an embedded perspective on collection development

An Embedded Perspective

on Collection

Development

Calvin Wang and Olushola Abayomi, Arcadia University

[email protected], [email protected]

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

2:15-3:30 p.m. Seminar Session

Pennsylvania Library

Association

Annual Conference

September 28 – October 1,

2014

Lancaster, PA

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA.

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Calvin WangAssociate Professor

• M.S.L.I.S., Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, 2005.

• M.A.M.S., University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, 1989.

• B.A., Biology, University of Chicago, 1985.

• Member, Medical Library Association, 2005.

• Marathoner (3:57:14), 2014.

Calvin WangSciences Librarian

• At AU since 2005.

• Undergraduate Sciences: Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics.

• Graduate Sciences: Forensic Sciences, Genetic Counseling, Physical Therapy, Physician Assistants Program, Public Health.

• If that seems like a lot of subjects. Lobby on my behalf for another librarian:)

Barbara NodineProvost

• [email protected]

• 215-572-2924

• Arcadia University, 450 S. Easton Rd., Glenside, PA 19038-3295

Olushola “Shola” AbayomiGraduate Assistant

• M.B.A. candidate at Arcadia, anticipated 2015.

• Foundation certified in Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Service Management, Exin (Dutch), 2013.

• Certified Database Administrator, Oracle, 2009.

• B.Sc.L.I.S., Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria, 2008.

• Black belt, Taekwondo, 2006.

• What types of librarians are represented here?

• For how many people is the idea of embedding new?

• How many of you are embedded to some degree?

Introduction

• Embedded librarianship emphasizes meeting the information-searching needs of a target audience.

• Collection development emphasizes acquiring library resources.

• This session will consider how the two have come together for a sciences librarian at a medium-sized academic institution.

Abstract

• The presenters will describe both the drivers for developing a precisely-focused CD strategy and its implementation as it relates to print and electronic books.

• They will survey the literature and consider common ways of selecting books, then discuss how to identify specific needs of the clientele and increase awareness of the available resources.

• Participants from all library types are welcome.

Definitions of Embedded Librarianship

The state of being “‘an integral part to the whole,’ based on the geological definition of an embedded element.”Dene, Jezmynne. “Embedded Librarianship at the Claremont Colleges.” EmbeddedLibrarians: Moving Beyond One-shot Instruction. Eds. Cassandra Kvenild and Kaijsa Calkins. Chicago, IL: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2011. 219–228.

Definitions of Embedded Librarianship

“…A distinctive innovation that moves the librarian out of libraries and creates a new model of library and information work.”

“It emphasizes the importance of forming a strong working relationship between the librarian and a group or team of people who need the librarian’s information expertise.”Shumaker, David. "Defining Embedded Librarianship." The Embedded Librarian: Innovative Strategies for Taking Knowledge Where It's Needed. Medford, NJ: Information Today, Inc., 2012. 3-20. Print.

Concepts of Embedded Librarianship

“One of the best means of making a library popular is to mingle freely with its users, and help them in every way.” (Originally published in October 1, 1876.)Green, Samuel S. "Personal Relations Between Librarians And Readers." Library Journal 118.11 (1993): S4. Web. 18 Sept. 2014.


Shumaker, David. "Defining Embedded Librarianship." The Embedded Librarian: Innovative Strategies for Taking Knowledge Where It's Needed. Medford, NJ: Information Today, Inc., 2012. 3-20. Print.


• Embedded librarians are proactive: They use their close working relationships to identify needs and find solutions.

• They work as partners with and for teams to understand the team’s needs and address them in a customized way.

• Their work is evaluated by the impacts on the students, learning outcome or teams’ success and not by the number of transactions completed.


• They contribute to a team or an organization through customized, specialized, high-value-added information management and analysis.

• They develop a sophisticated understanding of the team’s domain.

Based on: Shumaker, David. "Defining Embedded Librarianship." The Embedded Librarian: Innovative Strategies for Taking Knowledge Where It's Needed. Medford, NJ: Information Today, Inc., 2012. 3-20. Print.


Based on: Shumaker, David. “What’s an Embedded Librarian?" The Embedded Librarian. David Shumaker, 13 April 2008. Web. 18 September 2014.

LOCATION

FUNDING

MANAGEMENT

PARTICIPATION

Variables and Degrees

CO

MPLE

TELY

S

EPA

RATED

CO

MPLE

TELY

EM

BED

DED


CD vs. IL

LISTA Search:

Terms Results

“embedded librarian” 102

“embedded librarian” AND TX collection 9

This presentation fills the gap.

