Curating and Accessing Off-Site Special Collections: Area Studies Materials and High-Density Storage

The ongoing growth of academic, public, and special libraries collections around the world, combined with limited physical space and budget constraints, has prompted university administrators and librarians to create and implement plans for storage facilities, often high-density in nature and off-site (not housed in the same building or location as other library materials). This article provides an analysis of area studies materials at the Oak Street Library Facility and the implications for long-term access to and care of vernacular language materials at academic libraries.     

Storage of Legacy Print Collections: The Views of Australasian University Librarians

This article reports on the results of a qualitative survey conducted with seven managers of university libraries from Australia and New Zealand. The purpose of the survey was to explore both library responses to, and librarians’ attitudes toward, issues related to the long-term storage and management of legacy print collections. There is a focus on issues related to future planning for print storage, including the prospects for collaborative storage; the balance between on-site and off-site storage; the impact of mass-digitization programs; and the desirability of collaboration outside the university library sector.     

A Systematic Plan for Managing Physical Collections at the University of Arizona Libraries

To address the lack of space for continued expansion of the collections, the University of Arizona Libraries have developed a systematic process and timeline for the ongoing management of the physical collections of information resources. This article discusses the evaluative criteria and parameters for deselection that were developed and demonstrates how they were integrated into a 5-year plan for managing the collections. The process was designed to have the least negative impact on our customers while allowing for the flexible use of physical space. The article will also highlight the successes and challenges of developing and implementing the plan.     

Assessing University Library Print Book Collections and Deselection: A Case Study at The National University of Ireland Maynooth

This article discusses an assessment and deselection project of the modern print book collections in the John Paul II Library, National University of Ireland Maynooth. Following a contextual introduction and literature review, the article outlines the methodology, presents and discusses the results, and concludes with lessons learned. Although this project had its origins in planning for a major extension to the Library, its main aim was to ensure current and relevant print book collections. The purpose of the article is to share experience in the hope of it being useful to other libraries considering a review of print book collections.     

Providing Access and Preservation Services to Collections in Remote Storage Facilities

ABSTRACT

As libraries continue to acquire, catalog, and preserve paper-based collections, and the early promise of digital technologies to put everything online has not yet been fully realized, the need to physically retain little used analog collections has intensified. Thus a growing trend in the field of academic and public libraries is an increased awareness of the importance of remote storage facilities (RSF). A recent American Library Association meeting featured speakers who were involved with such a facility. The speakers offered tips and hints on surviving and even thriving in one successfully. The authors of this article hope that by documenting the highlights of these presentations, other librarians and staff in the planning, construction, or implementation phase of a RSF will be better prepared for the challenges and difficulties they will face when trying to provide access to and physically maintain a collection geographically distant from their main library.     

Using WorldShare Collection Evaluation to Analyze Physical Science and Engineering Monograph Holdings by Discipline

Academic libraries are challenged with managing collection budgets for purchasing multidisciplinary ebook packages while equitably distributing funds for print and electronic monographs across subjects. McGill Library's science and engineering monograph holdings were analyzed using OCLC's WorldShare Collection Evaluation (WCE). Researchers mapped Conspectus subject divisions and categories to relevant university departments and evaluated holdings in comparison with department metrics to provide a fuller picture for collection development decision making. Findings show that WCE can be used in combination with circulation data and enrollment and staffing numbers to provide insight into the purchasing and use patterns of monographs down to the department level.     

Creating a Statewide JSTOR Repository: Initial Steps Taken by the Florida State University System

In Florida, the State University Libraries deans have chosen to take a two-pronged approach to addressing limited physical capacity in their facilities: developing a statewide storage facility and deduplicating print serial titles. The initial efforts in the state have focused on titles included in the Journals in Storage electronic collections. Specifically, the collaboration between the University of Florida and Florida State University is the focus of this article. The background information, efforts made, lessons learned, and jobs still to be done will each be given more attention, with the intent of providing a starting point for other institutions considering similar initiatives.     

