2023 Program

2023 AITL Program Printable Copy

Table Talk notes document

2023 Wrap Up – Community Notes

Saturday, May 20, 2023

3:00 pm – 4:30 pm — Registration, Barlow Room
5:00 pm – 6:15 pm — Welcome & Table Talks, Ullman Hall

6:30 pm – 7:45 pm — Dinner, Raven’s Nest
7:45 pm — Optional gathering at Ram’s Head Bar

Sunday, May 21, 2023

7:30 am – 9:00 am — Breakfast, RAVEN’S NEST
9:30 am – 9:45 am — Welcome & Housekeeping, Ullman Hall
9:45 am – 10:30 am — Presentation, Ullman Hall

  • Open Playing Fields: Addressing Scale and Access in Negotiation Education through OER (slides)
  • Open Playing Fields (notes handout)
    • Scarlet Galvan, Collection Strategist Librarian, Grand Valley State University
    • Katharine Macy, Collection Assessment Librarian, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, University Library
    • Courtney Fuson, Asset Management Librarian, Belmont University
      • Learn about the IMLS-funded Open Negotiation Education for Academic Libraries Project, a multi-institution collaboration to develop curriculum and open educational resources (OER) focused on negotiation, including foundations of negotiation, strategies for managing internal and external relationships, and current and futures issues in acquisitions in the context of academic libraries’ work with vendors. A core ethos of the project is that something created to serve the community must be made with the community, and we are committed to citing the work of underrepresented library workers as part of the curriculum and OER. This presentation will walk through the curriculum, focusing on the key module(s) around negotiations, before opening the session for discussion, feedback, and opportunities to collaborate with the project team.

10:30 am – 10:40 am — Break
10:40 am – 11:20 am — Presentation, Ullman Hall

  • Disappearing eBooks and How the Wiley Situation was Different
    • Karen Kohn, Collections Analysis Librarian, Temple University
      • Wiley’s removal of over 1300 ebooks from subscription collections in fall 2022 caused confusion and frustration around the world. Yet opinions differed as to what was the heart of the problem. Was it timing? Insufficient communication? The fact that libraries were not able to purchase these titles after losing subscription access? Is the solution to stop including unowned ebooks in our collections, advocate for better publisher practices, or support efforts to convert scholarly books to open access?
        The Wiley removals were a more dramatic version of a longstanding challenge for library ebook collections. As collections have moved online and purchase models proliferate, librarians have faced the possibility (and reality) of ebooks disappearing from collections. This presentation will survey some stances librarians and professional organizations have taken on ebook availability and stability before shifting to the practical details of how the presenter’s institution monitors which ebooks are being removed from collections and decides which to replace. After detailing how the Wiley situation differed from usual ebook removals, the presenter will also share efforts her institution took to inform faculty and librarians about access to these materials. The session will conclude with ways librarians can support changes in the ebook market.

11:20 am – 11:40 am — Break
11:40 am – 12:20 pm — Presentation, Ullman Hall

  • Emerging Area of Collection: Mental Health, Disability, Memoir, & Popular Self-Help (slides)
  • Emerging Area of Collection: Mental Health, Disability, Memoir, & Popular Self-Help (handout)
    • Renee Walsh, STEM Librarian, University of Connecticut
      • Under the initiative of Renee Walsh, STEM Librarian, UConn Library established the Wellness collection in 2020 using the library’s strategic framework funding. The collection consists primarily of ebooks by small publishers like North Atlantic Books, Shambhala Publications, New Harbinger, Beacon, AK Press, and others which offer low cost ebooks. Nevertheless, the collection also includes select titles from large publishers. Patrons are able to learn more about the collection through both a Springshare library guide that is pedagogical in nature, as well as an ExLibris Primo Alma page where the ebooks are categorized into sub collections. For my presentation, I will talk about what I have done with the collection since 2020, and what I intend to do in the future. The collection includes subcollections on topics like self-care, depression, BIPOC wellness, LGBTQIA wellness, disability & chronic illness, and more. Looking ahead to the next five years, how can university libraries respond to their communities and provide relevant collections related to mental health and wellness? What are the approaches and strategies used to curate and promote these collections? I am interested in offering a presentation but I would also be happy to sit on a panel presentation. I would also like for my session to be interactive.

