If You Build It, They Will Come: Navigating Trends in Collection Development

By Kayla Kipps (Collection Development Librarian, College of Charleston) <kippskl@cofc.edu>

Recent trends in academic librarianship cover the gamut from space needs, collaborative collections, open access, artificial intelligence, big data, and, most notably, how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected all parts of librarianship, including collection development.1 As we pass the three-year mark since the COVID-19 pandemic began, it is impossible to consider trends in academic libraries without highlighting how many of the adaptations made have been adopted permanently and have made lasting impacts on collection development.2 While the pandemic required navigating constant change, there is space to “[...] move forward armed with the lessons we’ve learned from our experience [...]” and consider opportunities to explore more flexible acquisition models, participate in internal and external collaborations, and enhance workflows.3 With converging trends across academic librarianship that touch collection development, this article will focus on book and media acquisition, how the pandemic encouraged a sustained shift to electronic acquisition, different facets of electronic acquisitions, and the ways in which this work supports affordable learning.

Prior to the pandemic, the College of Charleston Libraries (College Libraries) received materials in several ways: a print approval plan, print firm ordered books and DVDs, a single demand-driven acquisition eBook plan, and several eBook and streaming media subscription resources. In March 2020, however, the College Libraries, like many other libraries, had to quickly adapt how to handle acquisition practices while continuing to provide remote access to scholarly resources. 4 Because physical material processing became complex to manage, these orders were placed on indefinite hold wherever possible. The College Libraries adopted an e-preferred acquisition policy to curb the amount of print materials purchased to alleviate the need for physical processing while still addressing the need for new acquisitions. This policy prioritized eBook and streaming media purchases to ensure that faculty, staff, and students had access to materials while teaching, researching, and learning remotely. This is not a new trend in academic libraries but is one that had not come to fruition at this library.5 The pandemic encouraged the shift to e-preferred acquisitions and has been successful at the College Libraries because it was broadly accepted, even among faculty that had been traditional print users. In conjunction with this shift, this opportunity supported faculty members in gaining remote access to course materials, something many were actively struggling with. This line of communication among collection development librarians and teaching faculty has continued well beyond the remote-only learning period, and many faculty frequently reach out to see if the library can provide access to electronic materials to use in instruction. This aligns with affordable learning initiatives at the library, which are inclusive of the usage of library-licensed resources, open educational resources (OER), and items freely available in the public domain on the web in the classroom and has strengthened the working relationships among collection development with not only research and instruction librarians but faculty outside of the library.

There are many factors to consider when purchasing electronic materials beyond what has been traditional to consider for print, and this is where different acquisition models are beneficial to explore, especially when considering budget and ownership. Access and ownership are a balancing act for academic libraries to juggle.6 Subscriptions to large packages can ensure a wide variety of material is available at an affordable price but can cost more over time and do not guarantee perpetual access to its contents. Perpetual purchases can be a higher upfront cost but do guarantee that perpetual ownership. This balancing act, and what will be prioritized, will vary from institution to institution. At the College Libraries, ownership is particularly important when considering resources that are being used in the classroom, for example. If a faculty member is assigning a library eBook, perpetual access should be something that they can count on. The College Libraries have open lines of communication and Google forms available for faculty to notify the library of their usage of library resources so that the circumstance of lost access can be allayed. While faculty have been receptive to the rise in the adoption of eBooks, and usage in the classroom can be inferred from high usage numbers, it is not always apparent which faculty are using which library resources in this manner and certain resources that may be important to a curriculum may not get outstanding usage, so this communication is imperative so that proper planning in acquisitions can be conducted.

Having access available to a wide variety of resources, however, is valuable to academic pursuit, and something that can economically be afforded through subscriptions or through demand-driven or evidence-based acquisition plans. In cases where materials cannot be procured or afforded, additional access opportunities are possible through interlibrary loan, collaborative collections available through consortia, or even open educational resources. An exercise in new skills for collection development is the navigation of these scenarios in a way that is budget-conscious, appropriate to a title’s desired use, and that the resources’ lifecycle is well documented to prevent confusion, and that, most importantly, gets the patron the resource they need whether requested or discovered serendipitously.

Since 2020, the College Libraries has adopted a second demand-driven acquisition eBook plan and two evidence-based acquisition plans available through consortium partnerships to strengthen eBook holdings across subject areas. They have also shifted budgets previously available for the print approval plan back into librarian-selected acquisition, mostly in eBook format. DVD purchases have also dropped significantly as faculty turn to available streaming media databases. These additions and modifications have broadened holdings and have been receiving positive feedback while still working favorably with the budget, benefiting every subject area, and being more accessible whether a patron is on or off campus. Some of the most important skills in collection development are the tenacity to embrace disruption and to be responsive to patron needs in an ever-changing environment. While technical services have typically been seen as a behind-the-scenes area in librarianship, collection development can be a public service as well, especially if a library places a lot of value on patron input for collections building. As budgets tighten, especially in wake of the pandemic, and libraries become more involved in affordable learning initiatives across college campuses, the need for patron input is crucial for spending money on resources that will be of the most value to the community they serve.

