ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL N e w s ■ S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 0 / 6 8 7 THE W AY I SEE IT A s s e r t i n g o u r c o l l e c t i o n d e v e l o p m e n t r o l e s A ca dem ic lib ra ria n s m u st take re s p o n s ib ility fo r the c o lle c tio n by Ian D. Gordon A s academic librarianship rushes to re­ invent itself in a digital and virtual world, there remains at least one constant—our deep- rooted love for the printed word. Print mono­ graphic resources remain an important and es­ sential part of all academic libraries. Yet, as we enter the 21st century, too many college and university librarians seem content to al­ low faculty to control the acquisition of mono­ graphic resources. Daniel Gore’s classic paper titled “Some­ thing there is that doesn’t love a professor” and other studies1 speak to tenuous and, at times, strained working relationships with fac­ ulty. Most librarians have seen some faculty use library collection budgets to acquire books that often do not support the curriculum or meet the wider research needs of the academic community. John Budd supports this assertion by stat­ ing that, “For at least the first half of this cen­ tury faculty largely controlled selection in col­ lege libraries. To a lesser extent, faculty con­ trol still exists in some libraries. This means that faculty have (or take) responsibility for the selection of specific items and, so, have a substantial say in the shape of the library’s col­ lection. A common criticism of faculty activi­ ties in collection development is that they lack the broad vision necessary to build a collec­ tion of sufficient breadth that the needs of all the academic community can be met.”2 Academic librarians recognize that faculty in­ volvement is essential for effective collection development. However, librarians feel frus­ trated, ignored, and ineffective when not in­ volved or excluded from this process. Who is doing the collecting? It is difficult to discern how many faculty have the responsibility for collection development. There are a wide range of collection devel­ opment models. These models are usually dependent on the size of the library. On one hand, most larger academic library systems tend to have sufficient funds and approval plans to acquire most book resources. Fac­ ulty control of collection development in larger library systems is not an issue. On the other hand, smaller academic libraries may not have the expertise or personnel to ac­ quire book materials in this way. Collection development in smaller libraries may wel­ come faculty participation. Why does the library community continue to allow faculty and not librarians to control the acquisition of monographic resources in mid-sized and comprehensive universities? What are the underlying issues preventing academic librarians from taking back their libraries and control of collection develop­ ment? IaAn D. Gordon is science librarian at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, e-mail: igb o u t t h e a u t hordon@spartan.ac.brocku.cao r s mailto:igordon@spartan.ac.brocku.ca 6 8 8 / C & R L N e w s ■ S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 0 W ith t h e s e q u e s t i o n s in m in d , a c o l l e c ­ tio n d e v e l o p m e n t s u r v e y w a s d is tr ib u te d to lib ra r ia n s a t e a c h o f O n ta r io , C a n a d a ’s , 17 la rg e s t u n iv e r s itie s