Collections Are for Collisions

Casso, Gillian

Collections Are for Collisions

Bell, S. J. (2014). Collections are for collisions. American Libraries, 45(9/10), 46-49

Summery:
This article explains that serendipitous discovery in the stacks is a good thing for patrons. Even though many libraries are moving their collections more towards digital access, technology solutions can present ways in which patrons can still have those serendipitous collisions that they have in the stacks.  For instance, the Digital Public Library of America's Bookshelf, simulates shelf browsing and uses colors and different size bars to help with the browsing experience. Even making changes within the physical library itself can be rewarding. Moving different collections to areas that have high access, such as near the computers or the cafe or even meeting rooms can help with these serendipity discoveries.

Evaluation:
I think the more that libraries can do to help patrons find what they might not have been looking for is great. I usually don't browse through the stacks anymore. More often than not I know what I want to read and look for that particular item. I use to browse the stacks all the time and it would make my day when I found a book that truly intrigued me. I loved wandering the shelves, my fingers running along the spines of books, and pulling them off the shelf to read the dust jacket. This article brings up several good points. He mentions studies that MIT did in determining productivity. They discovered that by putting people into situations where they could easily collide with different perspectives and new ideas increased productivity, new ideas and innovation. I liked how the author describes that these experiences don't have to be defined by a physical space, that while it is tougher, it can work just as well in a digital environment.

Tulsa City County Library Aims to Manage Floating Collection with New Decision Center Module

Casso, Gillian

Tulsa City County Library Aims to Manage Floating Collection with New Decision Center Module

Enis, M. (2013). Tulsa city county library aims to manage floating collection with new decision center module. Library Journal. Retrieved from  http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2013/10/acquisition/tulsa-city-county-library-aims-to-manage-floating-collection-with-new-decision-center-module/

 Summary:
This article describes the new floating collections module at Tulsa City County Library. This program, Decision Center helps users manage floating collections across multiple branches, anticipate demand for new titles and how many of these should be purchased. This program also includes a popular authors feature. This will make it easier for branches to determine which books could be moved to other libraries based on the amount of copies currently at the library. This will save staff time as they would no longer have to look at each book to determine if it could be sent to another branch or not. Decision Center has also analyzed trends and looks at collection size, usage and with this data they can try to make sure the collections are optimally sized for the separate locations and the interests of the particular neighborhoods.

Evaluation:
I find floating collections fascinating and in fact we have a floating collection of large type books at the library I work for. I think that by constantly have new materials for our patrons benefits the library and our patrons. No longer do we have to ship this collection to the owning libraries and since it is such a small collection, patrons constantly have something new to read. Before we switched this collection to a floating collection, patrons were constantly going to different libraries because they had run out of materials to read at their library. I believe that this is great service to patrons if it works well. We were going to do the same type of floating collection with our DVD collection, but found out that there is glitch in the program. If a library has too many of one title it is suppose to trap the item for another library instead of having it stay at the library it was dropped off at, but that service doesn't work. Since our DVD collection is quite large we could end up with 6 copies of one title while another library may have none.

How Graphic Novels Became the Hottest Section in the Library

Casso, Gillian

How Graphic Novels Became the Hottest Section in the Library

MACDONALD, H. (2013). How graphic novels became the hottest section in the library. Publishers Weekly, 260(18), 20-25.

Summary:
This article describes how the circulation for graphic novels has increased over the last several years, but still remains low in the amount of materials the library owns. While there are still stigmas attached to reading graphic novels stemming from the 1950s, concerns that they are poor literature have dissipated over the last several years. Interest in comics and graphic novels took off in the early 2000s due to manga becoming popularized. Acclaimed books such as Maus and Watchmen broke the ice and circulation numbers began to rise. This article explains that while librarians are getting on board with comics, publishers are still a little behind the times and it can be difficult to build a robust collection, especially when publishers themselves aren't sure about the comics and graphic novels being published. Because circulation numbers are rising, libraries are continuously adding to their graphic novel collections. While e-book lenders, such as Overdrive have graphic novels the collection is limited and can be costly.

Evaluation:
I have to say that I love graphic novels and in fact my favorite one is Fables by Bill Willingham. Over the last several years, the library that I work at has drastically expanded the graphic novels collection and it tends to be the most looked at section of the library. It was great to read an article that touched on some great points, such as how until recently it graphic novels were looked at as poor literature. I thought it was interesting how the article describes the relationship between librarians and publishers and how in the past very few publishers catered to libraries. An important point brought up in this article is how publishers feel that libraries are still prejudiced about comics and that they could be subjected to removal due to book challenges. I also find it interesting that e-book lenders have a smaller collection of graphic novels especially since the popularity has increased.

Building a Multicultural School Library

Hubschman, Amy Resource:

Agosto, D. E. (2007). Building a multicultural school library: Issues and challenges. Teacher Librarian, 34(3), 27-31.

