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2007 Biz of Acq -- Sample Magazine Display at the Pratt Institute Library: 2003-2006 Susan E. Thomas LIU Brooklyn, [email protected]
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Recommended Citation Thomas, Susan E., "Biz of Acq -- Sample Magazine Display at the Pratt nI stitute Library: 2003-2006" (2007). Brooklyn Library Faculty Publications. 40. https://digitalcommons.liu.edu/brooklyn_libfacpubs/40
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Library at Digital Commons @ LIU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Brooklyn Library Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ LIU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Against the Grain
Volume 19 | Issue 6 Article 25
11-4-2013 Biz of Acq -- Sample Magazine Display at the Pratt Institute Library: 2003-2006 Susan E. Thomas Borough of Manhattan Community College/CUNY, [email protected]
Follow this and additional works at: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/atg Part of the Library and Information Science Commons
Recommended Citation Thomas, Susan E. (2007) "Biz of Acq -- Sample Magazine Display at the Pratt nI stitute Library: 2003-2006," Against the Grain: Vol. 19: Iss. 6, Article 25. Available at: http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/atg/vol19/iss6/25
This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact [email protected] for additional information. Biz of Acq — Sample Magazine Display at the Pratt Institute Library: 2003-2006 by Susan E. Thomas (Evening/Weekend Librarian, Assistant Professor, Borough of Manhattan Community College/CUNY, 199 Chambers St., S-434, New York, New York 10007; Phone: 212-220-8000 x7112; Fax: 212-748-7466)
Column Editor: Michelle Flinchbaugh (Acquisitions Librarian, Albin O. Kuhn Library, University of Maryland Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250; Phone: 410-455-6754; Fax: 410-455-1598)
Column Editor’s Note: Finding effective individual students, staff, and faculty as well as • For general interest and inspiration means of including patrons in the collection classes. Librarians have taught library instruc- • To examine design specimens development process can be difficult. Pratt tion sessions on the periodicals collections, • To read about emerging artists, designers, Institute’s Library successfully gathered including current, bound, and special collec- and writers patron feedback via a sample journal display tions. The collection includes periodicals about fine arts, art history, design, literature, current • To be informed about current trends in and incorporated their results into their col- and the avant-garde of creative fields lection management decisions. I am greatly events, hard sciences, social sciences, library pleased to present with this article author science (at Pratt Manhattan), and more. The • To be informed about current affairs Susan Thomas’s Poem “‘Relax’ Art Library,” Periodicals Committee consisted of all the li- • To become exposed to independent peri- assembled entirely from patrons’ comments brarians responsible for selecting materials for odicals publishing, including magazines written into sample magazines. — MF the library. Librarians contributed in their areas as well as zines. of specialty or research, with some librarians more deeply involved than others. As the chair, The Sample Magazine Display I worked closely with the Technical Services One of the goals of the Periodicals Commit- “Relax” Art Library librarian and clerical staff on quotidian work tee was to create more opportunities for patrons Assembled from Pratt Institute Library like processing unusual issues, establishing to contribute to collection development. Sev- patrons’ comments written in the back of binding schedules, and the like. Through 2003, eral years ago, many of the subscriptions be- sample magazines. the PIL periodicals collection was in two parts: yond art, architecture, and design were straight Art & Architecture and Reference. In 2004, out of the print Reader’s Guide to Periodical both collections were merged together. Literature, Social Sciences Index, and Humani- I thought personally Special Periodicals include historical titles ties Index. They were not necessarily the best I’m digging this big time like Avalanche, Avant Garde, Creative Art, periodicals for the PIL community in the 21st I have been waiting around and The American Magazine of Art as well Century. Thus, a with substance and meaning as more contemporary titles like Émigré, McSweeney’s, and Gum. Why haven’t you already? Probably due to different perspectives on cataloging and processing over the architecture eye candy years, some historical periodicals, like don’t listen to him Cahiers d’art, have been classed as too many ads and corporate nah books and live in the Special Collec- tion (books) or Rare Books collection. Less hipster crap would be great too! Most, however, have no call number and live in the Special Periodicals sec- would love to frequent this magazine tion of the Special Collection. Pratt if you know what’s good Institute Library has an inchoate Zine seriously, from different countries collection, too. great deal of work was done to select more relevant, important, and As with many open periodicals stacks and unique titles. The committee came up