Collection Management Committee Meeting: January 22, 2024

Zoom / Conference Call

Members attending: Janice Derr, co-chair (Eastern Illinois University), Jeannette Glover (Spoon River College), Gwen Gregory (Northern Illinois University), Jayna Leipart Guttilla, (Illinois Valley Community College), Carl Lehnen (University of Illinois Chicago), Jackie Mann (Loyola University Chicago), Kris Veldheer (Catholic Theological Union), Erin Zimmerman, co-chair (Heartland Community College)

Member absent: Briana Love (Aurora University)

CARLI Staff attending: Elizabeth Clarage, Jen Masciadrelli, Nicole Ream-Sotomayor, Jenny Taylor

Decisions

• Agenda was updated.
• CMC will develop Weeding Print materials event.

Tasks Assigned

• Minutes taken by Jayna Leipart Guttilla.
• Jen will create Box documents for next meeting.

Announcements

• Member Announcements:
  • None
• CARLI Announcements:
  • Archives Task Force is creating a web resource for CARLI members looking for forms, policies, procedures, and guidelines to use. Information will be on CARLI website.
  • CARLI is working with three publishers for CARLI eBook program: Wiley, Oxford and U of I Press.
  • FY25: New contracts with Bloomsbury and Films On Demand.
  • Upcoming professional development webinars featuring MLA and EBSCO.
  • Third round for review of new Open Access and OER collections within ALMA and Primo VE.
  • WEST Serials Storage: At the signature stage for WEST, the shared serials storage. CARLI members must sign a three-year commitment. WEST will be available in the Selection System. Each public institution will have to determine their own guidelines based upon the state property act.

Discussion

• Breakout sessions during meeting time is new: how is this going and how the work of the committee is going this year?
  • Bad job of self-organizing. Asking myself what did we talk about last time. Sees a lack of progress and can trace it to the meeting format.
  • Dependent upon topics. Not as engaged because of the different issues and a lot of other projects.
  • It’s been nice to not have a second meeting.
  • Different dynamic and feels that I am not prepared for meeting.
  • We like the breakout sessions but need a more structured format and goals to keep the breakouts in line with an annual goal.
  • Can we set goals in the breakout rooms and also take minutes within the room?
• What does the CMC committee want to produce for the year:
  • Weeding and DEI, but is there is anything that is BIG that we can work on?
  • DEI is in CARLI’s strategic plan but there is not an overarching THING that has come up in the membership.
  • Weeding. Do something with a software packages, like GreenGlass or other. To help the membership better understand their collection and its relation to others’ collections.
  • Those are useful tools but are costly and the institutions who would likely benefit the most cannot afford the tools.
  • How can we get the tools to be more cost-effective?
    • Software does not fall under the exemption for library materials so CARLI would have to do an RFP.
  • People are being told to do more with less and how can we help them?
  • In the past, CARLI has done different things like: who is supposed to keep what for Last Copy, or new collaborative tools or resources that would be useful. Is there a way that the CMC could do programming?
  • Loyola is anticipating a large weeding project. They plan to use GreenGlass and would be interested in looking into how other institutions may be dealing with this issue and other such as last copy, weeding, etc.
  • A comment from a member noted that GreenGlass is based on the number of volumes you have and price is unsustainable.
  • UIC lost their warehouse storage and Internet Archive took the unneeded materials.
  • Internet Archive took fiche and film from Catholic Theological Union.
  • Other options include Discover Books, BetterWorldBooks (BWB), recycle.
  • Are there current, up-to-date recommendations from CARLI that outline the weeding workflow?
  • There is no CARLI resource that identifies workflow for disposing of weeded materials.
    • CMC can make recommendations for resources. It is a great need, but is it a conflict to encourage specific vendors?
      • It would be fine to detail what vendors are operating in the field but not offer specific recommendations. Preservation Committee has done this type of resource, like “named names” for vendors who operate in field.
    • Creating a workflow could serve libraries of all sizes so it would be beneficial, if it hasn’t already been done.
    • We could provide information like what type of report to request of CARLI or what type of parameters to pull in own reports
    • CMC webpage has “Weeding eBooks – Recommendations,” but no weeding print materials guidelines since 2011. There is the “Recommendation: Number of Copies in I-Share” that mentions the number of copies in I-Share as 5: Is that still a valid recommendation?
      • CARLI has had this discussion with members. Typically, when people are removing items that have been used for teaching and learning at their institution it means that the items are no longer relevant to the institution. To represent the scholarly record, 1 copy is enough, if the material is outdated.
    • The group could create a Box document for guidelines and have a rough draft by our next meeting.
    • Vendors like BWB have requirements for smaller institutions that may not be viable, like a certain amount of items withdrawn each year in order to send items to BWB. It’s important to note that smaller institutions may have different workflows and procedures, like book giveaways, etc.
    • Add content to the recommendations for short-term, emergency weeding procedures.
    • Institutional pressure to weed immediately has been a newer phenomenon in the last 10 years.
    • Environmental impacts and the speed at which we are asked to weed conflicts with the reality of the library.  Implications of discarding and throwing books is a PR issue as well.
    • Reincorporation of items or shifting locations is also an issue.
    • Moving items is a huge issue as well. A member mentioned that Hallett is a good resource.
    • It might be important to speak to the vendor directly to see how they operate.
    • We could do a program on shifting items, with perspectives of institutions who use students and those who use vendors, like Hallet.
    • We have had programs with just vendors speaking.
    • Chicago Library Movers is another vendor. It is based in Rockford and is a library moving company.
    • Or, a panel who have dealt with a large move or shifting project recently.
    • The last time we’ve had a discussion about this was 2014, so it is time for this discussion again.
    • This is a timely topic as a lot of institutions are currently being asked to move stacks and/or have space constraints.
    • If we have vendors, could we do a Q & A more than a presentation.
    • A moderator who could pose the questions: when would a time be to consider a vendor.
    • The CMC group could pre-populate the questions prior to the event.
    • Would the event be an online webinar event or an in-person event which provides more of an opportunity for a panel and presentations?
    • Virtual makes it more accessible, especially for smaller libraries.
    • Open up to the Professional Development Alliance?
    • Or we could locate national vendors, too.
    • A large CARLI member, a small CARLI member, and 2 vendors to make-up a panel?
    • Vendors could talk about the scope of their work.
    • Timeline for the event?
      • Virtual event = 4 weeks in advance and then decide if we will record the event. We should pick some dates and then see if the speakers are available and to share the questions. March meeting would be good and also the flowchart should be available to share. Campus environment and other stakeholders
    • Next meeting working on the Box documents and brainstorming ideas.

Next Meeting Dates and Deadlines

The Collection Management Committee will meet next on February 19, 2024 at 10:00 AM.

Committee Meetings:
February 19, 2024, Minutes: TBD
March 18, 2024, Minutes: Jackie Mann
April 15, 2024, Minutes: Kris Veldheer
May 20, 2024, Minutes: Erin Zimmerman
June 17, 2024, Minutes: tbd

Deadlines:
March 18: Weeding Event