Against the Grain v30 #3 June 2018 by against-the-grain

c/o Katina Strauch Post Office Box 799 Sullivan’s Island, SC 29482

ALA ANNUAL issue volume 30, number 3

ISSN: 1043-2094

JUNE 2018

“Linking Publishers, Vendors and Librarians”

Library Space in the Digital Age by Bobby Hollandsworth (Learning Commons and Adobe Digital Studio Coordinator, Clemson University Libraries) <hollan4@clemson.edu>

hat is the purpose of the academic library in terms of physical space in 2018? That should be an easy question to answer, but there’s been a paradox brewing in academic libraries for years. It seems the more online journals, books, and services we provide in an effort to make it easier to access our collections and minimize or eliminate the need to visit the library, the more students, faculty, and staff flock to our physical building. This is a good problem to have, yet a curious one. I have multiple theories on why this is happening ranging

from the influence of bookstores and coffee to the physical isolation and disconnection of the digital world. I promise not to delve into these theories at this time, but if you’d like to discuss them I’m game. After pondering the initial question further, the paradox grows more complex. Online collections and services have expanded, while at the same time print circulation statistics and reference questions have dropped significantly. That makes logical sense — if many of these resources and services are now online you would expect print books and visitor

continued on page 10

If Rumors Were Horses

ey! Happy June! Thank goodness the weather here in Charleston has been unseasonably cool! And very little humidity! No complaints! You may have noticed that registration for the Charleston Vendor Showcase opened on Monday, June 4. It is almost sold out al-

A future book reviewer for ATG perhaps? Pictured here is Katina Walser (grandaughter of Katina Strauch) who loves books!

questions to decrease. These factors coming together at once sets up a perfect storm scenario for the demise of the physical library, right? Well, a strange thing happened on the way to obsolescence: the number of people visiting many academic libraries increased, and those numbers keep rising. You could certainly point to larger college/university enrollments as a reason, along with other factors for so many visits. I will also point out these are broad trends across academic libraries that may not be true on your campus. All this to say things have changed in academic libraries, and luckily there have been some extremely brave librarians who have not only embraced the changes, but have seen their libraries thrive because of the changes. It’s easy to forget or possibly not think about the seismic shift in library spaces over

ready! And registration for 38th Charleston Conference and preconferences opens June 11! Register early to get the Early Bird rate. We haven’t increased the prices and we have many excellent sessions during the conference and preconferences. It was exciting to see that one of my favorite vendors, Casalini Libri has expanded their agreement with OCLC. The new agreement will provide libraries with high quality bibliographic records that improve library users’ access to authoritative content. Under terms of the expanded agreement, Casalini Libri will provide bibliographic records for titles from over 4,000 publishers in Europe, in Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Greek languages, in addition to Italian. By Casalini supplying this data to OCLC, the libraries can save time in processing the print and electronic content represented by those records, and can quickly make that content available to their users and researchers. OCLC and Casalini Libri have been working together for 23 years. continued on page 6

What To Look For In This Issue: News and Announcements for the Charleston Library Conference........... 8 The Fall of the Roman Empire......... 45 The Natural Role of the Public Library in Emergency Management............... 56 Exploring Digital Librarianship and Defining Library Digital Services...... 59 Data, Privacy and the User Experience.......................................... 62 Interviews Jennifer Pesanelli.............................. 37 Jan Middendorp................................. 40 Profiles Encouraged People, Library and Company Profiles................................................ 76 Plus more............................... See inside

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Against the Grain (ISSN: 1043-2094) (USPS: 012-618), Copyright 2017 by the name Against the Grain, LLC is published six times a year in February, April, June, September, November, and December/January by Against the Grain, LLC. Business and Editorial Offices: PO Box 799, 1712 Thompson Ave., Sullivan’s Island, SC 29482. Accounting and Circulation Offices: same. Call (843-509-2848) to subscribe. Periodicals postage is paid at Charleston, SC. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Against the Grain, LLC, PO Box 799, Sullivan’s Island, SC 29482.

Editor:

Katina Strauch (College of Charleston)

Associate Editors:

Cris Ferguson (Murray State) Tom Gilson (College of Charleston) John Riley (Consultant)

Research Editors:

Judy Luther (Informed Strategies)

Assistants to the Editor:

Ileana Strauch Toni Nix (Just Right Group, LLC)

Editor At Large:

Dennis Brunning (Arizona State University)

Contributing Editors:

Glenda Alvin (Tennessee State University) Rick Anderson (University of Utah) Sever Bordeianu (U. of New Mexico) Todd Carpenter (NISO) Eleanor Cook (East Carolina University) Anne Doherty (Choice) Ruth Fischer (SCS / OCLC) Michelle Flinchbaugh (U. of MD Baltimore County) Joyce Dixon-Fyle (DePauw University) Laura Gasaway (Retired, UNC, Chapel Hill) Regina Gong (Lansing Community College) Michael Gruenberg (Gruenberg Consulting, LLC) Chuck Hamaker (UNC, Charlotte) William M. Hannay (Schiff, Hardin & Waite) Mark Herring (Winthrop University) Bob Holley (Retired, Wayne State University) Donna Jacobs (MUSC) Ramune Kubilius (Northwestern University) Myer Kutz (Myer Kutz Associates, Inc.) Tom Leonhardt Rick Lugg (SCS / OCLC) Jack Montgomery (Western Kentucky University) Bob Nardini (ProQuest) Jim O’Donnell (Arizona State University) Ann Okerson (Center for Research Libraries) Rita Ricketts (Blackwell’s) Jared Seay (College of Charleston) Lindsay Wertman (IGI Global)

ATG Proofreader:

Rebecca Saunders (College of Charleston)

Graphics:

TABLE OF CONTENTS v.30 #3 June 2018 © Katina Strauch

ISSUES, NEWS, & GOINGS ON Rumors.................................................. 1 From Your Editor................................. 6

FEATURES

Library Space in the Digital Age........ 1

by Bobby Hollandsworth — There are thousands of stories like the ones chronicled here on library space in the digital age.

Library Next....................................... 14

Transforming the Research Library for the Knowledge-Driven Age by Bruce Henson and Ameet Doshi — Georgia Tech and Emory University designed a public/private partnership to bring about the Library 2020.

Third Time’s the Charm................... 18

Finding a Permanent Home for the University of Maryland’s John & Stella Graves MakerSpace by Andy Horbal and Preston Tobery — It all started in 2014 with the acquisition of a 3D printer which was housed in a 250 square foot room. Six years later they’ve moved to 1,200 square foot for a multipurpose room.

Small Spaces, Big Impact.................. 22

Creating Places with a Purpose in Academic Libraries by Teresa Walker, Anna Sandelli and Rita Smith — Campus relationships and alliances may contribute to opportunities and favorable outcomes.

Out with the Old, in with the New.... 26

Making Space for a Digital Studio in R. M. Cooper Library by Derek Wilmott — This article revisits a 2014 large-scale discard, relocation, and shifting project in the R. M. Cooper Library at Clemson University.

Advertising information:

Book Reviews...................................... 42

Toni Nix, phone: 843-835-8604, fax: 843-835-5892 <justwrite@lowcountry.com>

Publisher:

A. Bruce Strauch

Send correspondence, press releases, etc., to: Katina Strauch, Editor, Against the Grain, LLC, Post Office Box 799, Sullivan’s Island, SC 29482. phone: 843-723-3536, cell: 843-509-2848. <kstrauch@comcast.net>

Against the Grain is indexed in Library Literature, LISA, Ingenta, and The Informed Librarian. Authors’ opinions are to be regarded as their own. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This issue was produced on an iMac using Microsoft Word, and Adobe CS6 Premium software under Mac OS X Mountain Lion. Against the Grain is copyright ©2018 by Katina Strauch

Against the Grain / June 2018

The Role of Collections in a Learning Commons............................................ 29

A Case Study of the Library at UW Tacoma by Lauren Pressley and Serin Anderson — Over the last two years, the library staff has taken on the task of broadening faculty and administrator perceptions to include a modern concept of academic libraries that has evolved to include a diversity of spaces and services.

Designing a Bright Future for Print Collections........................................... 32

by Lorrie McAllister and John Henry Adams — At the 2017 Charleston Conference, Jim O’Donnell and Lorrie McAllister from Arizona State University Library introduced the whitepaper The Future of the Academic Library Print Collection: A Space for Engagement.

Op Ed.................................................. 34

The Race to the Bottom: Short-term Bargains versus Long-term Vitality by Kent Anderson — To paraphrase Warren Buffet, price is what you pay, value is what you get. Some of us are so focused on price and this year’s budget that we lose sight of the value to science education, scholarship, etc.

Back Talk............................................ 86

Articulating a Global Vision for Libraries and Librarians by Ann Okerson — Find out about IFLA’s new upside down planning.

ATG INTERVIEWS & PROFILES Jennifer Pesanelli............................... 37

Production & Ad Sales:

Toni Nix, Just Right Group, LLC., P.O. Box 412, Cottageville, SC 29435, phone: 843-835-8604 fax: 843-835-5892 <justwrite@lowcountry.com>

Letters to the Editor............................. 6 Deadlines............................................... 6

Library Space in the Digital Age — Guest Editor: Bobby Hollandsworth

Past President of the Society for Scholarly Publishing and Deputy Executive Director for Operations at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB)

Bowles & Carver, Old English Cuts & Illustrations. Grafton, More Silhouettes. Ehmcke, Graphic Trade Symbols By German Designers. Grafton, Ready-to-Use Old-Fashioned Illustrations. The Chap Book Style.

Against The Grain

Jan Middendorp................................. 40 Author / Publisher, Druk Editions

Profiles Encouraged........................... 76 In this issue you’ll find many interesting people, company, and library profiles for your liking.

REVIEWS Monograph Musings by Regina Gong — Regina has reviews of Fundamentals of Electronic Resource Management, Marketing Services and Resources in Information Organizations, and Library Technology Companion: A Basic Guide for Library Staff.

Collecting to the Core........................ 45

The Fall of the Roman Empire by Fred W. Jenkins — Monographic works that are essential to the academic library within a particular discipline.

Booklover............................................ 46 Black and White by Donna Jacobs — A Nadine Gordimer is the subject this time.

Wryly Noted....................................... 47

Books About Books by John Riley — The Book: An Homage author Burkhard Spinnen.

Briefly Noted....................................... 68

by Bryan Dillon — Just a few of the many books that we have received for review! Keep ’em coming!

A Reference Book You May Have Missed................................................. 70

by Marjorie Hlava — Chinese Medicinal Plants, Herbal Drugs and Substitutes: An Identification Guide by Christine Leon and Lin Yu-Lin.

<http://www.against-the-grain.com>

Edited by Bruce Strauch and Jack Montgomery

Cases of Note — Copyright............... 49

Contrib Infringement – Safe Harbor by Bruce Strauch — Harlan Ellison v. Stephen Robertson and America Online Inc.

Questions and Answers...................... 50 Copyright Column by Laura N. Gasaway — Many relevant questions and answers. Did you know that in the U.S. only human authors count as authors for copyright purposes not machines or animals?

Legally Speaking................................ 51

U.S. Libraries and the GDPR by Bill Hannay — The news in the last few weeks (as well as your email inbox) seems to have been filled with references to the GDPR. Want to know why? Read it here.

PUBLISHING Bet You Missed It............................... 12

The Scholarly Publishing Scene........ 54

Little Red Herrings............................ 48

Don’s Conference Notes..................... 71

by Bruce Strauch — What do Hay-on-Wye and Mayhem have in common? Read about it here! Uncommonly Odd by Mark Y. Herring — Mark gets philosophical about his experience with faculty and IRs.

And They Were There........................ 52

Working From Home by Myer Kutz — The history and evolution of working remote. The 13th Electronic Resources & Libraries Conference (ER&L) by Donald T. Hawkins — As usual Don has provided an in-depth report of this meeting in case you missed it.

Reports of Meetings — In this issue Sever Bordeianu provides a report on LOEX 2018 by Glenn Koelling and we have a few reports from the 2017 Charleston Conference by Ramune Kubilius and her fabulous team of reporters.

BOOKSELLING AND VENDING Optimizing Library Services............. 56

The Natural Role of the Public Library in Emergency Management by Michael R. Mabe — The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has designated libraries an essential service.

Being Earnest with Collections......... 58

Collection Development from the Library Services Vendor’s Point of View by Ashley Fast Bailey — This is about moving from a large approval plan profile to demand driven acquisitions.

Biz of Digital....................................... 59

Exploring Digital Librarianship and Defining Library Digital Services by Michelle Flinchbaugh — This issue’s column goes to the literature and to practicing digital librarians to find out what digital librarians do.

Squirreling Away: Managing Information Resources & Libraries.....66 Are Bad Actors Driving Your Policies? by Corey Seeman — This one’s about rules and regulations.

TECHNOLOGY AND STANDARDS Library Analytics: Shaping the Future.................................................. 62

Data, Privacy and the User Experience by Neil Scully — How the leveraging of data without permission (Facebook and Cambridge Analytics for example) has caused major trust issues.

Epistemology...................................... 63

The Allure of the Latest Shiny Thing by T. Scott Plutchak — Scott applies his usual common sense to all the hype about cryptocurrencies, blockchain and Zuckerberg’s Facebook.

Considering Games and Gamification in Libraries & Associated Entities.... 64

How the Longing for Tabletops has Revitalized Games by Jared Alexander Seay — Are customers ready to put down their smartphones? Jared thinks it is no coincidence that board and tabletop games that involve the face to face interaction of live people are now experiencing an upsurge in popularity and a renaissance of design.

ETC. Charleston Conference 2018............... 8

Issues in Book and Serial Acquisition — Call for Papers, Ideas, Conference Themes, Panels, Debates, Diatribes, Speakers, Poster Sessions, Preconferences, etc. Our 2018 theme is included here as well.

Against the Grain / June 2018

Charleston Comings and Goings........ 8

News and Announcements for the Charleston Library Conference by Leah H. Hinds — Charleston Conference 2018. Preconferences/Seminars: Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 5-6. Vendor Showcase: Tuesday, Nov. 6. Main Conference: Wednesday-Friday, Nov. 7-9.

“Linking Publishers, Vendors and Librarians”

Uncommon ...

Against the Grain is your key to the latest news about libraries, publishers, book jobbers, and subscription agents. ATG is a unique collection of reports on the issues, literature, and people that impact the world of books, journals, and electronic information.

Unconventional ...

ATG is published six times a year, in February, April, June, September, November, and December/January. A six-issue subscription is available for only $55 U.S. ($65 Canada, $95 foreign, payable in U.S. dollars), making it an uncommonly good buy for all that it covers. Make checks payable to Against the Grain, LLC and mail to: Against the Grain c/o Katina Strauch Post Office Box 799 Sullivan’s Island, SC 29482 *Wire transfers are available, email <kstrauch@comcast.net> for details, however, credit cards are the preferred alternative to checks ($25 fee applies).

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From Your (enjoying the cool spring) Editor:

elcome to summer! We are trying to fix the outside of our house on Sullivan’s Island but the rain isn’t cooperating. Don’t get me wrong, it’s cooler than usual for this time of year so I am not complaining. And the rain gives me a chance to collect and read this marvelous issue of ATG which is guest edited by the energetic and enthusiastic Bobby Hollandsworth. The issue is about the use of library space in the digital age which we are all grappling with. Features are by Bruce Henson and Ameet Doshi (research libraries in a knowledge-driven age), Andy Horbal and Preston Tobery (locating a makerspace), Teresa Walker, Anna Sandelli, and Rita Smith (impactful small spaces), Lauren Pressley and Serin Anderson (case study of collections and learning commons), Derek Wilmott (space for a digital studio), and Lorrie McAllister and

John Henry Adams (update on the ASU call to rethink the print collections). Our OpEd is by Kent Anderson about price and value and how we may be too focused on price. Ann Okerson’s Backtalk concerns IFLA’s top down planning process and what might be happening to hierarchy. Scott Plutchak’s Epistemology is about bitcoin, Facebook and the latest shiny thing. Our interviews are with Jennifer Pesanelli and Jan Middendorp and we have many great people profiles, company profiles, and library profiles. Our book review section is developing and includes Regina’s Monograph Musings, Briefly Noted books received for review by Bryan Dillon, Donna Jacob’s Booklover, Ann Doherty’s Collecting to the Core, John Riley’s Wryly Noted, and A Reference Book You May Have Missed by Marjorie Hlava.

Letters to the Editor Send letters to <kstrauch@comcast.net>, phone or fax 843-723-3536, or snail mail: Against the Grain, Post Office Box 799, Sullivan’s Island, SC 29482. You can also send a letter to the editor from the ATG Homepage at http://www.against-the-grain.com. Dear Editor: My family (all four of us plus our two dogs) are taking a two month trip across the country with our camper. Our goal is to visit as many national parks as possible in the time that we have on the road. This is something we have always wanted to do — a real bucket list dream trip! I want everyone to know that I am traveling with my mobile office and connectivity is not always predictable, but I’m definitely working and will return emails as quickly as possible. Maddie, my daughter, is blogging the trip. Check out our itinerary at http://hindsroadtrip. wordpress.com/ and follow along! I’m also posting lots of pictures on Facebook. Leah Hinds (Executive Director, Charleston Library Conference) <leah@charlestonlibraryconference.com>

AGAINST THE GRAIN DEADLINES VOLUME 30 — 2018-2019 2018 Events

Issue

Ad Reservation Camera-Ready

Reference Publishing

September 2018

06/14/18

07/05/18

Charleston Conference

November 2018

08/16/18

09/06/18

Dec. 2018-Jan. 2019

11/08/18

11/26/18

ALA Midwinter

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT Toni Nix <justwrite@lowcountry.com>; Phone: 843-835-8604; Fax: 843-835-5892; USPS Address: P.O. Box 412, Cottageville, SC 29435; FedEx/UPS ship to: 398 Crab Apple Lane, Ridgeville, SC 29472.

