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Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2005
From: Jane Binksma (Ryerson Univ.) <jbinksma_at_gwemail.ryerson.ca>
Subject: Call for Proposals (consulting opportunity)
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR A COLLECTIONS CONSULTANT TO REVIEW THE RYERSON
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY BUDGET PROCEDURES
Institutional Description
The Ryerson University Library serves a student population of over
18,000
FTE students, including 680 graduate students, and 625 faculty members.
The Library has a staff of more than seventy, including twenty-one
career
status and three contract librarians and one archivist. The collection
totals about 500,000 books, 2,100 hard copy serials and an impressive
electronic resources collection of over 21,000 full text journals,
e-books,
and online databases.
Librarians at Ryerson work in a team and subject cluster arrangement.
There
are three teams * Borrower Services, Information and Learning Commons
Team
and the Collection Services Team. Librarians approach collection
development, faculty liaison and bibliographic instruction as clusters,
divided as follows: Business, Arts, Engineering and Applied Science,
Community Services, and Communication and Design. Every librarian is
responsible for varied subject areas within these clusters.
Consultation
with faculty members varies, but is considered a factor in making some
collection decisions.
Goal
The number one strategic goal in the academic plan of the Ryerson
University
Library is the strengthening of our collections. This includes the
maintenance of the monograph budget, the expansion of our electronic
collection and the collection of material to support scholarly and
research
activities of our faculty and graduate students.
An overhaul of the budget and fund system is required to ensure that the
Library is equipped properly to best achieve this institutional goal.
Objectives
1. The current budget formula is dated and no longer meets our needs.
The
library is interested in exploring alternatives that will allow us to
allocate monograph funds to subject areas in a more judicious manner.
It must
be structured in such a way to ensure the following:
* Current programs receive the required funding
* Proposed and new programs should be planned for, and easily
included in
the library budget
* Future allocation decisions should not be limited to a set
number of
variables (i.e. flexibility)
2. The current fund structure is voluminous and elaborate. A
simpler and
smaller fund tree is desired. This needs to be taken into consideration
when
creating the allocation process.
3. Analysis of purchasing and collecting levels are currently
tracked through
the above mentioned fund tree. If the fund structure is to be modified,
we must
still be able to provide collection analysis. The consultant should
recommend
alternatives to using fund codes for analysis to satisfy the information
sought
by interested parties.
4. A pilot project for evaluating and implementing approval plans
is
currently underway. The consultant will recommend how to best proceed
with the
approval plan, and to what extent.
Deliverables/Outcomes
1. A recommendation for a revised budget allocation system that
allows for
expansion to include new programs
2. A recommendation of a new and simplified fund structure
3. Procedures for retrieving frequently requested collection
analysis
statistics previously collected via fund code, including but not limited
to:
* Money spent in a subject area in a given amount of time
* Number of monographs purchased in a subject area in a given
amount of time
4. Recommendations regarding the approval plan including, but not
limited to:
* Which vendor(s) should be maintained/approached
* Which subject areas/LC ranges should be included in the profiles
* Whether slip or book plans are the best path for Ryerson, and at
what point
slip plans should be advanced to book plans
* How workflows should be managed to ensure the maximum efficiency
of approval
plans
Support in completion
The collections consultant will work closely with the full term
Collection Team
librarians in achieving these outcomes. In addition, the consultant
will meet with
individual subject librarians for input on special areas of
consideration. The
Chief Librarian will be regularly consulted and updated on progress.
Location of work
The consultant will be provided with office space and equipment
(including fully
networked computer system) within the library.
Timeline & budget
It is expected that the consultant will provide a completed report of
recommendations within a maximum of 30 days. A further 10 days
(maximum) will be
added to assist in discussion of implementation. The workweek will be
from Monday
to Friday. The total budget for the process will be a maximum of
$20,000.
It is expected that work will commence in early August 2005.
Desired qualifications
* At least 10 years experience in collection development in an
academic
library
* At least 10 years experience in collection budget management
* Extensive experience with starting and managing approval plans
* Familiarity with integrated library systems, preferably
Innovative
Interfaces, Inc.
* Specific knowledge of fund codes, subject category tables and
collection
analysis through statistics reporting functions in an integrated library
system,
preferably Innovative Interfaces, Inc.
* Demonstrated success in supervising and directing collection
development in
an academic library
* Understanding of technical services workflow in an academic
library (i.e.
ordering, receiving, processing, cataloguing).
Scope of proposal
Applicants should send an updated resume, a letter outlining their
qualifications,
and a statement describing how they would set out to achieve the
required outcomes,
drawing on previous accomplishments where possible to demonstrate
capability.
Names and contact information for three professional references should
also be
included. The references should be able to specifically attest to the
applicants'
ability in budget management, and collection development procedure
writing.
Deadline for applications is July 15, 2005.
Please send application packages to the Chief Librarian, Ryerson
University, Room
LIB 266B, 350 Victoria St., Toronto, ON. M5B 2K3, citing the following
statement:
RE: Collections Consultant Request for Proposal.
Jane Binksma
Acquisitions Librarian
Collections Team
Ryerson University Library
350 Victoria Street
Toronto, ON
M5B 2K3
416-979-5000 ex. 4855
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Received on Thu Jun 30 2005 - 14:50:44 UTC