-chapter-a-launch-of-the-bookless-library

Summary
One of the recent trends in the library world is the rise of the bookless library. Compared to an Apple Store, these bookless libraries feature personal computer stations, laptops, tablets, and pre-loaded e-readers, along with various other digital resources. Such a library has opened in San Antiono, at the cost of $1.5 million and is located in a community with little access to technology. While this new move has both opponents and proponents, the idea behind it is to bridge the digital divide and provide access to digital resources to those who do not have such access at home.

Evaluation
While I certainly appreciate any attempts at bridging the digital divide, libraries can always create areas within the existing collection where this is possible without the loss of books and other reading materials. One aspect that is lost when non-digital collections are made away with is browseability. The joy of finding materials through browsing is replaced by having to know exactly what one is looking for in order to locate it digitally. Also, while I agree that digital resources are a must in the modern era, there is no reason to replace one avenue of learning with another. As there are multiple forms of literacy, libraries must provide multiple resource formats. We cannot assume that the public can or should only get their information in one format, just as we cannot insist that libraries remain as hard-copy repositories forever. While the bookless collection is an innovative idea, it stops short of a truly inclusive community resource.

Collection Development in Cyberspace: Building an Electronic Library Collection

Casso, Gillian

Collection Development in Cyberspace: Building an Electronic Library Collection

Elkordy, A & Kovacs, D. K. (2000). Collection development in cyberspace: building an electronic library collection. Library Hi Tech, Vol. 18 Iss: 4, pp.335 – 361

Summary: This article describes the importance of expanding resources for patrons including those that are available in electronic format. As web based resources become more prevalent, librarians need to develop new skill sets and awareness. Librarians need to be able to identify, facilitate and educate library patrons on how to access electronic resources and when to use them. The creation of an e-library collection is one way of making sure libraries and patrons have the same kind of access to electronic resources as they had to traditional print resources. This article is a practical discussion of developing and implementing a collection plan for building a Web-based e-library. The article will also discuss patron needs, service levels and patron expectations. It will also discuss how and where to find, identity, evaluate and select appropriate information resources.

Evaluation: In the years that I have worked for public libraries I have seen electronic resources grow and expand. As these resources have grown librarians as well as libraries have had to adapt to the change. I liked how the authors defined what e-libraries and digital libraries are. It makes it clear to those readers who may be unfamiliar or unsure of the definitions of these terms.  I think that this article is a great resource for those who are interested in e-libraries and digital libraries. The steps that they give for developing an e-library and defining the patron base are logical. I found this to be an insightful article.