Cases of Note is about contributory infringement and safe harbor, Bill Hannay tells us the latest news on the GDPR, Lolly has wonderful questions and answers and she wants us to SEND HER MORE QUESTIONS! Moving right along, Mark Herring is consumed by IRs, Myer Kutz explores working from home, Corey Seeman talks about the necessity (or not) of rules and regulations, while Michelle Flinchbaugh is exploring digital librarianship. Optimizing Library Services by Michael Mabe, Caroline Campbell and Lindsay Wertman is about public libraries and emergency management, Ashley Fast Bailey and Michael Arthur are considering moving from an approval plan to reliance on DDA. Library analytics is concerned with data privacy and single sign on in an article by Neil Scully, and Jared Seay talks about putting down cell phones for face-to-face interaction. Well I’m off to wipe up the rain that is coming in my back door. Have a great summer! See you on the Internet! Love, Yr. Ed.

Rumors from page 1 Under the new agreement, OCLC will be adding 12,000 Core Level records annually to WorldCat. In addition, 40,000 brief records, which are new title announcements, eBook records, will also be added annually. “OCLC is delighted to expand our long-standing partnership with Casalini Libri,” said Skip Prichard, OCLC President and CEO. “Casalini’s respected and experienced staff of catalogers provides OCLC with high-quality records for publications for thousands of publishers from Southern Europe. This content is valuable to researchers through our member libraries around the world.” “It is a pleasure to build upon our already well-established collaboration with OCLC, and we would like to thank Skip and all his team for their support,” said Barbara Casalini, Casalini Libri President. “We are enthusiastic about the amplification of our contribution to WorldCat, and firmly believe that, in providing catalogue records from a myriad of publishers from countries with vibrant and diverse cultural histories, we offer a unique and important service to our valued partner.” Casalini Libri is recognized as one of the leading suppliers of publications from across Southern Europe to libraries and institutions worldwide. A family-run business established in 1958, Casalini Libri currently works with over 3,000 libraries and institutions, and more than 5,500 publishers from over 40 countries. The mission of Casalini Libri is to advance the profile of European culture and scholarship across the globe, providing a first-class continued on page 23

Against the Grain / June 2018

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www.charlestonlibraryconference.com

2018 Charleston Conference — 38th Annual Issues in Book and Serial Acquisition Call For Papers, Ideas, Conference Themes, Panels, Debates, Diatribes, Speakers, Poster Sessions, Preconferences, etc. ...

2018 Theme — “Oh, Wind, if Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”

Preconferences — Monday & Tuesday, November 5-6, 2018 Vendor Showcase — Tuesday, November 6, 2018 Main Conference — Wednesday-Friday, November 7-9, 2018 Charleston Gaillard Center, Francis Marion Hotel, Courtyard Marriott Historic District, Embassy Suites Historic Downtown, Charleston, South Carolina

f you are interested in leading a discussion, acting as a moderator, coordinating a lively lunch, or would like to make sure we discuss a particular topic, please let us know. The Charleston Conference prides itself on creativity, innovation, flexibility, and informality. If there is something you are interested in doing, please try it out on us. We’ll probably love it... The Conference Directors for the 2018 Charleston Conference include — Beth Bernhardt, Principal Director (UNC-Greensboro) <beth_bernhardt@uncg.edu>, Glenda Alvin (Tennessee State University) <galvin@Tnstate.edu>, Adam Chesler (AIP) <adam.chesler@cox.net>, Cris Ferguson (Murray State University) <cferguson13@murraystate.edu>, Rachel Fleming (University of Tennessee at Chatanooga) <rachel-fleming@utc.edu>, Joyce Dixon-Fyle (DePauw University Libraries) <joyfyle@depauw.edu>, Erin Gallagher (Reed College) <gallaghere@reed.edu>, Tom Gilson (Against the Grain) <gilsont@cofc.edu>, Chuck Hamaker (UNC-Charlotte) <cahamake@email.uncc.edu>, Bobby Hollandsworth (Clemson University) <hollan4@clemson.edu>, Tony Horava (University of Ottawa) <thorava@uottawa.ca>, Albert Joy (Retired) <albert.joy@uvm.edu>, Ramune Kubilius (Northwestern Health Sciences Library) <r-kubilius@northwestern.edu>, Erin Luckett (Readex) <eluckett@newsbank.com>, Jack Montgomery (Western Kentucky University) <jack.montgomery@wku.edu>, David Myers (DMedia Associates) <dave@dmediaassoc.com>, Ann Okerson (Center for Research Libraries) <aokerson@gmail.com>, Audrey Powers (UFS Tampa Library) <apowers@lib.usf.edu>, Heather Staines (Hypothes.is) <heather.staines@gmail.com>, Anthony Watkinson (Consultant) <anthony.watkinson@btinternet.com>, Meg White (Rittenhouse) <meg.white@rittenhouse.com>, Katina Strauch (College of Charleston) <kstrauch@comcast.net>, or www.charlestonlibraryconference.com. Send ideas by July 13, 2018 to any of the Conference Directors listed above. The Call for Papers form will open on April 16, 2018 at http://www.charlestonlibraryconference.com/participate/call-for-papers/. Or send ideas to: Katina Strauch, P.O. Box 799, Sullivan’s Island, SC 29482 • 843-509-2848 (cell) <kstrauch@comcast.net> • www.charlestonlibraryconference.com

Charleston Comings and Goings: News and Announcements for the Charleston Library Conference by Leah Hinds (Executive Director, Charleston Conference) <leah@charlestonlibraryconference.com> Preconferences

We h a v e a n a m a z i n g l i n e u p o f preconference and seminars this year, and the schedule is posted at http://www. charlestonlibraryconference.com/ preconferences. Topics range from our very popular Acquisitions Bootcamp s e m i n a r, h o s t e d alongside UNC Chapel Hill SILS, to Library-Vendor Relationships, User Experience, Electronic Resource Management, Open Educational Resources, and more. We’re very excited about the offerings this year and think they will provide a great opportunity for indepth learning and practical applications. Registration for the preconference workshops and seminars is available on our main conference registration page.

Against the Grain / June 2018

Registration Now Open

Speaking of the registration page, conference registration is now open! Take advantage of our early bird rates by registering before Friday, September 14 by clicking the link on our homepage at http://www. charlestonlibraryconference.com. With your full conference registration, you will receive the following: • Access to visit the Vendor Showcase on Tuesday from 10:30 AM to 6:00 PM. Plan to meet with reps from over 140 different publishers and vendors. • Access to all plenary and concurrent sessions on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.

• Annual Conference Reception at the SC Aquarium on Wednesday from 7:00-9:00 PM. • Networking opportunities throughout the Conference, plus a Happy Hour Mixer and Speed Networking session during the Poster Sessions on Wednesday from 6:00-6:45 pm. • Complimentary shuttle service from all conference hotels to our headquarters at the Francis Marion Hotel. • Complimentary one-year subscription to Against the Grain, the premier journal linking publishers, vendors, and librarians. Need more reasons to attend, or help in justifying your attendance? We’ve put together a one-page PDF on Making the Case to Attend at http://d24kppgtqphybz.cloudfront. continued on page 10

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Library Space in the Digital Age from page 1 the past fifteen to twenty years. Over this time libraries have been renovating, repurposing, and redesigning the old book repository look and feel of the physical buildings. Do you remember when this happened at your library? You or someone you work with perhaps helped put in a coffee shop, built an information/learning commons, established a storage facility, moved the physical reference collection to the stacks, moved books from the stacks to the storage facility, built a writing center, got rid of your reference desk, allowed food and drink, built a smart classroom, brought GIS in, created a multimedia studio, put in a makerspace. I could go on and on, or just say academic libraries have changed drastically. These changes have led to new initiatives and engagement with campus and private partners that have opened the gates to transforming libraries from book repositories into exciting places where students want to gather, collaborate, learn, and get energized. Academic libraries are currently involved in projects that will facilitate the changing landscape of the physical space of libraries by keeping in mind the trends we’ve seen over the years. These projects address the need for more space for people while keeping and adding resources that are essential to making the library a sought-after destination. As a librarian it’s never easy to weed your collection. It’s contrary to the old library as

10 Against the Grain / June 2018

book repository model that was the norm for centuries. For many academic libraries the “just in case” version of collection management no longer makes sense as visitor counts have soared and space has become scarce. Ameet Doshi and Bruce Henson explain how the Georgia Institute of Technology Library moved 97% of their collection to a joint offsite storage facility with Emory University, and their plans for the newly repurposed space. Sometimes the opportunity to create a new space in a particular place presents itself unexpectedly, and even though it’s not the best location, it’s wise to seize the moment. This gives you the chance to prove how vital the new space and the services it provides can be to the library and possibly the university. For Andy Horbal and Preston Tobery it took three different locations at the University of Maryland’s main library to find the ideal spot for the John and Stella Graves MakerSpace. Proving their worth right out of the gate eventually led to the largest and most beneficial location for the new makerspace. Big show-stopping renovations are always going to turn heads and be featured in the American Libraries Design Showcase issue, but budgets, time, and large spaces may not be available for such projects. Oftentimes a smaller purpose-driven space renovation project can be just as impactful and important as a larger one. Teresa Walker, Anna Sandelli, and Rita Smith report on the big impact that small space renovation projects have had on the library and students at the University of Tennessee. continued on page 12

Charleston Comings and Goings ... from page 8 net/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/The-Charleston-Conference_Making-the-case_Final.pdf.

Fast Pitch

The Charleston Fast Pitch Competition is your chance to “pitch” your idea for innovation or improvement to the Charleston Conference audience and a panel of judges for a chance to win one of two $2,500 prizes! To encourage international participation, we’re also expanding the competition to provide a travel stipend for a qualified international applicant to attend the 2018 Conference in addition to the two domestic prizes. The call for participation is open to all who are in the process of developing new, innovative, and implementable ideas to improve their academic libraries or related organizations. The intent of the competition is to showcase innovation in library information management and to award the most deserving examples of innovation. For more information or to apply, visit http://www.charlestonlibraryconference. com/fastpitch.

ATG Trendspotting

Last year, a small working group met prior to the main conference to discuss future trends and issues affecting the library and information industry. This year, we’re expanding to solicit input from the wider community on trends and issues that you feel will be shaping our industry in the next five years. We’re calling the project ATG Trendspotting, and the goal is to have a community-engaged process for cooperatively and collaboratively exploring social, policy, economic, technology, and educational trends and forecasting the impacts scholarly communication/publishing and academic/research libraries. Keep an eye out for more information coming soon! We’d love to hear from you.

Room Scheduling

The Conference Directors are trying something different this year for room scheduling for the Concurrent Sessions and Lively Discussions. In the past, we’ve had complaints about the room assignments — sometimes very popular sessions end up in smaller rooms without adequate seating. We’re going to wait until closer to the time of the conference to assign meeting rooms, allowing time for attendees to build their personal agendas using the Sched. com platform. Once we have an idea of attendance, then we’ll make room assignments based on that data. All that to say, PLEASE log in and create a personal agenda once the schedule is posted! We need your input in order to make room assignments that will fit demand. We will be sending out a link to the schedule along with instructions for creating your free account with Sched.com in late August. Stay tuned for more information on the conference website at www.charlestonlibraryconference.com, or join our email list at http://bit. ly/chs-email-list to receive periodic updates.

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Bet You Missed It Press Clippings — In the News — Carefully Selected by Your Crack Staff of News Sleuths Column Editor: Bruce Strauch (The Citadel, Emeritus) <bruce.strauch@gmail.com> Editor’s Note: Hey, are y’all reading this? If you know of an article that should be called to Against the Grain’s attention ... send an email to <kstrauch@comcast.net>. We’re listening! — KS

THAT BOOK FAIR YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO SEE by Bruce Strauch (The Citadel, Emeritus)

No one can quite define the “Welsh Marches.” They’re a border area between English and Wales. But the river Wye is definitely one of the boundaries. And Hay-on-Wye hosts the famous Hay Festival (May 24-June 3 this year). Everything you want in a book fair: author lectures, secondhand books at the Hay Cinema Bookshop and Richard Booth’s, walks to working farms, Medieval artwork. And you can eat lobster and chips at the Lobster Shack. Woo! See — Alexandra Henton, “Making for Hay,” The Field, May, 2018, p.86.

LET’S READ CAMBRIDGE SPIES by Bruce Strauch (The Citadel, Emeritus)

Geoffrey Hoare, The Missing Macleans (1955) (Hoare was a neighbor to the Macleans in Cairo. Maclean drank his way to a nervous breakdown, wrecked the American ambassador’s secretary’s office, was sent home for his health.); (2) Rebecca West, The New Meaning of Treason (1964) (West excoriates the establishment for not finding the spies.); (3) Tim Milne, Kim Philby (2014) (Milne was Philby’s best friend from age 13, worked with him at MI6. A true insider account.); (4) Andrew Lownie, Stalin’s Englishman (2015); John Banville, The Untouchable (1997) (novel about Fourth Man Anthony Blunt, curator of the Queen’s pictures). See — Roland Philipps, “Five Best,” The Wall Street Journal, May 12-13, 2018, p.C10. Philipps is the author of “A Spy Named Orphan: The Enigma of Donald Maclean.”

Library Space in the Digital Age from page 10 Renovating and repurposing space involves numerous moving parts and multiple stakeholders. In an HGTV influenced world where the before and after pictures take on more importance than the actual work that leads to the big reveal, it’s easy to forget the planning and hard labor that facilitate the new beautiful, shiny space. Derek Wilmott details the process of clearing the stacks of monographs and bound journals at Clemson University to make room for the Adobe Digital Studio, a multimedia creative space. The goal of library space renovation over the years has been to raise the profile of the library by providing new learning spaces and technology. Many times, this includes working with campus partners to ensure

12 Against the Grain / June 2018

LITERARY PROPERTIES FOR SALE by Bruce Strauch (The Citadel, Emeritus)

Who could resist? Virginia Wolf’s Hogarth House in leafy Richmond-on-Thames, a 1750 villa divided into two residences. Husband moved her there due to her fragile mental health and suggested they begin the Hogarth Press. It started on the dining room table with a hand-operated printing press. Published The Waste Land. Survives as an imprint of Random House. The Wolfs owned it from 1917 to 1924 when they moved to Sussex and Virginia began her affair with Vita Sackville-West. It was during the love affair that she was the most prolific — Mrs. Dalloway (1925); To the Lighthouse (1927); Orlando (1928). And then she put stones in her pockets and walked into water. Each of the two units of Hogarth are offered at $4.62 million. AND in the same WSJ Mansion section, George Plimpton’s duplex, East 72nd, overlooking the East River is for sale at $5.495 million. George of course is Paris Review and Paper Lion et al. 19th century, five stories, black with red doors. 4,700 square-feet. And, I note from the photos, there are Audubon bird prints on the wall. George was a WASP old-money birder. See — Ruth Bloomfield, “For Sale: Rooms That Wolf Once Owned,” and Katherine Clark, “George Plimpton’s New York Duplex Up for Sale,” The Wall Street Journal, April 20, 2018, pp. M2 and M3.

students get the best services, expertise, and meaningful learning spaces. Lauren Pressley and Serin Anderson present three case studies that identify the complexities of two buildings and two separate campus departments in relation to the physical collection and a learning commons at the University of Washington Tacoma. Although similar in nature, one of the things I appreciate the most about libraries is their uniqueness. This uniqueness can take many forms; collections, space, furniture, layout, purpose, staff, etc. Lorrie McAllister and John Henry Adams share their perspective on the rare opportunity they have at Arizona State University to clear out the largest library on campus and create unique spaces to accentuate their print collections. They also hope to involve students and the community in the development of print collection displays, curation, and exhibitions.

It’s important to remember there are thousands of stories like the ones chronicled here in this special issue on library space in the digital age that show the resourcefulness and adaptability of librarians and libraries to make an impact on the learning of the people they serve. The stories you are about to read are innovative, thought provoking, and inspiring. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have. I would like to thank all of the wonderful authors for sharing their stories, and the hard work they do every day to improve their libraries. I would also like to thank Katina Strauch for giving me the opportunity to guest edit this issue. Years ago I got my first chance to present at a national conference and lucky for me it was the Charleston Conference. I would like to thank Katina for giving me that break back in 2009 and always standing up for the quiet ones who have something to say.

