hot topics

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you already know the Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN) includes libraries at four universities in North Carolina: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, North Carolina Central University and Duke University. As library consortia go, TRLN is far more than just a buying club and its members share a common discovery layer to their catalogs, but they do not share an ILS. TRLN also hosts numerous events throughout the year, including the TRLN Management Academy, Research Forum and—the topic of today's post—an annual meeting.

The annual meeting on Friday explicitly did not include discussion of each member library's annual report, which we in the audience were directed to find on the TRLN web page. Instead, this is one of many opportunities in the Research Triangle to attend a library conference with compelling programming. The entire meeting agenda is here. I'll recap the keynote and one breakout session (Librarianship in an Evolving Legal Environment) here.

Assessment has become a major theme at our library and at libraries across the United States. At UNC the library's User Feedback & Assessment Committee has done a great deal of outreach to other library committees and departments of the library to emphasize the importance of assessment, collect data related to assessment and to assist with and participate in projects that are designated as assessment projects.

This month department heads at my library are being asked to complete an “Assessment Questionnaire.” Given a definition of assessment as as “the process of gathering and using evidence to identify needs, make improvements and demonstrate value,” the questionnaire instructs us to “think expansively” as we consider in what assessment projects we are engaged or what projects we'd like to undertake. What does assessment look like in the Monographic Services Department?

U.S. District Court Judge Orinda Evans ruled on May 11 that, in all but five excerpts, the publishers SAGE, Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press did not show sufficient evidence that Georgia State University violated copyright in making content available for classroom use via e-reserves. When this suit was filed in 2008 and eventually brought to trial last spring, publishers accused GSU of copyright infringement related to excerpts of longer works that Georgia State had made available online for its students as assigned class readings. GSU changed its copyright policy in response to the lawsuit and invoked fair use in its defense of the infringement claims.

I gave a talk on Friday at the Joyner Paraprofessional Conference, titled “From Paraprofessional to Professional: Tips for Making the Transition in Technical Services.” This was the ninth straight year that Joyner Library at East Carolina University has hosted the paraprofessional conference and my first year attending.

The paraprofessional conference is the only one of its kind in North Carolina; by my very rough estimate, about 100 people attended. ECU is quiet during the intersession and the conference takes over the library; presentations are in open spaces, Technical Services and other parts of the library. This year's theme was “Cyborgs in the Stacks.” The morning schedule included a networking breakfast, keynote address and two sessions of breakout talks, with plenty of time in-between sessions for finding restrooms or chatting.

Last week I posted about how library book vendors have had to change their sales models to accommodate e-books. Grounded in book sales, book vendors' databases are structured around the book in all its formats: paper, hardcover and various e-versions, which makes this transition logical. This week I incorporate subscription vendors' services, which are germane to the e-book question, and ponder who is better positioned to assist libraries with their e-book management.

I'm preparing for a speaking engagement at the annual conference sponsored by the North Carolina Library Paraprofessional Association next month, in which I will offer observations, perspective and advice about making a career change from paraprofessional to professional library worker. My library experience has chiefly been in technical services, so I will focus on the differences between working as a paraprofessional and professional in library technical services, but I can also talk generally about the subtle or not-so-subtle differences between paraprofessional and professional roles in library work.

Happy news from UNC’s libraries: we’re going all-digital! April brings springtime, which is a time of dramatic change and new life, and the perfect time to make such an announcement. Fools’ conventions have imprisoned academic librarians in the print realm for too long, keeping our users separated from the content they require on our shelves not only by antiquated, unsearchable formats, but also by requiring library staff to be on hand, in the moment, for the content even to be accessible. Day or night, our electronic resources are available to researchers far and wide, regardless of their personal schedules or physical locations.

I mentioned last month that Random House would raise e-book prices on March 1. It turns out that the perpetual access, one user at a time model Random House favors is costing in the neighborhood of triple the hardcover price. Bobbi Newman gave a few examples over at Librarian by Day, in which Random House's pricing model for this access seems to decrease over time, coinciding with and similar to a book's availability in hardcover, then eventually in paperback.

It seems that this news is resonating most loudly in the public library sector, of library sectors in the United States. How does this price change affect collection development in the public library market? What does it say about the value of public libraries? I have far more questions than answers, but hear me out.

A couple weeks ago I wrote about the upcoming discussions between ALA and Big Publishing about e-book lending via libraries. Now that the meetings have taken place, Random House has announced that it is raising its prices of e-books sold to libraries through intermediaries such as Overdrive, 3M and Ingram. The remaining question is how much of an increase it will be.

Next week, American Library Association leaders will meet with executives from three of the biggest publishing houses in the U.S. to discuss a circulation model for those publishers' e-books. This meeting was initiated by ALA. Keith Fiels, ALA executive director, said, “I want to assure you that the dialog will begin with us saying ‘you need to deal with libraries and you need to do this as soon as possible,’ then we can have a dialog  starting from there,” Fiels said. “I think for the membership, this is what’s keeping people awake at night.” Fiels's statement reflects a sense of urgency among libraries about our role in information provision and service to our constituents.