Thinking Diversely, Acting Globally International Book Exchange Program

1. Going Global: New Frontiers in Academic LibrarianshipBenjamin Andrus, Rachel Jaffe and Julie WangBinghamton University Libraries In the global information age, libraries and librarians are no longer the sole providers of information there has been much ado about having to prove our relevance. In the last year at Binghamton University, librarians have forged partnerships with Beijing Normal University, presented at international conferences, and processed a gift of what may be the largest collection of Kurdish materials in North America. We hope share our accomplishments and the ways in which we measure and evaluate our global impact as an institution. Thinking Diversely, Acting GloballyInternational Book Exchange Program [Background] Until recently Binghamton University’s collections in vernacular Chinese, Japanese and Korean (CJK) materials were limited in number and scope. Support from the 2002 Freeman Foundation grant, allowed the Libraries to begin building an academic and research level CJK collection, with over 32,841 volumes available in 2011. This quickly growing CJK collection serves as an example of the University’s rapidly rising standards of academic excellence and growth of its research mission. The strength of the Libraries’ collections helped support the creation of the Department of Asian and Asian American Studies (DAAAS) in 2008. The rapidly growing demand for Asian, Asian American and global education materials at the University, and Chinese language materials in particular, is evidence of the need for greater collections support. In response to high demand and to address the current budget situation at BU, the Libraries successfully initiated an international partnership with the Beijing Normal University (BNU)Library in 2008. The University’s Director of Libraries, John Meador and BNU Library Director, Dr. Songbo Liu signed a memorandum of agreement to begin a book exchange program and trade 1000 titles in 2009. The pilot program completed in 2011. • [Workflow] • Binghamton  China • Data of gift titles being input into MS Access (Technical Services) • Title selection and decision making (subject bibliographers) • Notify partner library for selection (Gift/Coordinator) • Sort selected titles for the partner library (Gift) • Pull materials according to partner’ selection (Technical Services) • Packing & Shipping (Technical Services/Gift) • China  Binghamton • Receive pick list from BNU (Coordinator) • Select & return the selected list(Coordinator) • Receive books from BNU library (Technical Services) • Catalog and add a special gift note (Cataloging) Books received from China Books are ready to ship to China [ A Glance of Usage] On the day of April 27, 2012, 16 out of 912 titles that received from the Book Exchange Program with BNU are currently checked out. • [Assessment] • Increased BU Libraries’ profile • Gained first hand experience of working with an international partner • Well-established partnership will lead to new opportunities [Visit to China] With the support of the President Lois B. DeFleur International Innovation Fund in 2009, the libraries initiated a library delegation to Beijing Normal University to discuss the existing book exchange program and additional collaborations in library technology, collection planning and materials processing. From late May to early June, 2010, Dean John M. Meador, Jr. and Julie Wang, the Asian & Asian American Studies Librarian, made a trip to Beijing, reaching out to library colleagues in China. The delegation observed the book cataloging process for exchanged titles and was able to inspect books designated for future shipment to the Binghamton University. The coordinators also discussed details of the procedure, were enable to modify some workflow and procedural issues according to the practice.