12:20 pm – 1:50 pm — Lunch, RAVEN’S NEST
1:50 pm – 2:30 pm — Presentation, Ullman Hall

  • Don’t Close the Book on Print
    • Maria Savova, Senior Director of Collections, Metadata, and Resource Sharing, Claremont College
    • Candace Lebel, Systems Coordinator, Claremont College
      • Five years ago we conducted a study on short-term return on investment in print books purchased under different acquisition modes. Unsurprisingly, the demand-driven purchases – and course readings in particular – showed the highest level of engagement and return on investment within the first year after purchase. Approximately a third of all titles purchased on approval and as firm orders also saw at least one use in the first year, and the titles that were used experienced an average of 2.5 circulations. These results triggered some follow-up questions which we can now address with five years of additional data. Do demand-driven purchases of print books have enduring value past the first year? Do titles purchased through approval plan, standing order, and firm order see an increase in usage after the first year? Do any of our print titles reach a cost per use comparable to that of journal articles or e-book chapters within five years? Although this new data includes the 18 months when the library building was closed due to the Pandemic, it presents useful insights for the value of print books, and informs future collection development, space planning, and budgeting decisions at our library.

2:30 pm – 2:40 pm — Break
2:40 pm – 3:20 pm — Presentation, Ullman Hall

  • UCSC’s “Drop Ship” Program and Users Perceptions of the Library
    • Sarah Lindsey, Head, Metadata Services and Acquisitions Librarian, University of California – Santa Cruz
      • This session will explore UCSC’s “Drop Ship” program instituted in August 2020 to support academic researchers during the period the library was closed to the public due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. This presentation details not only the expense and scope of the project but also the aftermath and what the team learned about the community’s perception of the library. The “drop ship” program entailed UCSC ordering print items and DVDs to be delivered directly to the user’s homes. Although users agreed to return purchased items to the library when the library re-opened, the majority were never turned in. We found that a surprising number of users (faculty and graduate students) now report that they never received the items, but never reported this to us during the time of expected delivery. This experience has given us the opportunity to explore researchers’ perception of the library and reconsider how we might build relationships in different ways on campus.

3:20 pm – 3:40 pm — Break
3:40 pm – 4:40 pm — Combined Presentation, Ullman Hall

4:40 pm – 4:55 pm — Final Remarks
5:30 pm – 6:30 pm — Lodge Tour (sign-up required), Barlow Room
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm — Dinner, RAVEN’S NEST

Monday, May 22, 2023

7:30 am – 9:00 am — Breakfast, RAVEN’S NEST
9:30 am – 9:45 am — Welcome & Housekeeping, Ullman Hall
9:45 am – 10:30 am — Presentation, Ullman Hall

  • Patron Driven DEI Acquisitions: Using Education Students and the Diverse Book Finder to Diversify a Children’s Picture Book Collection
    • Mitchell Scott, Coordinator of Collections and Online Resources, Indiana University – Southeast
      • In Fall 2022, the IU Southeast Library won an institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion grant to conduct research on a patron driven acquisitions project carried out in a 300-level education course for preservice learning teachers. Leveraging the grant funds and the objectives of the 300-level course, we embedded an acquisition project into the course that used the Diverse Book Finder (DBF) as a teaching and selection tool. 29 students enrolled in the course were tasked with using the Diverse Book Finder to select 5 picture books that would be purchased and added to the library collection. This session will cover the Diverse Book Finder as an assessment and acquisition tool, how the IU Southeast Library worked with faculty to embed this project into their curriculum, and the details and results of this project, including what students’ responses to the pretest and posttest survey reveal. Finally, we will also address the potential this project has uncovered for potential embedding more patron driven acquisitions projects into the IU Southeast curriculum.