in t h e s u m m e r o f 1 9 9 9 . T h e s u r v e y ’s p r e a m b l e s ta te d , “In a tim e o f fis c a l re s tr a in t a n d n e v e r - e n d in g d e m a n d s o n a c a d e m i c lib ra r y b u d g e t s , lib r a r ia n s a r e i n te r e s te d in k n o w in g h o w y o u p e r c e iv e y o u r r o le in t h e a c q u i s i ti o n o f lib ra r y m a te r ia ls , w h o s h o u ld a c q u ire t h e s e r e s o u r c e s , a n d w h a t r o le s h o u ld fa c u lty p l a y .” T h e s e a r e i n te r e s tin g q u e s t i o n s a d d r e s s ­ in g c r itic a l a n d p o w e r fu l is s u e s a s lib ra r ia n s a s s u m e a c a d e m i c s ta tu s a n d a s s e r t t h e i r r o le s in a n i n c r e a s i n g n u m b e r o f u n iv e rs ity lib ra r­ ie s . W h e n a c a d e m i c l i b r a r ia n s w e r e a s k e d “W h o h a s t h e p rim a ry a u t h o r iz a t io n t o a c ­ q u ir e m o n o g r a p h ic r e s o u r c e s in y o u r lib rary?” 4 1 p e r c e n t o f all lib ra r ia n s i n d ic a te d t h a t f a c ­ u lty , a n d / o r f a c u l t y w i t h l i b r a r ia n ’s in p u t, a c q u i r e m o n o g r a p h ic m a te r ia ls w ith in t h e i r lib ra r ie s . L ib ra ria n s w e r e s o l e ly r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e a c q u i s i ti o n o f m o n o g r a p h ic r e s o u r c e s in o n l y 3 0 p e r c e n t o f all lib ra r y s y s te m s . T h e im p o r ta n t i m p lic a t io n h e r e is th a t lib ra r ia n s o f t e n d o n o t p la y a n a c t iv e r o le in s e l e c t i n g lib ra r y r e s o u r c e s a t m a n y a c a d e m i c in s titu ­ t io n s . I n d e e d , m a n y O n ta r io a c a d e m i c lib ra r­ ie s c o n t i n u e t o a l lo w fa c u lty t o d riv e t h e c o l ­ l e c t i o n d e v e lo p m e n t p r o c e s s w h e n lib ra r ia n s a r e b e s t s u ite d t o p e r f o r m th is fu n c tio n . L i b r a r i a n s a s c o l l e c t i o n d e v e l o p m e n t s p e c i a l i s t s A c a d e m i c lib r a r ia n s a r e tr a in e d p r o f e s s i o n ­ a ls ; th e y r e q u i r e s u b je c t - s p e c i f i c u n d e r g r a d u ­ a t e d e g r e e s a n d a n MLS t o b e c o m e lib r a r ­ ia n s . L ib ra ria n s s e r v in g in a c a d e m i c lib ra r ie s a r e in c r e a s in g ly c h a ll e n g e d t o h a v e a s e c - o n d - s u b je c t m a s t e r ’s d e g r e e . T h e s e q u a lif i­ c a t i o n s s p e a k v o lu m e s t o t h e a b ilitie s a n d c o m p e t e n c e o f lib ra r ia n s t o i m p l e m e n t , c o n ­ d u c t, a n d m o n it o r c o ll e c t i o n d e v e lo p m e n t a c ­ tiv itie s. L ib ra ria n s , w h e n w o r k i n g in a c o n ­ s u lta tiv e r e la t io n s h ip w ith fa c u lty , a r e in t h e b e s t p o s i t i o n t o s h a p e a n d b u i ld lib ra r y r e ­ s o u r c e s . T h e l o n g -s t a n d in g a r g u m e n t th a t li­ b r a r ia n s m a y n o t h a v e t h e s u b je c t e x p e r t i s e t o a d e q u a t e l y p e r fo r m c o l l e c t i o n d e v e l o p ­ m e n t r e s p o n s i b i l i ti e s is n o l o n g e r a c c u r a t e . C o ll e c t i o n d e v e lo p m e n t is a n i m p o r ta n t r e ­ s p o n s ib ility . A s s u c h , it is i n c lu d e d in m o s t a c a d e m i c l ib r a r ia n ’s jo b d e s c r ip tio n s . W h e n lib ra r ia n s p a r tic ip a tin g in t h e su r­ v e y w e r e a s k e d t o c o m m e n t o n h o w th