Is Ther a Future for Collection Development Librarians?

Clark-Collier, Kelsey

Thomas A. Karel, "Is There a Future for Collection Development Librarians?" (2013). Proceedings of the Charleston Library Conference. http://dx.doi.org/10.5703/1288284315257

How has the development of the E-Book and other digital resources impacted the role and purpose of the collection librarian? This is the core question that Thomas A.Karel seeks to discuss and address in his article titled Is there a Future for Collection Development Librarians? Reflecting on his career as an academic librarian, which required a great deal of collection development responsibility, Karel discusses how factors such as changing acquisiton plans combined with a lack of available space for the thousands of journal databases and 500,000 book titles housed within his library has resulted in an increasing number of demands being placed on the institution to develop an effective collection development and management policy. 

Following this, Karel touches upon his main critical point, which is the effect of the introduction of E-Books into his library's collection. He argues that the expertise of librarians regarding selection is considerably diminished when it comes to digital materials, a concern shared and supported by a wide  variety o recent literature. Karel goes onto list factors that pose threats to the collection librarian (such as E-books, diminished interest from faculty in ordering materials and the ever incresing demands from students regarding information needs) as well as potential opportunities (establishing closer relationships with vendors, working more closelywith faculty to select materials, and taking the opportunity to update exisiting collection development policies). Karel concludes by reflecting upon a teaching session he attended withother librarians where themes affecting collection development were discussed, along with varying degrees of concern and hope regarding the future of collection development in all different types of libraries.

This article stood out to me for a variety of reasons. While the impact of digital resources and technology on traditional print library collections is a complex topic that I have expierenced in prior courss, it is my belief that the notion of digital materials replacing print materials is somewhat overestimated, especially in school and public libraries. That's not to assume that patrons have been reluctant to adapt to new forms of technology and digital services. Rather, I feel that libraries as repositories of print and tangible resources is a deeply ingrained concept that spans thousands of years, and is likely not going away anytime soon. As Karel discusses however, the real core questionp is not whether digital materials will overtake print materials, its to what degree are which librarians in the present day willing and able to incoporate digitial materials innovatively into their institutions in such a way that benefits both library users and potential non-users. He takes it one step further by providing three excellent questions that serve as solid foundations for discussion and debate regarding the topic:

1.) What does a Collection Development librarian do?

2.)What tasks can be effectively carried out by other staff? 

3.) What, ideally, might be the role of a Collection Development Librarian in the new electronic enviornment?

These questions serve as excellent foundations for further discussion and debate because they provide an opportunity to gain insight not only into the current role and purpose of collection development librarians, but also the factors that are affecting this particular position both here in the present and in the future. 

Reimagining the Academic Library

Go Circular! by zeronaut 

Micka, Tracy

INFO266, Fall 2016

Lewis, D.W. (2016, April 21). Reimagining the Academic Library [Webinar]. In Spring 2016 ACRL-Choice Webinars. Retrieved from http://acrlchoice.learningtimesevents.org/webinar-apr212016/

Summary:

David Lewis, Dean of the University Library at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, and thought-leader on the changing role of academic libraries, recently provided a webinar for ACRL members about his new book, Reimagining the Academic Library. The focus of David Lewis’ hour-long presentation (and the premise of the book) settles on the question, what does it mean to be a library/librarian as our collections go away? Working from a number of Clayton Christensen’s theories, including Disruptive Innovation and Jobs to be Done, Lewis succinctly outlines the forces faced by academic libraries, the things we need to think about moving forward, and a prescriptive list of the 10 things we need to do right now.  For Lewis, it all centers around flipping the role of the academic library from an institution that brings in content from the outside, to one that preserves and makes available scholarly content created by, and important to, their own scholars. The lynchpin is to retire the legacy print collection now. Right now. The sooner the print items go away, the sooner the library can focus on strategies to help students and faculty do what they need to do in a way that is more effective, convenient and affordable. Of course, this has everything to do with the disruptive innovations of purchase-on-demand, open access, and growth of high quality OER / digital content. There’s no love coming to commercial publishing companies from Lewis. Lewis understands the economics of information and the evolving environment of the scholarly record- and you will begin to as well after reading his book (or watching this webinar).

My comments:

Lewis makes a strong case for what remains the touchiest of subjects: throwing away good books! Ok, not throwing them away, but getting them out of the library (ideally in some kind of consortial arrangement), in order that we may have space and resources to provide a service that ‘the market’ (google, etc) cannot. What we really need is space for students to study and a sustainable model of preserving the scholarly record- which, by the way, he points out, is a wicked problem given the high rates of link rot and content drift. Still, his presentation is not all about pointing out obvious obstacles and unsolvable problems, rather he’s quite optimistic that we can make the leap. Watch the webinar (you don't have to be an ACRL member- just fill out the form), or read the book to find out how! This would be a great book for a staff read & discuss event.

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.

Collection Directions: Some Reflections on the Future of Library Collections and Collecting

Hooper, Pamela

Dempsey, L., Malpas, C., Lavoie, B. (2014). Collection directions: Some reflections on the future of library collections and collecting. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 14(3), pp. 393–423. Retrieved from http://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/portal_libraries_and_the_academy/portal_pre_print/articles/14.3dempsey.pdf

Summary: The authors discuss several aspects of library collections and their observations on the changing nature of these collections. They begin with a discussion of bundling. They express that libraries are in the process of transitioning from being a sole information provider with the need to collect relevant print materials to provide to patrons, to a network center which provides access to the information needed utilizing external services which are more cost effective. They explain how the financial impact of less expensive networked services benefits libraries in a variety of ways. For the user it means that the discovery process has become far more global as resources can be accessed through the cloud rather than being limited to local selections. Data-driven environments allow access to available data from social networks like Goodreads, or Google Scholar, allowing libraries to make more informed collection development decisions. This ability is heightened when you consider patron selections, intralibrary loans, etc.

The authors also touch on the necessity for a collection of available data within the cloud. They stress that the cloud, as a source of knowledge on scholarly topics, allows researchers instantaneous access to raw data without waiting years for publication. It also allows libraries to focus their collections on uniqueness and stewardship/scarcity, rather then widely available information. Noting the limited staffing for libraries with large special collections, they note the trend toward inviting the public to do some of the basic cataloging work. An example of this might be the New York Public Library's Building Inspector application. They also speak to the public's demand for access to publicly funded research.

 Evaluation: I really enjoyed this article. The authors shared their vision of the future of library collections and gave me quite a bit to think about and consider. Not having managed an academic collection, their thorough explanation of the current trends gave me a good foundation towards understanding their hypothesis for the future.