Baldwin, Virginia (2003)  A Study of Interdisciplinary Research Needs: Results from Input of Faculty in Six Engineering Departments in Prioritizing Serial Subscriptions,  American Society for Engineering Education Conference, June 23, 2003, Nashville, TN

Baldwin, Virginia A.

English

UNL | Libraries

University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
Library Conference Presentations and 
Speeches Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln 
June 2003 
A Study of Interdisciplinary Research Needs: Results from Input of 
Faculty in Six Engineering Departments in Prioritizing Serial 
Subscriptions 
Virginia A. Baldwin 
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, vbaldwin2@unl.edu 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/library_talks 
 Part of the Library and Information Science Commons 
Baldwin, Virginia A., "A Study of Interdisciplinary Research Needs: Results from Input of Faculty in Six 
Engineering Departments in Prioritizing Serial Subscriptions" (2003). Library Conference Presentations 
and Speeches. 10. 
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/library_talks/10 
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln at 
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Library Conference 
Presentations and Speeches by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. 
To retrieve the PowerPoint™ presentation, go back 1 click and download the 
supplemental “.ppt” file. 
What follows is a (searchable)  text-only version.
A Study of Interdisciplinary Research Needs
Virginia Baldwin
University of Nebraska – Lincoln
www.unl.edu/vbaldwin
Serials Prioritization Project
•Use of the word “Cancellation” was Verboten!
•Team was assigned to run the project – Serials Prioritization Project Team (SPPT)
•Amount of cut was unknown at the onset - approximately 20%
•Dean of Libraries designated a $ amount attributable to LC call number ranges, for a 
total of 50 call number ranges.  Among them:
–T, TA, TC, TD, TE, TF, TG, TH, TJ, TK, TL, TS – one $ amount
–TP and  TR each had separate $ amounts
–TT and TX had one $ amount
Serials Prioritization Project –
Communications
•The SPPT set up a web site with project details, guidelines, and timetables at the 
beginning of the project.
•Deans of the colleges were informed of the upcoming process in the Spring of 2002
•Campus Announcements
•Articles in campus news publications
Serials Prioritization Project – Phase One
•Creation of a Database
•Assignment of record number ranges for each LC call number
–Q’s (General Science) Records # 5022-5094 or 75 records
–T-TX’s (Technology) Records # 8162-9160 or 998 records
Serials Prioritization Project – Phase One
•Civil Engineering
•Construction Management
•Electrical Engineering
•Engineering Mechanics
•Industrial Management and Systems Engineering
•Mechanical Engineering
•Physics and Astronomy
Serials Prioritization Project – Phase One
•IEEE/IEE IEL/Xplore “Problem”
–Recently acquired IEL
–Previously had print for all IEEE journals and conference proceedings – all were in SPP 
database
–Only a few of the IEE titles were in the SPP database since IEL was a recent acquisition 
and new IEE titles had not yet been entered.
Serials Prioritization Project – Phase One
•All records in the database were “enhanced” to add:
–Most recent subscription price – obtained from the acquisitions record for each title –
for continuations we averaged the prior three years’ prices
–Information about whether the title was part of a membership, package plan, electronic 
format, etc.
–Any notes we wanted to add such as pricing history
Serials Prioritization Project – Phase Two
•A “Shopping Cart” system was created so that the subject librarian could pull off 
records from the enhanced database onto either a word document or a spreadsheet.
•Librarians could pick any title, in any call number area to submit to “their” departments 
and they were encouraged by the SPPT to be inclusive in their selection.
Serials Prioritization Project – Phase Two
