Newswise — At some point in the near future "back to the books," the idiom that implies the recommencement of a period of studying and learning, may change to reflect the academic world's ongoing move toward online resources. But one has to admit that "back to online" just doesn't have that alliterative ring, and so for the next couple of weeks at least, media reports will likely continue to lead with similar vernacular in timely back-to-school reports and stories.
Still, the news media's reliance on antiquated adages doesn't change the migration-to-online phenomenon of which many who work in higher education and academic libraries are well aware. Embodied in a shift from books and bricks-and-mortar places -- where information and lessons are delivered in print and in person -- to a domain where information and even instruction are delivered through cyberspace, this assimilation, like moving from one geographical location to another, can be fraught with culture shock and growing pains.
"We can't avoid it," said Jeff Matlak, electronic resources librarian and assistant professor at Western Illinois University Libraries. "Publishers' scholarly materials and online resources that just three years ago were not available online are available now only online. These resources may not even have a print counterpart today."
Matlak and many of his colleagues at WIU are among those in academia who are not only aware of the shift toward online, but who have also, in recent months, been engaged in an intense collection development review in Western Illinois University Libraries' "Library Materials Budgeting Project 2009-2010." The impetus for the project is attributable to (like many things in a tough economy and in a state facing a significant budget shortfall) cost-cutting measures, as well as changes in the publishing business.
"Journal prices continue to escalate every year, while the materials budget for the library has been consistent now for the past six to seven years," explained Dean Howd, assistant professor, head of collection management and librarian at University Libraries. "We appreciate that the administration has not cut us back -- many schools have had cutbacks in their materials budgets; however, the reality is that when you do not gain more funding that, in effect, becomes a cut. All schools in Illinois are making cuts. We are not alone in this process," he added.
Howd, Matlak and their colleagues acknowledge there has been some pain involved with the budgeting project: as of May 2009, the "final cancellation list" listed approximately 330 journal titles and/or scholarly publications to be cut from University Libraries' collection. But they, along with University Libraries' Dean Phyllis Self, noted that overall, in the last few years, staff at University Libraries have actually provided access to a greater amount of scholarly material.
"When Dean Self first came [about three years ago], we were providing students and faculty with access to approximately 3,200 journals. Now, we provide access to 50,000 to 60,000 journals through our online databases," said Howd.
"Our growth in databases has been tremendous," Matlak reiterated. "When I tell people the numbers, well… their eyes grow really wide. We literally provide access to tens of thousands of full-text journals from around the world."
So although there have been cancellations via this recent budgeting project, in the last few years, staff at University Libraries have actually been able to increase the access to various types of content. Howd attributes this to Dean Self's change in the way the materials budget is allocated; in the past, he noted, separate budgets were delineated for books and for journal subscriptions.
"Books in libraries are oftentimes viewed as sacred, and we're certainly not trying to get rid of the book," Howd said. "The book is still here, but different departments have different needs. Some departments may need access to more research and journal publications, while for others, we would like to be able to purchase more DVDs for their curriculum. Books are not the sole source anymore," he noted.
"Overall, we're trying to get more flexibility into the budget process," Self added. "It has to be much more flexible and nimble to meet the changing instructional needs we have. So these days we're saying, 'Look at the collection. Look at the needs of a discipline, and then make the decision where that money should go.' In addition, we are not only looking at departments holistically, but we're also considering the needs of the various colleges. For example, in the College of Business and Technology there may be databases needed by many departments in the College. A budget divided by department does not provide the flexibility needed to purchase a resource that would benefit the entire college. This change in budgeting collections makes it more interdisciplinary than what we've done in the past."
Needs and NumbersDuring the budgeting project, library staff provided Western's academic departments with library liaisons, who are assigned to help each department review their scholarly materials needs. Howd, who is also the library liaison for several of the University's academic departments, and Laura Finch, professor in WIU's kinesiology department and that department's liaison for University Libraries, agree in their view that this process has been positive.
Howd noted that it has been helpful for collection development, and Finch said it has provided her department with a greater say in the kinds of materials the library is subscribing to or purchasing for the kinesiology discipline.
"Recently, there has also been a culture shift in regard to the interaction between the academic departments and the library," Howd said. "Dean Self instituted this liaison system that a number of us had wanted. This system, we think, has greatly increased the amount of contact with departmental faculty. It has made the whole process much more inclusive; faculty actually have a say in what is purchased. In the past, generally we had just one library representative for all the departments."
"The project has enabled us to eliminate journal titles that were not being used very often, which was clearly indicated by the usage data," Finch noted. "These particular items were taking up a significant portion of our department's materials budget, and they just weren't getting that much use."