Frog Voices,Whispers, and Silences: Problems and Issues in Collecting for an African Studies Library in Africa

SUMMARY

This article is an attempt to respond to two questions about discrete special African studies collections in African university libraries. First, do we need to have such collections at all? Second, if we do, how can we write collection development policies that make sense, given the present turmoil in African studies and indeed in the social sciences in general? Librarians have a responsibility to recognise that their practice cannot be value-free, and that their collections are biased by the choices made by writers, by publishers, and by themselves. Their duty, especially in Africa, may simply be to ensure that African voices are not drowned out in their collections.     

Access to Online Historical Aerial Photography Collections: Past Practice,Present State,and Future Opportunities

The authors review how access to historical aerial photograph collections has evolved in response to technological developments and addresses areas for further advancement, with a particular emphasis on developing, preserving, and sustaining online collections. The authors focus specifically on the areas of metadata, the Semantic Web and linked data, and sustainability through collaboration. The article includes brief case studies, highlighting various projects involving the aerial photography collections at the University of Minnesota. The conclusion asserts the critical role played by geographic information librarians in effectively carrying out the strategies described in the article as they relate to the long-term sustainability of digital geospatial collections.     

A Foundation for Change: Using Challenges and Opportunities as Building Blocks for Collection Management

Abstract

Large-scale collection management represents not just opportunities in terms of space, budgets, and personnel but also an important responsibility for the library’s ability to provide quality service and access to knowledge in the future. Libraries must address many challenges when managing collections, but by taking advantage of opportunities when presented, libraries can improve access for today and tomorrow. Using the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as an example, this article will explore how opportunities like high-density storage, shared print initiatives, digitization efforts, and mass deduplication can address challenges facing libraries and improve current and future access to collections.     

Slavic and East European Collections at the University of Toronto Library: From the Great Fire to the Deep Freeze, 1890−1948

ABSTRACT

This article explores the history of the Slavic and East European collection at the University of Toronto Libraries from the great fire of 1890 to the beginning of the Cold War. The author contextualizes the history in relation to the development of Russian studies at the University, and the creation of a formal program of Slavic studies in 1949. Particular emphasis is placed on gifts and bequests of library material.     

Promoting a Juvenile Awards Approval Plan: Using Collaboration and Selected Projects for Improved Visibility and Findability to Promote Juvenile Collections in Academic Libraries

This article describes a project to promote an approval plan for purchasing award-winning juvenile books. The overall project utilizes a combination of projects for promoting awareness and use of the awards books and the juvenile collection in general. The promotion plan includes collaborative work with teacher education faculty, projects to increase the visibility of the juvenile collection in the library, and projects to improve the findability of the juvenile books via the online catalog and an online subject guide. Initial assessment of the plan indicates some success with increased book circulation and increased use of the online guide.     

Using Subject Guides to Support Curriculum and Patient Care: A Multipronged Approach

Even though the library subscribes to numerous valuable health science resources, many e-books are not being used by clinicians, researchers, and students. Because these resources are bundled in various packages that often do not show up in federated searches, making them more discoverable is important. At the same time, the cost of textbooks is increasingly burdensome for students. Using authoritative lists and metrics to evaluate these resources while also seeking faculty input to include the best resources in subject guides may not only benefit the faculty and students but also aid in promoting library resources.     

Building Faculty Support for Remote Storage: A Survey of Collection Behaviors and Preferences

A seismic retrofitting project required the UCSB Library (University of California, Santa Barbara) to permanently reduce its on-site collections by 120,000 volumes. To accomplish this successfully, a strong collaboration with the faculty was essential. This article describes a planning process in which the library worked with a faculty committee to implement a campus-wide survey of faculty and graduate students regarding their behaviors and preferences in accessing and using the collections. The survey outcomes informed a common understanding of which physical materials should remain on-site and which could be moved to storage with the least impact on research and teaching.