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Library Next: Transforming the Research Library for the Knowledge-Driven Age by Bruce Henson (Associate Dean for Research & Learning, Georgia Institute of Technology Library) <bruce.henson@library.gatech.edu> and Ameet Doshi (Director, Innovation and Program Design, Georgia Institute of Technology Library) <ameet.doshi@library.gatech.edu> Introduction

In 2011, in order to achieve a renovation of the two library buildings, that, despite three floors that had been renovated in the previous decade, were steadily decaying and had life-safety issues, the Dean of the Libraries began an internal library conversation about reconfiguring the buildings for productive and sustainable future use. This “Library 2020” plan called for an increase in user space from 29 to 49%, a reduction in collections space from 46 to 24%, and about 50% of the collection to be relocated off-campus. Library 2020 was presented to the Provost in 2012 and was a starting point for library tours and conversations with Georgia Tech administrators about the future of the library. Also in 2011, conversations about possible collaborations began among the leadership of Emory University and Georgia Tech Libraries, which in 2013 resulted in a partnership to build an off-site, high density, climate controlled storage facility for Library collections. The joint “Library Service Center” opened in 2015 and the Georgia Tech Library moved 97% of its collection there, a significantly larger percentage than originally anticipated by the Library 2020 plan. A key short-run objective of this public-private partnership between Georgia Tech and Emory University is to allow both campuses to quickly and efficiently share print collections. An eventual objective is to share electronic resources, although this long-run goal remains challenging given the nuances of contracting and resource management (Decker & Henson 2016). In 2013, the Institute contracted brightspot strategy consulting to work with the campus and Library to understand the current

learning, teaching, and research experience. The Library’s partnership with brightspot enabled the transformative work of reimagining services and spaces to meet future user needs by providing Library faculty and staff with the requisite tools, training and expertise. brightspot introduced the Library to “lead user theory” and research and provided instruction on identifying opportunities for new services and spaces and how to implement them. brightspot also worked with the architectural design firm (BNIM and Praxis3 architects) to translate lead user ideas and concepts for the building design.

User Research and Program Design

After decades of advocacy by students, staff, and faculty, and years of planning and design work, the new Georgia Tech Library is under construction and is anticipated to be completed in 2020. These kinds of projects happen only once in a lifetime. So, how did we get here? One of the interesting challenges from a funding perspective was cogently and succinctly explaining to stakeholders how the proposed spaces align with future user needs. How can we reasonably design spaces that will not be occupied for 3-5 years into the future? Simultaneously, the equally important question emerged, perhaps more philosophical: why call it a “library” if there are no books in it? The program design of the new library was inspired by the “Lead User Theory” of Eric von Hippel, an MIT economist who researches the practice of innovation (von Hippel 1986). Our approach involved identifying and leveraging creative insights via semi-structured in-person interviews with approximately 30 of

Georgia Tech Price Gilbert Library, view from North 14 Against the Grain / June 2018

(Rendering by BNIM)

Georgia Tech’s “lead users” — those students and faculty who are on the frontier of their respective disciplines. By better understanding how Georgia Tech’s top scholars and researchers deal with “pain points” throughout the research process, we were able to gain insight into how the library of the future might serve a much larger community. The foundational idea behind the theory is that top scholars find a way to work around systems that introduce constraints and barriers to their productivity. By understanding what they do to work around such constraints, coupled with the fact that these scholars are ahead of the innovation curve (Rogers 2010), we can design a facility program and library services that are forward-thinking and aligned with where the rest of the distribution of campus scholars are heading. A natural concern is how to deal with potential risks of just focusing on lead users. Our methodology mitigated this risk by also interviewing the executive leadership of the campus to understand high-level strategic goals, as well as continually scanning the environment for relevant data and trends. This strategic effort led to the following design directions that informed and helped to calibrate the lead user interviews: 1. Positioning the library as both digital and physical, integrating complementary virtual services as good as, or better than, the in-person experience. 2. Connecting users to the universe of information, not just Georgia Tech. 3. Creating a more porous library, with more ways in and out of the spaces. 4. Special focus on developing spaces and services for graduate students and faculty that builds upon a long history of robust spaces and services for undergraduates. 5. Earlier and longer involvement in the research process, with broader array of expertise. 6. Increasing awareness of services and showcasing work (“making the invisible, visible”). 7. “Long Life, Loose Fit”: A building infrastructure that is sustainable for the long-term, and an architectural program design for interior spaces that can morph as user needs evolve. Given these strategic design directions co-developed by library leadership, user groups, executive leadership, and the archicontinued on page 16

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Library Next: Transforming ... from page 14 tectural design team, we were positioned well to begin the process for designing spaces and services. The process used at the Georgia Tech Library consisted of the following steps: 1. Identify lead users. 2. Engage them through interviews, workshops and shadowing. 3. Identify their pain points, workarounds and “personal innovations.” 4. Compare their behaviors to environmental trends and other users. 5. Co-design spaces and services based on lead user workarounds and innovations to predict evolving research, teaching and learning behavior. Identifying lead users can be challenging since there is no single characteristic that librarians can (or should) use to determine who falls into this category. A variety of characteristics should be applied including: recommendations from school chairs, productivity as measured by citation and other research-related bibliometrics (faculty), teaching awards, subject expertise, and service on advisory boards. At Georgia Tech Library, the undergraduate, graduate, and faculty advisory board members have had a significant hand in designing the library’s new spaces and services. As passionate library users and productive scholars these advisory board members fall into the category of lead users. One of the key insights that emerged as we identified lead users for the advisory boards was that representativeness may not be necessary to create a forward-thinking and appropriate program for the entire campus. This may seem counterintuitive and even counter to existing practice. However, our contention is that the zeal for statistical representativeness has, in some instances, watered-down the innovative possibilities of cultivating an engaged advisory board focused on the future rather than on the past and present. In addition to lead user contributions, some innovations emerged from an intentional environmental scanning effort. A good example

Georgia Tech Library Tower 16 Against the Grain / June 2018

of such environmental “trendspotting” is represented by the ALA Center for the Future of Libraries. This relatively new organization is tasked with identifying societal trends that will affect all aspects of life, including libraries. Such environmental scanning is a critically important part of a valid research design and can also uncover new opportunities and innovations to supplement lead user ideas. The lead user approach, coupled with our related analyses and engagement (data trends, environmental scans, workshops, executive leadership guidance), led to the following program and service concepts: The Library Store: a new way of providing proactive knowledge services to users. The service model is inspired by leading-edge retail environments, as well as engagement that happens in world-class interactive museums. Scholars Event Network: scholarly event infrastructure that includes high-quality audio and video editing to broadcast transdisciplinary scholarship beyond borders. Data Visualization Lab and Media Scholarship Commons: making accessible high-performance computing tools, as well as expertise, to help students and faculty integrate data visualization and multimedia into their research, teaching and learning endeavors. retroTECH: this space and service is co-located with the Data Visualization Lab and allows the Georgia Tech community to “hack the past and design the future.” Innovation and Ideation Studio: inspired by the activities that happen in architectural and engineering design studios, this is a space, service and culture available for all of campus that promotes “messy making” and collaboration. The goal is to provide the space, the tools and the atmosphere for successful teamwork to happen. Graduate Student Community: a space and community cultivated by the library, as well as with campus partners,

(Rendering by BNIM)

to provide graduate students the room to grow intellectually and connect with each other across disciplines. Faculty Research Zone: a quiet respite from the sometimes frenzied departmental atmosphere to support focused faculty research and teaching efforts. These could include, for example, book projects or other long-term research endeavors requiring regular access to library expertise and resources. Teaching Studio: an innovative partnership between Georgia Tech’s Center for Teaching and Learning, the Office of Information and Technology, and the library, to provide space, training and technology for faculty to “flip” their classrooms and engage in new forms of pedagogy. Science Fiction Lounge: a space and community that aims to link the library’s robust science fiction collection with the research and innovation products of Georgia Tech faculty and students. Also reflected in the final architectural program are large portions of the building dedicated to quiet, individual study, as well as spaces to showcase interactive art and media, as these were “core” themes reflected in the data.

Implementation of “Library Next”

Given the complexity and novelty of the aforementioned Library Next programs and services, the library adopted a portfolio and project management approach that pervades all aspects of the design and implementation. This formalized project management required significant investment in training and organizational change management. In order to “skill up” the organization quickly, we leveraged the Georgia Tech Strategic Consulting group to support and co-lead the project management effort. This work is ongoing and, to date, a majority of the organization either leads projects and programs as managers, or serves as members of project teams. The ultimate goal is to have 100% of the organization actively engaged as part of the portfolio management structure.

“Library” as Sign and Signifier

A lingering challenge from the early design phase to the present has been to clearly and appropriately define the word “library” for stakeholders. When faced with a novel question or challenge, the culture within our library encourages taking a reflective approach in order to allow the requisite space and time for knowledge to coalesce and wisdom to emerge. With respect to the word “library,” a small group of librarians developed an influential white paper that characterized the new Georgia Tech Library as an evolutionary step for Georgia Tech’s campus and the institution of research libraries. The authors write: “[j]ust as the term ‘theater’ once signified a space where Greek drama was performed and now connotes a space where digital images are projected, the activity within a library space may change, but the label and the place retain their informative, symbolic power” (Bennett, Hagenmaier, Rascoe, and Rolando 2014). Although “signs” may continued on page 18

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Library Next: Transforming ... from page 16 change to “information center,” “commons,” or other approximations, the signifier of the word “library” transcends time and context (Radford & Radford 2005). Given this semantic claim, the authors of this white paper make the case that “[t]he reimagined and renewed Georgia Tech Library will continue to be the important hub for campus knowledge creation, collaboration, and scholarship that it has always been. Every great academic institution relies on the spaces, services, staff, and symbolic value of the ‘library’ to serve that purpose, regardless of the form its library may take” (Bennett, Hagenmaier, Rascoe, and Rolando 2014). As a result, the new facility will indeed be called a library, which stands as a rather important signifier, given the fundamental change in programmatic focus of the building.

Conclusion

As many campus libraries face the design challenge of renovating mid-century buildings that are reaching the end of their useful lives, our hope is that the Georgia Tech Library Next project stands as an emblem of positive change towards a “knowledge-driven” university (Youtie & Shapira 2008). Furthermore, by fully embracing the term “library” we aim to transcend and liberate ourselves from the narrow definition of a “space for books” towards an active agora that embraces a plurality of voices and transdisciplinary knowledge sharing. An enduring place where the human spirit, material experiences and the digital zeitgeist coexist in mutual beneficence.

Georgia Tech Library Tower, Grove-level Reading Room (Rendering by BNIM) References Bennett, C., Hagenmaier, W., Rolando, L., Rascoe, F. (2014). Reimagining the Georgia Tech Library. Georgia Institute of Technology Library. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/51712 Decker, E.N., & Henson, W.B. (2016). The Library Store: A new place and space within the Georgia Tech Library. In S. Hines (Ed.), Future of library space (Advances in Library Administration and Organization 2016). (pp.) Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing, Ltd., 295. Radford, G. P., & Radford, M. L. (2005). Structuralism, post-structuralism, and the library: de Saussure and Foucault. Journal of Documentation, 61(1), 60-78.

Rogers, E. M. (2010). Diffusion of innovations. New York: Simon and Schuster. Von Hippel, E. (1986). Lead users: a source of novel product concepts. Management science, 32(7), 791-805. Youtie, J., & Shapira, P. (2008). Building an innovation hub: A case study of the transformation of university roles in regional technological and economic development. Research policy, 37(8), 1188-1204.

Third Time’s the Charm: Finding a Permanent Home for the University of Maryland’s John & Stella Graves MakerSpace by Andy Horbal (Head of Learning Commons, University of Maryland) <ahorbal@umd.edu> and Preston Tobery (Coordinator of Maker Technologies, University of Maryland) <ptobery@umd.edu> Origins Our journey started with the acquisition of a single MakerBot Replicator 2 3D printer early in the 2014 spring semester. This purchase was part of a plan to create a 3D printing request service in the Terrapin Learning Commons (TLC), an extremely popular, undergraduate-oriented service point located in the University of Maryland’s main library which offers group study spaces, specialized printing services, and an equipment loan program. Preston, who was a member of the Libraries IT department at the time, was charged with learning everything he could about the printer.

18 Against the Grain / June 2018

The 3D printing request service was extremely popular with students right from the start. Initially, the overwhelming majority of requests we received were for novelty items and souvenirs such as shot glasses, but we soon started to see a rise in requests for more practical items such as smartphone cases and prints related to student projects. The first large-scale project we assisted with was student printing boxes to hold sensitive electronics for atmospheric data collection using a weather balloon. By late March, the success of the new service had led to an invitation to provide a 3D printing demonstration for the university’s biggest donors at Maryland Day, an annual university-wide open house that offers a great

opportunity for marketing and outreach. Two of the attendees, John and Stella Graves, were so impressed that they decided to make a one-time donation of $30,000 to kick-start the launch of a dedicated space for maker technologies in the Libraries. The money was used to repurpose a small (approximately 250 square feet) group study room in the TLC and fill it out with additional 3D printers and other maker equipment such as a vinyl cutter, an Arduino kit, small soldering learning kits, and a 3D scanner. Following a grand opening ceremony, the John and Stella Graves MakerSpace (as we decided to call it) continued on page 20

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Third Time’s the Charm ... from page 18 was formally opened in September 2014. (See Grand Opening photo.)

First Try

From the very beginning, our vision for the MakerSpace placed an emphasis on teaching and learning, in part to differentiate ourselves from other makerspaces on campus such as the School of Engineering’s Terrapin Works, which included many more and higher-end 3D printers than we could afford on our limited budget. In the first iteration of the MakerSpace, library patrons used Springshare’s LibCal system to reserve time for a one-on-one training session on the equipment in the MakerSpace with Preston, after which they could use it on their own. This became very popular very quickly with library patrons, which led to a problem: because Preston still had a full IT workload, he was unable to devote enough time to the MakerSpace to keep up with demand. This situation was helped somewhat by Andy’s promotion to Head of Learning Commons, a position which included oversight of the MakerSpace, in 2015. Issues related to understaffing persisted, though, such as how to increase the number of hours that the space was available to train users without resorting to simply leaving it unlocked, which exposed expensive equipment to the risk of damage and untrained library users to the risk of injury. The other major flaw with the MakerSpace’s first iteration was its small size. With only about 250 square feet to work with, it was hard to accommodate both the equipment and multiple patrons at the same time. Overcoming these challenges was placed on hold in June 2015 (a mere nine months after our grand opening) when we were abruptly forced to temporarily move all of the equipment into a new room down the hall following several flooding events which occurred during the same two-week period, a decision we later made permanent.

TLC Floor Plan Showing all three MakerSpace Locations

patrons were also able to observe classes, trainings, and other events in progress, which made it obvious to them that something special was going on inside. We started to see a major rise in interest right away. Unfortunately, this room did not have any HVAC ventilation, so it became uncomfortably hot when the 3D printers were running or when the MakerSpace was full of library patrons. Although we were using only PLA (polylactic acid) filament, which is considered a safe material, at the time, we feared that a lack of adequate ventilation for fumes coming from the printers was a cause for concern. We asked campus for help installing vents in the Second Try space, however the logistics of the existing The best thing about our new space was HVAC situation proved to be more challengits increased visibility. It was situated in an ing than we anticipated. Another problem interior corner and featured wall to wall win- was that the new space was no bigger than dows, which made it easier for passers-by to the previous one. In addition to limiting the see the equipment in the MakerSpace. Library number of people we could work with at one time (which regularly forced us to split classes into multiple groups), we were unable to feature new equipment we were experimenting with, like an Oculus Rift virtual reality headset we had recently purchased. Less-frequently used items like our vinyl cutter and small electronics kits also had to be placed in storage, Grand Opening of the John & Stella Graves MakerSpace which decreased the

20 Against the Grain / June 2018

demand for them even further. Unfortunately, as a result of all this we increasingly became known to our patrons as a 3D-printing lab, as opposed to a more multifaceted makerspace. Finally, although Preston’s job description was officially modified in 2016 to specify that he would be spending half of his time in the MakerSpace, we continued to struggle with how to increase the number of hours that the space was open.

Third Time’s the Charm

In June 2016 we learned that the departure of the dean of the graduate school meant that a larger (1,200 square feet) room in the TLC was potentially available. The outgoing dean had made an informal agreement with the previous dean of the Libraries to use this space for a Graduate Student Multipurpose Room, more popularly known as the graduate student lounge, but now that neither of those individuals were still at the University of Maryland, there was no barrier to relocating it elsewhere in the library. After identifying a new home for the graduate student lounge on another floor, we moved into the room ourselves in January 2017 prior to the start of the spring semester. (See TLC Floor Plan which shows all three MakerSpace locations.) The primary appeal of the new room was its size and preexisting swipe-card access system, which enabled us to make progress toward fulfilling our longstanding goals to be able to accommodate more library users at one time, feature more different types of maker equipment, and increase the number of hours that trained users could get into the continued on page 21

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Third Time’s the Charm ... from page 20 MakerSpace. The additional floor space also enabled us to create a more accessible service point by spreading equipment out to reduce overcrowding and installing adjustable-height tables which did not fit in our previous locations. Finally, we quickly discovered that our new location was the most visible one yet when our walk-in traffic dramatically increased overnight.

