Collection Development Responsibilities Research Articles

Communication between Technical Services and Subject Librarians: An Exploratory Study

ABSTRACT This study explored communication between technical services departments and subject librarians. Librarians with subject collection responsibilities at the University of Tennessee Libraries were invited to participate in focus groups and complete a follow-up survey about their experiences, perceptions, and opinions related to their collection development responsibilities. Significant themes emerged around communication, training, and expectations for collection development responsibilities. These themes are heavily informed by the expressed (and often assumed) importance of shared expectations and the impact of communication. Understanding the expectations and internal communication that underlies these themes can provide insight into how to better work toward a shared goal across departments.

Management: A Cursory Marketing Analysis of Faculty Book Ordering

Library liaisons can have full plates, as they juggle instruction, outreach, and collection development responsibilities in their work with academic departments. A challenge of these roles can be engaging faculty as partners. In this column, Stephen K. Johnson describes his effort to enlist faculty in the book-ordering process. He explains the creative approach he took and the results derived—along with why it matters.—Editor

A No-Budget, In-House, Staff-Led Professional Development Model

From September 2015 through January 2016, the staff of the Gelman Library Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) at The George Washington University (GW) participated in a staff-designed and -led professional development discussion series. The group met four times and included both SCRC staff who had collection development responsibilities and those who had none. In addition, several librarians from outside of the SCRC joined the group. Participants read and discussed seminal articles about collection development, reviewed aspects of current collection development activities, and drafted a collection development policy template that is now used by all SCRC curatorial staff. Responses to a survey following the series as well as participants’ informal comments indicated that the series met its stated goals. As of June 2016, the majority of the SCRC collecting areas had posted new collection development policies online using the template drafted by series participants. Furthermore, this series captured and focused the existing collaborative and collegial atmosphere in the GW libraries system and led to other partnerships and innovations.

How to Build a High-Quality Library Collection in a Multi-Format Environment: Centralized Selection at University of Wyoming Libraries

ABSTRACTIn recent decades, the composition of academic library collections has shifted toward electronic formats, resulting in a more complicated publication landscape to be navigated by selectors. Additionally, the workload of public services librarians has become more weighted toward instruction and research support, putting more pressure on the time of liaison librarians tasked with collection development responsibilities. These shifts have prompted academic institutions, including University of Wyoming Libraries, to consider a restructuring of collection development responsibilities. This article describes the evolution and implementation of a centralized model of selection at UW Libraries.

Aggregators: Cornerstone or Annex?

With the goal of building a high quality academic library collection in mind, the Serials Librarian and the Collection Assessment Librarian at Middle Tennessee State University evaluated the value of journal content accessed through a journal aggregator database. Data from EBSCOhost, UlrichsWeb, and Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) Journal Citation Reports were used to evaluate content with respect for subject, quality, and coverage. An important goal of the project was to share the analysis with library liaisons in an effort to assist them with collection development responsibilities. The analysis raises questions about the relationship between discovery, access, and collection development.

Developing Humanities Collections in the Digital Age: Exploring Humanities Faculty Engagement with Electronic and Print Resources

This article is based on quantitative and qualitative research examining humanities scholars’ understandings of the advantages and disadvantages of print versus electronic information resources. It explores how humanities’ faculty members at Florida State University (FSU) use print and electronic resources, as well as how they perceive these different formats. It was carried out with the goal of assisting the authors and other librarians in choosing between electronic and print formats when performing collection development responsibilities.

Primed for Patron-Driven Acquisition: A Look at the Big Picture

The development of patron-driven acquisition (PDA) as a viable collections practice is encouraging many academic libraries to be proactive about sharing significant collection development responsibilities with their patrons. The adoption of PDA represents a challenge to some long-held understandings about libraries and collections, however, and some libraries are still assessing this option. Further, questions about PDA and its fit with academic libraries are just now being answered. An examination of some of the shifting understandings in this area of librarianship and their relation to PDA provides a snapshot of the big picture, which may assist libraries with the decision-making process.

Enhancing the information literacy classroom experience: A cataloger and a reference librarian team up to deliver library instruction

This article examines the collaborative teaching approaches between a cataloger and reference librarian. It discusses the role of instruction in liaison and collection development work, skills required to teach information literacy classes, and reviews case studies that inform the question of what skills and roles these two fields of librarianship contribute to information literacy instruction. Case studies describe the cooperative teaching partnership, examine each librarian's contribution to the collaborative effort, and discuss the benefits of partnering with other colleagues. Moreover, this study suggests liaison duties that include collection development responsibilities are enhanced by participating in instructional activities for assigned academic departments.

