Electronic Resources Management in the Academic Library: A Professional Guide

152 Pages·2011·0.66 MB·English

by  Karin Wikoff

ELECTRONICS
RESOURCES
MANAGEMENT IN THE
ACADEMIC LIBRARY
A Professional Guide
Karin Wikoff
ELECTRONICS
RESOURCES
MANAGEMENT IN THE
ACADEMIC LIBRARY
This page intentionally left blank
Copyright2012byKarinWikoff
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrieval
system,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,
photocopying,recording,orotherwise,exceptfortheinclusionofbriefquotationsina
revieworreproducibles,whichmaybecopiedforclassroomandeducationalprograms
only,withoutpriorpermissioninwritingfromthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Wikoff,Karin.
Electronicsresourcesmanagementintheacademiclibrary:aprofessionalguide/KarinWikoff.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978–1–61069–005–8(pbk.:acid-freepaper)—ISBN978–1–61069–006–5(ebook)
1. Libraries—Specialcollections—Electronicinformationresources.2. Electronicinformation
resources—Management.3. Academiclibraries—Collectiondevelopment.4. Librariesand
electronicpublishing. I.Title.
Z692.C65W55 2012
025.1704—dc23 2011035284
ISBN:978–1–61069–005–8
EISBN:978–1–61069–006–5
16 15 14 13 12 1 2 3 4 5
ThisbookisalsoavailableontheWorldWideWebasaneBook.
Visitwww.abc-clio.comfordetails.
LibrariesUnlimited
AnImprintofABC-CLIO,LLC
ABC-CLIO,LLC
130CremonaDrive,P.O.Box1911
SantaBarbara,California93116-1911
Thisbookisprintedonacid-freepaper
ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Contents
Preface vii
NotesforLibrarySchoolInstructors xi
1. DefiningElectronicResources,or,WhatIsThisBookAbout,Anyway? 1
2. AcquiringElectronicResources 9
3. ProvidingAccesstoElectronicResources 19
4. AdministeringElectronicResources 31
5. TroubleshootingElectronicResources 47
6. EvaluatingElectronicResources 57
7. CapstoneProject 69
8. ADayintheLifeofanElectronicResourcesLibrarian 71
9. TipsforJobSeekers 77
AppendixA:SampleCollectionDevelopmentDocument 87
AppendixB:LicenseTemplate 92
AppendixC:ARLPrinciplesforLicensingElectronicResources 104
AppendixD:SampleProblemScenarios 110
AppendixE:SampleEvaluation 112
AppendixF:RelatedReadings 114
AppendixG:SampleProblemScenarios:StrategiesandOutcomes 118
vi CONTENTS
AppendixH:SampleEstimatedExpensesSpreadsheet 120
AppendixI:SampleStatisticsSpreadsheet 122
AppendixJ:SampleCost-Per-UseSpreadsheet 124
AppendixK:SampleSyllabus 126
Index 133
Preface
Licensedelectronicresourceshavebecomethecornerstoneofacademicresearch,mak-
ing theirmanagementmission-criticalforcollegeand university libraries. However,
shockinglyfewlibraryschoolsofferinstructionine-resourcemanagement.Manytimes
themanagementoftheseresourcesfallstosomeonewhohastoscrambletofigureitout
onthefly.
This book covers the whole life cycle of electronic resources, from acquiring
throughprovidingaccesstoadministering,supporting,andevaluating.Specificissues
includevendorrelations,negotiatingcontracts,accessmodels,troubleshooting,gather-
ingandusingstatistics,collectiondevelopment,linkingtechnologies,andmuchmore.
Afterworkingthroughthisbook,youshouldhaveagraspoftheissuesyouwouldface
asanelectronicresourceslibrarianalongwithsomepracticalworkingknowledgetoget
youstartedinthisexcitingandfast-pacedfield.
Eachofthemainchapterscoversoneofthefivelife-cyclepoints.Attheendofeach
chapter,therearesuggestedreadings,thought-provokingquestionstothinkthroughand
discusswithcolleagues,andassignmentsthatrequireinteractionwithreal-worldsitua-
tions. The benefit of the assignments is in the process; there are no right or wrong
answers.
Foreachchapter,youshouldapplythefollowingworkflow:
First,readthechapterandanyaccompanyingmaterialsintheAppendixes.
Then,readatleasttwoofthearticlesintheSelectedReadingsandanswerthequestionsinthe
ThoughtProvokerssection.Ifyoucanfindfriendsorcolleagueswithwhomtodiscussthese
questions,you’llbegivingyourselfaddedbenefitsoftheirexperienceandperspectives.If
youareusingthisbookinaformalcourse,you’llbeabletohavediscussionswithyourclass-
mates.
Thecurrentarticleassignmentsarethird.Thesearedesignedtomakesurethatyouareexamining
newandup-to-dateissuesrelatedtoelectronicresources.Ifyouarenotcurrentlyataninstitu-
tionthathasaccesstocommercialacademicdatabases,itmaytakealittlemorework,but
viii PREFACE
therearefreelyavailablejournalsandarticlesontheInternet(TryLibraryJournalathttp://
www.libraryjournal.com),oryoumighttrywalkingintoalocalacademiclibraryandreading
materialsonthepremises.
Thendotheassignmentforthechapter.Severaloftheserequireyoutocontacteitheravendor
salesrepresentativeorsomeonecurrentlyemployedinalibraryoracademicITSdepartment.
Avendor’swebsiteshouldhaveameansofcontactingasalesperson,andyouwillfindthat
