Managing Electronic Resources by Ryan O. Weir

 DiBello, Amy 


Weir, R. (2012). Managing electronic resources (LITA Guide). Chicago, Ill.: ALA TechSource.

Ryan O. Weir's textbook Managing Electronic Resources was published in 2012 and predicts the library of 2020. Ebooks will change libraries and outnumber print books. University publishing houses will be making content available through Project Muse/UPCC, JSTOR, and other online platforms. The digital divide will increase in Third World countries and the poor and computer illiterate will rely on public libraries to bridge these disadvantages.

Behind the scenes, how we will work will also change radically. The split between print and electronic materials is impacting technical services departments and since everyone is already understaffed, the problems are only being compounded. Flexibility and skill acquisitions turn every day into another episode of MacGyver.

The libraries of 2020 libraries will revolve around eResources and libraries will have to find new ways to weather economic turmoil. Catalogers will be replaced with metadata specialists and job titles will be rebranded. Reference services as we know them will have to adapt to new user needs.
Distance education will increase as people become accustomed to working and learning remotely.

Special collection libraries and archives will continue to digitize and make collections available online. Consortia will become even more important and open access ventures will give vendors a literal run for their money.

Librarians have to be flexible multi-taskers who can solve problems, be technologically savvy, and able to communicate and negotiate with staff, administrators, and vendors in various contexts. They have to be courageous enough to lead and be diplomatic. They’ll be put in the tricky place of "managing" up their supervisors and stakeholders too. Managing people you supervise will require emotional intelligence, coaching, collaboration, and communication. We will need to abandon traditional hierarchies and work together as peers.

Libraries 2016

Simon Clifford

Horrigan, J. (2016). Libraries 2016. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from:
http://pewinternet.org/

Summary

A summary of the Pew Research Center's findings on American public libraries, including public opinion and current trends. It covers many topics, such as events and programs, technology, and usage.

Evaluation

The report found that most Americans think libraries should provide more digital tools and education. It also found that Americans are divided on whether or not print collections should be removed to make room for other spaces, but the support for such a decision has fallen since 2015. Both topics are of interest to collection development. Beyond that lens, the report is useful as a benchmark of the current state of the field. 

The Practical Librarians Guide to Collection Development: Weeding and Acquisition Made Easier

Bailey, Rachel

Kalan, A.P. (2014). The practical librarians guide to collection development: Weeding and acquisition made easier. American Libraries, np. Retrieved from http://www.americanlibraries.org

Summary: The author gives the reader tips on how to weed materials as well as create and maintain a successful collection. Some advice includes reviewing circulation statistics, getting rid of subject areas that change rapidly, making sure that technology and science books are up to date, looking at the library system’s holds, and reviewing vendor statistics.

Evaluation: I like how the author mentions vendor statistics. I hadn’t really thought about this before. If a book is popular with costumers on a national level, then it will probably be popular at a more local level.

The Importance of Identifying and Accommodating E-Resource Usage Data for the Presence of Outliers

Paul Zurawski

Lamothe, A. a. (2014). The Importance of Identifying and Accommodating E-Resource Usage Data for the Presence of Outliers. Information Technology & Libraries, 33(2), 31-44.

Author:  Lamothe, Alain R.

Source: Information Technology & Libraries; Jun2014, Vol. 33 Issue 2, p31-44, 14p, 5 Charts, 1 Graph 

Number of pgs: 15

Summary:

This article discusses the most effective means of gathering collection data regarding how electronic materials are used by patrons and staff alike. With the library field slowly shifting towards ebooks and databases, it’s critical for the staff to be able to properly gauge the usefulness of each resource, especially for the cost. This article includes step by step procedures that librarians can use to get solid stats about their online collections.

Evaluation:

With libraries becoming more and more electronically focused, especially for nonfiction and resource needs, it’s important to librarians to know what impact these new resources are having. This is especially important since electronic services often have reoccurring costs, such as an annual cost. These statistics can be helpful for the staff to figure out what services to expand on, such as if Ebooks are popular then the library should purchase more access to them. Even if a person does not use this exact procedure, this article gives some good food for thought about how to gather the information.