From:
"Swindler, Luke" <luke_swindler_at_unc.edu>
Since monographs have long been a focus of cooperative collection
development, the widespread acquisition of e-books poses a major
challenge to traditional notions of sharing. Such has been the case at
UNC Chapel Hill, especially because of its many decades of formal
cooperation with nearby research libraries that now goes under the
rubric of Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN).
Within this context, I thought it would be useful to share the response
when one of our subject librarians recently asked what the shift to
e-books means for cooperative collection development since e-resources
cannot be borrowed as print can. In particular, he was concerned that
whereas subject librarians might not buy a specialized title if a print
book were held elsewhere within the consortium, they would now feel
compelled to do so because UNC users cannot borrow an e-book.
While this shift does affect how we cooperate, where cooperation takes
place, and how we assess it, TRLN is experimenting with how cooperative
collection development can continue to be successful in a world on
e-books. Fundamentally, regardless of format the ethos of cooperation
continues to be replicating the great breadth and depth of collections
across the consortium---but this same result is achieved differently
with e-books.
Within the universe of tangible media, TRLN measures cooperative success
in terms of maximizing the number of unique titles within the consortium
through minimizing duplication, with the latter being part and parcel of
how each library frees up collections dollars to achieve the former; and
TRLN operationalizes this model through expedited interlibrary borrowing
among its members. Within the world of e-resources this same result
would be achieved and assessed by how well TRLN leverages available
financial resources to make sure each institution offers its users the
same digital products in terms of immediate and un-mediated access---and
does so an scale could not be achieved if each library acted individually.
This new model for monographic cooperation is what the TRLN/Oxford
University Press pilot is all about---and it is one that can be
adopted/adapted by other libraries. With this program TRLN will commit
to acquire the /entire/ monographic output from publishers for
approximately the same aggregate spend either as separately owned
e-books or shared single print copies---and in some subjects both
formats so that faculty and students will accept this shift to e-books.
TRLN libraries and partner publishers both move to a decidedly
electronic environment for books that will improve support for
instruction and research, with partner publishers not out to increase
sales and revenues and cooperating libraries not out to reduce aggregate
monographic expenditures with partner publishers.
Cooperation thereby moves from title-by-title book selection to
wholesale acquisitions, from individual subject librarians to the
consortial level, from saving dollars on single titles to saving dollars
on many titles, and it inverts the metric for success from uniqueness of
titles to extensiveness of duplication.
While at the micro-level of title-by-title acquisition subject
librarians might remain concerned that selecting e-books means not
cooperating, at the macro-level of en bloc acquisitions TRLN cooperation
not only continues but also is expanding. Yet we still need to work
hard so as to ensure that the net effects of these contradictory micro-
and macro-trends remain positive.
Luke Swindler
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Luke Swindler Collections Management Officer
Davis Library CB #3918 luke_swindler_at_unc.edu
<mailto:luke_swindler_at_unc.edu>
University of North Carolina TEL (919-962-1095)
Chapel Hill, NC 27514 USA FAX (919-962-4450)
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Received on Tue Feb 12 2013 - 03:09:05 EST