e y fe lt a b o u t fa c u lty h a v in g c o n t r o l o f t h e s e l e c ­ t io n o f b o o k s , t h e y p r o v i d e d a fu ll r a n g e o f c o m m e n t s in c lu d in g : “I a m f ru s tr a te d w ith h o w little in p u t w e h a v e — b u t t h e la z y p a rt o f m e . is r e l i e v e d th a t it’s t h e fa c u lty w h o d o t h e c o l l e c t i n g .” “It is r e a s o n a b l y e f f e c t i v e a n d w o r k s w e ll w h e n fa c u lty a r e w illin g t o c o o p e r a t e . ” “I th in k lib ra ria n s h a v e d iffe rin g v ie w s . . . s o m e lib ra ria n s th in k th a t fa cu lty in p u t is a b ­ s o lu t e ly e s s e n t i a l a n d t h e o n l y w a y t o g u a r ­ a n t e e th is is b y g iv in g s ig n in g a u th o rity to fa c u lty , w h i c h m a k e s t h e m a c c o u n t a b l e fo r in p u t t o t h e lib ra r y c o l l e c t i o n . ” “A s p r o f e s s io n a ls , lib ra r ia n s h a v e t h e sk ills t o c o n d u c t c o l l e c t i o n d e v e l o p m e n t a s a n o n g o i n g a c tiv ity e s s e n t i a l t o t h e life o f th e u n iv e rs ity . C o n s u lta tio n w ith fa c u lty is e s s e n ­ tia l t o b u ild a lib ra r y b o o k c o l l e c t i o n r e f l e c t ­ in g a n d b e i n g s e n s it iv e t o r e s e a r c h , t e a c h ­ in g , a n d c u r r ic u lu m n e e d s . ” I f a c q u i r i n g b o o k r e s o u r c e s f o r a c a d e m i c l ib r a r ie s is a b a l a n c i n g a c t , t h e n w h a t h i n ­ d e r s lib ra r ia n s fr o m tip p in g t h e s c a l e s in th e ir fa v o r? C h a n g i n g p a s t p r a c t i c e s a n d h i s to r i ­ c a l a d m in is t r a t iv e p o l i c y d e c i s i o n s c a n b e d ifficu lt. C h a n g in g fa c u lty a n d a d m in is tra to r’s p o s i t i o n s in v o lv e s a s t r a t e g i c p l a n b a c k e d b y t h e s u p p o r t o f a ll l ib r a r ia n s w ith in a li­ b r a r y s y s te m . W r e s tlin g c o l l e c t i o n d e v e l o p ­ m e n t r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s fr o m f a c u lt y is t o o o f ­ t e n a p o li t ic a l, r a t h e r t h a n a l ib r a r y - r e la t e d is s u e . L ib r a r ia n s o w e it t o t h e i r p r o f e s s i o n t o a s s e r t t h e i r n o r m a t i v e c o l l e c t i o n d e v e l ­ o p m e n t ro le s . R e c l a i m i n g o u r c o ll e c t io n r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s A s m e n t i o n e d e a rlie r, lib ra r ia n s h a v e t h e s u b ­ je c t e x p e r t i s e , s k ills , r e s o u r c e s , a n d a fa m il­ ia r ity w i th c o l l e c t i o n d e v e l o p m e n t is s u e s . A c q u ir in g b o o k s is p a rt o f w h a t a n a c a d e m i c lib r a r ia n d o e s . L ib ra ria n s p a r tic ip a tin g in t h e s u r v e y fr o m in s titu tio n s w h e r e fa c u lty s e l e c t b o o k s w e r e a s k e d t o c o m m e n t o n w h y th e y h a d n o t a s s u m e d t h e ir c o l l e c t i o n d e v e lo p ­ m e n t r e s p o n s ib ility a n d p r o f e s s i o n a l r o le . T h e r a n g e o f r e p li e s i n c l u d e d c o m m e n t s s u c h a s , “It h a s a lw a y s b e e n th is w a y ”; “T h e u n iv e rsity lib ra ria n a n d a d m in is tra tio n w ill n o t s u p p o r t th is in itia tiv e ”; “T o o p o litic a l o f a n i s s u e t o t a c k l e ”; “W e d o n ’t h a v e t h e tim e , e n ­ C & R L N e w s ■ S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 