Community-Curated Collection through Student Empowerment

Smit, Elizabeth

Heisserer-Miller, R. & McAlister, L.R. (2023). New horizons for academic library collection 
development: Creating a community curated collection through student empowerment. Journal of Library Outreach & Engagement, 3(2023), 119-135.

Summary:

Librarians at Southeast Missouri State University started two programs to get more patron input into collection development. The first let students nominate and then vote on which section of the library should get a special $3,000 budget. The second created a grant program for student groups to suggest materials needed by the library. Items purchased through the first program saw a jump in usage while items purchased through the second program saw lower than average usage. In both cases, the researchers were pleased with the student engagement with the programs and the relationships built between the library and the affinity groups on campus. One grant turned into an on-going project and a new special collection in the library.

Opinion:

While I don't think the results of this study are particularly exciting, encouraging patrons to take ownership over portions of the collection sounds like a great way to improve circulation and engagement. The programs here might not translate directly to your library or budget but they're a good jumping off point. And, the researchers' enthusiasm for the programs is catching! I know my students would love to pick books, but I often worry that they'll choose books that are trendy now & then they'll will be forgotten before they even arrive. Sometimes we take book suggestions but I would love to have students vote for which section of the library needs a tune-up next year. Our library doesn't receive enough money to give grants to student groups but it would be nice to include other areas than English, Science & Social Studies in our purchasing decisions.

Shared Patron-Driven Acquisition Within a Consortium: The OCUL PDA Pilot

 Peterman, Rhian 

Davis, K., Jin, L., Neely, C., & Rykse, H. (2012). Shared Patron-Driven Acquisition Within a Consortium: The OCUL PDA Pilot. Serials Review, 38(3), 183–187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.serrev.2012.08.002

This article provides a case study for the implementation of patron-driven acquisitions as a collection development and management strategy. The article outlines the successes and challenges of PDA. Additionally, the authors look at the institutional and consortial level implications this acquisition strategy has by providing a detailed review of the participating libraries’ implementation strategies as well as key takeaways. 

    This is an important article to contextualize the PDA methodology. However, the implementation methods do not seem like they were comprehensively reviewed regarding interoperable software or hardware requirements (though the authors do go into detail regarding this issue). Future analysis regarding the elimination of isolated collections in favor of building a larger single collection would be an interesting potential solution.

Building Collections through Purchase Suggestions in Academic Libraries

Peterman, Rhian

Ibacache, K. (2020). Building Collections through Purchase Suggestions in Academic Libraries,    Collection Management, 45(2), 179-192, https://doi.org/10.1080/01462679.2019.1666332

This article outlines the positive impact patron driven acquisition models can have on the collection development process. The authors assessed data from over 100 universities using the Suggest a Purchase program, looking at what impact the information captured on the forms could have on collection development decisions. The authors advocate for using form submission patron driven acquisitions as a means for a more user-focused, tailored, and functional collection development strategy. Collection development librarians can use this process to better meet user needs as well as increase the circulation of library materials. 

    Within this framework, patron driven acquisition is not a replacement of librarian driven collection development, instead it could be meaningfully used to augment and focus collections. However, further information and data points needs to be gathered regarding the viability of implementing this collection method.

Patron Driven Acquisitions

Denise Lester

Dewland, J. C., & See, A. (2015). Patron driven acquisitions. Library Resources & Technical Services, 59(1), 13-23. Retrieved from http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=100830847&site=ehost-live&scope=site

This article describes a thorough two-year quantitative study on the print and electronic purchases of the Library of Congress in order to determine the need for a standard of metrics specific to patron driven acquisitions, (PDAs).  The study measures the effectiveness of collection development programs conducted by the On-Demand Information Delivery, (ODID) Metrics Team of  the University of Arizona using five main categories: financial, patron, performance, usage and resource metrics. Other methods used to measure PDAs include using business inventory models and partnership integration (sharing inventory), and a targeted view on the spending and circulation of specific materials to guide future expenditures. Substantial information is provided on how the information was gathered.

The study offered some practical and structured approaches to studying PDAs that can be applied to most libraries specifically academic, public and special libraries that are helpful in future spending and collection management by examining the data collected; however the University of Arizona's team approach seems highly time consuming and impractical to adopt for most libraries.  The study did, however prove its hypothesis that a standard of patron driven acquisitions metrics should be established and is needed, as none currently exits, and variables of metrics approaches are numerous.

Collection Development and Management

Chase, Matthew
Fall 2016

Citation:

Lehman, K. A. (2014). Collection development and management: An overview of the literature 2011-12. Library Resources & Technical Services, 58, 169-177.

Summary:

This article provides comprehensive insight into the collection development literature published during 2011 and 2012. The author examined the issues confronting librarians as budget cuts, space limitations, and the increasing emergence of digital resources arise. In order to thrive in the new digital world, Lehman pays special attention to how collection development and acquisitions strategies are shifting toward patron-driven demand. The issues presented by the author have also provided libraries with the opportunity of innovative thinking as they strive for balance between print anddigital collections with open access resources, shared collection building, and re-purposing space beyond ownership.

Evaluation:

In addition to being a bibliographic treasure of citations on collection development trends, the article also proves to be a valuable glimpse into the ever-changing direction of the subject. In particular, it offers innovative strategies drawn from other libraries on how to address issues affecting many communities today such as budgetary and space limitations. Yet these very limitations, as the author points out, have led to new ways of building collections that better reflect their intended users.