Library Camp @ Syracuse, part 3

This is day #2 of the Library Camp and we'll be focusing on collection development. Technically today is called the Collection Development Conference. Our first speaker is Ed Shephard, who is the Head of Collection Development & Management at Binghamton (NY) University Libraries.

[Yes, today we have two keynote speakers as well as eight unconference breakout sessions, then a Reporting Session at the end of the day.]

His themes...first he thought of "Challenges in the Age of Libraries 2.0," but then based on the discussions yesterday, he has selected "Adapt & Adopt." He is not going to talk about the traditional challenges that libraries face in collection development. Instead he going to talk about the new challenges (overall decisions and duties).

The "business" of collection development:

• The business models -- used within the industry (publishers) -- keep changing. This is shifting under our feet all the time (quick sand):
• Cost shift
  
• Shift from physical production to digital production
• From physical inventories to...
• In our services are being provided
• In libraries, we know do electronic maintenance of our collections, not just physical maintenance.
• From "check in" to "check on." We used to check-in print collections (serials), but now we need to check on our collections (electronic collections). Libraries need to shift their resources to work with their electronic collections, not with the print collections.
• At BU, the print serials are not placed on the shift; they are sent straight to the annex and available by request. That has created a new work flow within the library.
• Fair pricing models
• How do you come up with fair pricing models that take into account 24/7 access, etc., for publishers and libraries?
  
• FTEs, number of seats, consortial bundling
• Need to negotiate (which some librarians are not comfortable doing)
• Need to maintain access to paid content, which is crucial
• Licensing agreements dealing with interlibrary loan (ILL)
• Fair use in the electronic world
• The BIG DEAL
• One of the elephants in the room
  
• Must you take content you don't want in order to be part of the deal?
• Can NYS get to a point to where it is on the same model as Ohio or California?
• Political considerations
• Libraries cannot afraid to have several "big deal" packages
• The three big aggregators (for academic libraries) are EBSCO, Gale and ProQuest
  
• Bundling & unbundling
• A problem is when publishers pull out of a bundle in order to go out on their own
• Exclusive deals
• The Open Access / Non-profit movement
• Still in its infancy
  
• Archival integrity
• Left field future scenarios
• the disappearance of format as a crucial element
Library 2.0:

• What interactions can we make using Web 2.0?
• What are libraries doing? People ask the question at conferences as if doing informal environmental scans.
• Library 2.0 may be more developed in public and school environments, although making in-roads in the academic environment
• Increase communication and connection with users
• RSS feeds help people keep current with the literature (Current Contents, current awareness)
• On-demand provision
• New ways of receiving direct requests to the library
• What is the role of the user in collection development decisions?
• Turning ILL requests, for example, into actual purchases
• What level of review and approval is needed (and by whom)?
• Moving away from "just in case" model of collection development to "just in time."
• As print runs become smaller, will the book really be available when the demand occurs?
• Social tagging
• Faceting built upon some of the capabilities of the ILS. Helps the user see information differently.
• The lack of uniformity, defined vocabulary, unmediated -- could make this concept less useful to users.
• If unmediated, would it lead to an unwieldy mess? Can we maintain a balance.
• Is this better left to individuals to implement in their own information space, rather than being imposed on everyone? Could users (and their tags) be connected to each other, as appropriate? Do we have systems sophisticated enough to do this?
• Information provider services
• Putting you eggs in one basket
• What are the fiscal constraints? Are your decisions price driven or politically driven?
• Are their self-composed restraints (e.g., IP authentication)? Staffing? Expertise?
• Multiplicity of interfaces
• How many can we have?
• What is the role of federated search?
  
• Binghamton Univ. is using MetaLib
• Can libraries get providers to unbundle their content from their services?
• Search across multiple sources. Searching using one interface.
• There are limitations.
• Lowest common denominator searching.
• Archiving
  
• Serials and ebooks
• How long will vendors keep content available?
• Will they bail on archiving due to the lack of return on investment (ROI)?
• JSTOR
• Keeping track of who owns and has access to what.
• Repositories
• Implications on space and staff
• Local considerations
• Mostly "overcome-able" with time
• Browsability
• Can institutions share collections? While that may have a positive impact on cost, what does that do to browsing?
• People like the Amazon model of table of contents and sample text.
• Adding services (such as these) means adding costs.
Collection development needs to be sure that any cost savings are using to enhance services and the collection.

How will this affect the concept of "collection development"?

• "Building" a collection?
• Permanency?
• Content vs. services
• Financial sustainability



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