Is Print Dead? Balancing Resources in the Reference Collection

1. Is Print Dead? Balancing Resources in the Reference Collection “Digital Reference Tools & Technologies” September 24, 2010 Presented by Mary Krautter, mmkrautt@uncg.edu Head of Reference and Instructional Services University of North Carolina at Greensboro Libraries

2. World Cat indicates: RADICAL CHANGES IN RESEARCH METHODS • 92,691 books with the word bibliography in the title between 1970-1979 • 16,073 books between 2000-2009 Image from WKU Library Blog http://library.blog.wku.edu/2008/05/02/strawberry-delight/

3. Print Reference is ALMOST Dead In 2005: “It is foolish to assume that online sources are on the verge of replacing all traditional reference sources; however, it is also foolish to deny the importance of the electronic format.” (Puacz, in Reference Librarian) Image from: http://www.geekologie.com/2008/07/08/garden-zombie.jpg

4. In 2006 : “The Changing Format of Reference Collections: Are Research Libraries Favoring Electronic Access over Print?" Acquisitions Librarian (2006) Conclusion: “ The trend . . . is to cease receiving print versions of titles in lieu of electronic access.”

5. The Trends are Clear 2008. “Are reference books becoming an endangered species?” 2008. “Off the shelf: Is print reference dead?” 2009."Reference 2.0: The future of shrinking print reference collections seems destined for the Web.” 2009. "Shelflessness as a Virtue: Preserving Serendipity in an Electronic Reference Collection.“

6. 2010 “The one certainty is that the continued over-my-dead body insistence that no books be removed from campus libraries is an unsustainable position that, sooner or later, must give way to new ways of managing and using academic libraries.” “The Myth of Browsing.” American Libraries, June/July 2010

7. Transitional technologies • Phone modems • CD ROMS • Cassette tapes, CDs, floppy disks, VHS tapes • And the list goes on

8. The Future’s So Bright Image from http://petswithsunglasses.com/ Created by TommasoBaldovino

9. Reference, Your Choice: The Future IS: OR

10. Managing Our Collections • What effect have older ebook formats had on Libraries? • What role will newer ebook formats have? • What role will print have in the future? • How will our decisions determine the present state and future direction of our reference collections?

11. Steps Toward the Future • Managing reactions to change • Transforming budgets • Collecting data • Analyzing publishing models • Making purchasing decisions • Making decisions on existing collections • Transforming our spaces

12. The Human Dimension: Motivation to change? If we say “Let’s get rid of 90% of the print reference collection!” The message to those who selected those volumes during the past years is?

13. OR is this our message?

14. Transforming Reference Budgeting • Look at where $ are going and be prepared to analyze value based on: • Pricing • Use of materials • Overall budget picture We can’t hang on to OUR Reference money Image from: http://www.cedmagic.com/featured/christmas-carol/1983-mickey-greed-scrooge.html

15. Changes in traditional budget patterns • Moving from paper to electronic models of pricing • Moving from subject/format based budgets to large interdisciplinary collections • Moving from permanent ownership of individual items to more fluid models

16. UNCG Reference :A Case Study • Summer 2009, Reviewed Ref. continuations budget: approximately $80,000 per year • Cut or reduced frequency of titles: total savings approximately $53,000 per year • About half of cancelled titles partially or completely available online

17. UNCG Reference Monograph Budget: Changing Patterns

18. Hey, lady, wanna buy a great car? Wheeling and dealing Image from: http://jcwinnie.biz/wordpress/?p=4940

19. Prepare to negotiate – internally and externally Your DREAM trade-in - total $9,000 reduction in reference budget with funds moving to database budget And now we’re traveling down the highway with: • Source OECD – cancelled from another fund • ITER - additional dataset • Credo Reference • Upgrade to Global Marketing database

20. What’s a database anyway?? Traditional reference sources paid from UNCG database budget include: • Gale Virtual Reference, Credo Reference and Oxford Reference titles – large sets of traditional dictionaries and encyclopedias • Individual encyclopedias and dictionaries from Netlibrary, Sage and many other sources

21. Budgets and Publishing Models – Making them Fit

22. Publishing models/Library Needs Adjusting and evaluating • How can publishers survive and thrive? • How can libraries maximize budgets? • How do we make decisions?

23. New Models : What would you do? David confirmed that the Encyclopedia of (print) would be $1595.00. For this year only, they will offer free access to the Encyclopedia online along with purchasing the print.

24. But more complicated • The Encyclopedia is a large part of the Library Online, which features over 60 e-books, over 1,600 additional images, and additional reference material. If you purchase the print set, you can add the Library Online for one year for a small additional fee. • Encyclopedia (print): $1595.00 (free access to Encyclopedia online) -Upgrade Fee for Access to all of Library Online: $550.00 • Renewal rates for Library Online after your first year. -Unlimited: $2195.00 -Single User: $695.00

25. For 2010, the Encyclopaedia of ? is priced as follows. • A one year subscription is $3,270. • “An outright purchase of this product provides the library with full archival rights. We are continuing to publish content and add it quarterly, therefore, beginning in year two there is a Supplement charge along with a small fee for our hosting the content. The list price for an outright purchase of the base content is $22,440. The supplement fee in year two is $920 with an annual hosting fee of $150.

26. Encyclopedia Of ? : Do the Math • Subscription for 5 years $16,350 (assuming no increase) • Purchase outlay over 5 years $26,720, (assuming no increase in hosting or supplement fees) • Ten years $32,700 for subscription • Ten years $32,070 for purchase • NOTE: PREVIOUS PAPER EDITION $10,000

27. WOW! Get the best of both worlds with new print and e-book bundles this specially priced bundle includes a print copy for desk reference along with the e-book version. The e-book includes the complete text of the print edition in PDF format. You will be able to download the e-book immediately upon purchase; the print copy will be shipped to you. Print/e-book bundles may only be purchased using a credit card; if purchased using a purchase order, the account will be billed but you will be not be able to access your e-book download. Downloads are designed for single users only."

