   
Section on Acquisition and Collection Development: Newsletter 19 (June 1999)This issue presents information in advance of the Bangkok conference, and a record of the latest Annual Report. Discussion Group on LicensingAt Amsterdam the A&CD Standing Committee offered to sponsor a new Discussion Group, on Licensing of Electronic Resources. After consultation with the Chair of the Committee on Copyright and Other Legal Matters (CLM), the proposal was accepted. CLM will continue to deal primarily with all matters dealing with law, including copyright legislation. Ann Okerson will be convenor of the Discussion Group, the first meeting of which will take place on the Sunday morning at Bangkok. Inviting Ann Okerson to take on this role, Marjorie Bloss, Chair of A&CD Section, said: "I'm so very pleased we've been given the 'green light' on this for I agree that people's concern with licensing is great indeed and providing them with a forum for discussion is most timely." Discussion Groups normally have a limited life of six years, but this term can be extended through a request from the parent section to the Professional Board. Election ResultsThe result of the elections is that we have exactly the maximum twenty members of the A&CD Standing Committee from 1999; this is the ideal outcome, as all places were filled but without the need for a postal ballot. Congratulations to all members, both new and re-elected! The new Committee has representatives from eighteen countries: Canada, France, Finland, Germany, Japan, Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Spain, USA, UK and Ukraine, on the Standing Committee, with Corresponding members from China, Jamaica, Kenya and Tunisia , plus an Observer from Italy. It would be interesting to know whether any other Section can better this impressive geographical spread. The new members are:
They will replace departing members:
Masaki Nasu, Ann Okerson and Marie-Joëlle Tarin were re-elected for a second term. As Marjorie Bloss will be standing down, a new Chair will need to be elected by the Committee at Bangkok. Since email is fast becoming the preferred method of speedy communication over both long and short distances, I give below the email addresses known to the Secretary of Standing Committee members. Section members are encouraged to contact their local Committee member on any matters of interest or concern.
Schedule for Bangkok ConferenceThere are many tempting things on offer at the Bangkok Conference. Sessions of interest to A&CD section members include the following, but please see the official programme for full details.
Intellectual FreedomOn 24 March 1999 IFLA issued a Statement on Libraries and Intellectual Freedom. Since this is a vital element of the selection and censorship debate, it is reproduced below for A&CD Section members: IFLA (The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) supports, defends and promotes intellectual freedom as defined in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. IFLA declares that human beings have a fundamental right to access to expressions of knowledge, creative thought and intellectual activity, and to express their views publicly. IFLA believes that the right to know and freedom of expression are two aspects of the same principle. The right to know is a requirement for freedom of thought and conscience; freedom of thought and freedom of expression are necessary conditions for freedom of access to information. IFLA asserts that a commitment to intellectual freedom is a core responsibility for the library and information profession. IFLA therefore calls upon libraries and library staff to adhere to the principles of intellectual freedom, uninhibited access to information and freedom of expression and to recognize the privacy of library user. IFLA urges its members activity to promote the acceptance and realization of these principles. In doing so, IFLA affirms that:
Annual Report of the IFLA Section on Acquisition and Collection Development, 1 September 1997 to 31 August 19981. ScopeThe Section on Acquisition and Collection Development concerns itself extensively with methodological and topical themes pertaining to the various methods used for acquiring materials (purchase, exchange, gift, deposit), deacquisitions and weeding, techniques used for determining collection development policies, collection assessment and practices, materials pricing issues, and librarians' relations with publishers and vendors. Also of concern to the Section are the impact and application of technological developments which underlie many of the changes observed in departmental workflow, and partnering arrangements when acquiring materials (such as electronic data interchange, materials licensing agreements, and co-operative collection development). 