•For Engineering – records were put into the shopping cart and two files were created
–1.  All T’s except most of TT (handicrafts), and without any of TX (home economics)
–2.  Other call number areas 
Serials Prioritization Project – Phase Two
•T’s 913 Titles plus 4 titles added in the previous year that were not in the enhanced 
database
– COMPUTER MODELING IN ENGINEERING & SCIENCES.
– AMERICAN HERITAGE: INVENTION AND TECHNOLOGY
– JOURNAL OF NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY.
– JOURNAL OF WATER SUPPLY: RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY - AQUA
Serials Prioritization Project – Phase Two
•GHKLNAQRSUVZ  - 462 Titles
•G- Geography
•H - Statistics, Business, Finance, Economics, Labor, Energy,
            Transportation, etc.
•K - Law
•L - Education
•NA - Architecture
•Q’s - Science
•R - Medicine
•S- Agriculture
•U and V - Military
•Z - Bibliographies.
Serials Prioritization Project – Phase Two
•GHKLNAQRSUVZ  - 462 Titles
•Q – General Science
•QA - Mathematics and Computer                  Science
•QC - Physics
•QD - Chemistry
•QE - Geology
•QH -  Ecology and Environment
•QP - Bio(mechanics)
Serials Prioritization Project –
Phase Two – Communication with Faculty
•The SPPT set up a web site on the restricted portion of the librarians’ web site
–Talking points for liaison librarians
–Sample letter to faculty
–Guidelines for considerations in the prioritization process 
Serials Prioritization Project –
Phase Two – Communication with Faculty
•SPPT Guidelines and Requirements
–Librarians could determine their own method of communication with “their” faculty
–Librarians must obtain from their faculty a list of titles rated with one of three levels of 
desirability :
•E for Essential
•S for Supportive
•N for Non Essential
Serials Prioritization Project –
Phase Three – Ranked Lists
•SPPT Guidelines and Requirements
Liaison librarians must produce a list of serials for each of their departments that are 
RANKED from 1 to n, with n being the number of titles rated by the faculty.  Titles 
submitted to the faculty and not rated by any faculty could be assigned a rank of zero if 
the liaison librarian felt the title was expendable. 
Serials Prioritization Project –
Phase Three – Ranked Lists
•SPPT Guidelines and Requirements
Liaison librarians could use other input, at their discretion, to produce the rankings.
For example:
- Number of faculty that gave input for a title
- Use statistics
- Journal price increases
- Journal citation statistics (JCR)
- Value as a reference tool
Serials Prioritization Project –
Phase Three – Ranked Lists
•SPPT Guidelines and Requirements
•Liaison librarians must enter into another database, created for the purpose, for each 
serial title:
–The rank and 
–The requesting department.
– Additionally, the desired format could be denoted. 
Obtaining Input from Faculty
•Engineering
–Emailed department “book chairs” as a warning
–Emailed all faculty
•Explanation in the email
•Two files as attachments MS Excel
•Deadline for input
Obtaining Input from Faculty
•Physics & Astronomy– sent email and file attachment (MS Excel) only to Physics Chair 
and “Book Chair”
–Astronomy 31 titles
–Physics, General Science & Math – 354 titles
–Selected Chemistry – 40 titles
–Other, including newly added titles - 192 titles
Compiling Multiple Responses
•For example for five faculty responses:  
–EEEEE       D1
–EEEES  D2
–EEEE  D3
–EEESS  D4
–EEES  D5     and so on. 
Ranking the Titles
•Added Circulation Statistics to the Spreadsheet
•Added “pick-up” statistics from the last year
•Sorted first by Department Ratings, then by Total Statistics
•Made some adjustments based on other needs for the title
RESULTS – Top 30 FACULTY SELECTIONS – BY LC #
•Industrial & Mgmt. Sys. Eng.    11 subject areas
•Civil Engineering        8 subject areas 
•Mechanical Engineering        8 subject areas
•Construction Management        7 subject areas
•Electrical Engineering        6 subject areas 
•Physics and Astronomy        6 subject areas
•Engineering Mechanics        4 subject areas
RESULTS – ALL RANKED TITLES – BY LC #
