Collection Management of Electronic Resources for Library Consortia

1. Collection Management of Electronic Resources for Library Consortia Arnold Hirshon Executive Director NELINET

2. About the Long Road We Are About to Trod • There is a lot to cover • Please stop me if: • You can’t hear me • You can’t understand me (language) • You need more information (comprehension) • You need a break • Please participate! • Don’t let me do all the talking! • Let me know if I am not covering what you want to learn about! • You will learn more if you ask questions, supply examples, and respond to my questions!

3. My Apologies in Advance "Hi. I'm, I'm, I'm ... Please forgive me, but I'm terrible with names."

4. Caveats and terminology Approaches to collection management What is collection management? Process elements Strategic, tactical & opportunistic Scope: types of electronic resources Differences in collection management Single institution vs. consortia Print vs. electronic resources Commercial vs. non-commercial resources Agenda: Part 1

5. Agenda: Part 2 • Consortium collection management: factors • Types of consortia & their effect on C.M. • Consortial relationships • Collection analysis and assessment • Consortium collection management planning processes • Collection management process steps • Policy creation • Evaluation and selection criteria • Access strategies • Selection of resources

6. Agenda: Part 3 • Special considerations for different materials • Technology and related issues • General issues • Cataloging e-resources • Portals • Linking & serials management • E-resource funding and budgeting • Pricing strategies and effect on purchase decisions • Cost-sharing strategies • User support issues • New Frontiers • De-selection of e-resources • Alternative publishers • Marketing of e-resources • Final thoughts

7. Largely Not on the Agenda • E-resource statistical analysis • Separate workshop coming Sept.-Oct. 2003 • Licensing and legal issues (Fred will discuss) e.g., • Cost negotiation • License terms and conditions • Fair use, downloading, printing, etc. • Confidentiality • User support • Processes to manage renewals

8. General Caveats • Different countries may use different terms, or have different cultures or laws • Not a question of “right or wrong” • Must be sensitive to differences and understand them • Publishers may have different perspectives given their point of origin • May or may not be able to negotiate given those perspectives • We will concentrate on “consortial” collection management, not “institutional” management • Will discuss differences in more detail later

9. General Caveats • We will emphasize commercial e-resources (not locally produced resources or institutional repositories) • There are no “absolute” rules • E.g., some rules may apply to some types of resources but not others • This is still a period of transition between print and electronic • There are not necessarily any clear-cut answers • There are no easy answers or “cookie cutter” approaches

10. Content E-Resources Licensing A&I services E-journals E-books Technology Local library system Consortial library system Linking Federated searching Serials management software Consortia Country consortium Regional or local consortium Individual (or local) institution Terminology

11. Scope: What is Collection Management? • A strategy and process for deciding what to purchase • A method for selecting materials for purchase • Evaluation of what to select or retain based upon • Value • Usage • Cost effectiveness • Support of organizational mission • Quality of access • Assessment of if and how selected materials are used • User input and feedback • Budget and funding strategies • Marketing strategies • Setting of mission, goals and objectives

12. Scope: What is the difference? Collection Management Collection Development Collection Building

13. Scope: Elements of Collection Management Process • Collection decisions • Resource assessment • Weeding • Replacement with newer or better resources • Withdraw or discard resources • Storage • Maintain access

14. Institutional mission, goals and objectives Analysis of community and user needs Intellectual freedom and access statements Designation of responsibility for materials selection General subject boundaries Levels of collection strengths and collecting intensity Limitations (language, geography, form, etc.) Detailed policies by subject Detailed policies by form Gift, deaccession, retention and duplication policies Cooperative relationships Scope: Elements of Collection Development Policies Source: Broderick and Curley, p. 28

15. Scope: Broad Collection Development Issues • Strategic vs. tactical collecting • ephemeral nature of electronic collections • increasing amounts of the budget/resources are being used to build/develop electronic collections • support temporary programs, temporary populations/faculty/students • initial support for a program while you assess long term needs and issues • distance/offsite users • Access to resources versus owning resources • owning physical item vs. leasing/renting, brings up licensing and contract issues • Need to respond to external demands • Space versus technology requirements • Effect of electronic collections • Budget and financing • Consortium and local library interaction • Effect of consortium on local institution (e.g., OhioLINK) • Effect of local institution on consortium (e.g., NELINET)