The data that Finch referred to is material "use" or "usage" data that library staff is able to measure from the students' and faculty members' utilization of online resources.
"There are two different ways we gather electronic use statistics," explained Matlak. "The first is through the publishers; they provide them, and the ones that don't are rushing to do so now. Some of them even provide information about what particular articles are downloaded," he added.
The other way staff members at University Libraries gather data and measure use of electronic resources is through "link resolver" software, which is effectively the "Find It" button students and faculty see when they are searching University Libraries' databases or online catalog, according to Matlak.
"If anyone is searching in any one of our databases or the catalog, they typically click that button. That click is measured and tells us there is an interest in that particular journal or resource," he said.
The link-resolver software, called "SFX" and provided to University Libraries through its affiliation with the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI), gives a solid indication of how many times a journal article has been searched and/or used, Howd added.
"This is one of the advantages of automation. When we went through a similar round of cutbacks in 2002 and 2003, we didn't have these use statistics. Because we don't check out periodicals, there was no way to tell if items were being used, with the exception of counting items that were reshelved. With online databases, we measure searches and record those indications, keep track of 'hits' on certain titles and review the use figures that publishers supply," Howd explained. "Overall, we're gaining a more accurate feel of what materials are actually being used. In another year or so, we'll have even more and more reliable use statistics."
Finch noted that while she and her kinesiology colleagues would have preferred to keep subscribing to the material they decided to cut, the process enabled her department to acquire access to different content.
"You hear 'cuts,' and you think, 'Oh, no! What a terrible thing!' But we've actually been able to expand our holdings; moreover, the process has enabled us to get many more things online, which seems to be the students' preference. We did that, in some cases, by dropping our print holdings. Some of the publishers don't -- if you will -- 'hold you hostage,' so that you don't have to buy both. You can get one or the other, and the prices are not much different. Overall, we feel we came out of this in much better shape than we were prior to the budgeting project. Our losses weren't that significant and the addition of the online holdings is great for faculty and the students, both undergrads and the graduate students," she said.
"And I would add that Professor Finch's department's experience in regard to this budgeting project is very similar to almost all the other departments. Many faculty members have mentioned to me now much they appreciated this work," Matlak said.
Matlak, Howd and Self don't anticipate this intensive library materials budgeting process to be a "big" annual type of project; rather, with benefit of the use data, library liaisons and their academic departments can review their departments' and disciplines' collections on an ongoing basis.
"I also think the process has been positive and, with the new liaison system in place, will continue to be so," noted Matlak. "We have not cancelled anything that a faculty member absolutely said he or she wanted. We honestly have made every effort to accommodate requests. Some may not have wanted to cancel anything at all, but most faculty were understanding about the need to do this review."
Collaborative CollectingDespite the cancellations (a list of cancelled titles can be accessed at wiu.edu/library/units/cd/), Matlak, Howd and Self noted that even if University Libraries doesn't subscribe to it or own it, chances are still pretty high the librarians can help students and faculty get any item they may need. Howd pointed out how the relationship with CARLI (a consortium that serves more than 98 percent of Illinois higher education students, faculty and staff at 153 member institutions) helps to ensure that Western's library users can access scholarly materials if not from the collection in Western Illinois University Libraries, then from another state institution's collection.
"We're pretty lucky to be part of CARLI," Howd said. "Among the many benefits of CARLI membership is the I-Share integrated library system that serves 76 institutions. I-Share provides participating libraries with an online catalog of their own collection, as well as a merged, union catalog of the holdings of all I-Share libraries."
Self noted that interlibrary loan, accessed through the "ILLiad" system at University Libraries, provides another way for students and faculty to obtain the materials they need for their studies and research.
"We may not own it, but we can get it," she reiterated. "We can get almost anything a student or faculty member wants through CARLI or ILLiad. This goes for Western's Quad Cities campus as well. Any material that a student can get on the Macomb campus, a student in the Quad Cities will be able to get too. So any service that we create has to be designed in such a way that it is available to any of our students regardless of their location."
And Collaborative SpacesThough library users can access many of the materials they need online, Dean Self and her staff at University Libraries still see a great deal of value in the conventional bricks-and-mortar, "back-to-the-books" place for study and information access that libraries have always been. In addition to the books, reference materials, government documents and print journals, University Libraries now has a Digital Commons, the Malpass Mocha Café, a Digital Studio (in which users can create such multimedia productions such as vodcasts) and a popular recurring Game Nite event held about once a month during the regular academic semesters.
"We're making the library an inviting space for students to collaborate together. We have several areas now in which students can work and play together, use library computers, have a coffee, some conversation and just relax," Self said.
Visit Western Illinois University Libraries online at www.wiu.edu/library.
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