•Electrical Engineering     26 subject areas 
•Engineering Mechanics     25 subject areas 
•Civil Engineering     24 subject areas 
•Mechanical Engineering     20 subject areas
•Construction Management     13 subject areas
•Physics and Astronomy     13 subject areas
•Industrial & Mgmt. Sys. Eng.    12 subject areas
RESULTS – Top 30 FACULTY SELECTIONS – BY LC #
•Subject areas with the highest total number of titles selected were:
• TA – General Engineering - 64 title selections
• QC – Physics - 38 title selections.  Of these, 18 came from departments other 
than Physics.
• TK – Electrical Engineering - 18 title selections
• HD – Economic History - 14 title selections.  Thirteen of these came from 
"Management Departments".  
• T – General Technology - 11 title selections. 
RESULTS – ALL TITLES FACULTY SELECTIONS – BY LC #
•TA – General Engineering - 475 title selections
•QC – Physics - 246 title selections.  Less than 50% of these came from Physics.
•T – General Technology - 136 title selections
•TD – Environmental Engineering - 90 title selections
•QA – Mathematics, Computer Science - 85 title selections
•HD – Economic History - 58 title selections. Selections came from all departments 
except Physics.
•Q – Science (General) - 54 title selections
•R – General Medicine - 37 title selections 
RESULTS
Summary Statements
•Faculty from every department except Civil Engineering indicated an interest in 
medicine 
•Faculty from all seven departments selected titles in general technology, general 
engineering, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering.  
•Faculty from four departments selected Naval or Military Science titles. 
RESULTS
LC Call #’s of Title Selections
•AZ – History of Scholarship & Learning 
•GB - Geography 
•GC - Oceanography 
•HC & HD – Economic History 
•HE – Transportation and Communications
•HF - Commerce 
•HV - Social Service, Welfare, Criminology
•K - Law   
RESULTS
LC Call #’s of Title Selections
•L - Education 
•Q - Science (General) 
•QA - Mathematics & Computer Science 
•QB - Astronomy 
•QC - Physics 
•QD - Chemistry 
•QE - Geology 
•QH - Biology 
•QP - Physiology 
RESULTS
LC Call #’s of Title Selections
•NA - Architecture
•R – General Medicine 
•RC - Internal Medicine 
•S - Agriculture 
•U – Military Science 
•V - Naval Science 
RESULTS OF THE PROCESS
•Input from multiple departments was a factor in title retention
•Faculty in a department can rate titles that are not in the library associated with their 
department and that are not in the LC call # range associated with their department
•Faculty were given the opportunity to suggest new titles
RESULTS OF THE PROCESS
•The SPPT used the database of prioritized titles to compile a list of “Lower Priority 
Titles”
•The “Lower Priority Title” list was distributed to the liaison first, then to the faculty for 
their input
•The SPPT generated a list of “Higher Priority New Titles”
•Liaison Librarians worked with their faculty and the SPPT to retain disputed “Lower 
Priority Titles”, to obtain agreement to leave them on the list, or to make tradeoffs, such 
as against “Higher Priority New Titles”
Results for Engineering
•153 Titles that were rated by faculty in the six engineering departments will be 
cancelled
–74 titles are located in the Engineering Library
–Total cost of the titles to be cancelled: $107,363
–LC Call #’s of the titles to be cancelled
•GC, HD, HF, QA, QC, QE, QH, Z
•T, TA, TD, TE, TF, TG, TH, TJ, TK, TL, TN, TP, TS
Results for Engineering
•10 New Titles that were requested by faculty from the six engineering departments will 
be added to the Engineering Library collection.
•Added will be ongoing funding for the electronic version of the ASCE journals
•Added will be a limited site license for electronic access to a Water Resources title
Results for Engineering
•Total Cost of the added titles: $10,446 out of a total of $98,713 for all titles added.
•LC Call #’s of the added titles:
–HD – 1 title
–QP – 1 title
–RC – 1 title
–T – 1 title
–TA  - 4 titles
–TD – 1 title
–TL – 1 title


