Collections

Topic:

Lead regional and national efforts to shape cooperative collections and related services.

Themes:

  • Improving Communications About our Successes – Many highly successful and high impact programs are not well known in the Library or on campus. Our engagement with the CIC in terms of collections and the Shared Print Repository are beneficial in excess of cost, but not well known or understood. Likewise for HathiTrust and CARLI – including the ILS replacement, Last Copy Program, etc…. In general, there is a feeling that we need to promote ourselves more effectively – highlighting our successes, promoting what we have, do, etc….
  • Making collections more action-orientation and user-centered – It was discussed that there are differences in perception of need versus actual need. In the world of collective collections, the first user of a resource is not always the local user. Consequently, in the acquisition and delivery of print collections, there is a greater need to document and communicate that while also acknowledging that being completely evidenced-based (in-time acquisitions vs. in-case acquisitions) could conflict with our broader collecting mission and role as a steward of cultural heritage. The piloting of PDA programs has provided useful information that needs to be brought into the mainstream of collecting. By centralizing funding in these programs so that they address evidence of need centrally, we can free subject specialists to work on instruction, liaison, esoteric collecting, etc…
  • Developing resources to support collecting programs – A disconnect exists between collecting and supporting such activities, and it needs to be better addressed. Collecting more specialized resources without providing adequate support for the actual work necessary to make such resources discoverable will result in frustrating outcomes. Collecting more unique items is good, but we need personnel to support access for these acquisitions.

Stakeholders (Groups):

  • Campus community (faculty, staff, scholars, students).
  • CDC, Subject Specialists, etc….
  • Technical Services Units.
  • Other users in Illinois (other universities and CARLI members).

Hiring Plan Impact:

Continued need to support positions that deliver on access needs of resources.

Adjacencies with other Topical Areas:

  • Master plan
  • Education and Training
  • Experts – Subject Specialists (Liaison) Groups…