alcts cmds collection development librarians of academic libraries discussion group

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ALAMidwinter 1995- - Conference Reports 353 familiarize themselves with the specialties of booksellers in their areas in order to take advantage of the servioes that booksellers can provide. Allen then gave a brief overview of William H. Allen, Bookseller, describing its areas of spe- cialization, including American history and literature. Most of Allen's business with libraries is generated by catalogs, and he receives 500-600 responses to any given catalog. Allen noted that he maintains records of customers who have inquired about titles that are already sold and will quote the title to the customer if he comes across the title again. He observed somewhat ruefully that libraries no longer buy out of print books to they extent they once did. In the discussion that followed the two booksellers' presentations, librarians traded advice on how best to dispose of unwanted material, with attention paid to the problems of state-supported institutions, which are sometimes forbidden by state law from selling surplus property. Some public institutions have arranged to have donations made to a Friends of the Library group, which can then sell off duplicate titles and donate the proceeds to the library. Bell made the observation that at least one European bookdealer has recently taken an interest in buying American library duplicates, pointing out that there may be a better market for common American titles in Europe. Discussion also focussed on how libraries are currently searching for out of print rifles, includ- ing creating traditional desiderata lists to send to dealers, creating purchase orders to send to OP specialists asking to have the title searched, reviewing out of print catalogs, and sending lists to AB Bookman's Weekly to be advertised on the out of print market. Allen commented that he cheeks his large stock, but does not actively search out of print rifles not in his stock. Hough performs out of print searching through the traditional sources and expressed his skepticism about computer listing services that match a library's search with a bookseller's listing. Allen concluded the meeting with an amusing anecdote about finding an early nineteenth-centu- ry Australian pamphlet in a collection he had bought as a lot from a hospital. He sent a photocopy to the Australian National Library after a search failed to fred any record of the title. The pamphlet eventually sold for $2000.00, and Allen split the sale profit with the hospital that had sold him the collecrion. Both Hough and Allen had noted earlier that f'mding valuable items in libraries' sales of unwanted materials is rare, and that most of the stories about such finds are apocryphal. 0364-6408(95)00031-3 Andrew Stancliffe Head, Acquisitions Department University Research Library University of California Los Angeles, CA 90024-1575 Internet: [email protected] ALCTS CMDS Collection Development Librarians of Academic Libraries Discussion Group Paul Metz, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, moderated the Saturday afternoon discussion group, Collection Development Librarians of Academic Libraries. Rosemary Franklin of the University of Cincinnati and Tony Ferguson, Columbia University, were the principal speakers. Franklin described the arrival of the third wave of library services and the means through which her university library was coping with these demands by reinventing services. A task force formed in the spring of 1994 established a course of action that identified all current services, identified others that might be added, addressed staff training and equipment needs, and developed a ratio- nale for different costs for differing levels of service. The task force identified a no-cost basic level

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ALA Midwinter 1995 - - Conference Reports 353

familiarize themselves with the specialties of booksellers in their areas in order to take advantage of the servioes that booksellers can provide.

Allen then gave a brief overview of William H. Allen, Bookseller, describing its areas of spe- cialization, including American history and literature. Most of Allen's business with libraries is generated by catalogs, and he receives 500-600 responses to any given catalog. Allen noted that he maintains records of customers who have inquired about titles that are already sold and will quote the title to the customer if he comes across the title again. He observed somewhat ruefully that libraries no longer buy out of print books to they extent they once did.

In the discussion that followed the two booksellers' presentations, librarians traded advice on how best to dispose of unwanted material, with attention paid to the problems of state-supported institutions, which are sometimes forbidden by state law from selling surplus property. Some public institutions have arranged to have donations made to a Friends of the Library group, which can then sell off duplicate titles and donate the proceeds to the library. Bell made the observation that at least one European bookdealer has recently taken an interest in buying American library duplicates, pointing out that there may be a better market for common American titles in Europe.

Discussion also focussed on how libraries are currently searching for out of print rifles, includ- ing creating traditional desiderata lists to send to dealers, creating purchase orders to send to OP specialists asking to have the title searched, reviewing out of print catalogs, and sending lists to AB Bookman's Weekly to be advertised on the out of print market. Allen commented that he cheeks his large stock, but does not actively search out of print rifles not in his stock. Hough performs out of print searching through the traditional sources and expressed his skepticism about computer listing services that match a library's search with a bookseller's listing.