Summary:
This article discusses the many problems, issues, and obstacles that libraries encounter when developing a collection that can properly meet the needs of a culturally diverse community.  The author suggests there are a set of five specific criteria to use when developing a collection for a multicultural community.  The author further suggests that librarians should follow the criteria to ensure that ELL patrons feel connected and correctly represented in the library.    

Evaluation:

Living in a central suburb area of Texas I found this article extremely helpful and relevant to me on a personal level.  I don’t speak Spanish and considering many of the patrons I will eventually encounter do I find it very important to understand their needs in developing a library collection.  ELL patrons should be adequately represented in my future library and understanding the specific issues one might encounter when obtaining materials for them is important to be aware of.  
One of the five criteria listed by the author was “accuracy”.  Spanish is not always the same.  The Spanish speaking world is very diverse.  Teaching at a school with a high Hispanic enrollment I've already seen the struggles our librarian has faced trying to find accurate materials.  She has to know the students, know where they come from, and know which forms of Spanish they speak and which forms they read.  Do the students speak Latin American Spanish, Castilian Spanish, Trade Winds Spanish, or another form?
It’s important for students to be properly represented in their libraries.  Without an accurate representation of themselves the students will have a much harder time developing a sense of ownership and belonging to their libraries.   

User Journey in the Digital Age

By Terry Funk

CA

Huwe, T. K. (2014). Building digital libraries: Here’s to a better ‘user journey’.  Computers in Libraries, 34(4), p. 27-29. Retrieved from: http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/may14/Huwe--Heres-to-a-Better-User-Journey.shtml

Summary: The author explores three themes from a recent Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) white paper entitled “Meeting the E-Resource Challenge: An OCLC Report. 

First he points out the need for increased collaboration between information professionals (librarians) and commercial partners (vendors, publishers) to enhance the user journey by first understanding the complexity of the journey (a jungle of websites, dozens of platforms) and then working on the interoperability of systems (a crucial element to success). Trends include working with legacy systems and attending to the quality of data describing resources (e.g. MARC can be used in new ways) and ‘pushing the limits of existing user interfaces to look for better solutions.’ Another theme discussed is data synchronization (not having to rekey everything over and over) and making records portable (portability = a better chance for pieces of data to travel together). Finally the author explains the use of high value collection metrics using COUNTER (Counting Online Usage of Networked Electronic Resources), a software that helps to gather collection statistics.

Evaluation: Many library systems did not start out with an emphasis on interoperability and are now playing ‘catch up’ because they cannot do without it. Collaboration across professions is stressed to ‘enhance interoperability, open access, publishing, better link resolving and conceptualizing web-based solutions.’ This article reminds me of Steve Jobs and the need for beautiful design – which can smooth the way for evolving technologies, and enhance user experiences. Sometimes the best design is the simplest. It also introduced me to the idea of Collection Development software/statistics and its many possible uses. 

Dewey Pictograms from CLLS

Student: Perkins, Rebecca

Citation: Cutler, L. (n.d.). Dewey Pictograms. California Library Literacy Services [webpage]. Retrieved March 7, 2015, from http://libraryliteracy.org/staff/differences/dewey.html

This is a poster of all 88 icons,
each are available for download
and use at the CLLS webpage.

Summary: This webpage for the California Library Literacy Services (CLLS), which is a statewide program of the California State Library, contains “reproducible images portraying collections within the Dewey Decimal Classification System, enabling people with disabilities, low literacy skills, etc., to better locate materials in the library's collection.” These images were made at the Oakland Public Library during a grant project in 2003-2004 and were “chosen to represent often-requested subject areas.” Although the Oakland library has made these freely available, “all copyright rights in the Dewey Decimal Classification System are owned by OCLC; Dewey, Dewey Decimal Classification, DDC, OCLC and WebDewey are registered trademarks of OCLC.”  In other words, we can use them we just can’t claim them as our own.

Evaluation: This could be a great resource for our mapping projects as well as a way to provide uniformity in imaging collections across the state and perhaps beyond. Having a standard may assist not only those conduction collection mapping projects but also patrons (those with disabilities and those without) who may visit more than one library. The only drawback is that each is slow to load and although there are 88 icons there may not be one for a specific topic you want to cover.

Informational Text

Bailey, Rachel

Fontichiaro, K. (2012). Informational text. School Library Monthly, 29(1), 51-52.

Summary: This article addresses how school librarians can prepare the library to align with the common core state standards. Weeding is stressed so new narrative informational text can replace old, outdated nonfiction. Other ideas include advertising online databases, giving teachers pointers for classroom book collections and using instructional strategies to help students interact with the text.

Evaluation:  I like how practical this article is. For example, it recommends posting annotated bibliographies of new library books in the teacher bathroom stalls as an alternative to sending such information via teacher’s already overloaded email accounts.