The Challenge of Electronic Resources

Asuman Tezcan
INFO 266
Fall 2015

The Challenge of Electronic Resources

Stachokas, G. (2014). The Challenge of Electronic Resources. In After the book: Information services for the twenty-first century. 223 pages, Kidlington: Chandos Publishing.

The traditional concept of librarianship that was based on print materials has begun to change by electronic information processing. In this chapter, the author questions the impact on electronic resources on librarianship. Recent years there was distinct development in “redefining the library as place, developing hybrid libraries that provide the best of print and electronic resources, improvements in information literacy and instruction, data management and new positions”. Although electronic resources have some challenges such as ownership, and the cost of preservation digital content, physical libraries will fully transform to electronic and digital libraries in the near future. The author emphasis on developing new stratagem for hiring new employees who meet these qualifications and changing in organizational structure. The traditional definition of librarian should move to an information specialist. Parallel to this development, LIS education should be updated according to new trends in librarianship as well.

 

The new paradigm of collection management in university libraries

Asuman Tezcan 

INFO 266

Fall 2015 

The new paradigm of collection management in university libraries

Blanca, S. J. Montano, (2014) "The new paradigm of collection management in university libraries: from crisis to revolution", Collection Building, Vol. 33 Issue: 3

http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/CB-02-2014-0012

B. Montano in her article explains the transformation of the library collections in historical perspective. She summarizes the evolution of the library collections regarding composition, size, and diversity of items in different formats from paper to digital collections. According to her, parallel with these changes, the practice of the collection management have been affected in three fields: “expansion and change of traditional activities in collection management; enlargement and modification of agents involved; and fundamental mission of giving access to all information resources needed by actual or potential remote users”.

Evaluation: In her article, Montana points to the new trends in collection management. She emphasizes how a new understanding of “cooperation” and “collaborative management” became the essential part of collection management. As “living organisms” libraries have always faced with “change” and “improvement”. Today, improvements in information technologies push libraries toward “collaborative collection management” as a strategic goal.   

The First Library-Developed E-Book Interlibrary Loan System

Asuman Tezcan
INFO 266
Fall 2015

Litsey, R., Ketner K. (Vol 7, No1, 2015). "Occam's Reader: The First Library-Developed Ebook Interlibrary Loan System" Collaborative Librarianship. Retrieved December 11, 2015, from http://www.collaborativelibrarianship.org

Occam's Reader: The First Library-Developed Ebook Interlibrary Loan System

In this article, the authors explain the development of e-book interlibrary loan system. “Occam’s Reader”, e-book interlibrary system, was developed by ILL Librarians, IT staff from Texas Tech, and the University of Hawaii team. The pilot project began in 2014 with Springer and the Greater Western Librarian Alliance’s 33 member libraries. In 2015, new version of the system released as Occam’s Reader 2.0. So far, over 500 e-books have been exchange between GWLA members. Evaluation: In this article, the authors inform readers about the development of e-book interlibrary loan system. According to authors “Occam’s Reader” was the first initiative through partnership of different entities and this system enabled academic libraries to collaborate and cooperate together. I would like to read a bit more the new system's possible impacts on libraries collections in future. Generally speaking, this is an informative article.  

­Ramos, Kristan

INFO 266

Fall 2015

My how we have come a Long Way…

Abbott, J., Laskowski, M., Norman, M. (2015) A collection explosion: finding our collection roots and examining how we got from there to here. Collection Building, 34(4), pages 136-143. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/CB-07-2015-0013

[. . .] students could only take out a book in the name of the librarian or of a faculty member. As late as 1,896, no books could be taken from the room without a written order from a professor (Herron, 1926, p. 14).

I can’t imagine not having the freedom to check out a book or download a relevant PDF whenever I want to. This article was very eye opening in how far collection development and intellectual freedom have advanced over the years. Apparently student demand has helped bring us to progression and brought about change in collection development practices and policy.

How Many Copies Do You Really Need?

Choi Justin
INFO-266
Fall 2015

Gordon, M., Haack, A., Vernon, R., Saulter, T., & Shaw, D. (2014). Multiple Copies of Bestsellers in Public Libraries: How Much Is Enough?. Public Library Quarterly, 33(2), 145-154. doi:10.1080/01616846.2014.910725

The authors did a short 4 week study of libraries that had the best customer satisfaction to see what their ratio of books to holds were. They examined ratios in genres (fiction and non fiction), formats (print, e-book or audio book), and library size. The researchers picked several titles in both genres and tracked how popular they were. Their conclusions based on the data showed that the range in ratios varied, but not so much. Based on the ratios, they concluded that "most" public libraries are meeting patron demands. Of course with such a small sample size, it's hard to be 100% sure that "all" public libraries' system of multiple copies and holds requested does meet patron demands.

Ramos, Kristan

INFO 266

Fall 2015

 

What Kind of Library are you?

Inayatullah, S. (2014). Library futures: from knowledge keepers to creators 2014. The Futurist, 48(6). http://www.wfs.org/futurist/2014-issues-futurist/november-december-2014-vol-48-no-6/library-futures-knowledge-keepers-c

As we are learning about collection development and overseeing the various collections in library settings, whether it is a public physical building, a digital library, or a knowledge center library (non-traditional such as a historical society or private corporate library) we as librarians are marking historical space to help with the future.

This article is a great piece that made me think about my part as a future librarian or archivist and how I am currently a part of history in the making. Reading this article made me excited to be a part of technological history and at the same time made me wonder what kind of librarian I am going to be. As technology is more prevalent in library arenas today, so many non-traditional opportunities are becoming available. As the knowledge keeps flowing into library spaces, collection development will forever persevere!