with current displays, no hard statistics have been More fire, blaze it up!! a plan to acquire sample periodicals, display collected other than those related to the in- the best Japanese magazines them, and ask patrons to write comments about house use and occasional circulation of bound why the library should (or should not) sub- today’s anarchists journals, which have barcodes. The librarians scribe or regularly purchase a magazine. The smash layout on the Periodicals Committee closely observed committee read the comments and considered the use of the periodicals collections over the so “relax” art library them during the course of its selection process. last several years; it is clear that the collections, The committee thought long and hard about the especially the current periodicals, are heavily Upstairs. fabulous collection and decided early on that a title need used. Pratt community members use the pe- not be indexed or available via subscription to the word strange is a helpful reference riodicals collections for many reasons: be selected for regular acquisition. and great all in one breath • For academic research yes, I say I have always loved this one. When we became aware of a new or es- • For creative research tablished magazine of potential interest to the • To teach classes (faculty bring in classes library community and curricula, we attempted to study periodicals, with or without to acquire a sample from the publisher or pur- Background librarian presence) chased an issue from a bookstore. Sometimes patrons would bring sample issues of favorite The Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, • To stay current in their fields by regu- magazines, and those would be added to the offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in larly reading seminal journals and maga- display. In addition, a notebook was kept on several design fields, fine arts, art history, and zines display. In it patrons wrote the names of pub- other disciplines. The library’s expansive, rich, • To find periodicals to which creative lications they thought the library should sub- unusual periodicals collection is popular with work may be submitted and to which the Pratt community and is frequently used by students may apply for internships continued on page 77 76 Against the Grain / December 2007-January 2008 eral months — usually Biz of Acq — Sample Magazine for about a semester. from page 76 The Outcome scribe to or otherwise acquire. Acquisition as I found comments well as subscription is mentioned because the written in most of the library had to purchase several titles regularly magazines. The com- from bookstores because subscriptions did not ments in general were exist (Gum, a design magazine), a credit card rather thoughtful, with was required for subscription (Tate, etc., a UK the occasional, margin- art magazine), or EBSCO could not provide ally useful “This sux!” or could no longer provide (Arquine, a Spanish or “this is great! Sub- architecture magazine). In some cases the Li- scribe!” Useful com- brary made bookstore purchases until EBSCO ments included: “There was finally able to provide a subscription. is too much advertising Examples included Marmalade (UK design in this magazine.” “ar- magazine), 032c (German art magazine), and chitecture eye candy, Bidoun (U.S. published magazine about art and blah.” “all style but no culture in the Middle East). substance.” Writers of- In 2001 and 2002, the Dean of Libraries ten responded to each approved a budget of a few hundred dollars other’s comments, as so that librarians could purchase sample peri- well: “don’t listen to odicals. The money came from petty cash in him.” “I agree, there increments of no more than $25. Librarians aren’t enough Japa- visited bookstores, made purchases, and were nese magazines in the reimbursed. During those years, samples were library.” Writers would not displayed but were studied by librarians often compare the peri- only. Beginning in 2003, samples were put odical to the rest of the on display. Later, the budget was $400 — later collection, noting that it increased to $600 — and was expanded to was “unique,” “popu- officially include sample magazines and lar,” etc. One patron bookstore purchases of regularly acquired wrote that she gained magazines that did not offer subscriptions, an internship at one of including zines. Most purchases were made the sample magazines. at St. Mark’s Bookshop and Spoonbill & Someone else wrote Sugartown Bookstore in New York. If un- that a part-time faculty available at a bookstore where the PIL had member at Pratt was an account, materials were purchased with involved in the production of the magazine. petty cash. Without such a budget and such Another said that she loved the new maga- flexibility, the project would have been much zine so much that she ordered a subscription weaker since the library would have had to rely for herself and friends. Such comments on free samples (usually available only from were quite pleasant to read. well-established journals, not independent art After a magazine was removed from and design publishers) and donations. display, I word processed all the com- The magazines were typically displayed ments and shared the results with the face out, next to the New Book Display. An- Periodicals Committee. Magazines other library could