MakerSpace in Use Against the Grain / June 2018

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We completed the move itself in just one day with no special resources. The process of renovating a different room to serve as the new graduate student lounge took longer (about three months from start to finish) and cost approximately $30,000, which was split between the Libraries and campus. We took advantage of the occasion of the move to request additional furniture and improvement through a variety of means, including the Libraries’ student technology fee and the FY18 budget process. Although we did get everything we asked for, some things took longer than others to arrive: items included in our budget requests, for instance, could not be purchased until after the start of the new fiscal year in July. Ultimately, in addition to the adjustable-height tables referenced above, we asked for four clear storage lockers for library user projects, two display cases, one cork bulletin board, one whiteboard, two lockable metal storage lockers for filament and other raw materials, four touch-screen computer monitors with

large-key keyboards and styluses as additional accessibility measures, and a security camera. The total cost of all of these requests was approximately $11,000. Finally, as an extension of the move, we rearranged a number of other staff and student services spaces in the TLC. The Undergraduate Writing Center moved their office across the hall into the room vacated by the MakerSpace, and we moved a TLC staff member into their old room. We then converted that space, which was immediately adjacent to the new MakerSpace and connected to it by a door, into an office for MakerSpace staff. There are a number of reasons why we feel like we’ve finally succeeded in finding a permanent home for the MakerSpace. First, the larger space has enabled us to tackle the most ambitious event and instruction load in our brief history: in the month of October, 2017 alone we provided 17 instruction sessions tailored to individual classes, additional drop-in sessions for students in those classes who weren’t able to attend, and three “Workshop Wednesday” sessions open to the general public. We estimate that together these events were attended by nearly 500 professors and students. We also had a record 450 people visit the MakerSpace during the three hours we were open for Maryland Day. It’s hard continued on page 23

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Small Spaces, Big Impact: Creating Places with a Purpose in Academic Libraries by Teresa Walker (Associate Dean for Learning, Research, and Engagement, University of Tennessee Libraries) <tbwalker@UT.edu> and Anna Sandelli (Student Success Librarian for User Experience and Instructional Assessment, University of Tennessee Libraries) <asandell@UT.edu> and Rita Smith (Executive Associate Dean, University of Tennessee Libraries) <rsmith19@UT.edu>

any libraries, particularly academic libraries, find themselves in an almost constant cycle of renovation. Repurposing spaces to serve new functions and support new modes of teaching and learning have become mainstays of libraries’ strategic planning processes. In a 2016 study of academic leaders’ thoughts on strategic planning, 43% reported new library spaces, renovation, and building projects as major themes.1 Often, these efforts support larger institutional goals focusing on student and faculty success. 2 Such efforts generally require months if not years of planning, gathering user input, and construction. Between renovations, however, other opportunities can arise to contribute to a campus community through inspiring and inventive spaces. Students may communicate space needs that are not expressly tied to academics. Emerging trends at both the discipline and university levels may demonstrate a growing need that libraries are uniquely equipped to address. Increases in demand for certain kinds of spaces may drive need. During the gaps between major space projects exist opportunities to create small spaces that can have a big, and in some cases, immediate impact. This article highlights a variety of projects at the University of Tennessee (UT) Libraries that have answered an expressed student need, met increasing demand, served as a campus test bed, or experimented with innovation. Several factors may contribute to a library’s success in developing small spaces. For the UT Libraries, creating and maintaining an ongoing facilities grid contributes to our decision-making in determining readiness for smaller projects. The grid denotes major project stages, small-scale projects, and ongoing maintenance. The grid supports the ability to gauge available funds, personnel, competing initiatives, and even the availability of space, particularly if certain workspaces or services are displaced for other projects. The UT Libraries maintains a facilities grid with a stated vision of “providing inspiring and useful spaces for innovation, scholarship, and learning.” Major project stages are divided into Vision It, Plan It, Fund It, and Do it, with project ideas and plans listed in each section. Small-scale projects are listed in their own sections and generally conform to a 1-2 year timeframe. Major infrastructure maintenance is listed, but on a variable timeframe set by the university. Having at-a-glance access to this information allows a more agile response to unexpected requests and emerging opportunities.

22 Against the Grain / June 2018

being used and moved throughout the area, Emerging Campus Priorities Campus relationships and alliances may adding another layer of input. After a time, also contribute to opportunities and favorable the Classroom Upgrade Committee was able to outcomes in creating impactful small spac- observe durability. Through testing a variety of classroom chairs for size, es. Being viewed as a accessibility, and durabilstudent-centered space ity in a high-use library or activity hub may inenvironment, the campus crease the opportunity for was able to choose a chair creating new spaces and to outfit classrooms across influence the amount and campus and support a type of usage in the envimore active learning environment. In many cases, ronment. (See Figure 1.) these partnerships can tie The initial classroom library efforts directly furniture testing resulted to curricular and student in a partnership between success initiatives. One the Libraries, the Classsuch project at the UT room Upgrade CommitLibraries started with tee, and the University’s library representation on Teaching and Learning a campus Classroom UpCenter to create a test grade Committee. The reclassroom in the Librarlationships developed by ies for instructors across serving on this particular Figure 1: Splash Page From disciplines to learn how committee have allowed Test Chair Survey to use pedagogies making the Libraries to offer their learning commons as a furniture test bed for the best use of mobile furniture. The space new campus construction and renovation also provided a place to practice and teach projects. In one particular case, the Libraries’ using these pedagogies before these types of learning commons hosted a variety of mobile classrooms were widely available. An unexclassroom desks to support groupwork in pected benefit of this role was the development classrooms. The chairs were first presented in a staffed, high-traffic area in front of the research assistance area. The chairs had stickers with QR codes linking to short surveys in which students, staff, and faculty provided feedback. Next, the chairs made an appearance at the Libraries’ Dean’s Student Advisory Committee meeting, in which the Chair of the Classroom Upgrade Committee solicited feedback from undergraduate and graduate student representatives from across disciplines. The conversation provided additional input, while enabling students to gain firsthand expeFigure 2: Node Chairs Tested in Learning Commons rience of the Libraries’ and Later Used in Test Classroom involvement in campus conversations. Finally, the chairs were placed of relationships with furniture vendors, which throughout the learning commons. Libraries’ allowed the Libraries to provide product feedstaff were able to observe how chairs were continued on page 24

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Third Time’s the Charm ... from page 21 to imagine wanting to expand beyond these numbers in the foreseeable future, so the MakerSpace is likely big enough to meet all our immediate needs in this area. (See MakerSpace in Use photo.) Additionally, we now have enough room to experiment with different configurations of furniture without needing to discard or move anything to storage, allowing us to evolve based on the interests of our patrons in a way we couldn’t before. We have steadily increased the amount of space devoted to augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR), for instance, without any corresponding decrease in our 3D printing capacity. Finally, as an unexpected but pleasant surprise, all of these changes made the MakerSpace attractive to the library’s Social Media Managers and other groups as a regular meeting space, giving us an easy way to keep our colleagues informed about what we’re up to, including those most responsible for spreading the word to the rest of our community.

them later; a wall-mounted TV in the hallway outside of the MakerSpace where we can display our hours of operation, pictures of projects completed in the MakerSpace, and information about upcoming events; and green accent walls. We also installed a capsule vending machine containing small 3D prints created in the MakerSpace and an interactive display case in the main lobby of the library as marketing initiatives. More importantly, as predicted by the psychologist Abraham Maslow,1 we’ve discovered that meeting our basic need for shelter has given us the confidence to turn our focus to higher-level projects. It’s much easier to find time for things like reevaluating our organizational structure or integrating ourselves more fully into our campus and regional maker communities when we aren’t concerned about having to drop everything to move again! Other future directions include creating a website as vibrant and dynamic as our physical space, incorporating more information literacy concepts into our instruction activities, and studying the kinds of learning that take place inside the MakerSpace more closely.

Future Directions

The MakerSpace continues to grow and change: additions since the move include installing an iPad outfitted with an app designed in-house that visitors can use to sign in, ensuring that we’re able to follow up with

Against the Grain / June 2018

Endnotes 1. A.H. Maslow, “A Theory of Human Motivation,” Psychological Review 50, no. 4 (1943): 370-396.

Rumors from page 6 bibliographic search and supply service for academic libraries and supporting publishers through promotion and distribution of their print and electronic content. A personal comment here. The urbane and elegant Mario Casalini departed this earth in 1999 but he and his family, Michele and Barbara, had conceived the Italian Charleston Conference, the Fiesole Retreats. Mario was not with us for the very first Fiesole Retreat but the Retreats have continued for many years in his honor and we will never forget Mario! The 2018 Fiesole Retreat (no.20!!) was held in Barcelona. Macquarie University Library in Australia has gone live with campusM Mobile Solution to expand library service access across campus. With the university’s new app, users can locate library resources and access other campus information. Ex Libris, a ProQuest company, is pleased that Macquarie University has joined an increasing number of institutions in Australia that have opted for the Ex Libris campusM Mobile Solution. Powered by the campusM platform, the Macquarie University Library’s libMQ app provides access to vital library information continued on page 25

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When professors from Art, Computer Science, and Modern Foreign Languages approached us to outfit back and opened doors to testing other types the space for this purpose, of furniture, beyond the classroom, that could we were able to connect work in library spaces. From this initial op- to user needs, make sugportunity sprang two types of impactful small gestions for the space, and space projects that served to directly align ultimately provide a small Libraries’ efforts with those of the university. space that served as a proof (See Figure 2.) of concept for classes and The next project arising from the classroom University spaces to come furniture testing was creating temporary, pop- after. For the Libraries, up spaces for testing vendor-provided furniture being able to provide the before purchase or deployment in the learning space on a temporary bacommons and other Library spaces. One sis revealed philosophical example involved creating a task chair testing issues we had not expectspace at a graduate student open house to obtain ed. Being committed to feedback on chairs that fit a variety of studying providing equal access to Figure 4: The Living Room Temporary Space in styles and body types. For high-traffic areas resources to all students Hodges Library During Finals in which there aren’t events, affixing a small and faculty, reserving the notebook and pen to or near the furniture can Idea Lab for long periods elicit a variety of student reactions and feed- of time for a small group was counter to that or completing work and assignments. This back on the furniture in the testing space as philosophy and did not mesh well with existing space represents an intersection between a well as types of furniture they desire. Pop-up scheduling systems. The project ultimately student request via social media and an inspaces for testing furniture types work partic- provided information to inform our future novative approach to space planning. After ularly well in high-use areas, such as gallerias. planning and produced valuable feedback for fielding a question via Twitter from a student frustrated that there was no good place in the Taking advantage of events in those spaces campus spaces to support this type of work. library to practice yoga, the UT Libraries’ provides an opportunity to obtain additional Student-Centered and Student Administration and Marketing departments feedback targeting specific student groups. had conversations about responding to student Suggested Spaces (See Figure 3.) Just as types of furniture come and go, requests about library spaces. Coincidentally, Just as temporary spaces can provide information about future space needs, sometimes some small but impactful spaces can be tem- our dean had been reading about institutions these spaces reveal valuable information about porary. During finals at the UT Libraries, for that had deployed fitness bike and laptop what doesn’t fit in a certain environment. One example, a visible reception room becomes treadmill desk3 combinations to support stuThe Livingroom, a space dent wellness. Our next step was to create to support student wellness a proposal for fitness bike desks, treadmill and relaxation. Games, workstations, standing-height desks, and snacks, therapy dogs, and balance seating to offer students a more active a casual atmosphere invite way to study. In addition to giving students students to take health a variety of options for spending time in our breaks from their studies spaces, the Active Learning Space encourages during a stressful time of students to think about health and wellness as the semester. Equipping a vital component of their student experience. the room is a matter of In that sense, the space connected to existing rearranging furniture to initiatives to support stress reduction during create conversation and finals and allowed the UT Libraries to offer game areas and moving students wellness experiences all year long. The Active Learning Space has also served in a mobile monitor with a soothing scene such as a as a test bed for graduate students in the School fireplace or beach. Spac- of Information Sciences User Experience es with flexible furniture and Assessment Program4 to get hands-on arrangements can be trans- experience in conducting library space assessformed into homelike, stu- ments.5 One benefit of small spaces can be dent-centered spaces with the ability to test new ways of gathering user Figure 3: Pop-Up Furniture Testing at minimal effort and serve as experience feedback and assessment. In some Graduate Student Open House a welcoming, supportive cases, assessment opportunities may map to such temporary space that served a campus environment for students. Observing how a initiatives supported by the spaces themselves. need to support experiential learning was library’s students are already moving flexible In this particular case, the Libraries benethe Idea lab. As instructors were adopting furnishings, both in general and at specific fited from having trained graduate students pedagogies to contribute to the University’s points in the semester, may provide insights on dedicated to assessing the space. Providing commitment to active learning, they turned to what types of set-ups the Libraries could create experiential learning opportunities to graduate students supported a campus-wide initiative for the Libraries to provide spaces for long-term to support students’ needs. (See Figure 4.) transdisciplinary collaboration. Their space While some spaces, such as the Livin- experiential learning. (See Figure 5.) need included a lockable area with a variety groom, arise from a perceived need, other When approached by the Student Govof workspaces and a wired connection for a spaces may be directly suggested by students. ernment Association (SGA) to create a space project server. The UT Libraries was able to The Active Learning Space in the UT Li- for students to pray, the Libraries met with quickly re-purpose a newly vacated space slat- braries learning commons is outfitted with a SGA representatives to hear their needs and ed for renovation the following semester. Part combination of posture and balance seating, concerns and to discuss options that could of the Libraries’ readiness to support this type standing-height desks, and resistance pedal- meet the spirit of the students’ request while of space came from having identified the need ing workstations to provide an alternative to also supporting the Libraries’ mission of openfor such a space as part of our planning grid. sitting for long periods of time while studying continued on page 25

Small Spaces, Big Impact ... from page 22

24 Against the Grain / June 2018

<http://www.against-the-grain.com>

Small Spaces, Big Impact ... from page 24 ness to all students. The result was the Silent Room, a space designed for all members of the University of Tennessee community seeking a few moments of quiet in their day. No food or drink is allowed in the room and electronic devices should be set to silent mode. Signage expressly indicates that the Silent Room is not a study space and may not be reserved. Those using the space asked to maintain quiet and respect for others using the space for reflection and contemplation. An anonymous suggestion box has led to feedback that has enhanced the space’s atmosphere with flexible furniture, window treatments that promote privacy while maintaining safety, and artwork that highlights the Libraries’ Digital Collections. (See Figure 6 and Figure 7.)

Demand Driven Spaces

While some small spaces arise from opportunity, collaboration, or student suggestion, other spaces may come from a known need or an eye toward growing populations, which at UT include commuter students and adult

learners. Future directions for the UT Libraries include a lactation room and a graduate student commons, which represent ever-increasing demands on our campus. Creating small spaces with big impact can generate opportunities beyond the utility of the spaces themselves. They can forge valuable campus and external partnerships, facilitate student-initiated Figure 5: The Active Learning Space activities, encourage stuin Hodges Library dents to continue sharing their feedback, and connect libraries directly to campus initiatives to support experiential Endnotes learning and student success. To have a signif1. John J. Meier. “The Future of Acicant impact, small spaces must be places with ademic Libraries: Conversations with a purpose — places clearly articulated and tied Today’s Leaders about Tomorrow.” portal: Libraries and the Academy 16, no. 2 (2016): to campus needs or goals. When approached in 263-288. https://muse.jhu.edu/ (accessed the context of the larger picture, these spaces May 13, 2018). can be generative and create an environment agile enough to continuously meet campus 2. Mary Ellen Spencer and Sarah Barbara Watstein. “Academic Library Spaces: demands while encouraging innovation. Advancing Student Success and Helping Students Thrive.” portal: Libraries and the Academy 17, no. 2 (2017): 389-402. https:// muse.jhu.edu/ (accessed May 13, 2018).

3. John Gouch, “Workstations Encourage Students to Pedal While Studying,” The Newsstand October 8, 2013, http:// newsstand.clemson.edu/mediarelations/ workstations-encourage-students-to-pedal-while-studying/ (accessed March 21, 2018) 4. University of Tennessee School of Information Sciences, User Experience and Assessment (UX-A) Program. http:// scholar.cci.UT.edu/ux-a

Figure 6: The Silent Room in Hodges Library

Rumors from page 23 and services on any device, on or off campus. Macquarie University is located in Sydney, at the heart of Australia’s largest high-tech precinct, a thriving locale that is predicted to double in size in the next 20 years to become the fourth largest CBD (central business district) in Australia. Macquarie University Library building is a state of the art facility which opened in 2011 and contains Australia’s first Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS). https://www.mq.edu.au

Against the Grain / June 2018

Figure 7: Silent Room Door Sign with Guidelines

Old friend and colleague, JoAnne Sparks is the University Librarian! She has her own conference in Australia! Just noticed a heist movie — American Animals — about some naïve young gentlemen who decided to steal some rare books from a library. The librarian Betty Jean Gooch is threatened but is okay. This movie doesn’t hold up to much criticism but the central theme of the library and books seems worth a Rumor. (Wall Street Journal, June 1, “Book Blunders” by John Anderson.) Speaking of books, we have Regina Gong’s last print book review column in this issue,

5. Sian Carr, Alexa Carter, Kristina Clement, and Lauren Johnson. “Library Space: The Final Frontier or the Next Generation? Assessing Active Learning Space in the Academic Library.” Presentation at the Charleston Conference, Charleston, South Carolina, November 8, 2017. Accessed March 17, 2018. https://2017charlestonconference.sched. com/event/CHol/42-library-space-thefinal-frontier-or-the-next-generation-assessing-active-learning-space-in-the-academic-library

p.42. After three glorious years, Regina has arranged for 98 book reviews from our colleagues. As we told you earlier, this fall for the 2018 semester, Regina will be starting a Ph.D. in Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education (HALE) at Michigan State University. Regina has been thinking about pursuing her doctorate for a long time, and it’s now possible. She will keep her full-time job at LCC while doing her Ph.D. Plus — Regina hopes to be guest editor of an OER issue of ATG in the fall. Moving right along, Bet You Missed It features a column in The Field (May) about continued on page 30

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Out with the Old, in with the New: Making Space for a Digital Studio in R. M. Cooper Library by Derek Wilmott (Collections Management Librarian, Clemson University) <rwilmot@clemson.edu> Introduction

Large Space reclamation and repurpose projects occur with some frequency for many academic libraries. Yet, not much is available in the literature that addresses the process part of the work. What are the challenges to consider? What kind of planning and preparation are involved with organizing a project? Who are the stakeholders involved in a discarding and relocation project? This article revisits a 2014 large-scale discard, relocation, and shifting project in the R. M. Cooper Library at Clemson University. Clemson University is a Carnegie R1 academic research institution. The University Libraries played a vital role in helping achieve that level of national recognition. From 2010 to 2014, the University Libraries went through a series of organizational changes to reprioritize staff efforts to improve student outreach, develop pedagogical and research support technologies, and enhance the student library experience. The University Libraries forged new partnerships with Clemson Computing Technology & Information (CCIT) and the Adobe Systems, Inc., which paved the way for the development of a digital studio on the fifth floor of R. M. Cooper Library. By the spring of 2015, Clemson became the first university to provide all students, faculty, and staff full use of the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite. The Adobe Digital Studio included audio and video production rooms to provide students with opportunities to develop their digital production skills and the technology to use them. Planning to clear and repurpose the space began in early 2014. A deadline for early December was set for completion of the deselection and relocation of over 45,150 monographs and serials, clearing shelves in a 2519 sq. ft. (234 meters) area.

