Newsletter of the Section on Acquisition and Collection Development

Number 17
Summer 1998

1. News

• the latest edition of the A&CD Acquisition and Collection Development Bibliography is to be printed by IFLA HQ with the assistance of 1,000 Dutch guilders from the Professional Board

• Marjorie Bloss will shortly be sending out a questionnaire on collection development guidelines; please complete and return in time for the Standing Committee to discuss at Amsterdam

• IFLA has set up a Working Group on Statues and Procedures, on which Marjorie Bloss sits. Marjorie was the driving force behind the excellent IFLA Officers' Handbook, which was published last year

• there are two new IFLA Committees whose work is relevant to collection development: the Committee on Copyright and Other Legal Matters, and the Committee on Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression

• the Standing Committee has produced a new introductory leaflet for the Section. This will be made widely available at Amsterdam. The text follows:

The IFLA Section on Acquisition and Collection Development concerns itself extensively with methodological and topical themes pertaining to acquiring materials (purchase, exchange, gift, deposit), deacquisitions and weeding, techniques used for determining collection development policies, collection assessment and practices, cooperative acquisitions programmes, materials pricing issues, and librarians' relations with publishers and vendors.

Currently, 143 institutions and associations are members of the Section. The Standing Committee consists of up to 20 members from all over the world, plus corresponding members and observers. The Section is one of five that constitute the Division of Collections and Services.

The Section monitors developments and provides information on building library collections. A key aim is to bring together all concerned with acquisitions and collection development matters, thereby stimulating discussion and assuming a partnership role in promoting libraries' perspectives in the publisher and vendor communities in the areas of copyright, licensing, and the pricing of materials. Programmes, workshops and research projects are organised to further the aims of the section. Current activities include:

• a study of collection development policies for all types and formats of materials

• an investigation into licensing agreements, especially where applicable to electronic resources

• a review of changing organisational structures in light of technological and budgetary environments

• continued publication of the Acquisition and Collection Development Bibliography

• continued publication of the section's Newsletter

The Standing Committee plans and sponsors open programmes and workshops at the annual IFLA Conferences, which are held in a different country each year. These sessions often deal with acquisition and collection development in specific countries, or studies of the policy and practice of a particular institution. The Section regularly co-sponsors programmes of general interest to those concerned with publishing and collection building.

The Section is closely monitoring the impact of the electronic environment on acquisitions functions, collection development policies, collection evaluation and assessment, and organisational structures. A particular focus is the application of technological developments (such as electronic data interchange, materials licensing agreements, and access to the Internet) that underlie many of the changes in selecting and acquiring materials.

A major theme attracting the attention of the Section is the selection and acquisition of electronic publications. As access to such materials becomes an increasingly viable alternative to ownership, the Section finds itself working more closely with the IFLA Core Programme on Universal Availability of Publications, and the Sections on Serial Publications and on Document Delivery and Interlibrary Loan.

2. IFLANET

The Acquisition and Collection Development section currently has the following documents available, located by the route 'Divisions,Sections,Roundtables/ Sections/ Acquisition and Collection Development/ Publications':

Newsletter no.16 (Winter 1997/98)
Medium-Term Programme 1998-2001
Annual Report for 1996/97
Address list of Standing Committee members

This Newsletter (number 17) should appear shortly.

Other pages worth looking at on IFLANET are:

Administration: structure, statutes, position papers and membership lists

Divisions/ Sections/ Roundtables/ Core Programmes: full details of these fundamental units of the IFLA hierarchy

Conferences and Proceedings: full text of papers from past IFLA conferences, and information on future conferences

Publications: not only IFLA Journal and Professional Reports but Newsletters, press releases and address lists; and earlier this year the IFLA Annual was added to IFLANET - this is a mine of information.

Electronic Collections and Services: much information of interest to collection development

What's New: recent documents of various kinds

IFLANET also gives details of how to join its electronic discussion lists, the main one being IFLA-L for comments on all international library matters, but in addition featuring LIBJOBS for those seeking alternative employment, and DIGLIB, a discussion list on electronic developments. There are over six thousand subscribers to date. Some sections also have their own listservs and home pages.

In summary, IFLANET has many useful features, and its value will increase as it becomes more comprehensive and up-to-date. Its success depends on the willingness of volunteers across the world to provide input, and the currency is improving now that each Section has its own Information Coordinator. If you have anything you think is suitable for posting on ther Net, please let Jim Vickery know as Information Coordinator for A&CD Section.