28. General rule of thumb • Electronic purchase vs. subscription : • 3-5 years, purchase price should roughly equal subscription BUT exceptions might be made for materials with updates, particular subject areas, and other special circumstances

29. Just tell me what it costs! • Along with complex models of pricing • There’s the whole quote process

30. So you want to subscribe? To request subscription prices, please email. Our customer service representative will contact you soon. PREQUALIFYING QUESTIONS FOR CONSORTIA Help facilitate the consortia pricing process by preparing in advance your answers to the following questions: • Please give a summary profile of your membership. How many institutions does your consortium represent? Where are your members located geographically? • What types of institution do you serve and in what proportion? (For example, percentage of academic libraries to public libraries.) • What are the largest and smallest institutions you serve, by library type? (For example, the largest and smallest public libraries; the largest and smallest academic libraries.) • Do you support groups within your consortia? (For example, a consortium within your own.) • Which of the following channels and methods do you use to market available products to your members?           Targeted email          Annual meetings          Vendor fairs          State/regional conferences          Newsletters (print or digital)          Social media          Print direct mail          Other (please specify) • What is your quoting process? • Do you require that a certain number of your members must agree to take a trial before you proceed with one? • Do you require that a certain number of your members must agree to subscribe before you proceed with a subscription? • Is there one date each year by which your members have to decide on what products they wish to purchase through you? (In other words, do you submit one annual order only?) Or do you submit individual pass-through orders as they come? • Do you handle billing and payments so there would be one invoice and payment for ALA? Or do your members require individual invoices from ALA and pay directly?

31. Additional issues: • Number of users? • How many pages can be printed/downloaded? • What format? • If PDF – searchable or not? • Packages vs. individual titles? • Catalog records available?

32. Data driven decisions • Gathering usage data – critical for cancellation and weeding decisions • Keep in mind – use data only reflects what you have – not what your users want

33. Cost per use data? UNCG Top Ten for 08-09

34. Value for $: And the winner is: Individual Reference tool in 09/10 Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online .12 per use Reference package: Oxford Reference Online at .64 per use (a likely undercount)

35. Paper copies Usage Data

36. Various perspectives

37. Surveys and contacts • Find out what people say they want • And then find out what they really use • And then plan for things they don’t know they want

38. If print reference is dead: What can I do with all these?

39. Paper Collection – Decisions! • Weeding – tough and tedious • Motivation – inertia vs. moving forward • Goals are essential • Space, Space, Space - where do the books go? And what do you do with the space that’s left?

40. Kent Study Rule of thumb that 20% of the collection accounts for 80% of use indicated even prior to the availability of electronic resources

41. Free to A Good Home From a July 2010 email: The Cabarrus County Public Library in is weeding its reference collection and is looking for a good home for some Gale reference sets. We have the following titles to offer: 1. Contemporary Literary Criticism-Vol. 1-226; 2. Contemporary Authors-Vol. 1-153; 3. Contemporary Authors, Autobiography Series-Vol. 1-30; 4. Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series-Vol. 1-153; • Something About the Author, Autobiography Series-Vol. 1-26.

42. Tempting? But perhaps not the best PR

43. What do we still need in print?

44. Creating appealing space

45. So where do libraries go from here?

46. The ultimate questions: • What do we want our collections to be? • What do we want our services to be? • What do we want our spaces to be? KICK THE ADDICTION – IT’S AN ONLINE WORLD

47. Thanks for your attention. • Please share: questions, comments. • For a copy of this presentation, contact Mary Krautter at mmkrautt@uncg.edu

48. Selected References Barclay, Donald A. “The Myth of Browsing.” 2010. American Libraries, 41, no. 6/7, 52-54. Ford, Lyle, Lisa Hanson O'Hara, and Jared Whiklo. 2009. "Shelflessness as a Virtue: Preserving Serendipity in an Electronic Reference Collection." Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship 21, no. 3/4: 251-262. Hellyer, Paul. 2009. "Reference 2.0: The future of shrinking print reference collections seems destined for the Web." AALL Spectrum 13, no. 5: 24-27. Kent, Allen, et. al. 1979. Use of Library Materials: The University of Pittsburg Study. New York: M. Dekker. Korah, Abe, Erin Cassidy, Eric Elmore, and Ann Jerabel. 2009. “Off the Shelf: Trends in the Purchase and Use of Electronic Books:” Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship 21, no. 3/4: 263-278. Lee, Marta. 2009. "Weeding Is Not Just for Gardeners: A Case Study on Weeding A Reference Collection." Community & Junior College Libraries 15, no. 3: 129-135.

49. References, continued Puacz, Jeanne Holba. 2005. "Electronic vs. Print Reference Sources in Public Library Collections." Reference Librarian 44, no. 91/92: 39-51. Robbins, Sarah, Cheryl McCain, and Laurie Scrivener. 2006. "The Changing Format of Reference Collections: Are Research Libraries Favoring Electronic Access over Print?" Acquisitions Librarian 18, no. 35/36: 75-95. Singer, Carol A. 2008. "Weeding Gone Wild: Planning and Implementing a Review of the Reference Collection." Reference & User Services Quarterly 47, no. 3: 256-264. Spiro, Lisa and Geneva Henry. 2010. “Can a New Research Library Be All-Digital?” Council on Library and Information Resources. The Idea of Order: Transforming Research Collections for 21st Century Scholarship. CLIR Publication, no 147. http://www.clir.org/pubs/abstract/pub147abst.html