Background

…A top-ranked private university offering bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. More than 4,000 students choose from among 80 fields of study. U.S. News & World Report ranks Arcadia University among the top tier of regional universities in the North.

Nationally recognized as a leader in study abroad and a pioneer in international education.

Grey Towers Castle

Bette E. Landman Library

106,000 print books. 105,000 ebooks.

Abstract




Project Introduction

• Arose out of overdue weeding effort.

• Goal was to focus purchasing.

• Focused on Biology collection.

• Centered on books students used for capstone work.

• Identified all books used in 2014 capstone papers.

Project Questions – Selected

• Do we need to weed more print books?

• How many electronic books does a library need relative to print?

• How much space does the library need to justify its print collection?

• What do students need?

Abstract




Literature Review – Selected

"By keeping a reference collection lean and relevant, librarians can make it more attractive to their patrons. It’s easier for patrons to find useful reference books when they’re not lost amid a crowd of unwanted materials.“Hellyer, Paul. “Reference 2.0: The Future of Shrinking Print Reference Collections Seems Destined for the Web.” AALL Spectrum. (2009): 24-27. Web. 7 March 2014.


“…They perceive reading from the computer or PDA screen as difficult. In these cases print books are still preferred for cover to cover reading.”

“…Where Springer has a large eBook-penetration… not only is usage growing dramatically…eBooks are even driving print book sales.”van der Velde, Wouter, and Olaf Ernst. “The Future of eBooks? Will Print Disappear? an End-User Perspective.” Library Hi Tech. 27.4 (2014): 570-583. Web. 20 March 2014.


“…There is a relationship between [print and electronic] formats when you compare aggregate circulations/accesses of books based within NetLibrary subject areas.”Slater, Robert. “E-books or Print Books, ‘Big Deals’ or Local Selections--What Gets More Use?” Library Collections, Acquisitions, and Technical Services. 33.1 (2009): 31-41. Web. 9 April 2014.

Project Questions – Selected

• Do we need to weed more print books?

• How many electronic books does a library need relative to print?

• How much space does the library need to justify its print collection?

• What do students need?

Answer:

It Depends.

Abstract




Common Tools in Collection Development

• Choice Cards

• Publishers’ catalogs

• Journal and magazine book reviews

• Database alerts

Abstract




Project Description

Title of capstone paper

# of books used

Capstone mentor

Title of book

AU owns

eBook

AU owns similar book

AU should buy

Project Analysis

• 81 biology capstone papers submitted.

• 1901 references listed.

• 57 books referenced (3 duplicated 2x or 3x). 3% of all references. Arguably low.

• 19 books owned by AU (33%).

• 10 are ebooks.

AU Owns eBook Have Similar

Worth Buying

Yes - 19

Yes - 10

No - 5Yes - 3

No - 2

Few - 3Yes - 2

No - 1

Some - 2Yes - 2

No - 0

No - 9

No - 3Yes - 2

No - 1

Few - 4Yes - 4

No - 0

Some - 2Yes - 1

No - 1

Tabulation of Books Used


Worth Buying

No - 38

No - 18Yes - 11

No - 7

Few - 10Yes - 10

No - 0

Some - 10Yes - 8

No - 2

Tabulation of Books Used

Explanation of Tabulation

• The figures in the 2 right columns “Have Similar” and “Worth Buying” were based solely on print books for the purpose of this presentation.

• “Few” means 1-3. “Several” means 4-7.

Analysis of Tabulation

• This was dependent upon an embedded knowledge of several years of capstone topics.

• Only 2014 is known empirically. 2013 and 2012 are next.

Discussion of Tabulation

• Use of this kind of data for CD decisions is meant to be suggestive not exhaustive.

• No one will make a decision tree based on it, but knowing the data will guide decision making.

Abstract





Worth Buying

Yes No Few Yes

Examples

Paper Title: How Parasitoid Wasps Learn To Find Their Hosts Using Chemical Signaling

Mentor: A population biology professor. Studies cellar spiders.

Book Referenced: Ecology: The Experimental Analysis of Distribution and Abundance. 2009.

Comment: This book was cited by 3 different students. Supplemental textbooks are valuable.


Worth Buying

No Yes Few Yes

Examples

Paper Title: Exon Skipping Therapy as a Treatment for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Mentor: A former medical doctor

Book Referenced: Muscular Dystrophy. 2000.

Comment: This is a popular disease to study perhaps because of a specific course. We own the 2008 edition as an ebook.


