Canadian Library Association Meeting: Pre‐conference on Collections 2006: Collections, Communities, and the Future
| Published date | 01 September 2006 |
| Pages | 3-4 |
| Date | 01 September 2006 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07419050610713646 |
| Author | Julia Gelfand |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
Canadian Library Association Meeting:
Pre-conference on Collections 2006:
Collections, Communities, and the Future
Julia Gelfand
LIBRARY HITECH NEWS Number 8 2006, pp. 3-4, #Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 0741-9058, DOI 10.1108/07419050610713646 3
The Canadian Library Association
held its 61st annual meeting in Ottawa,
June 14-17, 2006. One of the pre-
conferences held was on Collection
Development and Katrina Strauch,
Head Librarian for Collection
Development, at the College of
Charleston Libraries presented the
session she titled, ``Quality, quicksand,
or quagmire?: A conversation about the
evolving science of collection
development.'' She started her
presentation with the statement, ``We
no longer build book collections. We
build computer networks.''
The period under review paralleled
Strauch's own career beginning in the
1970s when correcting selectric
typewriters were the state of the art and
OCLC was being born. The next decade
she described as ``where automation
was the byword.'' Library acquisitions
systems were also at an early infancy
stage and librarians were discovering
business dealings that demonstrated
price differentiation of journal titles in
different markets. Better support
systems came into being, and
professional development had to cater
to the changes in the workplace due to
advances in technology. New
professional literature peaked with
Marcia Tuttle's Newsletter on Serials
Pricing Issues and Strauch's own
journal, Against the Grain debuted in
1989. Mergers and acquisitions became
common, there was ``much talk about
the big conglomeration of publishers,''
and Faxon as a supplier went out of
business.
The electronic marketplace hit its
stride in the 1990s and it was chronicled
by Christian Boissonnas at Cornell who
started Acqnet, soon to be followed by
other listservs addressing the specific
needs of Serials and Collection
Development. Ann Okerson, then at the
Association of Research Libraries
began the Directory of Electronic
Journals, Newsletters and Academic
Discussion Lists. The economics of
publishing became a special interest
and activities like serial cancellation
were well documented. The concept of
open access was explored and now well
into the twenty-first century, we are
continuing the exploration.
Today, our vocabulary expands to
include works like, metadata, digital
image libraries, eBooks, licensing,
license agreements, end users,
scientists, privacy, other forms of
publishing, archiving, clickstreams, etc.
Owing to all this, our assumptions
according to Strauch have changed and
we are asking many more complicated
questions that test who our users are, the
new search engines, why we are
collecting what we do, how do we
handle it, immediate needs versus those
of the future.
Living in the future has become
central to the role of a collection
development librarian, anticipating
format changes, how the collection
policy will reflect what we do, will we
own or lease, and a myriad of other
questions and dilemmas that face one
every day. Strauch says the ``key is not
to think only about the patron. Also,
think about the subject area that you are
collecting in. Try to select the best
resources within your area.'' She shared
how she was influenced by a 2004
presentation made by Michael Keller at
the Charleston Conference when he
spoke of ``the need to `rethink'
collection development and pointed to
`threads' we need to `ingest' as
collection developers ± to retreat from
the big deal, open access as a cure for
all and do not miss emerging cultural
artifacts and genres.'' Strauch suggests
that progress has been made in the last
three years as those engaged in
collection development learn to
distinguish between fad and trend.
If the future is strong for those so
involved in collection development, the
activities like selection and increasing
customization for the user will be more
plentiful. A greater emphasis on
creating metadata for electronic
resources and improved methods of
federated searching will thus follow.
The key to any success is to better
understand the library user and respond
to their needs and offer safe, reliable
preservation. Merging technologies
may still be a bumpy road but Strauch
offers a very optimistic viewpoint as
she encourages ``merging classic, older
technologies of print with newer
technological innovations and fads.''
Strauch wraps up her presentation
with some speculations and predictions
about the future role of acquisitions and
collection development librarians:
.The vision of the library as an
archive.
.Libraries have a strong future ±
who else can financially assume
the responsibility for collection
building.
.Libraries will continue to have the
infrastructure to respond to change.
.The printed record as of now is the
most stable method of archiving.
.Collection development is no long-
er a single activity but more
complex, and interconnected to
other library services in access
and technical services.
.Consortia will be increasingly im-
portant as it matures beyond a
buying club into more serious ways
it influences the marketplace.
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