The Silent Battle on the Budget: The Effect of Centralized Indexing on Collection Analysis in Primo and EBSCO

Significant cuts to the collections budget and a fire in the main library at Kansas State University transitioned the Libraries toward an increased focus upon electronic resources management. As electronic resource discovery continues to be hampered by market competition between Ex Libris and EBSCO library vendors, difficulties were identified in obtaining accurate usage statistics for resource renewal reviews, particularly EBSCO products. Kansas State University Libraries use the ALMA URM in combination with Primo discovery service, which experiences known resolver complications when paired with EBSCO resources. Technical services librarians and information technology staff tested several workarounds, but the question remains whether any proposed resolutions can be truly effective in avoiding collection usage biases and analytical discrepancies, resulting from exclusive indexing. Crunching the numbers, monetarily and analytically, the Ex Libris and EBSCO rivalry is an onerous battle on the budget and resource renewal process

Bringing DEI to the Forefront in University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries’ Collections

UNL Libraries’ recently released strategic plan codifies a longstanding organizational commitment to advancing principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Diversity of collections and equity of access are important components of the objectives articulated in this plan. This poster presents an overview of holistic efforts to incorporate considerations of DEI, as well as universal accessibility, into the mainstream of ongoing collection development and acquisition work at UNL Libraries. It covers topics including: the development of a set of guiding principles along with a diversity rubric for acquisitions; departmental reorganization; participation in consortial initiatives; optimizing use of support from Libraries\u27 administration; training and professional development; electronic resources accessibility; and support for Open Access publishing and infrastructure

Tuition Related Library Fees Information

Tuition related library fees information, supplemental to the article \u27How Libraries are Funded: Transparency Issues in Student Tuition and Fees Among ARL Libraries\u27 in Journal of New Librarianship (2023) by Casey Hoeve and Kiyomi D. Deards. The data were collected by Ted Naylor and enhanced by Casey Hoeve and Kiyomi D. Deards

Management of content development and subject engagement through an arts matrix model: A case study

From 2007 - 2009, Kansas State University Libraries (K-State Libraries) committed to strategically assess and redevelop their organizational structure. The Libraries’ Strategic Plan and position redistributions commenced in 2007 and 2009 respectively, with adjustments in 2010 to accommodate the university’s “K-State 2025” Strategic Plan. Together, these plans changed the roles of former subject librarians, dividing and transferring responsibilities for outreach, reference, instruction, and collection development. Among the more significant changes was the creation of departments devoted to patron groups, rather than specific academic disciplines. Illustrating how the reorganization changed the roles of traditional library services, this chapter will outline the responsibilities of three librarian positions: Undergraduate and Community Services, Faculty and Graduate Services, and Content (collection) Development. The librarians are also founding members of the K-State Libraries Arts Matrix, an ad hoc team operating within the new organization to enhance communication and expand subject expertise in the visual and performing arts. These transitions presented both opportunities for engagement and specialization, and challenges to communication and subject identity. These issues are addressed, including solutions offered by the matrix model. Although this study is limited by the neoteric existence of this model, and lack of precedents for comparison, K-State Libraries’ example may offer a viable model for institutions adapting to fiscal realities. Additionally, matrices may supplement the traditional subject librarian model for those seeking to enhance engagement and collaboration. This chapter offers further insight into a strategic planning process, as well as a transparent, inclusive strategy for librarians adjusting to organizational change

Leveraging Library Ecology: Growing Beyond Boundaries to Cultivate a Sustainable Knowledge Community Through Team-Based Librarianship

Higher education increasingly challenges libraries to thrive while adapting to fiscal realities, imploring institutions to accomplish more with less, and leverage assets creatively. When competing demands vie for attention, interdisciplinary concepts such as sustainability may be neglected, or simply absent from a library’s mission. A team-based community of librarians can galvanize existing assets wherever they reside within an organization. This approach requires that librarians transcend traditional boundaries to reveal untapped or underutilized expertise. Interdepartmental teams within a library can address topics difficult to assign to one designated specialist, and access the education, interests, or networks possessed by multiple individuals across an organization. A matrix model addressing this concept has been administered at K-State Libraries, and the following paper provides expanded insight into how such concepts have been handled within the organization

Leveraging Library Ecology: Growing Beyond Boundaries to Cultivate a Sustainable Knowledge Community Through Team-Based Librarianship

Higher education increasingly challenges libraries to thrive while adapting to fiscal realities, imploring institutions to accomplish more with less, and leverage assets creatively. When competing demands vie for attention, interdisciplinary concepts such as sustainability may be neglected, or simply absent from a library’s mission. A team-based community of librarians can galvanize existing assets wherever they reside within an organization. This approach requires that librarians transcend traditional boundaries to reveal untapped or underutilized expertise. Interdepartmental teams within a library can address topics difficult to assign to one designated specialist, and access the education, interests, or networks possessed by multiple individuals across an organization. A matrix model addressing this concept has been administered at K-State Libraries, and the following paper provides expanded insight into how such concepts have been handled within the organization

