Library Collection Management Research Articles

Book Review: Building and Managing E-Book Collections: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians

Building and Managing Collections: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians. Edited by Richard Kaplan. Chicago: Neal-Schuman, 2012. 197 p. $75 softcover (ISBN: 978-155570-7767). How-To-Do-It Manuals. Intended for a broad audience of librarians at many different kinds of institutions, Building and Managing Collections provides a strong starting place to get an e-book collection program underway. The manual is divided into three parts: Part I: E-Books in Context; Part II: E-Books in Detail; and Part III: E-Books in Practice. Beginning with a history of e-books and perspectives from both publishers and libraries on the market for e-books, Building and Managing Collections continues with an overview of collection management from selection to assessment, and concludes with six examples of successful implementations at a wide range of institutions. Academic libraries--health science libraries in particular--are especially well represented by contributors. True to the manual's intent to appeal to a broad audience, however, the how-to chapters address concerns that would be faced by any library. In addition, editor Richard Kaplan has assembled case studies from professionals with experience in public libraries, school libraries, and publishing. Part I: E-Books in Context sets the stage. Although e-books are no longer newcomers to library collections, their business models, workflows, and service models are in flux. The relationship between libraries, publishers, and patrons in the ecology of e-books remains unsettled. Nadia J. Lalla in chapter 3, E-Book Publishing--The View from the Library, offers a framework through which all of the chapters that followed may be considered: As soon as the decision is made to purchase books in digital format for a library, a myriad of decisions must be made. Should e-books be purchased via a single exclusive publisher or a third-party vendor? What format will the e-book have? On which e-book platform will it appear? How should libraries acquire e-books? The answers to these questions can unexpectedly shape a library's collections and its future decisions regarding the funding of those collections. (23) In a period of ongoing transition, collection management decisions must be made with a long view. Part II: E-Books in Detail tackles pragmatic questions regarding the specific collection management activities of selecting, licensing, budgeting, cataloging, and assessing e-book collections. In addition, an entire chapter focuses on best practices for e-book collection management in public libraries. As a whole, this section presents the meat of the manual, that is, the chapters that will be most thumbed through over time. One topic that may have deserved its own chapter in the second section is the long-term preservation of e-books acquired in perpetuity, as opposed to those acquired by lease, since e-books present unique digital preservation concerns. …

A Comparison of the Citation Patterns of Doctoral Students in Chemistry versus Chemical Engineering at Mississippi State University, 2002–2011

This study compared subject focuses and uses of research materials in chemistry versus chemical engineering dissertations completed at Mississippi State University, 2002–2011. Unsurprisingly, journal articles and books were the dominant format of cited sources, and conference proceedings and web resources accounted for much of the remainder. Chemical engineering dissertations, however, showed a distinctively higher rate of citations to books. Moreover, chemistry students were notably more likely to cite older references. While the primary purpose of the article was to demonstrate how a local use study might be done, and despite the small sample sizes involved, the results may have some implications for library collection management in comparable schools offering doctorates in both fields.

Model for the centralized acquisition of collections in times of crisis

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how, in many cases, the conversion of analog collections to digital collections is still a paradigm shift with regard to the ownership, use and enjoyment of the collections.Design/methodology/approachThe paper discusses how the inclusion of digital collections has led to a new licensing model that has changed the financial management and administration of budgets for the purchase of collections, starting with the acquisition of scientific journals for specialized centers and extending to all types of resource materials.FindingsIn the traditional library collection management model, the documents deemed to be most suitable for the libraries were chosen title by title, and the amounts paid were based on the volume of titles chosen. In the analog model, this resulted in a large investment in similar collections in libraries located in close proximity to one another. In research centers and related universities, attempts were made to make coordinated purchases. However, in most cases purchases were made individually, meaning that costs, and specifically direct costs relating to usage, were very high for a usage of journals in the collection which in many cases was very sporadic. The introduction of purchasing consortia in the electronic environment has led to an increase in the collections of all entities, as well as the rationalization of spending on collections, which is more closely related to the needs of the entities' users. However, the use of such consortia should be more extended and rather than being limited to large libraries or institutions, they should be made available to medium‐sized groups of entities which can benefit from these instruments.Originality/valueIf the possibility of accessing resources were to be increased through these consortia, the author suggests that it would be of great interest to include diverse materials such as films and music, etc. that may be of interest to other type of institutions, such as those serving the general public.

Rare and Valuable Books in the Collection of Regional Central Library (example of the Nizhny Novgorod State Regional Universal Scientific Library named after V.I. Lenin)

There is analyzed the place of valuable and rare books within the library collections, using the example of the Nizhny Novgorod State Regional Library. There is described the experience in organization and management of library collections, the work of several structural subdivisions of the library with publications, having the features of book monument. Special attention is paid to the interaction of the main holders of the collection of valuable and rare publications - the Department of rare books and manuscripts and the main book depository.