Enhancing the information literacy classroom experience

This article examines the collaborative teaching approaches between a cataloger and reference librarian. It discusses the role of instruction in liaison and collection development work, skills required to teach information literacy classes, and reviews case studies that inform the question of what skills and roles these two fields of librarianship contribute to information literacy instruction. Case studies describe the cooperative teaching partnership, examine each librarian's contribution to the collaborative effort, and discuss the benefits of partnering with other colleagues. Moreover, this study suggests liaison duties that include collection development responsibilities are enhanced by participating in instructional activities for assigned academic departments.

The Flow State

RUSA is an oddity. Usually institutions fall into one of two categories: Either the sum of its parts is greater than the whole, or the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Think about Congress, the UN, or a car manufacturing line. In each case, either the total institution is more important than its parts, or the parts are what make the institution shakily hold together. RUSA is in a perfect state of balance--its parts are its whole and its whole is its parts. We, as the current word likes to portray, are at that happy point when everything works and innovation, creativity, and effort are in perfect sync: We are in a state of flow. Flow is a funny thing. It is fragile; a tiny tilt right or left and it is lost. It is elusive; go looking for it and you will never find it. But once attained, it is self-generating. The kind of effort and outcome that is achieved through flow keeps feeding back into the flow state. The flow-state generators, in RUSA's case, are the sections. RUSA has six sections, and each provides a place for energy and creativity to regenerate the division. In celebration of the lifeblood of RUSA, talked to its section chairs about their sections and the future of the profession. The six sections of RUSA seem to address very different elements of librarianship, so my first question was, what made you join RUSA and your section? Michael Levine-Clark, chair of the Collection Development and Evaluation Section (CODES), stressed that at first RUSA fit his job and then over time he found RUSA kept him connected as he grew professionally. At the time that joined CODES, was a reference librarian with collection development responsibilities. was very interested in collection development issues and looked for places within ALA where could fit those interests. As a reference librarian, very much valued the connection between public service and collection am now head of collection development, with no reference responsibilities whatsoever, but still value the way that reference/public service can inform and be informed by collection development. Each chair agreed. Judy Solberg, chair of the Reference Services Section (RSS), finds that the mix of reference and public service just worked for her: I joined RUSA because of its focus on reference and user services. My library career has been focused on public services. started my career as a reference librarian. RUSA offered programs and discussion groups that were relevant for my day-to-day work life. From the answers of each chair, it is clear that all of us, no matter specialty, appreciate and value that RUSA approaches librarianship from a user-oriented service point of view. It is that philosophy of service, and holistic approach to the profession, that is the glue that melds six different sections of RUSA together. Following up on that, asked the chairs, what is the best thing about your section? got back a resounding our members! David Lincove, chair of the History section (HS), says the best thing about his section is the opportunities to meet colleagues from across the country and engage in discussions about common interests. The HS offers programs that draw many people because of the widespread interest in history and genealogy research, teaching, reference, new resources, and collection development. Rosemary Meszaros, chair of the Machine-Assisted Reference Section (MARS), agrees librarians from every type of library, from all parts of the country, and all with a keen interest in sharing their expertise and learning from others is the strength of MARS. Stephanie Atkins, chair of the Sharing and Transforming Access to Resources Section (STARS), finds the same thing, I am always so impressed with the wealth of knowledge and expertise of STARS members--and most importantly, their willingness to share information. There are many high-profile activities in each section, such as the Reading List in CODES and RSS's Reference and Research Forum, but there are many hidden gems as well. …

“One Day It’ll All Make Sense”: Hip-Hop and Rap Resources for Music Librarians

This bibliographical essay describes a wide array of resources relating to hip-hop culture and rap music, including definitions and overviews, bibliographies, discographies, encyclopedias, historical and biographical information, articles and databases, sound and video recordings, lyrics, information about rap songs, hip-hop terminology and slang, photographs, Web sites, and research collections. The final section is devoted to collecting hip-hop and rap materials for libraries. While the essay is primarily intended to serve as a guide for music librarians who provide reference service and library instruction, and to those with collection development responsibilities, it may also prove useful to educators, students, and those beginning to conduct research on hip-hop or rap.

The Dilemma for Academic Librarians with Collection Development Responsibilities: A Comparison of the Value of Attending Library Conferences versus Academic Conferences

Due to limitations imposed on professional travel, librarians with collection responsibilities must often choose between attending library conferences or relevant academic conferences. An illustrative comparison of the limitations and advantages of the American Library Association annual meeting and the annual conference of the American Political Science Association reveals that neither type of event can be responsibly ignored. Strategies for resolving this dilemma are suggested.