The purpose of this article is to describe the process involved in successfully completing a massive discard and relocation project in a 14week period, from August to November 2014. Four members of the Technical Services & Collection Management Unit and four student workers were assigned to what became known as the “Fifth Floor Project.” Approximately 10,000 serials were relocated to the high-density stacks at the Library Depot, an off-site legacy print storage facility, nine miles from the main campus and another 15,000 volumes were discarded and sent to the University’s recycling facility. The remaining monographs and serials were shifted into the main collection on the fifth floor of Cooper Library. The coordination and speed to complete this work served as a template for future large-scale discarding and relocation projects.

The Old – Fifth floor Cooper Library Before the Relocation Project 26 Against the Grain / June 2018

Planning and Prepping

Past discarding, relocating, and shifting projects were assigned to ad hoc teams from various library units. This approach worked well for short-term objectives, although a major drawback was each new team needed to reinvent the process or had to rely on previous institutional memory. This project offered an opportunity to change strategies and look towards developing consistent processes to manage future projects with a team dedicated to that type of work. For this specific project, the eScience Librarian reviewed serials from the targeted area. She created a spreadsheet, identifying low to non-usage serials to discard or relocate to high-density storage, depending on their value to the Library’s mission. Students and staff shifted the remaining serials and monographs back into the main collection. This meant we would select serials beyond the immediate target area for shifting purposes. The Technical Services & Collection Management Unit is composed of five teams: Standards Management & Assessment, E-Resources, Collection Management, Continuing Resources & Government Documents, and Metadata & Monographs Cataloging. The reorganization in Technical Services opened unique opportunities for collections projects. The E-Resources Catalog Librarian served as the project coordinator. Three library staff from the Collection Management Team were assigned to work 1520 hours each week on the project, with the remainder

of their time spent on their primary responsibilities in acquisitions and processing donated materials. The objective was to discard, relocate, and shift approximately 45,150 print volumes, representing call number ranges from Q to QA, from Cooper Library’s fifth floor between August and early December. Serials were the majority of the collection designated to discard and relocate. The Dean of Libraries had conveyed the need to have the space cleared by December for contractors to build the Adobe Digital Studio beginning in January 2015. The eScience Librarian prepared for this project by creating a spreadsheet to review a list of serials, call number range from Q1 — QA901 in the affected area. The eScience Librarian emailed the spreadsheet to the Project Coordinator with her final decisions to discard, relocate, or keep in the stacks. He then uploaded and shared the spreadsheet into Google Sheets with his team. This online spreadsheet served to maintain the team’s progress in “real-time,” as well as help identify, track, and troubleshoot any issues developed during the course of the project. The Head of Facilities, provided signage around the affected area alerting patrons of the noise, dust, and traffic. The Project Coordinator sent announcements to alert library staff about the project and to prepare for any patron questions. Each library deselection and relocation project presents their own unique problems to solve. The main issues of this project were: • Relocating, processing, and accessioning a large number of serials to an off-site storage facility (Library Depot) located nine miles from the main campus. • Processing and discarding a large number of serials to the university recycling center. • Identifying stakeholders and maintaining constant communication throughout the process. • Scheduling staff, so they may continue to focus on their primary job assignments during the week, and work on this project. Student workers were hired, in late August, to assist in the project. Cooper Library had a large room recently vacated on the third floor, previously occupied by Acquisitions before it merged with Cataloging and relocated to the Library Depot. This room was in an ideal location, next to the Mail Room and a staff entrance to a loading/unloading zone on the west side of Cooper Library. Two ranges of shelves were installed in the middle of the room, along with six-computer workstations set up to process materials. There were 14 book carts, of various sizes, assigned to this continued on page 28

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Out with the Old, in with the New ... from page 26 project. The Libraries’ courier service was through a non-university agency. The Libraries Associate Dean renegotiated the contract, to accommodate the temporary increase of materials relocating from Cooper Library to the Library Depot. The courier service agreed to transport ten plastic bins in the morning and ten more in the afternoon between locations. The Project Coordinator set a collection schedule with University Recycling, which included the use of 10-rollout carts that could hold 350 lbs. of material. Two staff members at the Library Depot received and accessioned all the materials sent from the Libraries. The plan was to create a manageable supply of processed materials for relocation to the Library Depot, as well as send discarded serials to University Recycling. The major challenge was not to overwhelm any one group, which could potentially result in unwanted delays. This required constant monitoring by the Project Coordinator on all aspects of the workflow process and continual communication with all project stakeholders.

Riding the Train

one time, two to four computer workstations were in use. Staff members updated the Google Sheets document as they completed changes in Millennium. Students pulled serials from shelves, verified barcodes with their assigned staff member, and then filled a recycling bin or a courier bin. Staff flagged items not found on the shelves in the Millennium item record with a note to send to the Standards Management & Assessment Team. This helped to reduce time searching for materials that may have been misshelved or lost. Staff did some database maintenance during processing, with the Standards Management & Assessment Team troubleshooting larger database issues. Working in conjunction with other teams helped achieve a constant flow of materials without slowing the entire process down.

for pick up. This simple change reduced the weight in the bins to roughly 300 lbs., making them easier to move. Staff easily overcame these and other minor roadblocks and the team completed the project three weeks ahead of schedule. Construction of the Adobe Digital Studio began in the spring of 2015 and officially opened that fall.

Lessons Learned and Conclusion

There were many lessons learned from this initial project. Having a team assigned to all discard and relocation projects creates consistency in planning, processing, and communications. The Fifth Floor Project served as a template for future discard and relocation projects. The Collection Management Team is now responsible for all University Libraries large-scale discard and relocation projects on top of their primary acquisitions, bindery, and cataloging responsibilities. Team members closely collaborate with the Collection Development Librarians to assess and plan discard and relocation projects. Reviewing each completed project helps identify issues in the process to avoid in the future. Documenting everything facilitates workflows, After the Relocation Project aids in planning, and Everything depended on speed and efficien- provides a foundation for training. Having a cy. Most days, everything worked smoothly team dedicated to these and other large-scale with a few exceptions. Early in the process, it projects improves the University Libraries’ became apparent that both the courier and the collections and frees up other library staff to recycling staff were fatigued at the volume of focus on vital operations. material they were collecting. Simple changes Bibliography in both processes helped to minimize these problems. Students packed and weighed each Lugg, Rick. “Data-Driven Deselection courier bin to approximately 35 lbs., before for Monographs: A Rules-Based Approach placing them in the Mail Room. At times, it to Weeding, Storage, and Shared Print Dedid create some awkward packing with as few cisions.” Insights: The UKSG Journal 25, as four volumes placed in a bin. Students filled no. 2 (07, 2012): 198-204, http://search. the recycling rollout bins to approximately ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=66% capacity, before taking them outside lih&AN=93318075. Martin, Jim, Hitoshi Kamada, and Mary Feeney. “A Systematic Plan for Managing Physical Collections at the University of Arizona Libraries.” Collection Management 38, no. 3 (07, 2013): 226-42, http://search. ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lih&AN=88212472. Massis, Bruce E. “”Serendipitous” Browsing Versus Library Space.” New Library World 112, no. 3 (05, 2011): 178-82, http://search. ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lih&AN=67673628. Metz, Paul and Caryl Gray. “PERSPECTIVES ON … : Public Relations and Library Weeding.” Journal of Academic Librarianship 31, no. 3 (05, 2005): 273-9, http://search. ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lih&AN=17319883.

Once everything was in place, the team began their work. The project began slowly, until everyone became accustomed to the process. Staff paired with student workers to pull and process the serials and to shift the remaining print into the main collection. The Project Coordinator filled in where staff and student workers were unavailable to work their assigned shifts. This flexible schedule helped to maintain a constant flow of materials from the shelves to their final destination. Students worked 10-20 hours each week, Monday-Friday, from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, in two to four hour blocks of time. Once in the morning and in the afternoon, students and staff removed 150-200 serials volumes from the shelves, processed, and sent to high-density storage. Each morning, students and staff followed a similar process to remove 300-400 serials volumes from shelves to the recycling rollout bins. Students rolled the full bins to the east side of Cooper Library, where University Recycling picked them up. Clemson University Libraries utilizes Innovative Interfaces’ Millennium Integrated Library System. Staff and students followed strict guidelines in processing library materials in the Millennium catalog module. Staff updated item records through a combination of global changes in the Millennium catalog module. Staff updated each bibliographic record and holdings statements at the end of the process. At any The New – The Adobe Digital Studio After Completion

28 Against the Grain / June 2018

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The Role of Collections in a Learning Commons: A Case Study of the Library at UW Tacoma by Lauren Pressley (Director, UW Tacoma Library; Associate Dean, UW Libraries, University of Washington Tacoma) <pressley@uw.edu> and Serin Anderson (Collections & Budget Coordinator, University of Washington Tacoma) <serin@uw.edu>

ibraries have been wrestling with how to adapt to today’s information environment for some time. It’s impacted how we think about collections, formats, services, and spaces. Library staff at UW Tacoma, established in 1990 as a University of Washington campus, have been thinking about what these changes mean to a community that has, throughout its history, prioritized the library collection over services. The institution has consistently invested in collections, both in budgeting for resources and expanding spaces to house the collection. As the community has grown, new faculty and administrators have typically adopted an institutional framework where the library is defined as a space with books. Over the last two years, the library staff has taken on the task of broadening faculty and administrator perceptions to include a modern concept of academic libraries that has evolved to include a diversity of spaces and services. The UW Tacoma Library operates within a complex information services environment largely shaped by the UW Libraries “One Library: Three Campuses” model1 in which each campus is funded locally and develops strengths to support their distinctive mix of programs, students and faculty, while many functions are managed centrally with system-wide acquisitions, assessment, and strategic planning. In addition to this, the UW Libraries, and by extension the UW Tacoma Library, is a member of the Orbis Cascade Alliance, a consortium that continues to push the boundaries of cooperative work with consortially owned content, robust resource sharing practices, and an ILS shared with 38 Pacific Northwest institutions.2 In parallel to this, as a young campus, UW Tacoma has continued to grow and change. As the student body increases, the campus develops new services while expanding others. These services are often offered in existing spaces largely based on availability at the time of creation, leading to services located in nearly every campus building, with uneven distribution across campus. With a strategic plan that asks campus to “[i]ncrease student awareness of and satisfaction with the availability and accessibility of UW Tacoma resources, support and infrastructure”3 the library has embarked on a process of developing campus interest in meeting this need. By consolidating, streamlining, and simplifying campus academic service points, we can leverage different but complementary forms of expertise. A cross-campus working group, utilizing campus feedback, assessment data, and best practices from the field determined that “[a]n intentionally designed, central, and accessible Learning Commons is necessary to prepare students for emerging modes of information literacy, academic inquiry, and knowledge creation.” Analyzing the library’s role and impact on campus in preparation for a new Learning Commons offers an opportunity to articulate valuable lessons learned through a mix of chance, circumstance, and experience. Ideally, those lessons can inform the development of a Learning Commons model that will meet the specific needs of the UW Tacoma community.

Case Study 1: A Library in One Building

In a building often described as the core of campus, the original “permanent” library opened in 1997. Described two years later in a local news article as an “undersized library,” the space operated with a traditional mix of library collections, staff and student spaces.4 As the campus grew from a single interdisciplinary program serving third and fourth year students to a comprehensive institution with six schools and expanding graduate programs, increases to campus library funding continued to focus primarily on collections. Between Fall 2006 and

Against the Grain / June 2018

Fall 2012, the campus registered an almost 60% increase in students: students looking for group study spaces, new technology and expanded services. Yet while staffing and services remained relatively fixed, generous collection allocations provided during the early stages of the shift from print to ebooks resulted in outgrown space and significant time investments in annual weeding and shifting projects. In order to make a case for space, library staff often turned to the expertise and support provided by the UW Libraries long running assessment program. Armed with years of accumulated survey data, a persistent argument was articulated indicating high levels of satisfaction with the library, while acknowledging student calls for more group, presentation, and technology rich study spaces.5 In Fall 2012, the campus opened a new building with the first two floors dedicated to library space. The new Tioga Library Building was designed during a period of fiscal crisis and reduced state funding. With almost every decision shaped by a guiding mantra of value engineering, the final building resulted in beautiful new spaces that met the campus’ traditional idea of a library. In effect, the campus designed a continuous experiment that would help us think about the relationship between collections, services, and local definitions of what constitutes a library.

Case Study 2: The New Tioga Library Building

The catalyst for rethinking library space was the creation of the Tioga Library Building (TLB). This building stands apart from the original Snoqualmie (SNO) building and is connected by a bridge. When the campus conceived of and built the TLB, it was designed with traditional library use in mind — a place to house collections. The structure of the building encourages silent use. There is less power and wifi conductivity than one might expect at this point in time, and the building holds almost all of the Tacoma campus physical collections with open stacks split across two floors and an auxiliary, closed stacks. The closed stacks are located in the basement, a short distance from circulation. As such, TLB feels like a very traditional library with stacks, quiet study, and a service point. When faculty ask students to go to the library and browse the collection, students visit TLB. It fits the mental model of going to the library to work for extended periods of time while surrounded by books. The circulation desk in TLB checks out materials including all physical holds and reserves. If someone wishes to also check out technology, they must visit the other circulation desk in SNO. The TLB circulation desk is centrally located on the corridor that connects to the SNO building. This design enables students to easily find the desk once in TLB. However, this corridor turns a prime “quiet” space into an area with perpetual background noise.

Case Study 3: Snoqualmie as a Co-located Service Point

Once TLB was established, SNO was left to be redefined. SNO is physically separate from TLB, connected by a bridge and an elevator. Once TLB was created, campus signage no longer indicated that SNO was a “library” space, although it still primarily functions as one. Though most of the stacks moved over to TLB, a handful of small, browsing book collections remain in SNO. These collections are placed throughout the building with limited signage and can be confusing to new users who sometimes think those browsing collections represent all of the campus physical collection. SNO also houses most of the collaborative spaces and technology within the UW Tacoma Library footprint. There are several group continued on page 30

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The Role of Collections in a Learning Commons ... from page 29 study rooms and open spaces with tables and moveable chairs. All of the library computers are located in SNO, including a number of stations with multiple monitors and spaces for practicing or recording presentations and videoconferencing. The circulation desk in SNO checks out physical materials (from both SNO and TLB collections), the non-browsing media collection, as well as equipment such as laptops, tablets, and calculators. In addition to this, SNO houses the largest reading room on campus in the historic Snoqualmie Powerhouse. Aside from the circulation of holds and course reserves, most services including reference, consultations, and class instruction are only offered in SNO. In many ways, due to the creation of the TLB building, UW Tacoma established an experiment: how would students respond to two buildings split between a collections centric space and a collaborative, service oriented space? Soon after the opening of the TLB, the campus Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) was physically integrated into the SNO building, absorbing the majority of the second floor. This office reports through another department and has historically had a very different culture and staffing model. It has been clear that reference, circulation, and the TLC could integrate their services more effectively for our students and community, and in recent years we have begun exploring what that might look like in our current configuration while we engage campus in discussions about a new Learning Commons.

Challenges

The unique structure of our library offers both benefits and challenges. In particular, it has been a challenge to assess library space. When it is unclear to students what the library is, they are unable to answer assessment questions about the usefulness of library spaces. Our current campus map identifies only one building with the word library. The other — SNO — is left undefined and open to interpretation by both students and faculty. As an example, when faculty ask students to visit the reference desk in the library, students have a cognitive barrier in determining where that service is located. Is it in the building with library in the name or not? This is connected to an overarching campus conversation--what exactly is a library? When a campus budgets and allocates resources based on a specific model of a library and they have a physical example of such a library to point to, their mental model is confirmed. As we point to the SNO building as equally a library, we find ourselves needing a new vocabulary and way of explaining what it is that academic libraries offer in the 21st century. In addition, when a service like the TLC is introduced without intentional design, we have found there are a number of challenges to overcome. For example, it can be surprisingly difficult to share information between units. We have had to find new ways to share meeting minutes and information that meet established standards and expectations of fellow UW Libraries tri-campus staff, while also remaining accessible and usable by local, Tacoma TLC staff. And throughout these conversations we’ve wrestled with the role of the collections. When isolated by themselves, collections are removed from any context that provides additional meaning. When isolated, the barrier to use is great enough that service points and students have an incentive to avoid using them.