16. Different Approaches to Collection Development:StrategicTacticalOpportunistic

17. Strategic Collection Management Collection management is more than just book selection… “Among the reasons for formulating a written collection development policy, not the least is the opportunity presented by the formulation process itself to address the issues in a constructive framework and to clarify aspects of the institutional mission and their implications for goals and objectives of collection development.” Source: Curley and Broderick, p.27

18. Relationship of Collection Development Policy to Organizational Mission & Vision “By formulating library mission statements that evaluate purpose, embody all formats of technology, state goals in conjunction to realities, restrictions and desires of collection building, we begin to build a basis for an effective library development.” Source: Svenningsen and Cherepon, p.19

19. Strategic Collection Management • Where do you want the organization to be 3-5 years from now? • Is the goal for e-resources to be a supplemental or the dominant medium? • Will there be sufficient funding to make a difference? • Will there be new central funding? • Will there be significant reallocation of existing funding?

20. Strategic Collection Development in a Consortial Environment • Time span covered by plan • Usually a 3-5 year time span • Value Context • What values is the organization trying to advance? • Determining factors • How does resource advance the core collection of the whole organization? • What is the effect of the consortium on local institutions (e.g., OhioLINK) • What is the effect of local institutional decisions on the consortium (e.g., NELINET) • Different goals for each of the different categories of resources, e.g., e-journals versus A&I services

21. Tactical Collection Management • User-oriented • How will user needs, abilities, and expectations affect decisions (e.g., remote access) • Technology-dependent • How good is the current IT infrastructure, and what will need to be done to enable it to support widespread electronic access? • Determining factors • What are the immediate needs of our members? • Upon what basis should we decide among competing immediate needs?

22. Opportunistic Collection Management • Opportunity-generated • is there a “great deal” available to us right now, and should we pursue it even if it does not necessarily fit our plan? • Determining factor • What do we need to do to be able to afford it? • Can we afford not to purchase this resource?

23. Which Method is Best? • All of the above! • A good collection management plan and program does not choose only one method • You must combine strategy, tactics, and opportunities to have an effective collection management system • Use different methods at different times to get maximum effects

24. Scope of Resourcesand Differences in Purposes of Collection Management

25. Scope: Types of Electronic Resources • Formats and types of publications • A&I • E-journals • E-books • Discovery tools and e-reference • Static Images • Sounds (streaming) • Video (streaming) • Each format brings opportunities and problems • Key variables • bandwidth requirements • funding requirements

26. Differences: Single Institution vs. Consortium Development • Single institution • Concentrate on building a collection customized to the need of particular institution • Consortium • Must consider and compromise among competing needs of consortium members • May or may not have a “core collection” • Publisher and vendor negotiation is more complicated

27. Differences: Print vs. E-Resource Development • Ways in which they are the same • Need a collection management policy and plan • Need funding to make purchases • Evaluation of resources • Put purchases (or deselection of items) into a priority order • Monitor usage • Renew (serials) or expand purchases (one-time or monographic)

28. Differences: Print vs. E-Resource Development • Ways in which they are the different • Not just content: must evaluate access and interface quality • Consortial purchasing never an option for print resources • Can collectivize content, funding, and technology • Many resources freely available at no charge for content • More data available to monitor the use of the resources • Print resources access: building based only • E-resource has remote access issues • Differences in selection process, decisionmakers, and negotiation. (Rarely negotiated for print.)

29. Differences: Print vs. E-Resource Development • For many libraries, e-resources are rapidly becoming the norm, and print resources almost the exception • Factors of more importance today • Timeliness • Breadth and depth of content • Interface functionality • Levels and extent of access

30. Differences: Commercial vs. Non-Commercial E-Resources • Commercial • Materials purchased from sources outside of the institution or consortium • Commercial publishers (e.g., Elsevier) • Non-commercial • Digitized locally held materially • “Alternative publishers” (SPARC, etc.) • “Free” resources • Open Access Initiative materials

31. ConsortiumCollection Management:Factors to Consider

32. Consortium Collection Management Plan • Plans may vary • Must be based upon the nature of the consortium • Purpose of the Plan • To help the consortium predict and cope with higher user expectations, rapid change, and competitive pressures • Essential elements of a plan • Outline general needs of the institution (e.g., programs to be supported in a university) • Assess current collection strengths and weaknesses • Outline user needs • Establish what types of materials will or will not be collected • Establish the funding priority for each collection area

33. Consortium Model: Taxonomy Governance Mission & Vision Type of library Fiscal Staffing Tactical Programs Services Technology Sponsor Geography Strategic Funding Operational and Practical