3. Acquiring Electronic Information Worldwide

In March 1998 the International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC) announced its Statement of Current Perspective and Preferred Practices for the Selection and Purchase of Electronic Information. The Statement establishes for the first time an international perspective on consortial licensing and purchasing of electronic information by libraries, and so is of particular interest to A&CD members worldwide.

The document addresses current and future electronic information environment issues such as the increasing expectations of library users in a stable funding environment, fair use, archiving of information, pricing strategies, and electronic information delivery metrics. The preferred practices section covers contract negotiations, pricing, data access and archiving, system platforms, licensing terms, information content and its management, and user authentication.

The explosion in electronic licensing, the wide variance in publisher practices, rapidly escalating prices, and a concern about the reduction in the number of independent scholarly information providers all served as the impetus for the statement. The Statement calls for developing multiple pricing models, separating charges for electronic licenses from those of paper subscriptions, and lowering the cost for the electronic information below that of print subscriptions. ICOLC expresses its concern over the growing practice of publishers that levy initial surcharges on electronic information, which is compounded by significant multi-year inflation surcharges and prohibitions against libraries cancelling print versions of journal titles. As a result, while libraries may receive access to a larger array of titles by paying the "print price plus electronic subscription cost plus inflation", the total base price for electronic access over the print subscription could increase by 40% or more within as little as three or four years.

Alternative pricing structures must be developed before the current 'print price plus' practices become the norm. While recognising that publishers should be able to recover reasonable costs, the Statement asserts that publishers cannot expect libraries to bear all development costs today for incomplete product features and unstable systems.

ICOLC seeks new economic models that reduce the unit cost of information while enabling the lowest possible cost-per-access to a journal title or article. But as librarians we are as concerned with the quality of the content and the ability to archive that content to guarantee future availability as we are about the cost of purchasing that information today.

Ann Okerson says "through the ICOLC we want to begin discussions with the publishing community to advance the use and availability of electronic information resources in educational and research institutions."

The ICOLC represents a combined membership of over 5,000 libraries worldwide, which makes it an effective forum to work with information providers to find common ground. Working globally through consortia increases the power of libraries in an area where scholarly publishing is increasingly is a global enterprise. The statement is endorsed by consortial representatives in Australia, Canada, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with additional endorsements anticipated from other nations.

The complete Statement can be found on the Internet at: http://www.library.yale.edu/consortia/statement.html

Note on ICOLC

The International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC) is an informal organisation that began meeting in 1997. Comprising about sixty library consortia in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Israel, and Australia, the Coalition represents over 5,000 member libraries worldwide. The Coalition serves primarily higher education institutions by facilitating discussion among its members on issues of common interest. ICOLC conducts meetings to keep its members informed about new electronic information resources, pricing practices of electronic providers and vendors, and other issues of importance to consortium directors and their governing boards. These meetings also provide a forum for consortial representatives to meet with the information provider community, discuss their products, and engage in a dialogue with Coalition members about issues of mutual concern. The ICOLC also maintains listservs and web pages for the benefit of its members. ICOLC should be a highly effective forum to coordinate academic library efforts internationally.

4. 1998 IFLA Conference, Amsterdam

A&CD Workshop: Monday 17 August, 0830-1230
'New collections: new marketplace relationships; collection development scaled up': electronic resources and the phenomenon of library consortia
In this workshop six speakers from assorted library consortia will give brief overviews of their organisation and focus on a topic that seems particularly critical for them in their consortial development. The presentations will be about 15 minutes each, with handouts, and ample time for questions and answers between and after the presentations.

Speakers:

Ann Okerson	convenor and context setter
John Gilbert	topic: Netherlands Association of University libraries, Royal Library and Library of the Royal Academy of Sciences
Elmar Mittler	topic: Gemeinsamer Bibliotheks Verbund
Cugdem Ozbag	topic: early efforts to begin a library buying and resource sharing consortium in Turkey
John Shipp	topic: Council of Australian University Libraries
Barbara McFadden Allen	topic: CIC Center for Library Initiatives
Katherine A. Perry	topic: VIVA Project

A&CD Open Programme: Tuesday 18 August, 0830-1050
Collection development issues in building the digital library
In this Open Programme a variety of views will be presented on practical developments in electronic collection building.