Bibliography

2021-22 ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee. “Top Trends in Academic Libraries.” CR&L News, June, 2022. https://crln.acrl.org/index.php/crlnews/article/view/25483

Elwell, Jon T., and Fast, Ashley. “Library Analytics: Shaping the Future – COVID-19 One Year Later: Trends in Library Book Acquisitions.” Against the Grain 33, no. 5 (June 2021): 56-57.

Lawson, Robert, and Lawson, Patricia. “Libraries in a Bind: Ownership Versus Access.” Journal of Consumer Affairs 36, no. 2 (March 2005): 295-298. https://doi. org/10.1111/j.1745-6606.2002.tb00435.x

Nixon, Judith, and Lehner-Quam, Alison. “Trends in Library Collections: Interview with Judith Nixon, Editor of Collection Management Journal, by Alison Lehner-Quam.” Collection Management 48, no. 1 (September 2022): 1-4. https://doi.org/1 0.1080/01462679.2023.2138035

Park, Alice. “So, Is the Pandemic Over Yet?” Time, February 8, 2023. https://time.com/6253890/is-pandemic-over-bidencovid-19.

Serrano, Amauri, and Fernandez, Michael. “Impacts of COVID-19: Toward a Streaming-Preferred Video Collection Policy.” Collection Management 48, no. 1 (September 2022): 5-21. https:/doi.org/10.1080/01462679.2022.2124392

Tabacaru, Simona. “E-Preferred Approval Plan at a Large Academic Library: Assessment and Collection Development Implications.” Collection Management 43, no. 3 (May 2018): 155176. https://doi.org/10.1080/01462679.2018.1459328

Truesdell, Cheryl. “Is Access a Viable Alternative to Ownership? A Review of Access Performance.” Journal of Academic Librarianship 20, no. 4 (September 1994): 200-206. https://doi.org/10.1016/0099-1333(94)90099-X.

Zang, Ying. “E-Books for Academic Libraries in the USA.” Paper presented at 2018 5th International Symposium on Emerging Trends and Technologies in Libraries and Information Services (ETTLIS), Noida, India, February 2018. https://doi. org/10.1109/ETTLIS.2018.8485208

Endnotes

1. 2021-22 ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee, “Top trends in academic libraries,” CR&L News, June, 2022, https://crln.acrl.org/index.php/crlnews/article/ view/25483

2. Amauri Serrano and Michael Fernandez, “Impacts of COVID-19: Toward a Streaming-Preferred Video Collection Policy,” Collection Management 48, no. 1 (September 2022): 5-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/0146 2679.2022.2124392; Judith Nixon and Alison LehnerQuam, “Trends in Library Collections: Interview with Judith Nixon, Editor of Collection Management Journal, by Alison Lehner-Quam,” Collection Management 48, no. 1 (September 2022): 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1080/01462 679.2023.2138035.

3. Alice Park, “So, Is the Pandemic Over Yet?” Time, February 8, 2023, https://time.com/6253890/is-pandemic-overbiden-covid-19.

4. Jon T. Elwell and Ashley Fast, “Library Analytics: Shaping the Future – COVID-19 One Year Later: Trends in Library Book Acquisitions,” Against the Grain 33, no. 5 (June 2021): 56-57.

5. Simona Tabacaru, “E-Preferred Approval Plan at a Large Academic Library: Assessment and Collection Development Implications,” Collection Management 43, no. 3 (May 2018): 155-176. https://doi.org/10.10 80/01462679.2018.1459328; Ying Zang, “E-Books for Academic Libraries in the USA,” (paper presented at 2018 5th International Symposium on Emerging Trends and Technologies in Libraries and Information Services (ETTLIS), Noida, India, February 21-23, 2018), 7-11, https://doi.org/10.1109/ETTLIS.2018.8485208

6. Cheryl Truesdell, “Is Access a Viable Alternative to Ownership? A Review of Access Performance,” Journal of Academic Librarianship 20, no. 4 (September 1994): 200-206. https://doi.org/10.1016/0099-1333(94)90099-X; Robert Lawson and Patricia Lawson, “Libraries in a Bind: Ownership Versus Access,” Journal of Consumer Affairs 36, no. 2 (March 2005): 295-298. https://doi. org/10.1111/j.1745-6606.2002.tb00435.x.