Rolling Out a Database Review: Initiating a Comprehensive Database Review at the University of Maryland Libraries

The University of Maryland Libraries (UMD) has experienced a static collection budget for over 14 years. Despite the best efforts of the Collection Development and Acquisitions departments to mitigate the continuing effect of serials inflation, it became evident in the summer of 2015 that budgetary expenses would have to be curtailed in order to meet increasing serials costs. In the fall of 2015, the libraries initiated the first-ever comprehensive database review across all subject areas. The review involved subject specialists as well as acquisitions and collection development personnel. This paper describes the process undertaken to develop the review process, who was involved, what information was provided, how cancellation decisions were made and communicated, and the steps taken to publicize those resources selected for cancellation

Interlacing Workflows and Untangling Knots: How Acquisitions and Course Reserves Intersect

Using the University of Maryland Libraries as a case study, this chapter explores the ways in which acquisitions and course reserves intersect and how these units can develop a stronger partnership and open lines of communication for improved operations and customer service in both areas. The chapter presents four collaborative initiatives undertaken between 2014 and 2017, each of which helped the UMD Libraries to reach new levels of service, quality, and/or efficiency

The Time Has Come...To Build, Reflect, and Analyze Connections Between Qualitative and Quantitative Data

This poster will address the development process of a qualitative evaluation tool to aid in the thorough analysis of library resources at the University of Maryland. Specifically, our project looks at the use and added value of this tool for the building, reflecting, and analyzing connections between qualitative and quantitative data. This will allow for more meaningful justifications of budgetary decisions than compared to cost and use metrics alone. Given the necessity for meticulous review of continuing resources, our project addresses a request for enhanced transparency from the university faculty and library oversight body and serves as a useful tool for accountability and justification of impactful decisions for stakeholders internally and externally. We will discuss the extant literature and the need for this type of tool, the development process including the output planning and data input format, the initial reception of the project, and future goals and planning for our initial usag

Untangling Knots: Determining E-book Suitability for Course Reserves

E-books on their own are complex; they become even more so in the context of course reserves. In FY2016 the Resource Sharing & Reserves and Acquisitions units developed a new workflow for vetting requested e-books to ensure that they were suitable for course reserves (i.e. they permit unlimited simultaneous users) before posting links to them within the university’s online learning management system. In the Spring 2016 semester 46 e-books were vetted through this process, resulting in 18 purchases. Preliminary data analysis sheds light on the suitability of the Libraries’ current e-book collections for course reserves as well as faculty preferences, with potential implications for the Libraries’ ordering process. We hope this lightening talk will generate discussion about these issues among selectors, collection managers, and reserves staff alike

The Time Has Come... To Build, Reflect, and Analyze Connections Between Qualitative and Quantitative Data

This paper will address the development process of a qualitative evaluation tool to aid in the thorough analysis of library resources at the University of Maryland. Specifically, our project looks at the use and added value of this tool for the building, reflecting, and analyzing the connections between qualitative and quantitative data. This will allow for more meaningful justifications of budgetary decisions compared to cost and use metrics alone. Given the necessity for meticulous review of continuing resources, our project addresses a request for enhanced transparency from the university faculty and library oversight bodies and serves as a useful tool for accountability and justification of impactful decisions for stakeholders internally and externally. We will discuss the extant literature and the need for this type of tool, the development process including the output planning and data input format, the initial reception of the project, and future goals and planning for our initial usage. Additionally, we will demonstrate the use of the tool, model output, and discuss options for visualizations, storage, and retrieval of input data

Canceling the Big Deal: Three R1 Libraries Compare Data, Communication, and Strategies

Canceling the Big Deal is becoming more common, but there are still many unanswered questions about the impact of this change and the fundamental shift in the library collections model that it represents. Institutions like Southern Illinois University Carbondale and the University of Oregon were some of the first institutions to have written about their own experience with canceling the Big Deal several years ago, but are those experiences the norm in terms of changes in budgets, collection development, and interlibrary loan activity? Within the context of the University of California system’s move to cancel a system-wide contract with Elsevier, how are libraries managing the communication about Big Deals both internally with library personnel as well as externally with campus stakeholders? Three R1 libraries (University of Maryland, University of Oklahoma, and Kansas State University) will compare their data, discuss both internal and external communication strategies, and examine the impact these decisions have had on their collections in terms of interlibrary loan and collection development strategies. The results of a brief survey measuring the status of the audience members with respect to Big Deals, communication efforts with campus stakeholders, and impacts on collections will also be discussed

Serials Spoken Here–Reports of Conferences, Institutes and Seminars

This quarter's column offers a report from the Acquisitions Institute at Timberline Lodge, held May 14–17, 2016, in Timberline Lodge, Oregon, and also provides coverage of multiple sessions from the Kraemer Copyright Conference, held June 6–7, 2016, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Some reports are collected, as well, from the NASIG Annual Conference, held June 9–12, 2016, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference, held June 23–28, 2016, in Orlando, Florida. Lastly, there is a report from the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) World Library and Information Congress, held August 13–19, 2016, in Columbus, Ohio. Topics covered include open access, linked data, copyright, text mining, e-resource management, and digitization

THE ONLY CONSTANT IS CHANGE: Adapting for the E-resources Environment

Presentation given at the Maryland Library Association/Delaware Library Association 2018 Annual Conference - Cambridge, Maryland, May 3, 2018This presentation discussed the on-going e-resources review process implemented at the University of Maryland College Park. The University of Maryland Libraries (UMD), has experienced a static collection budget for over 15 years. In the fall of 2015, the Libraries initiated its first-ever comprehensive e-resources review process to address the current budget situation as well as plan for the future. The process started with a comprehensive database review, evolved into a serials review the following year, and continues to be adapted for each subsequent e-resource review process. The presenters described the process used to develop the review procedures, discussed how decisions were made and communicated, and highlighted the experience of a subject specialist librarian with the process