10:30 am – 10:40 am — Break
10:40 am – 11:20 am — Presentation, Ullman Hall

  • Creating and Executing a Small-Scale Diversity and Inclusion Audit Project at an Academic Library Using Graphic Novels
    • Bridgette Whitt, Acquisitions & Collection Development Librarian, University of Tennessee
      • Since 2021, the Acquisitions and Collection Development Librarian at the University of Tennessee at Martin’s Paul Meek Library has been developing a focused initiative to add greater diversity and inclusion to the library’s collection. One collection area recognized as having great potential to start achieving this goal was the library’s print graphic novels collection. A focused purchasing project for new materials was implemented to specifically target selections featuring diverse stories, perspectives, narratives, and voices. Growing out of the initial stages of the project was the development of a plan to implement a diversity audit of the current graphic novels collection to assess and analyze which diverse areas were lacking representation and inclusion. This session will outline the specific goals of the assessment, how the diversity audit was developed, the methods used during the audit, suggestions, tips, and tricks learned through trial and error, and the procedures for the collection and analysis of the audit results. Lastly, the discussion will also cover how to apply the audit findings to improve acquisitions purchasing procedures and strategies for the future.

11:20 am – 11:30 am — Break
11:30 am – 12:20 pm — Table Talk, Ullman Hall

12:30 pm – 1:50 pm — Lunch, RAVEN’S NEST
1:50 pm – 2:30 pm — Presentation, Ullman Hall

  • What is a Collection Strategist?
    • Carla Arbagey, Arts & Humanities Collection Strategist Librarian, University of California – Riverside
    • Michele Potter, STEM Collection Strategist Librarian, University of California – Riverside
      • When the University of California, Riverside Library moved from a subject liaison model to a functional model several years ago, the term that was selected for those librarians whose job would focus on collections was Collection Strategist. Since then, we have had many conversations, both philosophical and practical, about what it means to be a collection strategist, and how the role might or might not be distinct. In this presentation, we will encourage participation by asking our audience to write down some ideas about what they think a collection strategist does. After sharing our collective ideas, we will explore the myriad titles and terminology for collection development positions found at other university libraries, look for patterns and commonalities, and develop a definition of a collection strategist librarian. With this definition in mind, we’ll discuss how the functional model works at UCR, where we have three librarians doing the majority of collection development work. We will highlight some of the successful collection strategies we have implemented and share some of the challenges and benefits of the functional model and how it might evolve in the ever-changing library landscape.

2:30 pm – 2:45 pm — Break
2:45 pm – 3:25 pm — Pesentation, Ullman Hall

  • Acquisitions for the Sciences – Using a Diversity Assessment to Serve BIPOC Students in STEM
    • Janet Calderon, Student Success Librarian, Central Washington University
      • How can library collections serve BIPOC students in STEM? In this session, the presenter will address this question by sharing a diversity audit they conducted in the Spring of 2022 that looked at the racial/ethnic representations of authors in a monograph science collection. The results highlight a need to improve intentional inclusivity within collection development practices and also reflect BIPOC students in STEM’s lack of access to scholarship from inclusive perspectives within their field of study. Participants will learn about using collections to increase students’ sense of belonging, the importance of including wider perspectives in the sciences, examples of inclusive and intentional collection development practices in science collections, and examples of how to engage students with those collections thereafter. Participants will be encouraged to share their own experiences and workshop ideas as well.

3:25 pm – 3:40 pm — Final Remarks
5:15 pm – 6:15 pm — Wine Tasting (sign-up required), Barlow Room
6:00 pm – 8:30 pm — Dinner, Y’Bar, Wy’East Day Lodge

Tuesday, May 23, 2023

6:00 am – 7:00 am — Continental Breakfast (for travelers departing early), Raven’s Nest
7:00 am – 9:00 am — Breakfast, RAVEN’S NEST
9:00 am – 10:30 am — Full Institute Wrap-up & Planning for 2023, Ullman Hall