A Citation Study of the Characteristics of the Linguistics Literature

By analyzing the citation patterns of the linguistics literature, the authors provide a bibliometric description of the discipline that will help librarians who have reference, instruction, or collection development responsibilities in this area understand it better. One important aspect of such an understanding is determining where linguistics classifies within the humanities, the social sciences, and the sciences. Based on several of the citation patterns discovered, namely the importance of recent publications to the field, and the prominence of journals as a primary vehicle of scholarly communication, this analysis concludes that linguistics more closely resembles the disciplines of the social sciences.

Citation Analysis for Collection Development: A Comparative Study of Eight Humanities Fields

This study analyzes 9,131 citations from the 2002 volumes of journals in eight humanities fields: art, classics, history, linguistics, literature, music, philosophy, and religion. This study found that citation patterns varied widely among humanities disciplines. Due to these differences, it is important for librarians with humanities collection development responsibilities to consider each field separately when making collection development decisions. The authors investigated the language of sources cited in each field. Foreign language citations continue to be dominated by French and German. This study also confirms that, in most humanities disciplines, monographs remain the dominant format of cited sources, although some fields cited monographs less frequently than expected.

Book selection responsibilities for the reference librarian: professional benefit or burden?☆

Full-time bibliographers are not common in smaller and medium sized academic libraries. In this setting, reference librarians typically serve as selectors of books and other library material. However, reference librarians for the most part are hired to perform public service duties revolving around a busy reference desk. In the past few years, additional responsibilities have been added to the reference librarians’ workload, making it difficult to perform collection development duties. Acquisitions and collection development librarians are frequently frustrated at how reference librarians seemingly put off or defer their collection development responsibilities. However, there are ways to utilize reference librarians in a collection development team and help them become effective part-time bibliographers.

The regulation of hate speech on college campuses and the Library Bill of Rights

This article examines whether or not there is a fundamental conflict between the Library Bill of Rights' support of free speech and a college or university's institutional regulation of hate speech. The author discusses legal and social issues surrounding hate speech regulation, examines possible links with library collection development responsibilities, and offers suggestions as to what role librarians can play in seeking solutions when an institutional policy runs counter to the principles of free expression embraced by the library.

Performance Evaluation of Collection Development and Acquisitions Librarians

Collection development and acquisitions activities are of great and critical importance to libraries. Likewise, performance evaluations in libraries are deemed to be critical; a great deal of time, energy, and emotion is spent on this library activity. Although such importance is attached to both collection development/acquisitions activities and personnel evaluations, little has been written on the link between the two; how to evaluate effectively those with collection development and acquisitions responsibilities. There is a continuing need for thoughtful and constructive evaluation of those who select, acquire, and manage library collections. These evaluations need lo be geared to the responsibilities and expectations of such individuals, rather than to the librarians' general performance.

Collection Assessment Using the RLG Conspectus

Collection development responsibilities can be difficult for newly hired librarians who lack an awareness of the existing collection and the needs and interests of the population to be served. To alleviate this problem at the University of Arizona Library, a collection assessment tool using the RLG Conspectus scheme is proposed. A model format is developed using General and Plant Ecology (QH540-549, QK901-938) LC Class collection as the evaluation area. Categories of information included in the conspectus format are curriculum, faculty research, identified emphasis areas, collection evaluation levels, and current collecting intensity in the sample study area. The developmental process involved is a good training methodology for newly hired librarians. The final product can be used as a source of current information for collection development judgments.

Collection Development in Alabama's Academic Libraries

This study of the collection development practices in five of Alabama's academic libraries shows that a variety of methods of collection building and management have emerged as a result of different traditions and emphases in the state's libraries supporting higher education. Its findings are the result of interview and questionnaire responses from librarians who have collection development responsibilities in academic libraries in both public and private institutions. Because missions and user needs differ among the libraries as well as among their institutions, the patterns of collection development activities differ accordingly. It is on the differences in collection development techniques among these five libraries that this study concentrates.

Library Reference Collections in Home Economics:

Due in large part to the interdisciplinary nature of the profession, Home Economics reference collections are often difficult to develop, maintain, and assess. Collection development responsibilities are usually divided among several librarians across the broad spectrum of the social sciences, humanities, and applies sciences. To help ensure basic and balanced collections, a "core" bibliography of home economics reference sources is provided. The included works are listed alphabetically under the broad categories of "Indexes and Abstracts," "Dictionaries and Encyclopedias," and "Handbooks and Sourcebooks." This bibliography should be used as a starting framework for a basic home economics reference collection. Individual libraries might further develop specific subject areas to support their own institution's needs.