2. Membership and OfficersAs of 1 August 1998 there were 145 members of the Section. The Standing Committee in 1997/98 consisted of 19 members and 5 corresponding members or observers. The Chairman and Financial Officer during the year was Marjorie Bloss (Vice President for Library Operations, Center for Research Libraries, 6050 South Kenwood Avenue Chicago, IL 60637 USA. Tel *(1) (773) 9554545 ext 316; Fax *(1) (773) 9554339; email bloss@crlmail.uchicago.edu) The Secretary, Information Coordinator and Newsletter Editor was Jim Vickery (Head of English Language Selection & Serials, The British Library, Boston Spa LS23 7BQ UK. Tel *(44) (1937) 546071; Fax *(44) (1937) 546572; email jim.vickery@bl.uk) 3. Meetings and eventsThe Standing Committee met twice at the Amsterdam Conference in August 1998 to undertake routine business and prepare for the Section's activities. The Committee also discussed two key matters: the future of the Publisher Liaison Committee (PLC), and the proposal for a Discussion Group on Licensing. The Committee welcomed the decision of Council at Amsterdam to widen the remit of PLC and to incorporate it into a new Task Force on Publisher-Library Relations, working alongside the Committee on Copyright and other Legal Matters. The Committee endorsed the idea of setting up a Discussion Group on Licensing under the auspices of A&CD, and requested the Chair to present a proposal to the Professional Board. 3. 1 Amsterdam, 19983.1.1 Report on the A&CD Section Open ProgrammeThe Section's Open Programme 'Collection development issues in building the digital library' took place on Tuesday 18 August. There were five presentations, by: Jim Neal, Catherine Petit, Lars Bjoernshauge, Trix Bakker and Sonia Zillhardt. The session was moderated in French by Sara Yontan, and simultaneous translation was provided throughout. There was a record attendance at the Open Programme - up to 200 people. The organisers were congratulated on a successful session, which included a variety of papers on a popular theme and which had kept to the allocated time. The benefits of simultaneous translation, avoiding reliance on English, had been appreciated. 3.1.2 Report on the A&CD Section WorkshopFollowing the withdrawal of Dominic Farace's Grey Literature Workshop, Ann Okerson had organised in conjunction with the Publisher Liaison Committee a Workshop entitled 'New collections, new marketplace relationships: electronic resources and the phenomenon of library consortia'. There were five speakers from four countries: John Gilbert, Elmar Mittler, John Shipp, Barbara McFadden Allen and Katherine A. Perry; the sixth, Cugdem Ozbag, had unfortunately had to pull out at short notice for personal reasons. Ann Okerson was moderator. The Workshop was heavily over-subscribed - despite a formal limit of 75, there were around 125 people present, with others barred from entry - thereby demonstrating the huge continuing interest in the subject. The range and quality of the presentations at this excellent event held the audience's attention and stimulated active participation during the full four-hour session. 3.2 Bangkok, 19993.2.1The Committee agreed that East-West partnerships in collection building, concentrating on printed material, would be an appropriate and important theme for the A&CD Open Programme at Bangkok. 3.2.2.The Committee considered that the interest in licensing was sufficient to warrant a half-day Workshop at Bangkok on the theme of pricing and value for money in acquiring electronic resources, including the topic of 'differential pricing' of electronic journals. 3.3 Jerusalem, 2000Suggestions for Jerusalem included the previously mooted changing organisational structures, the development of special research collections, and sharing resources across national and ethnic boundaries. 4. Projects and publications4.1 Project: Collection policy guidelineA basic, non-prescriptive guideline for libraries wishing to embark upon writing a collection policy statement (leader: Marjorie Bloss) A questionnaire on collection development policies was issued to all Section members in 1998. Twelve of the fifteen replies were positive: nine of them already made use of a written policy, and ten expressed an interest in being involved further. The Committee agreed to work towards producing basic, non-prescriptive guidelines for libraries wishing to embark upon writing a collection policy statement. This could be based on existing published documents but would be tailored to IFLA's international audience and translated into the official IFLA languages. 4.2 Publications4.2.1 Newsletter.During the year two issues of the Section's Newsletter were produced and mailed to members of the Section and posted on IFLANET. 4.2.2 Acquisition and Collection Development BibliographyThe most recent printed issue of the Acquisitions Bibliography was published issued in Summer 1996. It was decided to issue the Acquisitions Bibliography in both printed form and on IFLANET in future. 4.2.3 Section Brochure.A new edition of the Section brochure was issued in August 1998. Translations into languages other than English were commissioned. 4.2.4 ArticlesTwo papers from the 1997 Open Programme were published: 4.2.4.1Buying shares in libraries: the economics of cooperative collection development, by Elizabeth Chapman. IFLA Journal 24 (2) 1998 102-106 4.2.4.2Economics of cooperative collection development and management: the United States experience with rarely held research materials, by Donald B. Simpson. IFLA Journal 24 (3) 1998 161-165 5. Financial ReportThe financial report for 1998 is given below. (All figures are in US dollars). The Section's finances were sound, and expenses kept to a minimum. Since the British Library had absorbed the costs of producing and distributing the Section's Newsletter and the brochure had been paid for previously out of administrative funds, there had been no expenditure under administration funds. The Section had been allocated project funds previously to begin work on the Collection Development Project which were not spent during the year. Additional project funds were sought to pay for compilation of the next instalment of the Bibliography in early 1999.
