Aloha Print Serials!
Methods to Identify Titles for Cooperative Journal Retention
orDisposal
Diana Reid – Serials Acquisitions Librarian
Tyler Goldberg – Head, Technical Services
Print volumes in libraries Over 1 billion volumes in North
American academic libraries Mid-size libraries add average of
20,000-30,000 volumes per year http://www.oclc.org/research/publica
tions/library/2007/2007-01.pdf
Shared print initiatives for journals
Storage model Shared Distributed -- “print in place”
Retrospective / Prospective Means of selection Costs Length of retention / participation Level of verification
ASERL Collaborative Journal Retention -
background Proposal drafted in 2009 by Shared
Storage Study Group Based on other retention programs,
an agreement was drafted focusing on storing low-use print journals
Call for participation in spring 2010
ASERL Collaborative Journal Retention Program
Agreement
Length of participation is 25 years Library nominated Facilities requirements Information to be provided for each title
chosen Information delivery to participants Associated costs absorbed by individual
libraries
ASERL Steering Committee discussions:
Giving issues to other libraries to fill in their gaps
Modifications to facilities Bibliographic records
583 field Number of titles to be added per
institution
University of Louisville Lots of print journals Crowded Robotic Retrieval System
(RRS) and crowded stacks Budget constraints Participant in ASERL’s Collaborative
Journal Print Retention program
What do we retain for ASERL, what do we consider discarding?
First steps…
Created report from Voyager ILS of all serials format holdings in print
Approximately 41,000 titles
The path not taken…
Identifying journals for retention,
part 1 (easy)
Observation Knowledge of collections Bibliographic Other considerations
What we will retain, part 1
Identifying journals for retention, part 2
Exported a spreadsheet of electronic holdings from SFX Included all major publishers, Ebsco,
Proquest, Free titles, JSTOR, Project Muse, Highwire, etc.
Already had streamlined spreadsheet of print holdings
Print ISSN universal identifier for both
Identifying journals for retention, part 2
(continued) Established two primary categories
of interest: Titles (ISSNs) held in print that were
not held electronically Titles (ISSNs) held in print AND only
available electronically through an aggregator such as Ebsco or Proquest.
Identifying journals for retention, part 2
(results) What do we hold in print that we do
not have access to online?
Theory: these would be ‘unique gems' worth saving
Reality: directories, proceedings, oddball titlesException!: Title changes; literary
titles
Examples
Identifying journals for retention, part 2 (results
continued…) What titles do we have in print, and
have e-access but only through an aggregator?
Theory: These titles are potentially a higher risk for loss of access
Reality: There are relatively few scholarly titles that are not accessible via an established online publisher or platform.Exception : there were a few, but…
More of what we will retain
Unexpected benefits Found titles that we were not getting
in electronic form but could/should be
Further reduced titles currently sent for commercial binding
Cleaned up limited runs of titles we never really wanted
Withdrawal decisions Our bound periodicals are spared…
for now What if you must make space NOW?
JSTOR = “easy” choicePrint Collections Decision Support
Tool Perpetual access
Publishers making more readily identifiable
When can you reasonably assume?
Print Collections Decision Support Tool
Ithaka’s "What to Withdraw" report published in 2009 – proposes a model for preservation requirements
Freely available Decision Support Tool created to apply criteria described in report to JSTOR collections Designed to reveal JSTOR titles safe to
withdraw without affecting preservation A quick Google search for ‘JSTOR
withdrawal’ reveals many libraries have taken advantage of the tool
Future withdrawal decisions
Declining print usage (statistics or dust test)
Consortial agreements Faculty buy-in
Final thoughts Easy to decide what to keep Hard to throw it away
Bound periodicals from Colorado College’s JSTOR withdrawal project enjoy one final, brief incarnation as public art…http://libraryshenanigans.wordpress.com/category/tutt-library-colorado-college/
The Bottom Line
In 2035…We will be OLD
And REALLY OLD
What form will our collections take?