mostofthemaremorethanhappytotalkwithyouabouttheirproducts.Whetheryouarea
currentstudentoranindependentlearner,youareapotentialfuturecustomer,andtheywill
wanttoestablishapositiveviewoftheircompanyanditsproducts.Asforlibrariansandother
informationprofessionals,unlessyouarealreadyworkinginalibrary,youmayhavetomake
afewcalls,butonthewhole,librariansarefriendlypeopleinterestedinfurtheringourprofes-
sion,andtheyshouldbewillingtoworkwithyou.
Ifyouarealibraryschoolinstructor,youcanfacilitatetheseassignmentsbycontact-
ingafewvendorsandcolleaguesaheadoftime,makingsuretheyarewillingtohelp.
Youcanalsosendthemtherelevantassignment(s)asaheads-up.Ifyoulike,youcan
assignstudentstospecificvendorstobesureyougetanevenspread,andyoucanpro-
videyourstudentswiththecontactinformationaswell.
Finally,thereisthecapstoneassignment.Instructorsmaywanttomakethisasmall
groupproject.Youareaskedtowriteyourownelectronicresourcescollectiondevelop-
ment document. You will draw on everything you learn in the course of reading the
bookanddoingtheassignments.Youcanworkonthisassignmentasyougo,oryou
cansaveituntiltheend,butyouwillwanttocompletethebookbeforeyoucomplete
thisassignmenttomakesureyouhaveallofthemostpertinentinformationtoguide
youinwritingyourdocument.Whenitisdone,youhavesomethingtangibletoshow
forallyourefforts,somethingwhichmaybeusefulattheinstitutionwhereyouwork
orsomethingwhichyoucouldputonaresume.
Let’shavealookatthelayoutofthebook.
ChapterOnecoversthedefinitionofelectronicresources.Thisisamovingtargetnot
onlybecausenewmodelsseemtobeappearingdaily,butalsobecausethedefinitions
willvaryfrominstitutiontoinstitutionaccordingtowhatresourcestheyexpecttheir
e-resourcemanagertomanage.Nonetheless,itisusefultostartwithsomebasicdefini-
tionsandthenadjustaccordingtotheenvironmentinwhichyoufindyourself.Inpar-
ticular, we look at various kinds of databases, e-journals and e-journal collections,
e-booksande-bookcollections,hybridcombinationsofalloftheabove,andafewlink-
ingtechnologies,suchasOpenURLandZ39.50.Yougetabreak;therearenoselected
readingsorcurrentarticleassignmentswithChapterOne.
ChapterTwoisallabouttheacquisitionofe-resources.Westartwiththecollection
developmentdocumentastheguidetoselectingthee-resourcesyouwanttoacquire.
Wethendiscusscomparisonshoppingandhowtofindthebestdeal,andfinallywehave
alookattheprocessoforderingandpaying.
ChapterThreehasdetailsonhowtosetupandprovideaccesstothee-resourcesyou
manage.It’salottocoverherefromIPaddressestoproxyserverstoOPACS.Italso
coversawiderangeofdifferentkindsofportalsandholdingsmanagementservices.
Welookattheparticularsfore-journalsande-books,andhaveaquickpeekatusability
testing,whichiscoveredinanotherchapterinmoredetail.Perhapsthemostimportant
partofthechapteristheimportanceofyourrelationswithwhateverinformationtech-
nologyservicesyouhaveatyourinstitution.
Preface ix
ChapterFourisontheadministrationofe-resources.Wespendafairamountoftime
on licenses, including SERU, and then look closely at all thevarious places where
informationaboute-resourcesisstoredandadministered.Frombulk-loadingMARC
recordsintoyourOPAC,to“hooking”acquisitionsdatafromyourILSintoanERM,
to overlap analysis and other functionality in holdings management services, to not
overlookinginformationsourcessuchase-mailfilesandhumanmemory.Wewrapup
withafirstlookattheURMsofthefuture.
ChapterFiveaddressesthetroubleshootingofe-resources.Wecoversomebasicsin
theprocess of elimination for diagnosing thesource of problems, consider whereto
turnforhelpandsupportinsolvingproblems,andfinishwithsomeinstructiveexam-
ples.Problemlogsformoreefficienttrackingofproblemsarealsodiscussed.
ChapterSixisabouttheevaluationofe-resources.Welookattrialsandevaluations,
including evaluation tools, and applying collection development criteria both for
acquiring and for deselecting resources. Usage statistics and their applications are
covered,asarestandardssuchasCOUNTERandSUSHI.Thenweturntouserfeed-
back, includingbothsurveysand usabilitystudies, andweeven takea quick look at
thetrendofanthropologistshelpinglibrariesimprovetheirservices.
Chapter Seven is simply the description of the capstone assignment and hence is
verybrief.
ChapterEightprovidesadescriptionofa“typical”dayinthelifeofanelectronicre-
sourceslibrarian.Alltheeventsofthedayaretakenfromreallifeandmostofthem
occurredononedayinthespringof2011.
ChapterNineprovidespracticaljob-huntingtipsforthosewhohaveworkedtheir
waythroughthisbookandarebeginningtoseekapositioninthefield.
Thisbookisnotintendedtobeexhaustive,butrathertobereadableandaccessible,
thesortofbookaself-starterwillbemorelikelytofinishreadingthanadeadlydryand
boringtextbook,yetitwillgiveyouthebasicsyouneedtogetagoodstartinaposition
asanelectronicresourcesmanager.