The impact factor: its place in Garfield’s thought, in science evaluation, and in library collection management

This paper is a response to that of Vanclay, who proposes, that since the impact factor (IF) is so seriously flawed, Thomson Reuters should either correct the measure or--preferably--no longer publish it and restrict itself to journal certification. It is argued here that Vanclay's analysis is itself seriously flawed, because he appears totally ignorant of the thought structure of Eugene Garfield, IF's creator. As a result, Vanclay appears unaware of the importance of total cites and the close connection of IF with review journals, where the paradigms of science are defined. This paper's author agrees that IF is a defective measure, analyzing its defects from the perspective of the frequency theory of probability, on which modern inferential statistics is based. However, he asserts that abandoning it would be counterproductive because of its demonstrated ability--even with its defects--to identify small important journals like review journals, giving it an important role in science evaluation and library collection management.

Fine Art Collection Management in Urban Public Libraries

In addition to print, audio-visual, and electronic materials, many American public libraries own and manage museum-quality fine art collections. This descriptive study was designed to investigate collection-management practices employed by urban public libraries. For the purpose of this study, data were gathered from select library members of the Urban Libraries Council to investigate cataloging and collection-management methods. Data about presenting collection images online, within in-house exhibitions, and in traveling exhibitions were also collected. The research results indicate that urban public libraries managing fine art objects generally are not employing industry best practices for handling museum-quality fine art objects. The study results are significant because extensive research on fine art collection management in urban public libraries has not been conducted to date.

Book Review: Making a Collection Count: A Holistic Approach to Library Collection Management

Book Review: Making a Collection Count: A Holistic Approach to Library Collection Management

Local Citation Analysis of Graduate Biology Theses: Collection Development Implications.

This paper will focus on the citation analysis of graduate masters theses from Carleton University's Biology Department with implications for library collection management decisions. Twenty-five masters theses were studied to determine citation types and percentages, ranking of journals by frequency of citation and by number of authors citing, and by age range of journal citations. The researcher examined what percentages of journals were accessible through the local catalogue and conducted further analysis of specifics regarding unavailability. Journals were also ranked by subject specialty. Results indicate that although the library has many of the journal articles cited, knowing why a citation was unavailable is useful for establishing future purchasing needs. Although journal rankings are traditionally performed using total number of citations, the ranking by number of authors citing a source can make a difference when compiling core journal lists. The researcher concludes by discussing implications for collection development in times of fiscal constraint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Challenges and Possibilities for Collection Management in a Digital Age

This paper considers some of the major issues concerning collection management in academic libraries in a rapidly changing environment. Specifically, this paper reflects on core values, scholarly communication issues, acquisition activities, access and delivery issues, and innovation. The paper concludes with ideas for incorporating shifts in these areas into a sustainable, forward-looking approach to collection management.

Building and Managing a Digital Collection in a Small Library

The creation and management of digital library collections is a relatively new field of librarianship that nevertheless has produced a substantial literature. Because the development of digital information resources can be an expensive undertaking, it is not surprising that the institutional pioneers in digital development typically were large academic research libraries or federally funded agencies. As a result, librarians and information managers from such institutions have tended to dominate the professionaldiscourse on digitalization. At an April 2003 conference in Los Angeles presented by the Northeast Document Conservation Center, for example, the speakers were from Harvard University, Duke University, Cornell University, UCLA, the University of California–Berkeley, Columbia University, the Research Libraries Group, the National Archives and Records Administration,and the Library of Congress—hardly a representative cross-section of American libraries.1

A Collection of Importance: The Role of Selection in Academic Libraries

There has been little recent research into the roles and responsibilities of academic librarians in collection development in Australian universities. In 2007 the authors reviewed the findings of a 1994 study of collection management in Australian university libraries, examining current practice and taking into account the impact of technology over the past 13 years. Two models of responsibility for selection of monographic materials in Australian academic libraries were identified from the study and these are presented and compared with a generalised model of practice in academic libraries in the United States.

Moving from Book to E-book

ABSTRACT This article discusses the impact electronic books have had on collection management in academic libraries. Using the experience at University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV), the authors describe how the library incorporated e-books into its print book collection. The article also discusses the impact of e-books on areas such as selection and acquisitions, as well as the role of vendors in this emerging field of collection development. Finally, the authors compare and contrast collection assessment methods for print and electronic books. The article concludes with some observations regarding what comes next for libraries and e-book collections.

