Behind the Scenes in the Library: Collections Edition, Part I
Ever wondered how books find their way to our shelves, how we get access to films from around the world, or how our electronic journal and database subscriptions find their way into LibrarySearch?
Our colleagues in e-resources, acquisitions, and collection development work every day to connect you with the materials you need. Enjoy these behind-the-scenes vignettes!
Independent Film, Instant Access
Sue Driscoll, Senior Collections Associate, is increasingly buying films directly from independent filmmakers, rather than via clearinghouses such as Kanopy. Why?
Filmmakers are increasingly distributing their own work before selling rights to aggregators like Docuseek or Kanopy. Digital payment tools make this much easier than it used to be.
Last week, a professor on sabbatical requested a film on post-apartheid South Africa. The turnaround was lightning-fast: quick purchase approval from Julie Adamo, Director of Collection Strategies and Acquisitions, instant PayPal payment, and next-day access. Lisa Cavalear, Catalog Librarian, enjoys the challenge of original cataloging for these newly acquired films.
When Automation Needs a Human Touch
Gretchen Kenet, Electronic and Continuing Resources Librarian, manages thousands of e-journals in our catalog through Alma, the back end of LibrarySearch. This work includes turning on/off access, troubleshooting issues, and maintaining the coverage dates.
With some journal providers, we take advantage of an Alma feature called “autoholdings,” a process in which Alma takes our holdings information directly from the publisher and automatically updates our holdings in Alma/LibrarySearch on a regular basis.
Springer Journal Titles
However, this automated process isn’t without faults, as was evidenced by a library colleague recently noticing that a Springer journal title had incorrect coverage in the catalog (we had greater access than LibrarySearch said we did!).
The entire collection of 2,000+ Springer journal titles and individual articles had coverage issues. After working with ExLibris to fix the coverage dates, Gretchen changed the frequency of the autoholdings process, so that it now runs monthly rather than weekly (meaning less opportunity for erroneous updates), and will continue to monitor the updates closely.
This scenario goes to show that even though automated processes provide a lot of assistance to Gretchen and her e-resource management work, they still require quite a bit of management and attention. If you ever sense that something isn’t quite right in LibrarySearch, please let us know (eaccess-admin@middlebury.edu)—we always appreciate hearing from you!
Any Questions?
Are there behind-the-scenes questions you have about print or electronic library collections? We’d love to hear from you!
Email us at library-collections@middlebury.edu.
Until next time!
Julie Adamo, Director of Collection Strategies and Acquisitions
Sue Driscoll, Senior Collections Associate
Gretchen Kenet, Electronic and Continuing Resources Librarian
Michele McHugh, Senior Acquisitions Associate
Lisa McLaughlin, Collections Associate