Rumors from page 25 the Hay-on-Wye book festival which includes author’s lectures, secondhand book sales, walks to working farms, and medieval artwork. I hope you remember that the energetic Tom Leonhardt had the good fortune to experience

30 Against the Grain / June 2018

Opportunities and Next Considerations

As a result of these case studies, and working with the TLC and other campus units, we have collectively developed a set of questions we are considering, and likely would be valuable for any institution looking to build an integrated service model.

Role of Physical Collections

Given local context and needs, is there a role for a physical collection? On a primarily commuter campus with a shared collection distributed across multiple campuses and institutions, patrons routinely wait for requested material to be delivered. In that context, is there any reason to orient a library around a physical collection? If space that currently holds stacks is irrelevant in our local context, that space could be reclaimed for collaboration and services. What would be lost or gained from this? What would it mean for a campus that defines the library as a collection of books? There are pedagogical questions as well. At this point in time, how important is it to learn to navigate a physical collection? What implications are there for student learning if we don’t fully understand the role or impact of format on comprehension? What should be the role of collections in a collaborative service environment that supports informal learning? Many of our local conversations center on what collections accentuate the services and what services would benefit from collections in close proximity.

Creating Flexible Space with Multiple or Shared Service Points

How does a campus go about developing or determining if there should be a shared culture with other units? When the TLC was brought into the library, it was clear that the two units were separate. However, both staffs see that students do not benefit from that separation. We also see that, in particular, reference and writing services have a lot in common and could work together to better serve our students. It has become clear that we should work together to build common classroom experiences, service point interactions, and service philosophies. To what end do our separate reporting structures benefit or challenge our students? Can we work in ways that are streamlined for the student even if we retain separate organizational structures? It seems that in bringing together these two units, either structurally or through partnerships, the role of the collection becomes a campus question rather than a library one. To what extent should our partners contribute to the role of the collection in our shared spaces? Finally, how do we create mechanisms for evolving structure and leadership, especially given the deep expertise needed to evaluate questions specific to our field? What works today might not make sense in the future. Though, as the field evolves the meaning of “library” to make sense in our quickly changing information environment, we may be particularly suited to adapt to changing needs and expectations in these collaborative domains as well. Endnotes 1. https://lib.washington.edu/dean/tri-campus 2. https://www.orbiscascade.org/about/ 3. https://www.tacoma.uw.edu/strategic-planning/impact-goal-1-students 4. Editorial (February 28, 1999). UWT’s Expansion is Now on the Line. News Tribune. 5. UW Libraries Triennial Survey data. http://www.lib.washington.edu/ assessment/surveys/triennial

the Hay festival several years ago and wrote about it for ATG. (See ATG v.28#3, p.70.) Starting July 1, the talented Eleanor Cook (remember the Charleston Conference skits?) is going on what is called “Phased Retirement.” This is something the UNC system offers to tenured faculty. The librarians are not eligible for tenure anymore but those

who already had it kept it. Eleanor will work part-time for up to three years, receive half of her current salary while also receiving a state pension. For the first year she will continue in her position as AD for Discovery & Technology Services as recruitment for the position will start and the position will hopefully be filled in continued on page 33

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Designing a Bright Future for Print Collections by Lorrie McAllister (Associate University Librarian for Collections Services & Analysis, Arizona State University) <lorrie.mcallister@asu.edu> and John Henry Adams, PhD (MLS Candidate at Indiana University) <adamsjoh@iu.edu>

t the 2017 Charleston Conference, Jim O’Donnell and Lorrie McAllister from Arizona State University Library (ASU) introduced the whitepaper The Future of the Academic Library Print Collection: A Space for Engagement. This document aimed to inspire and serve as a clarion call for academic libraries to rethink their print collections as vital tools for inquiry and engagement. In the whitepaper, the authors lay out many issues and challenges facing academic libraries regarding print collections. In this article, the authors will highlight four issues set forth in the whitepaper, offer additional thoughts for discussion, and provide an update regarding how Arizona State University is planning to employ several ideas from the whitepaper to address its local context, particularly with regard to the relationship of collections to spaces. One issue raised in the whitepaper is that, historically, academic libraries developed over time to effectively become warehouses for books.1 The largest academic libraries are often touted as the best libraries, with quality and quantity serving as equivalent measures.2 Over the past several years, however, several factors have been working against the “quantity is quality” trend. One is the “digital-first” paradigm, where users believe that they can access and comprehend all of a library’s holdings without stepping foot inside a library. Other factors include the rise of e-resources, the proliferation of online educational programs, the reduction of print circulation, and the increasing interest in quantifying library support in service of student success. These and other factors are pushing institutions to shift from using volume counts as indicators of quality to analyzing metrics that indicate patron use of resources (collections, services, and expertise) when demonstrating the value of the library to the institution.3 Because of these forces and the increasing cost of space on academic campuses, space planning in libraries is moving toward a smaller footprint for books and more space for student study and research. As books move away from campuses and into storage, libraries are revisiting traditional notions of browsing and discovery of resources. Library space design has changed dramatically over the past ten years, yet the correlate in the online library (navigation, browsing, discovery, and use) remains relatively unchanged in form and function. Some users also lament the diminishing opportunity to serendipitously browse book stacks in person and are not satisfied with the current state of virtual library use, despite the implementation of commercial discovery layers. While aiming to ease the user’s jour-

32 Against the Grain / June 2018

ney through electronic piles of books, articles, databases, and indexing, discovery layers, for the most part, have not substantially progressed beyond traditional library catalog functions and features developed many decades ago.4 Many librarians and educators remain proponents of print resources and believe that there are many advantages to print book technologies. These forces contribute to some academic libraries bringing back print book displays, exhibits, and book stacks that may have a smaller footprint but are intentionally designed and curated for particular spaces, needs, and uses. When designing the stacks where users will interact with print volumes in person and primarily for the purpose of visual discovery, there is an opportunity for the stacks to become active participants within the space, engaging with the viewer. Purposefully selected items

may be kept close at hand for users in-library, rather than taking a passive approach to what accumulates on library shelves. An example raised in the whitepaper is the moving of materials en masse to off-site high density storage after they have been made available in digital form. While this indeed allows space to be repurposed, it creates collections that may not be based on content that users need or want to review in person. Instead, the decision is based either on the need to save space in a particular building, on preservation interests, or the prioritization of attention to online resources. The opportunity here is to design collections in publicly-accessible library spaces with an eye toward browsing and coherence so the selection principles of the open stacks are readily apparent, even to the first-time viewer. A second issue raised in the whitepaper is that libraries serve three roles with regard to print and space design. First, they provide open stacks that serve to display and provide immediate access to print materials; second, they manage and preserve a far larger amount of material in closed off-site stacks; and third, they maintain a large borrowing network to obtain everything else that they do not hold or license. Rethinking what academic libraries hold in print on- and off-site, license in electronic format, and access through borrowing networks necessitates a hard look at the financial, physical, and human resources libraries have available to deploy, whom the libraries are trying to serve, what collection development principles and policies are in play, and what is important to have on site and in hand. The

opportunity here is to think flexibly to design the 21st-century library so that space and collections have a harmonious relationship that is adaptable to changes in the local context, as activities, interests, expectations, and skills of the people who use our libraries shift over time. A third issue is the importance of welcoming people into library spaces and involving them in the development of print stacks, how they are displayed, and how their content or research is communicated. This is one approach to collection development outlined in the whitepaper. By involving users in the ongoing development of curation, exhibition, and displays, libraries could encourage a greater sense of investment in our collections and space use. This approach may aid libraries in efforts to create inclusive and diverse collections and spaces over time that reflect various informed perspectives on societies and the human experience. As with all scholarly communication, exposure to new ideas and different perspectives should enrich all users’ research pursuits. The co-creation of collections may bring new users into library spaces to develop a personal interest in the content and display of materials. A fourth issue to highlight here is encouraging the notion of library collections as powerful pedagogical tools. Learning to navigate collections also teaches lessons about finding and evaluating information that may be applied not only to the library as an institution but also beyond its walls. In treating collections as a pedagogical tool, new considerations about the design choices related to open stacks arise. Who collects and why? What can people do with what has been collected? What’s missing? How does format matter? How do people learn from choosing among formats? If academic libraries design print collections by applying various critical lenses to enable learning and inquiry and develop user research skills, they can build stronger and more engaging collections that will help promote more conscious and effective use of the library by learners and instructors alike. Our 21st-century world, and by extension the academy, functions most effectively with a public that has adequate access to information and opportunities to build and hone literacy skills. Print literacy in particular is often overlooked by educators because digital skills are a growing concern for a digitally engaged citizenry. The ability to use print books is often taken for granted as something learned by young children that does not require further reinforcement in higher grade levels. Some believe that there is little to learn from the continued on page 33

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Designing a Bright Future ... from page 32 physical book as an object. However, there are many benefits to using and discussing the physical form of a print object, including how to navigate content using a physical volume, visual cues about content evident from inspection of an object, its weight, form, and structure, and how engaging with a physical format can hold a reader’s attention. Providing access to information and teaching literacy skills related to both print and digital materials are key to library space and stack design. In addition, the time for favoring one medium over another has passed; for the foreseeable future, digital and print materials will co-exist in academic library spaces. Libraries have the opportunity, then, to adapt spaces and collections to remove obstacles to access and enable the interplay of the physical and the digital, leveraging print volumes so that our users can build literacy skills with confidence. ASU Library has taken a careful look at the issues raised in the whitepaper. The timing is excellent, as Hayden Library, the largest library on the Tempe campus, is now empty in preparation for a major renovation. The renovation provides an opportunity to rethink ASU’s approach to the print collections that will return to the building for in-person exploration and discovery in 2020. ASU conceives of the building as a space where learners and scholars study, work, and interact with each other, and with library collections, services, and expertise. It will be a space that meets the needs of our diverse community of users who are doing everything from accessing course reserve materials to serendipitously discovering resources of personal and intellectual interest. The design approach for the Hayden Library intermingles various types of space, seating, and resources into a cohesive whole. An example is the lower level, which will host active learning classrooms and smaller-scale book shelves that hold active, “loud” print books to attract the attention of students, along with eye-catching digital displays for highlighting resources that relate to coursework. By contrast, the fourth floor will host “quieter” volumes, such as disciplinary works that provide a range of historical perspectives, in the largest stack footprint in the building

Rumors from page 30 the fall. Meanwhile, Eleanor is considering an “encore career.” Eleanor was telling me that she found Charles Germain on Facebook. He is still married to Andrea Keyhani and they still live in Maryland. They sold their food service business and are using their free time studying and taking classes. Charles got a degree in film studies and is doing screenplay writing

Against the Grain / June 2018

along with ample quiet and individual study spaces. Even though “quiet,” these stacks will still be active and intentionally designed and evaluated. This approach will be informed by firsthand knowledge of our users, data about library resources, and community practices and preferences. The design will also join curated print stacks with art, small exhibit spaces, and various types of furniture to accommodate individual preferences for space and study postures. Intentional design of space, on-site collections, and environments to suit the local context are hallmarks of ASU’s approach to reinvigorating Hayden Library for the needs of 21st-century learners and scholars. At ASU, curating resources for the community promotes a focus on local identity; it helps us build bridges to people and groups with whom we want to have long and meaningful relationships. Learning more about our users and what they want and need from libraries is key to designing new opportunities for interaction. For example, libraries can consider designing print collections and spaces for first-generation degree seekers, non-traditional students, military veterans, and other underserved groups whose interests may be unmet by many academic library print collections.5 In taking community needs into account, we can demonstrate the relevance of the library to its communities while serving the greater public good and fostering a positive relationship between academia and the public at large. This approach suits ASU’s interest in assuming fundamental responsibility for the economic, social, cultural, and overall health of the communities it serves.6 To further this work, ASU Library has received a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to explore a data-driven and community-aware approach to developing inclusive print collections for the Hayden Library 2020 reopening. In 2018 and 2019, Library staff are developing, carrying out, and assessing several experiments to engage with scholars, learners, and community members in order to gather data about what is relevant to their needs, wants, and interests. In addition, librarians aim to test out ideas for collection selection methodologies, book display, and delivery mechanisms. Data gathered in this process will inform the design of our open stack collections for 2020. The hypothesis is: by gathering data and designing for inclusion

and relevance to our users, ASU Library staff will develop welcoming collections that will increase engagement with our spaces and collections and ensure a bright future for academic library print collections.

and directing. Andrea is studying art. Eleanor says she jokingly suggested to Charles that he do a documentary about the Charleston Conference!? In our dreams …

I have just learned that the wonderful Sandy Paul Money has died, (her birthday was June 5). Sandy was an awesome friend and colleague. I stayed in her apartment in New York when I took a film screenwriting course, she was my campaign manager when I ran for ALA President, she loved to go dancing in Charleston during the Charleston Conference, and she had such great gourmet chef friends who would pick out a restaurant to go to on the Saturday night after the Conference was over. I never knew her to

Speaking of retirement, I say personally that it is glorious! We go around Sullivan’s Island and Fort Moultrie and go to the Edgar Allan Poe Library (Poe lived at Fort Moultrie in Charleston for a year and a half) in our golf cart! I am still working on ATG and the Charleston Conference basically full time (just ask my husband Bruce) but as an encore career it is wonderful!

Endnotes 1. The sheer volume of academic library print collections has doubled within the lifetime of every tenured professor in America as of 2006. Cf. B. F. Lavoie and R. C. Schonfeld, “Books without boundaries: A brief tour of the system-wide print collection,” The Journal of Electronic Publishing 9, no. 2 (Summer 2006). Accessed March 15, 2018. http://dx.doi. org/10.3998/3336451.0009.208. 2. For a critique of this perspective, see David E. Jones, “Collection Growth in Postwar America: A Critique of Policy and Practice,” Library Trends 61, no. 3 (Winter 2013): 587-612. Accessed March 26, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2013.0002 3. Megan Oakleaf, “The Value of Academic Libraries: A Comprehensive Research Review and Report.” American Library Association, September 2010. Accessed March 29, 2018. http://www.ala.org/acrl/ sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/issues/value/ val_report.pdf 4. See: Emily Lynema, Cory Lown, and David Woodbury, “Virtual Browse: Designing User-Oriented Services for Discovery of Related Resources,” Library Trends 61, no. 1 (Summer 2012): 218-233. Accessed March 26, 2018, https://doi. org/10.1353/lib.2012.0033. 5. Nancy E. Fawley and Nikki Krysak. 2013. “Serving Those Who Serve: Outreach and Instruction for Student Cadets and Veterans.” In Imagine, Innovate, Inspire: The Proceedings of the ACRL 2013 Conference, edited by Dawn M. Mueller, 525-531. Chicago, IL: Association of College and Research Libraries. Accessed March 11, 2018. https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/ lib_articles/427. See also Lorelei Rutledge and Sarah LeMire, “Beyond Disciplines: Providing Outreach to Underserved Groups by Demographic,” Public Services Quarterly 12, no. 2 (2016): 113-124. Accessed March 26, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1080/1522895 9.2016.1157565 6. Office of the President. “New American University: Toward 2025 and Beyond.” Arizona State University. Accessed March 17, 2018. https://president.asu.edu/about/ asucharter.