choose to display sample that were clear “winners” were usually magazines with subscription and regularly selected for subscription. A great ex- acquired magazines, depending on the library’s ample is Gastronomica: the journal of layout and other factors. One reason we put food and culture. Everyone loved that the display with the New Books was to avoid journal! Sometimes the committee selected money the sample magazines getting mixed up with a magazine for subscription even if the patron freed up by cancella- the regular magazines. A sticker was placed comments were not so enthusiastic (or were tions and defunct titles. Even so, the seri- on each sample magazine’s cover, identifying just lacking). Overall, the committee read the als budget did increase every year because the magazine as a sample and requesting the comments with great interest and used them as EBSCO increased prices. The “good faith” reader/browser to write comments in the back. one tool in its selection process. agreement was based on the popularity and “Why (not) should the Library subscribe to this Then stickers were put on the cover and the heavy use of the periodicals collection. Good magazine?” Patrons wrote on a piece of paper magazines were returned to display for a short support from the college administration was taped in the back. Samples were kept on time. The stickers indicated that the Library key, as well. display for sev- would subscribe, thank you very much for your Deselection was part of the process. The input; or the Library would not subscribe, thank committee was not afraid to cancel titles infre- you very much for your input. In some cases, quently used (based mostly on observation) or the sticker said that the magazine was still used but (now) available in a full-text database. under consideration. (Since adjustments to the Heavily illustrated magazines were never EBSCO order were usually made during the canceled; more likely to be canceled were summer, the committee sometimes had to wait seldom-used academic journals. The librarians before deciding. The library couldn’t add attempted to include the discipline faculty in anything unless something else was canceled some of the selection and deselection; but, as or became defunct). There was a “good most librarians will not be surprised to hear, faith” agreement with the library admin- many faculty members simply said that the istration that the total budget for new sub- library should not cancel anything in their scriptions would not exceed the amount of continued on page 79 Against the Grain / December 2007-January 2008 77 Biz of Acq — The Wiki of Acq from page 78 Standards Column — Electronic work a lot,” one said it had helped somewhat, and one Resources: Challenges said it had had no effect. This consensus is remarkable because the common opinion is that library staff tends to and Opportunities be resistant to change, making a 2.0 tool like a wiki hard to implement successfully. Only a few months after the by Todd Carpenter (Managing Director, move to the wiki, our staff unanimously preferred it to NISO, 1 North Charles St., Ste. 1905, the former documentation. Baltimore, MD 21201) www.niso.org As part of the survey, I also asked the ordering staff to write in their opinions of the advantages and disad- he management of digital resources relationship to and interoperability with vantages of the wiki. Interactivity, such as the ability to has never been an easy process. the standard ILS; which functionalities add comments and suggestions, was frequently listed as The rapid expansion of digital were most critical for adoption and use; an advantage. The other benefit cited by several staff T resources compounded with changing and some of the barriers to implementa- members is the clear linking within the wiki to other formats and sales models in the short life tion that have been experienced by the departments’ Websites. One respondent wrote the best of Web-based delivery systems has par- attendees. thing about the Consul procedures is “having other units’ ticularly made the management process procedures ‘up front’ and available.” When considering the amount of more complex. Further, from the very funds invested in electronic resources, The main disadvantage mentioned by respondents beginning, details relating to purchasing, the anecdotal indication from the group was searching. Staff members wrote they wanted to be licenses, access, and usage have been kept that gathered in Denver is that not able to search by keyword. This is possible in Conflu- in ad hoc systems built by in-house teams nearly enough staff resources are being ence, but not immediately obvious. There is a search or by the individual librarian needing to dedicated to the ERM acquisition and box that searches across all “spaces” within Stanford’s organize her workflow. It is hard to recall content-management lifecycle. Among installation. After an initial search, you can limit results the days when digital resources played ARL libraries, the average percentage of to a particular space. The labeling I have done to link only a minor role in library management materials budget spending on electronic documents within the ordering space is another option discussions. resources in 2005-06 is 42%, or nearly for searching. The staff response on this subject shows It is from