The Importance of Preserving Paper‐Based Artifacts in a Digital Age

The preservation of paper‐based artifacts is an essential issue for collection management in academic libraries. In recent years, the library science profession has often favored reformatting through microfilm or digitization, assuming too quickly that information matters, whereas an artifact’s medium does not. However, much recent humanities scholarship has demonstrated the significance of physical artifacts per se. In fact, it is often the most cutting‐edge scholarship on race, gender, and history that requires the physical artifact itself for research. Although librarians obviously cannot save every physical artifact, any decision on which artifacts to preserve, deaccession, or reformat (and, for that matter, on how to reformat) requires an understanding of the importance of the original physical format. Since texts acquire meaning through an intricate interplay between physical form and abstract information, the reduction of texts to abstract information alone evinces a misunderstanding of the artifacts in our care and an inadequate theory on which to base preservation decisions.

Bibliotecas virtuais e desenvolvimento de coleções: o caso dos repertórios de sites web

A avaliação de sites Web e dos diferentes recursos eletrônicos constitui um campo de trabalho cada vez mais importante para o bibliotecário realizar a gestão e o desenvolvimento de coleções em bibliotecas. Este artigo pretende mostrar como o bibliotecário pode intervir em todas as etapas do processo de criação de uma biblioteca virtual, a partir da elaboração de uma política de desenvolvimento de coleções eletrônicas até a organização ergonômica dos recursos, passando pela determinação, seleção e avaliação dos sites Web.

Evolving paradigm and challenges of collection management (CM) in university libraries of Pakistan

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore some major challenges in the area of collection management faced by university libraries in Pakistan.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology includes a literature review and a survey of university libraries in Pakistan in 2004.FindingsThe challenges regarding collection management in university libraries in Pakistan are: handling the hybrid character of collections, service to users, training of collection management staff, collection evaluation, resource sharing and preservation.Originality/valueThis paper provides an example of the challenges of university libraries in a developing country which must plan and develop a customized paradigm of library service which combines the traditional and modern services.

DMCA, CTEA, UCITA … Oh My! An Overview of Copyright Law and Its Impact on Library Acquisitions and Collection Development of Electronic Resources

SUMMARY The purpose of traditional copyright law was to encourage the creation of works based on and to ensure reasonable access to original thought. Despite this harmonious intent, an intrinsic tension exists between libraries and copyright holders, as the former promotes “free” access to information that ultimately reduces the income of the latter. The expansion of copyright laws to electronic documents has shifted the balance between these two interests. This article discusses recent copyright legislation and case law as well as provides an overview of the practical effects of these laws on day-to-day library acquisitions, collection development, and collection management activities.

Periodicals collection management

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine Providence College's experience in organizing, creating, and implementing the library's collection management system.Design/methodology/approachThe paper discusses the need for and the development of a collection management system to help make decisions regarding the cancellation and retention of periodical titles.FindingsThe collection management system provided the librarians with information required to integrate the periodicals collection. It allows the academic departments to manage the periodical titles in their respective areas and to make decisions about which periodical titles they would like the library to subscribe or to cancel. It allows the library to inventory the collection.Originality/valueThe paper provides insight into the integration of a collection management system and would be useful to those involved in that field who are looking to follow suit.

Collection management in Oxford art libraries – high rise or deep six?

The Oxford University Library Services, with its millions of volumes and extensive electronic resources covering all subject areas, is going through a lengthy process of consolidation and rationalisation at every level. Increasing pressures on space and budgets have forced the issue. Art history is a small component. However libraries and collections covering the visual arts have been at the forefront of this process by virtue of the establishment of the new Sackler Library. The system continues to evolve on all fronts, including collection development, integration of existing libraries into fewer sites, new offsite storage facilities and increasing reliance on electronic resources.

The Benefits and Drawbacks of Impact Factor for Journal Collection Management in Libraries

An overview and analysis of the Journal Citation Reports'impact factor is provided here. The historical development, calculation of, and alternatives to impact factor are briefly described. Nine general uses of impact factor, including library collection management decisions, journal rankings, journal decision models, and full-text database evaluation, are discussed. Ten benefits, such as its well-established authority, are listed. Finally, more than a dozen criticisms of citation data in general (e.g., self-citations are counted) and impact factor specifically (e.g., problems with the formula for its calculation) are analyzed. The author concludes that impact factor, if used appropriately and in combination with other criteria, is a valid tool that can assist journal collection management decisions in research libraries.

Collection management in the electronic environment

Describes briefly the impact of Information Technology on collection management in libraries and also on the librarian's role. Discusses the factors affecting collection management in libraries and emphasizes the need for change in collection management policy. Provides information about the availability of various electronic formats such as online sources, CD‐ROMs, Internet sources and Web sites along with criteria to evaluate them. Discusses the usefulness of subject gateways and compares pricing structures of different e‐sources.