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Op Ed — Opinions and Editorials

Op Ed — The Race to the Bottom: Short-term Bargains versus Long-term Vitality Adapted from a post published originally on the Scholarly Kitchen on April 23, 2018.1 by Kent Anderson (CEO, RedLink and RedLink Network, Westborough, MA 01581) <kanderson@redlink.com> https://www.redlink.com

cholarly publishing has distinctive features we can improve — peer-review, editorial review, measuring impact, retraction and related policies and practices, ethical guidelines and enforcement, authorship integrity, archival integrity, and so forth. In an age where trusted and trustworthy information is more important than ever, improving these processes may be more critical than ever. Over the past decades, we’ve built important infrastructure to bring some of these things up to snuff for modern technology. We can continue to find ways to make these aspects and others even better so that researchers, scholars, students, practitioners, and the interested public have the best possible information from scholarly and scientific studies. Research reports are used by a growing cadre of professionals, which underscores the value of doing all these things as well as possible. Despite our best efforts, we can also fall prey to mimicry. A number of people in our realm fell for the “information wants to be free” and producer-pays modalities of Silicon Valley in the early 2000s, and through them we set ourselves on a course that has led to a confusing mess of business models without a clear purpose or a path to sustainability, while allowing barriers to entry to fall to the point that we have an entire oeuvre of publishers (le prédateur) causing people to question reputations and capabilities. Another bad socioeconomic idea we seem to be mimicking is the “race to the bottom” — the tendency for people to want to pay as little as possible now for a finished good, because bargain-hunting saves them money in the short term. Many do this even though they intuit it will do damage in the long term, damage that will somehow affect them negatively directly or indirectly, and which could prove difficult to undo. It’s the “penny wise, pound foolish” way of assessing value. Given that science and scholarship are multi-year if not multi-generational activities, these kinds of attitudes can do lasting harm in our bailiwick. The damage of “race to the bottom” financial and economic thinking in society at large can be seen in many ways, from cramped airliners to stagnant wages to cheap clothing to abandoned local storefronts to outsourced jobs and lower wages to the decimation of entire swaths

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of certain regions as consolidation has sucked jobs into urban power centers. The United States provides startling examples of the trend and its effects wherever you look. A good overview can be found in Sarah Kendzior’s book, The View from Flyover Country.2 In potent, vivid brushstrokes, Kendzior captures the pervasive and growing sense of alienation and desperation you’ll find in various towns and cities located hours away from the major airport hubs — small towns and mid-sized cities in Vermont, Ohio, California, Colorado, Wyoming, and Florida, or anywhere else gutted by the past 20 years of economic Darwinism. Kendzior notes that people have largely been devalued in the modern pursuits of selfish greed, with effects across the board: In the United States, 9 percent of computer science graduates are unemployed, and 14.7 percent of those who hold degrees in information systems have no job. Graduates with degrees in STEM...are facing record joblessness...76 percent of professors work without job security, usually for poverty wages ... Since 2009, most academic disciplines have lost 40 percent of their positions, while the backlog of qualified candidates continues to grow. Media has become more concentrated and impoverished during this same time. The mainstream media has traditionally had an air of elitism about it, with New York, Washington DC, London, Los Angeles, and Paris serving as major centers of taste-making and culture. Prior to the past decade, a panoply of smaller yet vibrant and competitive media centers offset these major hubs — these were the Denver’s, the Chicago’s, the Atlanta’s, and so forth. With strong local papers (the Denver Post, the Chicago Tribune, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution), Pulitzers were as likely to show up there as anywhere, as the journalists and editors exposed local corruption, covered local disasters, and completed local investigations. Now, not only are those papers ghosts of their former selves, but there is a small and growing trend of Pulitzer Prize winners in smaller markets being forced to take jobs outside of journalism by the time their prizes arrive.3 This is a grim sign. More substantially, when journalism was viable in more small cities and towns,

citizens knew a far more about local issues, with journalists covering civic meetings and events with watchful eyes. Who knows what is going on right now in many towns and cities? The Internet has gutted these news outlets and others like them, swapping in Silicon Valley culture, disruptor ethics, and a disdain for paid content. Now, the vultures are descending to pick at the carcasses left in the wake. Recently, the Denver Post’s staff editors published an extraordinary set of editorials and stories defying their private equity funders, portraying them as exploitative profit-seekers with no higher goal than strip-mining the journalism of the Post for profit.4 A group of investors is trying to rescue the paper.5 Clearly, the paper has value that exceeds the vision of its current owners. What was so striking about these Denver Post editorials and articles is that they could have been written by journalists in many cities and towns around the country. Local media, weakened by the concentration of ad dollars and eyeballs around a few major social and traditional media outlets, lies prone and helpless. New protectionist tariffs on Canadian paper supplies are already leading to more layoffs at some papers.6 Of course, what started all this was an inflection point where people started thinking media could be free, or sustained by online advertising. This fed into a belief that things could just be cheaper — had to be cheaper — and that fighting for every penny in discounting was smart shopping and smart economics. Increases in paper prices and wages can’t be passed on to readers with this mindset dominating the commercial environment because price increases are, by definition, unacceptable. The path of least resistance for organizations in this environment is to fire people to save the money. There are then fewer people able to pay for content. And so the downward spiral continues. The consequent economic descent has been so swift, incremental, and unrelenting we hardly have had time to register and analyze it. In just two decades, benefits, wages, overheads, offices, and careers have been taken apart, downgraded, strip-mined, and suppressed in order for purchasers to pay less while profits stayed the same or improved. Productivity has increased faster than in the past decades, but wages have not kept pace for the first time in economic memory.7 continued on page 36

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ADVANCING THE FLOW OF ENGINEERING KNOWLEDGE

JOURNALS • CONFE RE NCE PROCE E DINGS • E BOOKS The ASME Digital Collection is ASME’s authoritative, online reference for the mechanical engineering and related research communities. It provides unparalleled depth, breadth, and quality of peer-reviewed content: • Journals from 1960 – present • Conference Proceedings from 2000 – present • eBooks from 1993 – present

Users of The ASME Digital Collection benefit from: • Powerful search tools that retrieve content simultaneously from journals, conference proceedings, and eBooks • A robust and customized taxonomy delivering highly accurate results and related content from the entire collection • Topic Collections for specific subject areas • Tools for sharing and citation • Personalization capabilities that enable customized page display, saved figures and tables, subscription summaries, and TOC alerts • Shibboleth institutional login • COUNTER/SUSHI compliance • Indexed in top A&I services

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Op Ed from page 34 It’s tempting to blame faceless corporate overlords for this, but I believe consumers are the co-equal culprits (and, in a sort of rough justice, the ultimate victims). Consumers have driven the bargains, supported the leaders, and tolerated the deals that are now coming back to haunt them through lower wages, stunted expectations, and limited choices. Recently, there has been an outbreak of discount fever within academia, resulting in testy negotiations around national or regional licenses.8 Some publishers have decided it’s time to take a more hard-line stance when faced with non-paying customers, which has surprised some institutions accustomed to retaining access even during protracted negotiations.9 Other types of discount fever have presented with an elegant-appearing set of symptoms, such as the recent European University Association (EUA) “Big Deals Survey Report” asserting that a switch to OA publishing could save the EU millions of dollars per year in expenditures.10 (Oddly, the main assertion is not addressed or demonstrated in the “report,” despite news coverage claiming a major revelation.11) There are also quasi-commercial outbreaks of magical economic thinking backed by governments and funders, such as the Érudit platform in Canada,12 which promises a new, more affordable home for Canadian scholars. The publishing community is quietly wondering if the funders and government are creating a white elephant, while the fundamental drivers of expense in the system — volume, complexity, and technology — grind on. In addition, nearly every discussion about APCs is either explicitly or implicitly about how low they can be. The fact that there is no “APC Plus” level that has emerged except via market power reinforces the notion that APCs must become cheaper and cheaper with time. Some of these assumptions are baked into projections, which are bound to prove unrealistic or inadvisable, take your pick. The recent claims by Frontiers that they anticipate a $2,000 APC on average illustrates a few tricks of the trade13 — tucking a 15.7% price increase within a claim of low pricing, bundling a range of prices in a single stated average, and claiming it’s all free somehow. In the midst of this short-term thinking is a set of irreconcilable ideas, namely the idea that publishers have to charge less and do more — manage more business models, deal with endless mandates and the related compliance complexity, review and reject more papers, invent and validate new impact measures, create and promulgate more and better technology, and support every little notion about research outputs academia can dream up, from text- and data-mining to open data. As we know, the volume of research has exploded over the past 20 years as China’s output has surpassed that of the U.S. or Europe, while those markets themselves have grown with increased emphasis on STEM and STEAM

36 Against the Grain / June 2018

educational outcomes. This volume-based pressure on the system is well-documented, and accounts for 90% of the increases in prices that publishers have to pass along to institutions.14 There is little to do about this without inhibiting science as a whole. Even OA will not serve as a remedy for a very simple reason — OA does not remove the profit motive, from either commercial firms or non-profits (which still seek surpluses and net income, despite their classification).15 It’s important to be clear on this — double-digit returns are normal for most businesses, no matter the source of funds, the way an organization is formed (commercial or non-profit), or for any other reason. One recent article captured short-term cheapness versus long-term support well, describing a set of Canadian universities opting to pay $236,000 for 160 titles versus $500,000 for 2,361 titles.16 While their expenditures fell by $264,000, their per-title price rose from $21 per journal to $1,475 per journal. Worse, the titles excluded were likely those that need the money the most — smaller titles in emerging fields, or social science titles — appealing to scholars and researchers who are already marginalized in some way, mainly because they’re interested in things outside the mainstream. Many scientific or cultural discoveries came because someone worked outside the mainstream. Bargain-hunting based on usage usually pre-ordains a popularity contest. Popularity is not a good measure of scientific or scholarly value. You might consider the best science to be the least popular initially, because it challenges the status quo. Preferring currently mainstream science is not a great way to ensure long-term scientific inquiry. The level of cheapness reached by some has become truly staggering, with VSNU in the Netherlands creating and disseminating a document outlining ways to get access to content without paying, even to the point of suggesting Sci-Hub as a viable alternative.17 When cultural norms are flouted to this degree, we’re in trouble. (The next time you think cultural norms aren’t important, ponder the traffic light. Red lights don’t stop cars; cultural norms about red lights do.) The changes to scholarly publishing over the past 20 years can be largely attributed to a system dealing with rising costs based on a rising volume of inputs without the commensurate increases in spending to support the volume and variety of outputs. Some of these changes have propelled some innovations, but I’m actually finding it difficult to think of any that have truly worked. What has worked are these following responses, which are still occurring: • Outsourcing editorial, production, and technology work to markets where labor is cheaper • Eliminating middle-management staff and substituting consultants as needed • Freezing salaries, reducing benefits, downsizing, or all of the above • Eliminating quality steps (copyediting, proofreading) and the associated staff

• Eliminating clerical, entry-level, and support staff, limiting both the diversity of the workforce and the ability for talented young professionals the entry-level jobs that can produce the CEO, Director, or VP of the 2040s • Acquiring companies with better margins to maintain overall profitability as core businesses are challenged on the expense side The diversity aspect of this is worth emphasizing. Eliminating certain types of jobs relates to how this disfavors diversification of the workforce. Kendzior’s book has compelling passages about what she terms the “credentialing” of society, which you can see when you look — teachers, police officers, and office workers who now need master’s degrees to qualify for the jobs they want. There is no longer a ladder to climb, but a credential to attain. This prohibits people without the means to spend time and money on school from contributing. Having an employment-based ladder allowed people to earn money while they learned, were promoted, and achieved. In practical terms currently, this new hurdle poses a barrier for exactly the people who would make the workforce more diverse. Well-off, well-positioned elites only cement their hold on power in a credentialing system. Think of how many great people you’ve worked with who didn’t have the “right” degree but had the acumen, hustle, wits, and smarts to run circles around others with degrees, and you see the more practical sacrifices a credentialing system imposes, as well. There is also a cost to diversity writ large — consolidation is a major way to squeeze costs out of the system while reducing uncertainty by increasing market power. As a result of the race to the bottom, we now have what one group described not inaccurately as an “oligopoly of academic publishers.”18 Non-profits, university presses, and others are profoundly threatened by cost-cutting attitudes. Stakeholders are also working in a vacuum, especially on the value side. One of the more striking findings in the otherwise unhelpful report from the EUA is that only 30% of negotiations with publishers involved university leadership.19 I’ve contemplated why this might be, and no possible explanation gives me any confidence that we’re on the right track to improving the perceived value of scholarly publishing in the academy. The challenge with all of this is that we have two irreconcilable ideas — we want better scientific literature screening, review, and features, but many players in the market want to pay less than ever for these things. Looking at the larger societal ways these irreconcilable ideas have resolved, it’s an ugly picture — a low-end of the market that just scrapes by, a gutted middle of the market that may never recover, barriers to economic mobility, and a top end of the market run by a few elite organizations that reflect the values of a limited set of people, places, and priorities. For the people involved, you have limited opportunities, stagnant salaries, job loss, and squandered careers and talent. continued on page 38

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ATG Interviews Jennifer Pesanelli Past President of the Society for Scholarly Publishing and Deputy Executive Director for Operations at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) by Tom Gilson (Associate Editor, Against the Grain) <gilsont@cofc.edu> and Katina Strauch (Editor, Against the Grain) <kstrauch@comcast.net> ATG: Jennifer, what led you to a career in scholarly publishing? Were there key challenges that had particular appeal? JP: After working for a small newspaper publisher, I took a job at Allen Press as an advertising sales representative for scholarly journals. It was my first real exposure to scholarly societies, and I worked on their journals covering subjects from veterinary pathology, to cosmetic surgery, to cactus and succulents. I was enamored with the idea that there seemed to be a society and a publication for anything and everything. My office was at the same location as the printing plant, so I had the opportunity to explore hundreds of titles. ATG: In late 2016, you were promoted to become Deputy Executive Director for Operations at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). What are your responsibilities, exactly? In particular, what does the Deputy Executive Director of Operations do at FASEB? JP: As the Deputy Executive Director for Operations at FASEB, I oversee multiple programs/departments including FASEB’s Society Management Services program, Campus Operations, the Science Research Conferences, and our Office of Publications. I served as the Director of Publications for 12 years as my role expanded to include other areas. Cody Mooneyhan is now the Director of Publications at FASEB, but I work with Cody and his team to publish our flagship journal, The FASEB Journal, and support our client societies with their publishing programs. In addition, Cody and I have been working on the launch of a new journal for FASEB, and we are very excited about this initiative. ATG: Obviously, as the current President, you are also heavily involved in the Society for Scholarly Publishing. What made you seek such a prominent leadership role? What do you see as SSP’s core mission? JP: I became involved with SSP more than 15 years ago and found tremendous value in the learning and networking opportunities afforded to me through SSP. I became involved with the Education Committee and found that topics I personally wanted, needed, to know more about were of interest to others as well, and being on the Education Committee, I could help pick topics and recruit speakers for areas of interest. When I was invited to run for a seat on the Board, I was excited to be involved with the strategic aspects of the society. Being approached to run for President was an honor and the ultimate opportunity to serve the organization that had become so important to me. SSP’s core mission really is about developing members through education, collaboration,

Against the Grain / June 2018

and networking to advance scholarly publishing and communication. We have some really strong programming that supports member education, and there is currently a task force exploring additional opportunities for SSP to provide training. ATG: What do you tell those new to scholarly publishing about SSP and why they should become involved? How have you benefitted from your membership? Has it helped your career directly? JP: Scholarly publishing can be extremely interesting and exciting. As noted previously, SSP has been a very valuable educational and networking resource for me. The things I’ve learned and the connections I’ve made have greatly impacted my career and allowed me to climb the ladder at FASEB as I’ve taken on new challenges and new roles in support of a successful publications program. ATG: What key initiatives did you hope to pursue and implement as President of SSP? JP: My term as SSP President is wrapping up, but I ran for the position with several intentions. My overall goals were to help ensure a resilient, viable SSP that would enable members to leverage SSP to learn about every aspect of scholarly publishing from evolving technologies to shifting business models; to engage with the SSP community to have a forum to cultivate, exchange, and challenge ideas; and to belong to an organization that respects and values diversity and individual contributions. Looking back on the past 11 months, I think we’ve made some good progress, and our strategic plan will ensure continued development in these areas. ATG: What would you like librarians to know about the challenges those in the world of scholarly publishing face? JP: Librarians are very much a part of this world. They are curators, educators, consum-

ers, providers, communicators, publishers, and so much more. We are facing these challenges together. ATG: And what should librarians know about SSP? Should they think about joining and becoming involved? JP: SSP deals with the full scope of scholarly communications of which librarians are a critical stakeholder. Their voices are not only welcome but a necessary part of the conversation. Our immediate past president, Rick Anderson is Associate Dean for Collections & Scholarly Communication in the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah. We also have librarians serving on our Board and Committees. I encourage all librarians to join SSP and be involved. ATG: On the other hand, what do you think scholarly publishing professionals should know about librarians and the challenges they face? JP: Scholarly publishing professionals need to know everything they can about librarians and the challenges they face. We all have limited time and resources and understanding as much as possible about each other makes us that much more effective and valuable to each other. As I said previously, we are all part of the same community. ATG: Are there avenues for fruitful collaboration between the two professions? Is there a place for SSP in fostering such collaborations? JP: SSP can absolutely foster collaborations. Not only is that another element in our mission, but we share common goals, especially around the dissemination of information and education, and we can work together to achieve those goals. ATG: Can you think of specific examples of librarian-publisher collaboration? Are there specific collaborative efforts that you’d like to see pursued? JP: I’ve experienced publisher-librarian collaboration on many issues including impacts of open access, archiving policies, and text and data mining, to name a few. I’ve participated in a number of initiatives (Chicago Collaborative, OSI) bringing both groups together to address grand challenges and meeting the needs of our mutual end-users. In terms of specific collaborative efforts I’d like to see pursued, I think it would be great to work together on potential opportunities for and impacts of AI on content delivery and even how AI is likely to redefine content. ATG: The theme for the 2018 SSP conference is “Scholarly Publishing at the Crosscontinued on page 38

<http://www.against-the-grain.com>

Interview — Jennifer Pesanelli from page 37 roads: What’s working, what’s holding us back, where do we go from here?” If you were making the keynote address at the conference how would you answer those questions? JP: There is so much to talk about in the context of this theme. What’s working? What’s holding us back? Where do we go from here? I’ll start in the middle and say that, to some degree, we hold ourselves back. It is human nature to stick with what we know and operate where we are comfortable. For those of us who work at scholarly societies, change can be especially challenging and often slow. We can look at what is working for us and others, but scholarly publishing is constantly evolving and there are so many opportunities related to technology, collaboration, business models, etc. A growth mindset is critical for those of us in the scholarly publishing and communication community, and the future I envision is full of possibilities. ATG: The value of peer review is hot topic in scholarly publishing today. Does the Society for Scholarly Publishing have an

official position on peer review? If so what is it? If not, why not? What is your personal view regarding the value of peer review? JP: SSP does not take official positions on specific subjects, but the idea that peer review is part of what defines scholarly publication is generally accepted. Personally, I think peer review is critical and even more important now than it used to be. There is so much information available on any subject, knowing that it was validated by experts in the field offers a degree of quality and assurance about the information. Peer review is also instrumental in the scientific process itself for indicating importance and veracity as well as ensuring rigor and safeguarding integrity. ATG: SSP and the Charleston Conference are collaborating on offering pre-conferences during each other’s annual meetings. Can you tell us about that please? JP: Yes, the SSP and Charleston Conference collaborations are a great opportunity for both organizations to broaden their exposure to each other and address topics of joint interest to our members. They are another way to strengthen our community.