these very humble begin- $3.6 million, with the highest percentage a need for more training in Consul searching. nings that a fairly robust community being 73%. This expense amount is up The Future of vendors and librarians developed an 20% from the year before. The median The consensus of the ordering staff was that a wiki entirely new type of library system percentage is up 5%. Despite this growing platform for the unit’s procedures was beneficial to ac- — the E-Resource Management System trend, we learned that even at some of the quisitions work. Procedures are kept current and we save (ERMS). There are now several vendors largest institutions, where annual acquisi- managerial time with a tool that allows quick and easy providing more or less integrated ERMS tions investment for electronic content is Web updating. Since the creation of the ordering space, services. The most dominant vendors of in the millions of dollars, fewer than five I have trained the managers of the other units within our these systems are Ex Libris, Innovative full-time staff are responsible for the full Acquisitions Department to create and populate Consul Interfaces Inc., and Serials Solutions. management of electronic resources and spaces. At this point, every Acquisitions unit is in the There are also community-developed their acquisition lifecycle. Compared to process of transitioning to the wiki, and many other groups projects such as Colorado Alliance’s the staff resources dedicated to managing in the Stanford Libraries are creating spaces as well. Ulti- Gold Rush systems as well as open the print material acquisition and manage- mately, as we standardize the tools we use for documenting source systems, such as HERMES at ment process, the e-resource HR invest- procedures across the libraries, we will enable better cross- Johns Hopkins University. In addition, ments seem modest. Obviously, every linking between units and as a consequence, a better and there are likely dozens (or more) home- institution could use more staff, but the broader understanding of library processes. grown systems that librarians are using relative investment in print compared with to address complex management details. the growing investment in digital content Even without a formal system in place, will necessitate changes in staff allocation however, nearly every library is dealing in that go well beyond the scope of having a its own way with the acquisition, license, system that manages these resources. Biz of Acq — Sample Magazine title, integration, and usage data informa- Perhaps the lack of staff resources from page 77 tion that accompany digital content. is part of the reason that a relatively NISO held a two-day seminar in Den- small number of the ERMS that have discipline. The committee was caught between trying ver during September to bring together been purchased are up and running, or to do the right thing — which included explaining why systems vendors and a diverse cross- producing the anticipated results. To ef- a title was being canceled and conveying thoughtfulness, section of librarians who are at different fectively populate, manage, and use these regret, and offers to find other libraries that subscribe stages in the process of implementing a systems a significant time investment and — and simply conducting its business in a vacuum, inside formal ERMS. It became apparent that significant shifts in organizational culture the library and outside of the Pratt Institute community. these systems are relatively early in their are required, steps that many institutions The acquisition of full-text, multidisciplinary databases development and deployment, despite have yet to make. seriously improved the availability of journal articles in some successes. Approximately one-third One barrier to adoption that was subjects like history, cultural studies, and literature. of the attendees had an ERMS in produc- discussed was the complexity of the tion, while the balance of the participants At the time of the author’s departure from the PIL, the problems that ERMS are trying to ad- were either just implementing one, in the committee had nearly exhausted potential cancellations. dress, compounding the difficulty of process of acquiring one, or still consider- The process of selecting new titles will become more dif- rolling out such a system. Larger issues ing whether to purchase an ERMS. Dur- ficult now that the collection of currently received titles such as adapting workflows, restructuring ing this event we also learned that only has been so well tuned and shaped. It is inevitable, how- staff resources to manage digital content, about 400 institutions have functioning ever, that numerous titles — even popular ones — will and systems interoperability with existing systems in development or production become defunct. Money may be freed up as a result. It management tools were also pointed out nationwide. Among the issues that were is also possible that the budget will be increased due to as causes of delayed implementation. discussed at this forum were the role of patron satisfaction and interest in the periodicals, many of The sheer scale of the volume of data ERM systems in the library; the ERMS which are available exclusively in the print format. continued on page 80
Against the Grain / December 2007-January 2008 79