Abstracts of papers
1.
Digital library projects in the Netherlands: new options for cooperative collection development.
Trix Bakker, Koninklijke Bibliotheek

The Internet has completely changed the world of information over the last five years. This has led to many innovative digital library projects in research libraries in the Netherlands. The expanding network infrastructure of SURFnet, a national policy framework, and adequate funding are preconditions for the progress that has been made between 1995 and 1998. This paper gives a short overview of the most recent national and local digital library projects. The relationship with vendors and publishers play a role in projects concerning licensing and copyright. Consortia are essential to take a joint stance in negotiations with publishers. If successful, electronic journals offer better options for coordinated collection development than the traditional approach.

2.
Bibliotheca Universalis: a G-7 global information society pilot project.
Sonia Zillhardt, Bibliothèque nationale de France

The principal objective of Bibliotheca Universalis is to provide access to the world cultural heritage digitized by libraries. The paper describes how Bibliotheca Universalis was launched in February 1995 in the context of the G-7 activities on the Information Society, what has been achieved since (a prototype, an international survey, a definition phase) and how the project will contribute to the Information Society. Eleven partners -- mostly national libraries -- are now involved in the project and the goal is to build a common digital library from existing digitizing programmes.

3.
Perspectives de développement des collections numérisées: la technique et les contenus; l'exemple de la Bibliothèque nationale de France
Catherine Petit, Bibliothèque nationale de France

La numérisation des collections a d'abord été une technique avant tout, utilisée à différentes fins: lecture pour mal-voyants, conservation des documents, puis communication plus générale. Comme toute nouvelle technologie, sa pratique s'est construite sur les pratiques des technologies précédentes. Nous en arrivons maintenant, au fur et à mesure de son développement, à l'envisager comme un nouveau mode de communication qui a ses propres lois, et qui crée de nouveaux modes de fonctionnement, et donc à s'interroger sur son utilisation, pour quels publics? avec quels contenus? Comment utilisera-t-on la possibilité de travailler en réseau pour cette bibliothèque virtuelle et avec quels objectifs? L'exhaustivité sur des thèmes? sur des collections? C'est à travers cette thématique que sera présenté l'exemple de la Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Other papers will be given by Jim Neal (definitions) and Lars Bjoernshauge (Scandinavian projects).

Preliminary Programme of the 64th IFLA General Conference, Amsterdam, Netherlands, August 16 - August 21, 1998: Main events for A&CD members

Friday, August 14
Afternoon:	Co-ordinating Boards
Saturday, August 15
All day: :	Standing Committees
Sunday, August 16
During day: :	Introduction for IFLA newcomers Open Forums, Core Programmes and UNESCO Open Forum, Discussion Groups, Workshops
Evening: :	Exhibition Opening and Welcome Reception
Monday, August 17
All day: :	Exhibition
Morning: :	Contributed Paper Sessions, Division Open Forums, Section and Round Table programme sessions, Workshops
Afternoon: :	Opening session followed by Plenary Session
Evening: :	Opening Party
Tuesday, August 18
All day: :	Exhibition
All day: :	Section and Round Table programme sessions, Workshops
Midday: :	Guest Lectures, Poster Sessions
Evening: :	Cultural evening
Wednesday, August 19
All day: :	Exhibition
All day: :	Section and Round Table programme sessions, Workshops Study tours/library visits (1/2 day)
Midday: :	Guest Lectures, Poster Sessions
Thursday, August 20
All day: :	Workshops and seminars Study tours/Library visits
Evening: :	Library Receptions
Friday, August 21
Morning: :	Standing Committees, Co-ordinating Boards
Afternoon: :	Closing Session
Saturday, August 22
All day: :	Tours

Monday 17 August: morning
Bringing publishers and readers together: the Stichting CPNB, by Henk Kraima
Reading Section: Open Programme

Tuesday 18 August: afternoon
Faculty/librarian collaboration in building the curriculum for the millenium; the US experience, by Hannelore B. Rader
University Libraries and Other General Research Libraries Section/User Education
Section: Open Programme

Wednesday 19 August: all day
The collections and information services of the Institute of East European Law and Russian Studies in Leiden, by Anne Pries-Heike
Library and Research Services for Parliaments: Workshop

Wednesday 19 August: afternoon
Bibliographic control and a voluntary deposit system: the Dutch experience, by Kees van den Bergh
Bibliography Section: Open Programme

Wednesday 19 August: afternoon
From document delivery and interlending to document access and interlibrary collection, by Lars Bjornshauge
Document delivery and Interlending Section: Open Programme

Thursday 20 August: morning
Producing and promoting books in a minority language: the Welsh experience, by Gwilym Huws
Reading Section: Workshop

Thursday 20 August: morning
The legal deposit of electronic materials [various papers]
National Libraries Section: Workshop