Worth Buying

Yes Yes No Yes

Examples

Paper Title: Sex Determination in Forensic Anthropology

Mentor: An instructor. Teaches a seminar on forensic anthropology.

Book Referenced: Forensic Taphonomy: The Postmortem Fate of Human Remains. 1997.

Comment: Forensic science is a graduate program that will be launching an undergraduate degree.


Worth Buying

No Few Yes

Examples

Paper Title: How Forest Fragmentation in the Temperate Zone Affects Survival and Reproduction of Nearctic-Neotropical Migratory Songbirds

Mentor: An aquatic biologist.

Book Referenced: The Natural Regulation of Animal Numbers. 1954.Comment: This is more broadly about species competition, a popular topic.


Worth Buying

No Some Similar

Examples

Paper Title: Altered Glutamate Metabolism Implicated in Induced Mice Prenatally Exposed to Valproic acid: Animal Model of Autism

Mentor: An molecular biologist.

Book Referenced: Alla Scoperta del Bambino Autistico. 1996.

Comment: This is an Italian language book on the popular topic of autism.

Haglund, William


Worth Buying

Yes Yes No No

Examples

Paper Title: Let’s Talk About Sexual Dimorphism: Analyses of the Underlying Mechanisms That Influence Sexually Dimorphic Traits


Book Referenced: The descent of man and selection in relation to sex. Darwin, Charles. 1871.Comment: This is a seminal book that the student cited. It is available freely via the Internet.


Worth Buying

No Google Some No

Examples

Paper Title: Subcellular localization of the STAT1 phosphatases TC45 and SHP-2 in CNS neurons exposed to interferon-gamma

Mentor: A former clinical virologist and research oncologist

Book Referenced: Medical dictionary for the health professions and nursing. 2012.

Comment: The student used an Internet dictionary for a definition.


Worth Buying

Yes Few No

Examples

Paper Title: Helminthic Suppression of Autoimmune Disease Symptoms

Mentor: A laboratory manager.

Book Referenced: The Hygiene Hypothesis and Darwinian Medicine. 2009.

Comment: This is an unusual take on a popular subject that references a specialized book.


Worth Buying

No No No

Examples

Paper Title: Helminthic Suppression of Autoimmune Disease Symptoms

Mentor: A laboratory manager.

Book Referenced: Pathogen-derived Immunomodulatory Molecules. 2009.

Comment: This is an unusual take on a popular subject that references a highly specialized book.


Worth Buying

Yes No No No

Examples

Paper Title: Pot-bellied Pig Protection Plan

Mentor: An ecologist.

Book Referenced: Guns, Germs, and Steel. 1996.

Comment: This is a non-fiction book about the fates of human societies. It was cited in a sentence about social hierarchy.

Haglund, William


Worth Buying

No No No

Examples

Paper Title: Mortality Due to White-Nose Syndrome in North American Bats


Book Referenced: Those Amazing Bats. 2012.

Comment: This is a juvenile book. It was cited in a sentence about legends and folklore. It is about a popular topic in bats.

Abstract




Discussion of the Project

• Some biology faculty members are aware of the citation analysis effort and its attention to p- and ebooks.

• Responses have been of skepticism. “Books are out of date.”

• The examples show that students legitimately consult and cite books, both print and electronic; sometimes for various purposes, including background development and illustration.


• Some students are not employing resources that are readily available to them. Perhaps the reason is laziness or lack of awareness.

• Other students are using available resources, but might benefit from more.

• Students are using print and electronic books.

• Enter the traditional IL facet of embedded librarianship. Edification can take place of both faculty and students.


• Existing collection building resources remain viable, however, the selection of appropriate books, both p and e is now more need-based rather than speculative.

Abstract




Group Discussion

• Envision professors as metaphors of community or business gatekeepers.

• Envision students as metaphors of library patrons.

• How can an embedded perspective help you analyze your collection and how well it serves your clientele?

• Can you envision a simple research initiative that could help you see their needs better?

Sharing Out

• What kind of effort might you like to try based on what you heard and what came out of the group discussion?

An Embedded Perspective

on Collection

Development

Calvin Wang and Olushola Abayomi, Arcadia University

[email protected], [email protected]

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

2:15-3:30 p.m. Seminar Session

Pennsylvania Library

Association

Annual Conference

September 28 – October 1,

2014

Lancaster, PA

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

an embedded perspective on collection development

Documents

embedded perspective

embedded element

library types

arcadia university

university of chicago

new model of library

medical library association

acquiring library resources