Allen concluded the meeting with an amusing anecdote about finding an early nineteenth-centu- ry Australian pamphlet in a collection he had bought as a lot from a hospital. He sent a photocopy to the Australian National Library after a search failed to fred any record of the title. The pamphlet eventually sold for $2000.00, and Allen split the sale profit with the hospital that had sold him the collecrion. Both Hough and Allen had noted earlier that f'mding valuable items in libraries' sales of unwanted materials is rare, and that most of the stories about such finds are apocryphal.

0364-6408(95)00031-3 Andrew Stancliffe Head, Acquisitions Department

University Research Library University of California

Los Angeles, CA 90024-1575 Internet: [email protected]

ALCTS CMDS Collection Development Librarians of Academic Libraries Discussion Group

Paul Metz, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, moderated the Saturday afternoon discussion group, Collection Development Librarians of Academic Libraries. Rosemary Franklin of the University of Cincinnati and Tony Ferguson, Columbia University, were the principal speakers. Franklin described the arrival of the third wave of library services and the means through which her university library was coping with these demands by reinventing services. A task force formed in the spring of 1994 established a course of action that identified all current services, identified others that might be added, addressed staff training and equipment needs, and developed a ratio- nale for different costs for differing levels of service. The task force identified a no-cost basic level

354 ALA Midwinter 1995 -- Conference Reports

of service that provides access to CD-ROMs, ProQuest, OhioLINK, and general equipment use. It was recommended that fees be levied for added-value services above the basic level. A high-level service includes staff assistance, mediated database searches, copying services, and training for extracurricular needs. The task force recommended that costs to customers be uniform, that docu- ment delivery be subsidized, and that resources be rationed. A rush-service fee, establishing a col- lection budget for access, and book and thesis ILL via OhioLINK are other recommendations. Recommended future actions include canceling high cost/low-use journals, rush ordering mono- graphs rather than providing these through ILL, and giving selectors budgets for access.

Tony Ferguson asked the audience to help def'me/redet'me the collection managers' roles in cou- pling ownership with access, since so many libraries are increasingly unable to provide the fastest means of access, that is, ownership. The concepts of "fast" and "cheap" were presented as a scale against which various methods of access were rated, e.g., ILL is cheap but seldom fast, while own- ership is very fast but not often cheap. Ferguson then challenged the audience to consider how easy will libraries make it for users to get the information needed. He illustrated this point using a continuum ranging from the "hard" means of providing print indexes combined with a full-cost recovery ILL and an additional service charge to the "easy" free document delivery. At what point on the "easy-hard" continuum will libraries draw the line, he asked, since to one degree or another all libraries are willing to pay for information. "Are we," queried Ferguson, "willing to take the next step to provide free and unmediated document delivery.?" He cited Colorado State as having taken that next step by opening UnCover to all users. Thus far the service has not been abused, which is similar to the experiences on a much smaller experimental scale at Columbia. Other insri- turions experience, however, is that document delivery services are used for rifles held in the local collections. The question of shelf availability was raised in response to such duplication. Ferguson concedes that budgeting when all costs are variable is a gamble but pointed out that book selection is also a gamble when we do not know how often the books will be used. Limited experiments like those at Columbia can help with best-guess predictions. Ferguson also pondered a paradigm shift and cited the experience of Columbia's Business Library. Although that library owns 80% of rifles covered by ProQuest, users still prefer to pay the $0.25/page cost for duplicate rifles. Clearly there is high value added by this type of service.

0364-6408(95)00032-1 Bill Robnett Director, Central and Science~Engineering Libraries

Vanderbilt University 419 21st Avenue South

Nashville, TN 37240-0007 Internet: robnett@ library, vanderbilt.edu

ALCTS CMDS Cooperative Collection Development Discussion Group

Suzaane Fedunok, Binghamton University, moderated the discussion group, which had its origins during the development of the Guide to Cooperative Collection Development. This guide and how it has been utilized were the topics of Sunday's discussion.

The guide, explained Fedunok, tries to give a concrete foundation to cooperative collecrion development (CCD) and takes the "cookbook" approach by including the elements of agreements among parties, maintenance of agreements, and provision of bibliographic access and control. Built into the guide is the assumption that collection assessment will also take place. She contrast-