0 / 6 8 9 e rg y , e x p e r ti s e , n o r r e s o u r c e s t o p e r fo r m th is t a s k .” I f o w n e r s h ip o f c o lle c t io n d e v e lo p m e n t is in d e e d d riv en b y p o litic a l o r ju ris d ictio n a l tu rf b a ttle c o n s id e ra tio n s , th e n a c a d e m ic lib ra ria n s n e e d t o d e v e lo p a s tra teg y to r e c la im th e ir c o lle c tiv e re s p o n sib ilitie s. A p la n th a t in c lu d e s le a rn in g fr o m th e e x p e r i e n c e s o f o t h e r institu­ tio n s th at h a v e s u cce ss fu lly m o v e d th ro u g h this p r o c e s s . A p la n th a t in c o rp o ra te s g a in in g th e su p p o r t o f all lib rarian s, fa cu lty, library, a n d a c a d e m ic ad m in istration . D o n a ld R iggs, in a n ed ito ria l o n a c a d e m ic library lead ersh ip , stated that, “G e n e ra lly sp e a k ­ ing, a c a d e m ic lib raries a r e c o n s e r v a tiv e o r g a ­ n iz a tio n s. T h e y n o rm a lly o p e r a t e o n in su ffi­ c ie n t b u d g e ts , a n d a re d o in g m o r e a n d m o re w ith le s s a n d less. F o llo w e rs a n d le a d e r s m u st w o r k t o g e th e r in q u e s tio n in g t h e status q u o , revisiting t h e lib rary ’s a s s u m p tio n s , a n d clari­ fyin g / refresh in g th e lib rary ’s v a lu e s .”3 L ib ra ria n s a r e n o t g e n e r a lly p e r c e iv e d a s ra d ica ls o r risk ta k ers. M o v in g fo rw a rd to cla im c o ll e c t i o n d e v e lo p m e n t r e s p o n s ib ilitie s fro m fa c u lty c a n b e v i e w e d a s a c o ll e c t i v e risk. T h is n e e d n o t b e s o . H e r b e r t W h it e p a r a ­ p h r a s e s o u r h is to r ic a l r e l u c ta n c e t o s h y a w a y fr o m ta k in g ris k s c o n c e r n i n g p r o f e s s i o n a l is­ s u e s b y sta tin g th a t “I r e m a in d is m a y e d a t o u r fa ilu re t o t a k e s ta n d s o n p r o f e s s i o n a l is­ s u e s , e v e n a s w e e a g e r l y t a k e s t a n d s o n s o c i o p o li t i c a l o n e s . ”4 It is c le a r ly a tim e to t a k e a s ta n d o n th is c o l l e c t i o n d e v e lo p m e n t is s u e . It is n o t ju s t a lib r a r ia n ’s is s u e , b u t a n is s u e o f im p o r t a n c e th a t a f fe c t s all m e m b e r s o f t h e a c a d e m i c c o m m u n ity . C a rla S to ffle in d ic a te s h o w w e s h o u ld a d ­ d r e s s c h a n g e . “T h e n e e d e d lib ra ry o r g a n iz a ­ tio n a l c h a n g e s o n t h e ra d ic a l l e v e l r e q u ire d w ill n o t t a k e p l a c e if le ft in t h e h a n d s o f m id d le -le v e l m a n a g e m e n t a lo n e . T ra n s fo rm a ­ t io n a l c h a n g e w ill n o t e m a n a t e f r o m t h e p e o p l e w h o h a v e t h e m o s t a t s t a k e in th e status q u o . T ra n sfo rm a tio n a l c h a n g e c a n c o m e o n ly fr o m s e n i o r m a n a g e m e n t s u p p o r t a n d p r o m o t io n o f g r o u p s c o m p o s e d o f a ll ra n k s , c la s s ific a tio n s , a n d le v e ls o f fa c u lty a n d s ta ff m a k in g d e c i s i o n s .”5 T a k in g b a c k resp o n sib ility fo r c o lle c tio n d e ­ v e lo p m e n t c a n b e difficult. H o w ev er, m o s t fa c ­ u lty a r e in d ifferen t t o lib ra ry c o lle c t io n d e v e l­ o p m e n t issues. C h a n g in g past p ra ctices is b a s e d o n lo g ic a l a rg u m e n ts , s o u n d a d m in istra tiv e p ra ctices, a n d th e c o lle ctiv e e x p e