from collection development to content development: organization and staffing for the 21st century
TRANSCRIPT
FROM COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT TO CONTENT DEVELOPMENT: ORGANIZATION AND STAFFING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
Lea Currie and Sara E. Morris
University of Kansas
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS ENVIRONMENT
• New Chancellor & New Provost
• New Campus objectives
• Increase KU’s research output & overall reputation
• Decrease campus expenses
• Business practices= “Changing for Excellence”
• Strategic Plan = “Bold Aspirations”
“BOLD ASPIRATIONS”
• Energizing the educational environment
• Elevating doctoral education
• Driving discovery and innovation
• Engaging scholarship for public impact
• Developing excellence in people
• Developing infrastructure and resources
KU LIBRARIES RESPONSE: “STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS”
• Integrate information literacy, research skills, and information resources into the curriculum to enhance critical thinking, academic success, and lifelong learning
• Advance scholarship through proactive engagement in research and scholarly communication
• Strengthen KU Libraries’ position as an agile responsive organization capable of continual improvement and change
• Stabilize and grow existing funding sources, secure new funding opportunities, and enhance public accountability
SUBJECT EXPERTISE VS GENERALISTS
• For over 30 years, KU had operated with a system of subject bibliographers
• The new model abandoned this idea by assuming that generalists could answer reference questions
• The majority of collections decisions did not always require subject expertise
• This is true for disciplines that are dependent on journal packages and approval plans
• A blanket collection development approach might work for the social sciences
• Some areas require subject knowledge that a generalist cannot provide
COMMON RESPONSIBILITIES FOR CONTENT DEVELOPMENT
Monitor the changing nature of collections
• The changing practice of scholarly communication in all disciplines
• The changing nature of higher education and programs at KU
• Trends within the field of collection development
• New formats of scholarly products
Collection Decisions
• Maintain awareness of curricular programs
• Monitor new faculty and research hires
• Manage approval plans
• Manage firm orders
• Select resources in all formats and platforms
• Consider scholarly communication patterns
COMMON RESPONSIBILITIES
• Collection maintenance
• Collaborate with other library units and centers
• Manage gifts by working with patrons to accept and review
• Provide specialized instruction
• Provide consultation services
• Participate in collaborative collection development projects
ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN
• Environmental Scan
• Understanding KU
• Understanding changing research habits and informational needs
• Collections to content
• Collection to User Focus
• Flexibility and agility in providing materials
• Not just focused on new materials
• WEST
• Retention and Storage
SUBJECT EXPERTISE
• World History
• Largest firm order fund
• Knowledge of publishers worldwide
• Western European languages
• Knowledge of ancient, medieval, Renaissance, and modern
• Visual Arts and History of Art
• European and Asian art
• Architecture
• Language proficiency (French, Italian, German, Dutch)
• Knowledge of European and Asian publishers and out-of-print providers
• Exhibition catalogs and catalog raisonnes
SUBJECT EXPERTISE
• English Literature• Knowledge of comparative literature, literature in translation, literary criticism,
poetry, and works of fiction
• Knowledge of small presses and publishers worldwide
• Language Proficiency – need French, German, Italian, and Dutch to purchase materials in the humanities
• Performing Arts• Emphasis on music
• Familiar with vendors who sell books, serials, DVD’s, CD’s, scores, streaming video and music, monumental sets, and play scripts
• Knowledge of older and contemporary composers
• Knowledge of musicology, music theory, performance, and history
OUTCOMES AND THE FUTURE
• Overall, collection development is more focused
• Make decisions easily and quickly
• Do not have to build the consensus of 30 plus people
• Acquisitions staff is not having to answer to 30 plus people
• The Provost approved the hiring of a new Visual Arts Librarian and a new Performing Arts Librarian
• The Head of Content Development has received collection development training in these areas to cover in the interim
OUTCOMES AND THE FUTURE
• Unknown future for World History and English Literature
• Smaller allocation for history?
• More materials set to come on approval
• New African Studies librarian can possibly help?
Most of our work today is deciding what materials we can afford to retain and what we must cancel
QUESTIONS ?
Lea Currie
Sara E. Morris