6. Relationship with other bodiesAs access to 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, the Sections on Serial Publications and Document Delivery and Interlibrary Loan, and the Publisher Liaison Committee. 7. Medium Term Programme 1998-2001 and Action Plan 1998-1999At Amsterdam the Committee reviewed the Medium Term Programme for 1998-2001 and endorsed the stated goals. Some deviations from the 1998-99 Action Plan were identified, but were regarded as being fully justified in reaction to changing circumstances and priorities. Goal 1Monitor the impact of the electronic environment on acquisitions functions (such as the ordering and paying of materials electronically, the creation and maintenance of machine-readable acquisition files), collection evaluation and assessment, and exchange. Actions1.1 Conduct a program during the 1998 IFLA conference on the impact of building digital libraries on collection development activities. 1.2 In cooperation with GreyNet TransAtlantic, present a half-day workshop on Grey Literature during the 1998 IFLA Conference in Amsterdam that will focus on the availability and accessibility of this information particularly in an electronic environment. (IFLA 1998 Conference) 1.3 Evaluate the possibility of conducting a survey on the impact of the electronic environment on acquisitions functions of libraries in developing countries. (Initial discussion at the 1997 IFLA conference with follow-up afterwards. If the decision is to proceed, coordinate activities with ALP.) 1.4 Update the Acquisition and Collection Development Bibliography (previously titled the Exchange Bibliography) and issue it either in the Section's Newsletter or as a separate publication. At the same time, explore with the Professional Board and IFLA HQ the possibility of issuing this publication on an ongoing basis outside of the standing committee. (1998) Goal 2Provide information on collection development activities, such as the formulation of policies, deacquisitions and weeding of collections, and co-operative acquisitions programmes. Actions2.1 Request written collection development policies from libraries to form the basis for a new document that could be used for libraries wishing to create collection development policies. (Early 1998, for publication in time for the summer 1999 IFLA Conference.) 2.2 Provide bibliographic information on the activities listed above through the Acquisition and Collection Development Bibliography (see 1.4 above). 2.3 Develop a conference programme on collection development policies for the 1999 IFLA Conference in Bangkok, based on 1.1 and 2.1. 2.4 Explore the possibility of conducting a workshop in Bangkok on profiles for sending gift materials to libraries in developing countries and their criteria for accepting such materials. (1998 IFLA Conference, coordinated with ALP) Goal 3Assume a partnership role in promoting libraries' perspectives in the publisher and vendor communities in the areas of copyright, licensing, and the pricing of materials, with an emphasis on electronic documents. Actions3.1 Conduct a survey on the costs of licensing agreements versus traditional subscription costs, analyze and distribute the results. (Late 1999, early 2000. Coordinate with the Standing Committee on Serial Publications and the Publishers Liaison Committee.) 3.2 Actively participate in meetings of the Publishers Liaison Committee during IFLA Conferences. Provide summaries of the meetings in the Section's Newsletter. (Ongoing) Goal 4Monitor and provide information on the changing organisational structures in acquisitions and collection development departments, especially in the light of the changing electronic environment. Actions4.1 Explore holding a workshop during the 1998 conference in Amsterdam on the changing organizational structures in acquisitions and collection development departments in light of the changing electronic environment. (If the Standing Committee is permitted only one half day conference, then the first choice will be that on Grey Literature. See 1.2) 4.2 If the above workshop does take place, explore the possibility of having the papers from the above workshop issued as a monograph. (1998) Goal 5Provide information about the work of the section and standing committee in a variety of mediums (printed Newsletters, brochures, publication of papers given during IFLA conferences, and in electronic formats such as IFLAnet) to those interested in acquisitions and collection development work. Actions5.1 Publish two issues of the Section's Newsletter each year. Forward machine-readable versions to IFLAnet for inclusion. (Ongoing) 5.2 Translate copies of the Section's brochure into at least four of the official IFLA languages. (1998) 5.3 Provide translations of conference papers in more of the five official IFLA languages. (Ongoing) Goal 6Provide information on the processes and procedures governing legal deposits. Actions6.1. There was no activity planned for this two-year period. Goal 7Promote the section in order to increase membership. Actions7.1 Using the IFLA Directory, identify and target libraries that might have special interest in acquisition and collection development. Mail them a letter of introduction about the Section and a copy of the Section's brochure. (Fall 1998) Note: The Section's Medium-Term Programme for 1998-2001 will be reviewed at Bangkok. In particular, the 1998-1999 Action Plan will be evaluated and the Action Plan for 2000-2001 formulated.
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| Latest Revision: June 21, 1999 |
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