A Study of Interdisciplinary Research Needs: Results from Input of Faculty in Six Engineering Departments in Prioritizing Serial Subscriptions

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska

University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Library Conference Presentations and Speeches Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln June 2003 A Study of Interdisciplinary Research Needs: Results from Input of Faculty in Six Engineering Departments in Prioritizing Serial Subscriptions Virginia A. Baldwin University of Nebraska-Lincoln, vbaldwin2@unl.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/library_talks  Part of the Library and Information Science Commons Baldwin, Virginia A., "A Study of Interdisciplinary Research Needs: Results from Input of Faculty in Six Engineering Departments in Prioritizing Serial Subscriptions" (2003). Library Conference Presentations and Speeches. 10. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/library_talks/10 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Library Conference Presentations and Speeches by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. To retrieve the PowerPoint™ presentation, go back 1 click and download the supplemental “.ppt” file. What follows is a (searchable)  text-only version.A Study of Interdisciplinary Research NeedsVirginia BaldwinUniversity of Nebraska – Lincolnwww.unl.edu/vbaldwinSerials Prioritization Project•Use of the word “Cancellation” was Verboten!•Team was assigned to run the project – Serials Prioritization Project Team (SPPT)•Amount of cut was unknown at the onset - approximately 20%•Dean of Libraries designated a $ amount attributable to LC call number ranges, for a total of 50 call number ranges.  Among them:–T, TA, TC, TD, TE, TF, TG, TH, TJ, TK, TL, TS – one $ amount–TP and  TR each had separate $ amounts–TT and TX had one $ amountSerials Prioritization Project –Communications•The SPPT set up a web site with project details, guidelines, and timetables at the beginning of the project.•Deans of the colleges were informed of the upcoming process in the Spring of 2002•Campus Announcements•Articles in campus news publicationsSerials Prioritization Project – Phase One•Creation of a Database•Assignment of record number ranges for each LC call number–Q’s (General Science) Records # 5022-5094 or 75 records–T-TX’s (Technology) Records # 8162-9160 or 998 recordsSerials Prioritization Project – Phase One•Civil Engineering•Construction Management•Electrical Engineering•Engineering Mechanics•Industrial Management and Systems Engineering•Mechanical Engineering•Physics and AstronomySerials Prioritization Project – Phase One•IEEE/IEE IEL/Xplore “Problem”–Recently acquired IEL–Previously had print for all IEEE journals and conference proceedings – all were in SPP database–Only a few of the IEE titles were in the SPP database since IEL was a recent acquisition and new IEE titles had not yet been entered.Serials Prioritization Project – Phase One•All records in the database were “enhanced” to add:–Most recent subscription price – obtained from the acquisitions record for each title –for continuations we averaged the prior three years’ prices–Information about whether the title was part of a membership, package plan, electronic format, etc.–Any notes we wanted to add such as pricing historySerials Prioritization Project – Phase Two•A “Shopping Cart” system was created so that the subject librarian could pull off records from the enhanced database onto either a word document or a spreadsheet.•Librarians could pick any title, in any call number area to submit to “their” departments and they were encouraged by the SPPT to be inclusive in their selection.Serials Prioritization Project – Phase Two•For Engineering – records were put into the shopping cart and two files were created–1.  All T’s except most of TT (handicrafts), and without any of TX (home economics)–2.  Other call number areas Serials Prioritization Project – Phase Two•T’s 913 Titles plus 4 titles added in the previous year that were not in the enhanced database– COMPUTER MODELING IN ENGINEERING & SCIENCES.– AMERICAN HERITAGE: INVENTION AND TECHNOLOGY– JOURNAL OF NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY.– JOURNAL OF WATER SUPPLY: RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY - AQUASerials Prioritization Project – Phase Two•GHKLNAQRSUVZ  - 462 Titles•G- Geography•H - Statistics, Business, Finance, Economics, Labor, Energy,            Transportation, etc.•K - Law•L - Education•NA - Architecture•Q’s - Science•R - Medicine•S- Agriculture•U and V - Military•Z - Bibliographies.Serials Prioritization Project – Phase Two•GHKLNAQRSUVZ  - 462 Titles•Q – General Science•QA - Mathematics and Computer                  Science•QC - Physics•QD - Chemistry•QE - Geology•QH -  Ecology and Environment•QP - Bio(mechanics)Serials Prioritization Project –Phase Two – Communication with Faculty•The SPPT set up a web site on the restricted portion of the librarians’ web site–Talking points for liaison librarians–Sample letter to faculty–Guidelines for considerations in the prioritization process Serials Prioritization Project –Phase Two – Communication with Faculty•SPPT Guidelines and Requirements–Librarians could determine their own method of communication with “their” faculty–Librarians must obtain from their faculty a list of titles rated with one of three levels of desirability :•E for Essential•S for Supportive•N for Non EssentialSerials Prioritization Project –Phase Three – Ranked Lists•SPPT Guidelines and RequirementsLiaison librarians must produce a list of serials for each of their departments that are RANKED from 1 to n, with n being the number of titles rated by the faculty.  