From: William Z Schenck <wsch_at_loc.gov>
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
January 1998
Report on collection development activities at the Library of Congress
prepared for the Collection Development Officers of Large Research Libraries
Discussion Group.
Budget: Congress provided the Library with an increase of 13.7% in the
GENPAC and Law materials budgets for the current fiscal year. This includes
the price level increases requested but not granted in FY96 and FY97, as well
as the increase requested for FY98. Also included are funds to compensate for
GPO published Congressional documents no longer furnished gratis to the
Library.
This increase permits the Library to lift the moratorium on all but
high
priority serial subscriptions put into effect several years ago during leaner
budgetary times. During this moratorium recommending officers exercised
care and judgement, requesting only items which they believed were needed to
support the work of Congress or were of a high research value.
Serial expenditures take about 53% of our overall budget, so even
though
the moratorium has been lifted we have requested recommending officers to
continue to exercise care in recommending new subscriptions; the Collections
Policy Committee will monitor the number and price of new subscriptions
placed.
With the price level increase we raised the amount of money
available for firm orders for special collections, area studies, and the
general collections.
The amount for approval plans remains about the same, with minor
modifications by country to take into account publishing changes and
currency fluctuations.
Acquisitions Travel: Acquisitions trips were taken to Venezuela,
Chile,
Tibet and China, S. Africa, Namibia, the Ukraine, S. Korea, the
Philippines, and the west African nations of Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, and
Togo in the second half of 1997.
Trips planned for 1998 include Ecuador, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Bosnia,
and a trip to selected Western European countries to acquire Judaica and
publications of emigre groups. A trip to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos is
planned, if the political and military situation permits entry into the
latter two
nations. In addition, some funds are being held in reserve in case specific
acquisitions related problems requiring travel arise during the year.
Policies: A new Collections Policy Statement for Theater was approved.
Draft policies in the following areas have been prepared but Not yet approved
for * History of Science and Technology * Science General * Earth Sciences *
Technology General * Civil Engineering * Mechanical Engineering * Chemical
Engineering * Composite (covering manufacturers, handicrafts, arts and crafts,
and home economics (including cookery) * Naval Science * Military Science *
Genealogy * Local History * Children's Literature * Language and Literature *
Fine Arts * Economics and Business * Electronic Resources.
Developing a policy on collecting electronic resources has been
especially difficult as we try to balance the explosion of available
materials with the Library's mission and resources. A Library-wide
committee (Electronic Resources Project Committee) recently completed an
analysis and sent its recommendations forward to Winston Tabb, the
Associate Librarian for Library Services.
Deliberations were helped by two outside speakers who spoke at
Collections Policy Committee forums: David Seaman of the Electronic Text
Center at the University of Virginia and Sam Demas of the Mann Library at
Cornell. Both speakers provided valuable overviews for the entire Library staff
as well as meeting with members of the committee for specific suggestions.
Case Studies: For several years I have reported on the status of
the Case
Studies at the Library. These studies provided in-depth examinations of six
subject areas, bringing together Library staff and outside scholars. The six
studies were: Hispanic and Hispanic-Americans, Islamic Materials,
Twentieth-Century Chinese Social Science, Environmental Policy,
African-American Materials, and Business. Recommendations from the six
Case Studies were approved by the Associate Librarian for Library Services
and are now being implemented.
Area Studies: I reported at the summer conference that the four area
studies reading rooms were now open in the newly renovated Jefferson
Building. I mention this again to encourage you to visit these facilities
during
the summer conference in Washington.
Helen Poe, Chief of the Asian Division, represented the library at the
conference on area studies held earlier this year at Indiana University.
Additional information on the activities of some of area studies divisions is
available in the complete LC ALA report accessible via the Library's Home
Page.
Preservation: Working with funds appropriated by Congress to use the
Bookkeeper process to deacidify several hundred thousand books over the
next four years, the Preservation Directorate is selecting materials from the
following classifications: * E (American History) * F1-975 U.S. Local
History) *
PS (American literature * KF (U.S. Federal Law) * JK (U.S. Political Science)
*CS71 (U.S. Family Histories * PN (literary History and Collections-sections
relating to Americana). Not all books in these classes are being deacidified;
titles are selected individually using criteria such as condition and the
number
of copies held.
Storage: Space in the stacks on Capitol is at a premium, with many
areas having reached capacity. A storage facility is planned at Ft. Meade
(MD),
currently scheduled to open in the summer of 1999. Plans are to send books in
classes PZ3+ (a literature class), RK-RZ, and TN, plus approximately 200,000
books from the Law Library, some items from the Asian and African and
Middle Eastern divisions, and books in minimal-level cataloging already in
storage. Additional storage modules are planned for later occupancy to
store non-paper based materials as well as additional books and serials.
In addition, Congress has just authorized an Audio-Visual Digital
Conservation Center in Culpepper, Virginia (about an hour from Capitol Hill).
Acquisitions Reorganization: The Acquisitions Directorate has been
re-organized along geographic lines. There are now three divisions:
African/Asian Acquisitions and Overseas Operations (under Judy McDermott);
Anglo/American Acquisitions (under Michael Albin) and European/Latin
American Acquisitions (under Donald Panzera). The Library's six field offices
are part of the African-Asian Division.
Nancy Davenport has been named the new Director for Acquisitions
and Support Services, effective December 21. Mark Dimunation of Cornell has
been named Chief of the Rare Rook and Special Collections Division. He will
assume the position on March 30, 1998.
The Cooperative Acquisitions Program meeting will be on Sunday,
January 11 in Mardi Gras Room G&H at the Marriott from 7:00-9:00 pm.
William Schenck
Library Services
wzs_at_loc.gov
Received on Mon Jan 05 1998 - 16:56:29 EST