Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2017 20:48:41 +0000
To: "acqnet_at_lists.ala.org" <acqnet_at_lists.ala.org>
Hi Mary, So, this is not a suggestion for listservs, which are GREAT, but just some other ways I've tried to answer collection questions without spending a lot of money. :) Our Nursing program is one of the few areas that we let them tell us *exactly* what they need, since the accreditation requirements are so precise. We are a 2 year community college, and collaborated closely with them to fill out the library's area in their report of what nursing and healthcare databases student have access to. Maybe your nursing faculty would be willing to help you with this piece too? We all learned a lot. For instance, we learned that the accreditation report did not care whose vendor we went with. It did want to know the exact titles in what nursing disciplines we had, the numbers of each, and were new articles available on a timely basis? Were they newer than five years? (Print too: we weeded everything older than five years) The nursing faculty needed help learning how to find these titles under the different marketing packages Ebsco and ProQuest hide them under. Also, in my last job, (my liaison area was communication and journalism) I just started looking at colleges and university web sites in the region, their FTE size, and whether they had that program discipline. Then I would look on the library database page to see what they subscribed to. In this way I got an idea of what the "peer groups" were doing. I would then shoot that campus's CD librarian an email if I had a question. -jen >>>For example, if the price of one of our main nursing resources jumps too high (hypothetical), it would really help to find out what other nursing resources other institutions are subscribing to - to explore for possible replacement, or to feel good that our money is being spent wisely. Can anyone recommend such a forum/blog/listserv? I am a member of ALA and ACRL, but not RUSA - am wondering if this is where I should search, but RUSA is pretty big. Thank you, Mary Mary Atwell Archivist and CDS Librarian 401 Rosemont Ave., Frederick, MD 21701 Phone 301-696-3873, 3933 Email atwell_at_hood.edu<mailto:atwell_at_hood.edu> [http://125.hood.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/4C_125_HoodLogo_Horz_Email.jpg]
