Haymond, Jeana
Fall 2016

Citation:   Sun, H. C., & Chen, K. N. (2012). A proposed model for library stacks management. Library Collections, Acquisitions, and Technical Services, 36(1-2), 24-29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lcats.2012.04.001

Summary: An interesting approach to Stacks Management. The authors suggest creating a new model - three book stacks areas known as the “parent-child-grandchild” model. One large section (“parent”), a medium section (“child”), and a smaller section (“grandchild”). The library’s entire collection would be housed in the three collections. The larger “parent” section would house 90% of the collection - those items that have not checked out in the past year, preferably in a compact storage mode on or off site. Stacks can be taller and more compact as this collection will not be browsable to patrons. The “child” section would look like the regular stacks, and will include books that are borrowed more frequently. These books are not arranged by call number, rather by RFID tags and are thus shelved wherever there is space. Once a book is placed on the shelf, the RFID in the book lets the shelf know where it is and the shelf communicates the books “address” to the location portion of the catalog record. Thus informing patrons as to where in the stacks to find the book. The smallest “grandchild” section is where the books that circulate frequently are housed and is browsable by patrons. Once a book is returned it is placed in the “grandchild” section. If it stays there for a predetermined amount of time (say a week) it is then relocated to the “child” section. Some books may travel back and forth from the “child” section to the “grandchild” section many times. If a book remains in the “child” section for say a year without being requested, it is then moved to the “parent” section.

Evaluation: There are many advantages to this Stacks Management model: it saves space, shelving time, and money. Disadvantages are few: initial expense of RFID system, and patron inconvenience in the beginning.

Open and Editable: Exploring Library Engagement in OER Adoption, Adaptation and Authoring

 In her article, "Open and Editable: Exploring Library Engagement in Open Educational Resource Adoption, Adaptation and Authoring, author Anita Walz talks about the nature of OER's are and how librarians can adopt and use them for low cost opportunities especially in university and research libraries. Libraries are increasingly asked to do more with less. A common misconception about OER is that since they are free-- they must not be quality materials another is the ability to locate relevant OER's by faculty members. There are many universities including San Jose State, that are using OER's to lower the cost for students buying books.

"Locally, the Virginia Community College System has been very active incentivizing development of free and openly licensed materials for nearly 70 courses. A notable example is Tidewater Community College’s “Z Degree,” which replaces textbooks with OER, resulting in a zero textbook cost degree. While project organizers did not initially partner with the library in development of the Z Degree, this author is pleased to see that the library is now involved, per their detailed OER Research Guide (Walz, 2015)."

 Author Walz delves into why individuals would forego future royalties in order to provide a free service to the public. Listed below are a few examples and rationale.

"A faculty member or teacher employed in an educational institution may choose to openly license and disseminate works for original created works via various repositories or websites. Students and teachers benefit by increased access and ease of making derivatives.

Tesla Motors indicated that they would not enforce their patents for electric car technology in order to spur dissemination and development of electric car technology and production.

The Hewlett Foundation funded the 2001 startup of the MIT OpenCourseWare project, a courseware sharing initiative in line with MIT’s mission “to advance knowledge and educate students (Walz, 2015)."

All of these instances really speak to serving the public through expanded opportunities for learning, business growth and affordability. This was a very inspirational article!! It speaks to the forward thinking and educational desires of company owners, librarians and educators.

Reference:
Walz, A. R. (2015). Open and Editable: Exploring Library Engagement in Open Educational Resource Adoption, Adaptation and Authoring. Virginia Libraries, 61(1), 23-31