270 1996 Charleston Conference
concluded by suggesting that the paradigm of thinking has been changed from viewing change as a threat to security to realizing that there is no security without change.
PII S0364-6408(97)00022-7 Linda P. Albright Head of Monograph~Audio Visual Acquisitions
Assistant Professor Dacus Library
Winthrop University Rock Hill, SC 29733
Internet: albrightl @winthrop.edu
Electronic Resources Collection Development Policy Statement: A Workshop
Anthony Ferguson utilized breakout sessions to create a dynamic preconference for attendees. Initially, his agenda included an hour-long presentation on his professional perspective on the design of collection development policy statements in general and statements for electronic resources in particular. Ferguson stated that a library collection development policy statement should serve as a communicating tool for management, librarians, and users, and for communi- cating with other libraries. Also, the statement should detail levels of collecting, coordinate who is responsible for what, and serve as a budgeting tool. He also suggested that the collection development policy statement include three elements: an introduction that includes the library's mission statement; statements of the general policies concerning collection development; and a detailed analysis of what will be collected. Ferguson used resources for the session from Columbia University Libraries and from the University of California Libraries as examples for developing policy statements. Preconference attendees left the afternoon with a 57-page handout of guidelines that included actual statements and charts to use for analysis of the collection. For example, the charts were designed to rate such factors as the size of the user group from the largest to the smallest; the degree of collection from selectively and extensively to "do not collect"; and the categorization of the selector and selection committee responsibilities for the various formats of electronic resources.
Ferguson listed six primary factors in constructing a collection development policy statement for electronic resources. The six factors are: qualitative and collection depth selection factors; technology-related selection factors; budgeting/cost factors; organizational factors; licensing fac- tors; and preservation/archival factors. The conference attendees were divided into five groups to address the questions for each factor and report back to the whole session with answers. For example, in the area of archival responsibility, who is responsible for maintaining web links, how important is response time, and how to choose between print and digital are just a few of the 46 questions posed by Ferguson in his construction methodology guidelines. The group also indicated that consortial/cooperative relationships should be included in electronic resource collection policy statements and are often overlooked.
The session ended with a reference to the "Ten Commandments for Acquiring Electronic Journals" that was published in the Spring 1996 issue of Against the Grain. Among the com- mandments, Ferguson reminds librarians to:
1. balance the need for experience with digital formats with the current need of our users for content;
1996 Charleston Conference 271
2. seek to help the many before the few; 3. build in areas of critical mass; 4. demand that these journals be easier and better to use than print journals; 5. reject e-journals that are platform or software bound; 6. require publishers and vendors to be completely up front; and 7. reject much of what publishers ask librarians to be responsible for concerning user behavior
and collecting data for marketing analysis.
The preconference was very successful and informative both because of the knowledge shared and the participatory, hands-on style of presentation coordinated by Ferguson.
PII S0364-6408(97)00023-9 Linda P. Albright Head of Monograph~Audio Visual Acquisitions
Assistant Professor Dacus Library
Winthrop University Rock Hill, SC 29733
lnternet: [email protected]