34. Strategic Issues Mission & Vision Types of libraries Sponsor Geography Funding • Purchasing • Education • Fundraising • Lobbying • Share technology • Research • University • College • Public • School • Special • Government • Multi-government • Membership • Other • Multi-national • National • Multi-state • Single state • Regional • City or local • Government • Grants, foundations • Dues & service fees • Institutions • No funding (volunteer)

35. Tactical Issues Programs Technology Services • E-resource purchasing • Resource sharing • Union catalog/patron circ • Core collection creation • Digital library development • Preservation management • Shared storage • Shared infrastructure • Shared library systems • Portal management • Intellectual property and royalty management • Consulting • Education • Production • Cataloging • Digitization • Technical support .

36. Practical/Operational Issues Governance Fiscal Staffing • Governing board • Members council • Committees • Advisory groups • Task forces • Interest groups • Full external funding (no bills) • Deposit accounts • Billing and invoice consolidation • Permanent staff • professional • support • Volunteers

37. Taxonomy Matrix: Exploit Your Core Strengths for Collection Management

38. Consortial Collection Management Factors • Type and nature of the consortium • Central funding, institutional funding, or both? • Each institution making its own purchase decision or is group working together? • eIFL: is there a multi-country license? • Governance • Who makes the decisions? • Technology infrastructure • Institutional only or consortium-provided?

39. Library and Consortial Relationships and Services Country Consortium Services Access System “Service Providers” Union Catalog Library Library Consortium 1 Delivery Library Country Consortium eIFL Library E-Resources Library Consortium 2 Library Standards Other Services

40. Consortial Relationships Consortium Local Institution Collection Management Collection Management E-resources E-resources Authentication Consortium Catalog Access Local Catalog Access

41. Consortial Relations: Sometimes Institutional and Consortium Collection Goals Conflict! Consortium Institution What might be some of the causes of the conflict?

42. Collection Management: Processes

43. Collection Management Processes • Effective processes • Must customize to the needs of the consortium • The reality • Many individual institutions have formal policies • Few consortia have written policies • Often “chaos-management” i.e., selection by opportunity and look backward to see the pattern • Share Plans with Stakeholders • Consortium members, to ensure • that the policy is complete and accurate • There is “buy-in” and general agreement • User community (e.g., university faculty)

44. Process Steps for Consortia: 1 • Identify decision group • Engage in general education of the decision group • Licensing issues • Best practices • Statistical analysis • Identify e-resources for potential purchase • Establish selection criteria • Determine policy strategy, tactics, and opportunities • Survey users (librarians and end users) • Develop process to place desired resources into priority order

45. Process Steps for Consortia: 2 • Develop effective communications mechanisms • Establish electronic listservs • Create and maintain a working group web site • Hold meetings or conference calls (if practical to do so) • Establish the consortium budget for purchasing • Note: the worst way to purchase and negotiate is to chase after every offer, and to decide only after the price is known whether you can or will afford to purchase

46. Process Steps for Consortia: 3 • Establish the general consortium purchase parameters • Identify the types of materials that the consortium concentrate on (e.g., A&I, e-ref, e-journals) • Identify the subject areas on which to concentrate • Identify sub-group needs (e.g., small public libraries and research universities), and how will you balance and compromise on a list • Solicit consortium member interest • Create surveys (including web-based surveys) • Collect information about which e-resources are currently available within the consortium • Identify a list of resources for future consideration • Continuously monitor market for timely opportunities

47. Process Steps for Consortia: 4 • Rank order interest • Generate rank-ordered lists of resources for further consideration • Schedule vendor demonstrations and free trials • Generate an action plan and timetable for each resource that is to be pursued • Establish membership profiles (database) • Create and continuously update a database of your member institution profile, e.g., IP address ranges, user populations, subject specialties, current e-resources offered, institutional contact information, etc.

48. Process Steps for Consortia: 5 • Negotiate Agreement • Identify target price for the product • Negotiate the best price, terms and conditions • Generate Orders • Collect subscriber information • Handle all invoicing and billing • Provide support to members concerning terms of the agreement

49. Process Steps for Consortia: 6 • Product Training and Product Support • Arrange vendor or publisher product training • Serve as a conduit to the publisher/vendor about specific issues • Reporting and analysis • Provide working group and members with progress reports and analysis

50. Initial Assessment of Current Print and Electronic Collections • SWOT • Gap analysis to determine consortial collection strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats • Survey users • Analyze statistical data • Benchmark • Compare to “peer” organizations • Recommend changes