Titles submitted to the faculty and not rated by any faculty could be assigned a rank of zero if the liaison librarian felt the title was expendable. Serials Prioritization Project –Phase Three – Ranked Lists•SPPT Guidelines and RequirementsLiaison librarians could use other input, at their discretion, to produce the rankings.For example:- Number of faculty that gave input for a title- Use statistics- Journal price increases- Journal citation statistics (JCR)- Value as a reference toolSerials Prioritization Project –Phase Three – Ranked Lists•SPPT Guidelines and Requirements•Liaison librarians must enter into another database, created for the purpose, for each serial title:–The rank and –The requesting department.– Additionally, the desired format could be denoted. Obtaining Input from Faculty•Engineering–Emailed department “book chairs” as a warning–Emailed all faculty•Explanation in the email•Two files as attachments MS Excel•Deadline for inputObtaining Input from Faculty•Physics & Astronomy– sent email and file attachment (MS Excel) only to Physics Chair and “Book Chair”–Astronomy 31 titles–Physics, General Science & Math – 354 titles–Selected Chemistry – 40 titles–Other, including newly added titles - 192 titlesCompiling Multiple Responses•For example for five faculty responses:  –EEEEE       D1–EEEES  D2–EEEE  D3–EEESS  D4–EEES  D5     and so on. Ranking the Titles•Added Circulation Statistics to the Spreadsheet•Added “pick-up” statistics from the last year•Sorted first by Department Ratings, then by Total Statistics•Made some adjustments based on other needs for the titleRESULTS – Top 30 FACULTY SELECTIONS – BY LC #•Industrial & Mgmt. Sys. Eng.    11 subject areas•Civil Engineering        8 subject areas •Mechanical Engineering        8 subject areas•Construction Management        7 subject areas•Electrical Engineering        6 subject areas •Physics and Astronomy        6 subject areas•Engineering Mechanics        4 subject areasRESULTS – ALL RANKED TITLES – BY LC #•Electrical Engineering     26 subject areas •Engineering Mechanics     25 subject areas •Civil Engineering     24 subject areas •Mechanical Engineering     20 subject areas•Construction Management     13 subject areas•Physics and Astronomy     13 subject areas•Industrial & Mgmt. Sys. Eng.    12 subject areasRESULTS – Top 30 FACULTY SELECTIONS – BY LC #•Subject areas with the highest total number of titles selected were:• TA – General Engineering - 64 title selections• QC – Physics - 38 title selections.  Of these, 18 came from departments other than Physics.• TK – Electrical Engineering - 18 title selections• HD – Economic History - 14 title selections.  Thirteen of these came from "Management Departments".  • T – General Technology - 11 title selections. RESULTS – ALL TITLES FACULTY SELECTIONS – BY LC #•TA – General Engineering - 475 title selections•QC – Physics - 246 title selections.  Less than 50% of these came from Physics.•T – General Technology - 136 title selections•TD – Environmental Engineering - 90 title selections•QA – Mathematics, Computer Science - 85 title selections•HD – Economic History - 58 title selections. Selections came from all departments except Physics.•Q – Science (General) - 54 title selections•R – General Medicine - 37 title selections RESULTSSummary Statements•Faculty from every department except Civil Engineering indicated an interest in medicine •Faculty from all seven departments selected titles in general technology, general engineering, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering.  •Faculty from four departments selected Naval or Military Science titles. RESULTSLC Call #’s of Title Selections•AZ – History of Scholarship & Learning •GB - Geography •GC - Oceanography •HC & HD – Economic History •HE – Transportation and Communications•HF - Commerce •HV - Social Service, Welfare, Criminology•K - Law   RESULTSLC Call #’s of Title Selections•L - Education •Q - Science (General) •QA - Mathematics & Computer Science •QB - Astronomy •QC - Physics •QD - Chemistry •QE - Geology •QH - Biology •QP - Physiology RESULTSLC Call #’s of Title Selections•NA - Architecture•R – General Medicine •RC - Internal Medicine •S - Agriculture •U – Military Science •V - Naval Science RESULTS OF THE PROCESS•Input from multiple departments was a factor in title retention•Faculty in a department can rate titles that are not in the library associated with their department and that are not in the LC call # range associated with their department•Faculty were given the opportunity to suggest new titlesRESULTS OF THE PROCESS•The SPPT used the database of prioritized titles to compile a list of “Lower Priority Titles”•The “Lower Priority Title” list was distributed to the liaison first, then to the faculty for their input•The SPPT generated a list of “Higher Priority New Titles”•Liaison Librarians worked with their faculty and the SPPT to retain disputed “Lower Priority Titles”, to obtain agreement to leave them on the list, or to make tradeoffs, such as against “Higher Priority New Titles”Results for Engineering•153 Titles that were rated by faculty in the six engineering departments will be cancelled–74 titles are located in the Engineering Library–Total cost of the titles to be cancelled: $107,363–LC Call #’s of the titles to be cancelled•GC, HD, HF, QA, QC, QE, QH, Z•T, TA, TD, TE, TF, TG, TH, TJ, TK, TL, TN, TP, TSResults for Engineering•10 New Titles that were requested by faculty from the six engineering departments will be added to the Engineering Library collection.•Added will be ongoing funding for the electronic version of the ASCE journals•Added will be a limited site license for electronic access to a Water Resources titleResults for Engineering•Total Cost of the added titles: $10,446 out of a total of $98,713 for all titles added.•LC Call #’s of the added titles:–HD – 1 title–QP – 1 title–RC – 1 title–T – 1 title–TA  - 4 titles–TD – 1 title–TL – 1 title

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A Study of Interdisciplinary Research Needs: Results from Input of Faculty in Six Engineering Departments in Prioritizing Serial Subscriptions

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