Thursday, March 25, 2010

Wondering A’loud: Visioning the Future of Resource Sharing and Delivery – Glenn Sandberg & Paul Doty

Glenn Sandberg says...
“The place to go, when you need to know” library slogan at Rutgers University Libraries.
How do you expand your services – and save cost – do more for less...

ILL should become the public face of the University libraries – raise your profile. It is important for people to understand what we do. We do a lot of work – we are busy.

Aug. 2007 Rutgers launched ILLiad – went to free ILL service to their users, that increased the work. Feb. ‘09 900 article requests filled, Feb ‘10 1,900 article requests filled. We now can scan our print collection and post to ILLiad and deliver to users fast – it is highly valued by users, they don’t want to see it go away.

Jobs are changing – reserve processing is changing as online content and online courses change the nature of the service – as these decrease over time, staffing can change.

Remaining relevant – we have done that.
• What are you willing to do for people? How far are you willing to go?

Delivering books to faculty? Purchase items? How far will you go?
• Free digitizing of articles from print holdings in remote locations/Annex only.

Paul Doty
eBooks and ILL – public service as the public face of the library.
Google Books: discusses that Google isn’t our enemy, Google is extremely useful for libraries. Libraries succeed when all of us are considered library users.

Collection is an integral part of the library – the collection is the face of the library. ILL makes that face malleable to users. In making a collection, a library identity – library collections are a service role to be made useful to a body of users.

Google Books and terms of the settlement – Karen Coyle, Robert Denton, implications on libraries. Printed book is the thing that gives users the most rights; DRM may seriously restrict the future of platform and user services.

Can ILL, by virtue of getting this material, be the agency that comes down on the side of the user – defending their needs and control?

Accessing print books rather than digital content – libraries as readers’ refuge. We are fostering a community of readers. Is the print book a better technology for delivering a sustained body of literature reading? Print value: First sale rights – easy to sell a book, but do you see used software stores? Attendees discuss the merits and challenges of ebooks.


Textbooks – what can we do to serve our users obtain textbooks? Leasing, cost, borrowing, work with publishers, there must be a strategy that can make sense. Cooperative collection development? Publishers sell loose-leaf (50% reduced cost), textbook donations, state of Maryland – asked Universities and Colleges look at what is purchased; if only 2-3 chapters, don’t require new editions.

Reading digital text and print text – future library collections? How do people read anymore?

Discussion of future of reading and textbooks.

Cyril’s note: Why do we buy so much used-less print reference collection when users want and need textbooks? We borrow so many textbooks for students at such a high cost, why not buy textbooks and place on Reserves instead? We need to work with faculty producing the print scholarship that will not be used by their future students?

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