r ie n c e s o f a c a - " I a m f r u s t r a t e d w i t h h o w l i t t l e in p u t w e h a v e — b u t t h e l a z y p a r t o f m e is r e l i e v e d t h a t it 's t h e f a c u l t y w h o d o t h e c o l l e c t i n g . " d e m ic lib rarian s. T h e m o s t im p o rta n t e le m e n t in this e q u a t io n is th e w illin g n e s s o f lib rarian s t o a s s e rt th e m s e lv e s a s e q u a l p artn ers. B u ild in g a c a s e t o c h a n g e th e p r o c e s s b y w h ic h b o o k s a re a c q u ire d in a c a d e m ic lib rar­ ie s n e e d n o t b e c o n s id e r e d a c h a lle n g e to th e status q u o . C h a n g in g p a s t p ra c tic e s n e e d n o t b e a p o litic a l o r d ifficu lt d e c is io n . M o st facu lty a re w illin g to re lin q u ish th e ir re s p o n sib ility if th e y a re g iv e n a n o p p o rtu n ity t o re m a in a c ­ tiv e a n d e q u a l p a rticip a n ts. L ib rarian s a re r e ­ s o u rc e fu l, c re a tiv e, a n d ta le n te d . R e c la im in g o u r c o lle c tio n d e v e lo p m e n t resp o n sib ilities c a n b e a p o sitiv e a n d lib era tin g e x e r c is e . A s th e ro le o f a c a d e m ic librarians co n tin u e s to c h a n g e , c o lle c t io n d e v e lo p m e n t s h o u ld b e a n im p o r­ tan t p a rt o f o u r p ro fe s s io n a l p ra c tic e . N o t e s 1 . D a n i e l G o r e , “S o m e t h i n g T h e r e i s t h a t D o e s n ’t L o v e a P r o f e s s o r : T h e M i s m a n a g e m e n t o f C o l l e g e L i b r a r i e s R e v i s i t e d , ” L ib r a r y Jo u r n a l 1 0 7 , n o . 7 ( A p r i l 1 9 8 2 ) : 6 8 6 - 9 1 . P a m C e n z e r , “L i b r a r y / F a c u l t y R e l a t i o n s i n t h e A c q u i s i t i o n s a n d C o l l e c t i o n D e v e l o p m e n t P r o c e s s , ” L ib rary A cq u isition s: P ra c tic e a n d T h eory 7 , n o . 3 ( 1 9 8 3 ) : 2 1 5 - 1 9 . L a r r y H a r d e s t y , “B o o k S e l e c t i o n f o r U n d e r g r a d u ­ a t e L i b r a r i e s : A S t u d y o f F a c u l t y A t t i t u d e s , ” J o u r n a l o f A c a d e m ic L ib ra r ia n sh ip 1 2 , n o . l ( M a r c h 1 9 8 6 ) : 1 9 - 2 5 . C h a r l e s A . G a r d n e r , “B o o k S e l e c t i o n P o l i c i e s i n t h e C o l l e g e L i b r a r y : A R e a p p r a i s a l , ” C olleg e & R e­ s e a r c h L ib ra r ies 4 6 , n o . 2 ( M a r c h 1 9 8 5 ) : 1 4 0 - 4 6 . D e n n i s W . D i c k i n s o n , “A R a t i o n a li s t s ’s C r it iq u e o f B o o k S e l e c t i o n f o r A c a d e m i c L ib r a r ie s , Jo u r n a l o f A ca ­ d em ic L ibrarian sh ip 7 , n o . 3 ( J u l y 1 9 8 1 ) : 1 3 8 - 4 3 . 2 . J o h n M . B u d d , T h e A c a d e m ic L ibrary : Its C on ­ text, Its P u rp ose, a n d Its O p eration ( E n g l e w o o d , C o l o r a d o : L i b r a r i e s U n l i m i t e d , 1 9 9 8 ) , 2 3 5 . 3 . D o n a l d R i g g s , “A c a d e m i c L i b r a r y L e a d e r s h i p : O b s e r v a t i o n s a n d Q u e s t i o n s , ” C olleg e & R esea rch L ib r a r ie s 6 0 , n o . l ( J a n u a r y 1 9 9 9 ) : 7 . 4. H e r b e r t S . W h i t e , “W h e r e i s t h e p r o f e s s i o n h e a d i n g ? ” L ib ra ry J o u r n a l 124, no.19 ( N o v e m b e r 15 1999): 45. 5 . C a r l a J . S t o f f l e , R o b e r t R e n a u d , a n d J e r i l y n R . V e l d o f , “C h o o s i n g O u r F u t u r e s , ” C olleg e & R esea rch L ib ra r ies 5 7 , n o . 3 ( M a y 1 9 9 6 ) : 2 2 3 - ■