Partnering is such sweet sorrow: Establishing campus and community collaboration to host William Shakespeare’s First Folio at Kansas State University

Between October 2014 and February 2016, Kansas State University partnered with academic and local government and business organizations to host an exhibit displaying William Shakespeare’s First Folio. University and community organizations came together to provide twenty-four programs showcasing the works of William Shakespeare, and to host educational lectures for the community regarding Shakespeare and his contemporaries. The Libraries secured funding to obtain modern Shakespeare materials, filling in critical humanities collection gaps, along with illustrating modern adaptations of Shakespeare’s works to students. The exhibit was a resounding success, attracting more than 4,000 attendees and more than 2,100 participants in programs related to the folio. The exhibit, a collaborative effort to celebrate the humanities and social sciences at a university traditionally focused upon the sciences, illustrated the importance of valuing all academic disciplines, and provided students and rural community members with a well-rounded educational experience

Resource Management in a Time of Fiscal Scarcity: Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment for Journal Package Cancellations

As a result of continual resource inflation and a decreasing budget, Kansas State University Libraries were required to conduct a large-scale electronic journal cancellation project. The current organizational model does not require librarian subject specialists to perform comprehensive collection development duties; therefore, content development librarians developed a methodology of collecting quantitative and qualitative statistics to collaboratively evaluate journals. This article will demonstrate the methodology of assessment, and serve as a working model for libraries operating under circumstances of labor shortages, budget cuts, and leadership restructuring

Turbulent Times in Content Development: Remaining Efficacious Among Reorganizations, Fires, and the Serials Crisis

All too often, the internal organization of collection development departments are ignored. Perhaps inadvertently, more pressing issues of budgets, resource renewals, and vendor negotiations divert our attention; yet at the same time, the completion of these initiatives require capable and efficient faculty and staff. Burnout, now classified by the World Health Organization as a “syndrome conceptualized resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed,” (WHO, 2019) is appropriate to juxtapose against the organization of collection development departments. As self-care is vital to our health, the same question of vitality should be applied in collection development departments — an investigation of the value and lifecycle of organizational structures presently in place. Through the process of multiple reorganizations, supervisors, a library fire, and major serials cancellation projects, the Content Development unit was able to remain functional during capricious conditions. Rather than dwelling on calamity, internal analyses of multiple, experimental organizational structures empowered the Libraries to identify opportunities, both beneficial and adverse. By embracing practices of flexibility, collaboration, and communication, patient execution was employed until content development librarians were able to come full circle into a new department with supervisory support. By breaking out of the traditional mold, libraries can survive the turbulent times and avoid burnout with efficacious services and outcomes

This Is Not a Library! This Is Not a Kwik-E-Mart! The Satire of Libraries, Librarians and Reference Desk Air-Hockey Tables

Librarians are obsessed with stereotypes. Sometimes even so much so that, according to Gretchen Keer and Andrew Carlos, the fixation has become a stereotype within itself (63). The complexity of the library places the profession in a constant state of transition. Maintaining traditional organization systems while addressing new information trends distorts our image to the outside observer and leaves us vulnerable to mislabeling and stereotypes. Perhaps our greatest fear in recognizing stereotypes is not that we appear invariable but that the public does not fully understand what services we can provide. When we lose our ability to maintain relevancy, we risk the loss of operational funding and weaken the viability of the profession. Whether the need to investigate library stereotypes is a personal choice or professional obligation for survival, examples offered throughout books, movies, and television are limited and inconsistent in nature. Libraries and librarians often play one-time support characters for specific scenes or purposes, only to disappear as quickly as they surface; such manifestations are exemplified by Mary Bailey’s brief fate in It’s a Wonderful Life. The librarian stereotype is explicitly prevalent, but minimal screen time prevents the opportunity to defend against niche roles perpetuated by the media. The presence of libraries in The Simpsons undoubtedly increases the risk of satirizing the profession. In light of these circumstances, The Simpsons has defied the status quo of reducing libraries and librarians to an ephemeral prop. After almost thirty seasons, the library has played a regular role on the series, with many reoccurring scenes showcasing scads of libraries and librarians in Springfield and beyond. Although these places and characters remain secondary to the significance of the normal cast, the continued references suggest a more than temporary role, and perhaps even an established institution within The Simpsons’ universe. Within The Simpsons, the concepts of the library as place, attitudes toward the library, and librarian demographics are satirized as general categories. While some instances are grossly fabricated for the purpose of comedic value, a disturbing number of correlations exist between our reality as professionals and our satirical portrayal. Beyond good-natured ribs, The Simpsons suggests areas where librarianship should and must change for the better to serve a growing population of diverse library users, interests, and information needs