Op Ed from page 36 Scholars, scientists, and researchers seem to value: • Quality editorial processes • A comprehensible pecking orders of prestige and achievement they can navigate as needed • Friendly, supportive, knowledgeable staff at the publications they choose to work with • Rapid decisions or, lacking that, understandable processes with good communication • Help from experts so they can improve their research reporting • Help from experts so they can better promote their publication events • Help with OA mandates, funder policies, data policies, and other complexities of modern publishing • Trust that they can move on to do other things once they’ve published, and that their works will be safeguarded To paraphrase Warren Buffet, price is what you pay, value is what you get. Some of us are so focused on price and this year’s budget that we lose sight of the value to science education, scholarship, students, future careers, Western cultural norms, innovation and invention, societal and economic progress, inclusion and diversity, and so much more. If we continue to let short-term temptations to save money drive the conversation around value, nobody will get what they want or need from our market, and the scholarly information economy will ultimately shrink, become less diverse at the organizational and individual levels, become more susceptible to corruption and interference, and become less valued as it deteriorates. Because so many careers, incentives, findings, and insights flow through these outlets — like it or not — the ultimate price will be stunted careers, diminished incentives to do productive science and scholarship, and fewer insights to improve the world. The race to the bottom has a destination that is all too obvious.

38 Against the Grain / June 2018

ATG: We suspect that as busy as you must be, things can get pretty hectic. What do you do to relax and unwind? Are there hobbies or activities that you particularly enjoy? Are there any good books or recent movies that you can recommend? JP: I love to spend time with my family and friends and especially enjoy sharing good meals or playing card games with them. That said, to really relax, I love diving into a good book. I especially enjoy memoirs and am currently reading Educated by Tara Westover who didn’t have any formal education prior to the age of 17 but was somehow driven to earn a PhD from Cambridge University. I’m fascinated by what inspires and motivates people to thrive. ATG: Jennifer, thank you so much for talking to us today. We really enjoyed it and we definitely learned a lot! JP: It has been my pleasure. Thank you for the opportunity.

Endnotes 1. https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2018/04/23/the-race-to-the-bottomshort-term-bargains-versus-long-term-vitality/ 2. https://www.amazon.com/View-Flyover-Country-Dispatches-Forgotten-ebook/dp/B076H4ZNPQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1524313705&sr=8-1&keywords=kendzior 3. https://apnews.com/dc312a7e503f4b7bb61a62013fea852d 4. https://www.denverpost.com/2018/04/06/as-vultures-circle-the-denverpost-must-be-saved/ 5. https://www.denverpost.com/2018/04/12/investor-group-raises-fundsdenver-post-purchase/ 6. http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/Tariffs-on-paper-will-hurt-usand-our-readers_166662818 7. https://www.epi.org/productivity-pay-gap/ 8. https://www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/universities-must-present-united-front-rising-journal-costs-research-librarians-say/?c=1#comments 9. https://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/52306/title/DutchUniversities--Journal-Publishers-Agree-on-Open-Access-Deals/ 10. http://www.eua.be/Libraries/publications-homepage-list/eua-big-dealssurvey-report---the-first-mapping-of-major-scientific-publishing-contractsin-europe 11. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/report-lifts-lid-cost-subscription-deals-publishers 12. https://www.erudit.org/en/ 13. https://blog.frontiersin.org/2017/12/08/frontiers-apcs-structure-and-rationale-2/ 14. https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2016/03/10/revisiting-have-journal-prices-really-increased-much-in-the-digital-age/ 15. https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2017/08/08/false-equivalency-are-non-profits-inherently-superior-to-for-profits/ 16. https://www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/universities-must-present-united-front-rising-journal-costs-research-librarians-say/?c=1#comments 17. http://www.openaccess.nl/sites/www.openaccess.nl/files/documenten/ howtogettothepdf_march_2018.pdf 18. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal. pone.0127502 19. http://www.eua.be/Libraries/publications-homepage-list/eua-big-dealssurvey-report---the-first-mapping-of-major-scientific-publishing-contractsin-europe

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ATG Interviews Jan Middendorp Author / Publisher, Druk Editions by Matthew Ismail (Director of Collection Development, Central Michigan University) <matthew.ismail@icloud.com> and Katina Strauch (Editor, Against the Grain) <kstrauch@comcast.net> Introduction: Jan Mitterdorp’s book Dutch Type (Rotterdam, 2004), an overview of font design in the Netherlands, has been out of print for ten years. A very good used copy is available today on Amazon for $495, however, suggesting that demand remains strong even after a decade! Now, I didn’t know about Jan Midderdorp’s work when he recently contacted ATG. Jan told us that he regained the rights to Dutch Type from the publisher and is starting a Kickstarter campaign to republish it. Given that ATG has connection to both the world of libraries and to publishers, Jan wondered if we could help him gain an audience for his campaign? I was immediately interested. Jan is a distinguished European journalist and critic of the arts and design and his book clearly still resonates with those who are passionate about type design. Since I have also sought to regain the rights to my work from a publisher, I was also somewhat envious that Jan is able to give his work a second chance! Rather than just help Jan with his marketing, I was very pleased that he consented to give us an interview. — MI ATG: Please tell us where you were born, what sort of education you had, how you come to speak such fluent English, and why you chose to become a journalist. JM: I was born in The Hague, a centre of Dutch rock and pop music in the ’60s and ’70s. Today it’s the place where the Royal Art Academy (or KABK) runs one of the world’s most renowned type design courses. As a teenager I was already writing and designing magazines and drawing logos for fun. I didn’t really consider studying at the KABK, because there were such talented illustrators in my high school class that I was totally intimidated. Also, I didn’t think of graphic design as a skill you could learn. But throughout my studies I continued making publications and posters. Nevertheless, language was my main focus. At school I had taken all three foreign languages — English, French and German — plus Latin. At 18, I decided to study modern Latin at university. That is: Italian. Which became my other second language. My first second language is English. I’ve been writing mainly in English for the past 15 years. Dutch is such a small culture… Now that I live in Berlin, German is becoming my fourth language, which used to be French. I have no trouble switching from one language to another, and I don’t consider that a great skill. Just something I do without great effort, like dancing.

40 Against the Grain / June 2018

I always considered myself a kind of journalist, or reporter. Professionally, I first wrote about theatre, dance and experimental performance. Occasionally music. Later I moved to design and typography — back to my earliest fascinations. See below. ATG: Where did you work as a journalist? Did you have a favorite assignment? JM: I wrote for the school newspaper at 16, for a couple of student papers at 23, and got my first professional assignments at a daily newspaper during college as a theatre critic. For a while I was a somewhat known critic of new theatre in Holland, Belgium and Italy. But things shifted. They became really interesting to me personally in the late 1980s, when I chanced upon people who were getting famous as trailblazers of communication. I met Neville Brody in London, and Emigre’s Rudy Vanderlans, a fellow Dutchman, in Berkeley. I did what was natural to me: I interviewed them, and published about them. That’s how my old hobbies became my profession, and I rolled into the typographic world. ATG: Your CV includes not just your work as a journalist since 1980, but also your work as an author, designer, teacher, and performer. Do you think of yourself primarily as a journalist or as something else? JM: If I had to choose one word that describes me, I’d say: critic. Of the arts, of typography, of society. And a DJ, which is also in my CV. ATG: Holland is a very well-established center of publishing, boasting such venerable institutions as E. J. Brill, Wolters Kluwer, and Elsevier. Did this have anything to do with your interest in such a specific aspect of design? If not, what is the origin of your interest in type design?

JM: Oh, I don’t think I was very aware of the international import of those names. Elsevier was also the title of a conservative weekly, Wolters Kluwer was where our school dictionaries came from. Brill was special to me because they made such exotic books, some of which ended up in a remainders book store — a national chain — and became really cheap. That store, called De Slegte, became my main source of arcane typographic publications once things got more serious and when I began thinking in the late 1980s of typography and type design as a niche where I could be of some use. I had no talent for type design, in spite of my attempts at lettering as a young guy; but I understood letterforms, and did realize I had a good feeling for page layout, which allowed me to become a selftaught book and magazine designer. ATG: How has your type design-related work changed since you first became interested? JM: I happened to move from Holland to Ghent in Belgium towards 1990, at a moment when FontShop Benelux (Belgium/Netherlands/Luxemburg) did the same. I first got to know them as a customer, then proposed a piece for their little magazine. A few years later they gave me carte-blanche to be the editor, main writer, art director and designer of a new quarterly magazine, which I called Druk. The English phrase that explained that versatile Dutch word was: “Druk means printing, pressure, busy and crowded.” All true, and all applicable to a designer’s life. So people in Belgium and the Netherlands identified with that mag’s name. I really enjoyed watching, up close, the adventures in the laboratory that was digital type design in the 1990s and early 2000s. My work for the regional FontShop helped finance the research for my first books on graphic design: a Dutch-language history of graphic design since 1945 in The Hague, and my encyclopedic survey of type and lettering in the Netherlands, which came out in 2004. For both books I interviewed perhaps a hundred designers of all ages, which was fantastic fun. After I moved to Berlin I worked for FontShop International for a while, making an exhibition and a book about the FontFont type library with Erik Spiekermann. But after that they didn’t see a role for me, and I continued to design and occasionally translate books for publishers in the Netherlands and Belgium (later I wrote a few for Gestalten in Berlin). But then I was fished up by various companies in the type trade. Ever the freelancer, I worked for Linotype, LucasFonts, continued on page 41

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Interview — Jan Middendorp from page 40 and finally MyFonts. Edited their newsletters for nine years, and fought for quality control, creating an internal group I called the Review Team. ATG: If you were just beginning your career today, do you think you would still become interested in type design? JM: It’s complicated. Its research component has become very technical, and esthetically the spirit is not as subversive as 20 years back. There’s still a sense of adventure, but a different kind of adventure. But living in Berlin, probably Europe’s capital of type design, is wonderful because design culture here is so multifaceted. The type world is energetic, full of new initiatives, very democratic and friendly, and with a nice distribution of ages, nationalities and gender. So I am where I should be and have probably contributed a bit to what the place is now. ATG: Why are you based in Germany these days? Does it have advantages over The Netherlands? JM: See above. I’ve been away from the Netherlands since 1989 — was only there part-time during a couple of years around 2000 while preparing two books on Dutch design. I lived in Belgium for 16 years, and have been in Berlin since 2005. Each move felt natural to me. ATG: Your book “Dutch Type” was published in Rotterdam in 2004. Why are you seeking to reprint it in 2018? JM: There were various reasons not to do a reprint right after the book sold out in 2007-2008. Publishers often fear printing one edition too many — which can turn a profitable project into the opposite. When Dutch Type sold out so soon, who could guarantee that there’d be 3,000 more buyers to justify a second printing? But we’re now almost 15 years later and I’ve often had complaints about the book being untraceable or embarrassingly high-priced. Having quit at MyFonts, now a Monotype subsidiary, and having gone through a period of sickness and convalescence, I was suddenly in the right mood and felt the right energy to revive the book and become a self-publisher. I had help from friends. I might never have gotten around to it without the gentle pushing and assistance from my friends Ramiro Espinoza and Paula Mastrangelo, two Argentinian designers in greater The Hague. So I was chuffed (and flabbergasted) when the minimum necessary for producing the book was reached in less than 24 hours after launching the Kickstarter campaign. ATG: Why was the self-publishing route more attractive to you than having “Dutch Type” re-published by a traditional publisher? What gave you the idea to launch a Kickstarter campaign to finance the book’s publication? Did you consider any other avenues for financing besides Kickstarter?

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JM: I was on the fence for a long time. The advantages of an international publisher are obvious. To find your book in a bookshop in Paris or São Paulo is a thrill, and that happens thanks to large-scale distribution. Not easy to pull that off on your own. But having written and co-edited more than a dozen design books, I did have some experiences that were a bit less satisfying. I wrote and designed a book that teachers in Europe and the U.S. praised as the only typography primer their students thoroughly enjoyed, but my small Dutch publisher lacked international punch to make Shaping Text a real success. As for Dutch Type, my original idea was to update it to 2018, which would imply adding 15 years, rewriting a big part of the text and replacing images, and thereby partly destroying the original book. Which would be a pity. It seemed like a more efficient plan to reprint the 2004 book, which lots of people craved for. I had already collected a long list of individuals who were looking for the book and couldn’t afford the steep online pricing of stray copies of the first printing. The literally overnight success in reaching the Kickstarter minimum told me I must have done something right. I chose U.S.-based Kickstarter in spite of the growing amount of European sites that offer a similar service because, as the original platform in this genre (or one of them), Kickstarter has become synonymous with crowdfunding and is simply trusted by so many backers, especially in the U.S. but actually across the world. ATG: For those unfamiliar with Kickstarter, can you explain exactly how you are using it to fund the re-publication of “Dutch Type”? How can people become part of the campaign? JM: It’s a smart amalgam of begging around your circle of friends and family for a little investment in your crazy project that no publisher or manufacturer believes in (yet) mixed with social media, and online shopping. I am not sure if anything like that existed in pre-digital times. It’s a disruptive new tool, but in a good way. It empowers people with unconventional ideas — about creating stuff or about social responsibility — to do it their way and not give in to marketing principles or corporate conservatism. As I have much less overhead than major publishers do, I can reinvest extra money into the book. I can decide to print my book at a Belgian printer I respect and can visit, instead of sending it to Hong Kong or Singapore and fuel its digital footprint. I can make the cover more attractive by adding silver silk screen, like the original version, pay the people who revived the Quark XPress files a little more, and put some money aside to finance future publishing ideas.

you have a projected timeline for its publication? Once the book is re-published how will interested readers and libraries get copies? JM: In 2000, while living in Belgium, I founded Druk Editions (named after the oneman magazine I made for FontShop there) to publish my very first type book: Lettered, about the work of Brussels type designer and artist Clotilde Olyff. So I thought that in order to revive Dutch Type, it would be neat to revive Druk Editions as well. I fortunately have some time to organize distribution, and collaborate with larger companies to do that professionally. ATG: Do you have a marketing plan to promote “Dutch Type” once it is re-published? JM: See above. I am not eager to turn myself into a big-time publisher. But I do hope to self-publish or co-publish a follow-up in the form of a magazine-as-a-book. The French called this “mook.” ATG: What new projects are you working on? JM: Well, as I told you, when Dutch Type was hard to find, people naturally asked whether I would produce an updated second edition. For a while that was my plan, but I had so many new projects — books, articles, design assignments, eventually an informal type foundry called Fust & Friends (http:// fustandfriends.com/) — that I opted for a revival of the original book, without throwing away a quarter of it to make room for the new. But there is new stuff, and I do think there is room for publications about it. The Netherlands don’t even have a major printed design magazine any more. But instead of going for the encyclopedic again it might be nicer to follow my intuition and write about people and phenomena that I think are fascinating. Perhaps make that magazine-book a semestral thing, with articles by me and others and nice big pictures, and call it 21st-Century Dutch Type, or Dutch Type Now?

As for the last question: The campaign still runs until June 23, 2018, and can be found via bit.ly/DutchType. ATG: We understand that the book will be re-published by your own imprint Druk Editions, located in Ghent and Berlin. Do

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Book Reviews — Monographic Musings Column Editor: Regina Gong (Open Educational Resources (OER) Project Manager/Head of Technical Services and Systems, Lansing Community College Library) <gongr1@lcc.edu> Column Editor’s Note: They say all good things must come to an end. After seventeen issues and ninety-eight book reviews written by my amazing book reviewers, I am moving on. Though I enjoy serving as your book review editor for the past three years, it’s time for me to pass on the torch to my friend and fellow ATG column editor, Corey Seeman. This fall 2018 semester, I will be starting with my Ph.D. in Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education (HALE) at Michigan State University. I’ve been thinking about pursuing my doctorate degree for a long time, and I’m finally at a stage in my life and career where I can fulfill this lifelong dream. I intend to keep my full-time job at LCC while I’m doing my Ph.D., so needless to say, my plate is going to be very full. I would like to thank Katina and Tom for their trust and support. Both of you have been so helpful and open to whatever suggestions I may have with regards to this column. Tom and I always make it a point to have breakfast both at ALA Midwinter and Annual Conferences. I hope we can still continue that. I look forward to coming back to Charleston in November to see everyone. I’m not really out of the ATG family because I’m doing a guest editorial on OER for next year’s February issue. I would also like to thank Toni Nix for always keeping me on track with deadlines and for doing a great job in proofing and layout of this column. You always are a joy to work with Toni. Lastly, I would like to thank all my awesome book reviewers (there’s too many of you to mention) who without them this column would not be possible. You always came through each time, and you all make my job easy since your reviews are well-written, thoughtful, and insightful. I’m sure Corey will enjoy working with you all as well. Please stay and keep on reviewing books. In the September 2018 issue, Corey’s byline will take my place. It’s been my pleasure doing this column, and I promise to be back as a reviewer in future issues. Until then, have a wonderful, relaxing, and enjoyable summer break. Happy reading! — RG

Verminksi, Alana, and Blanchat, Kelly Marie. Fundamentals of Electronic Resources Management. ALA Fundamentals Series. Chicago, IL: Neal-Schuman, 2017. 9780838915417. 251 pages. $65. Reviewed by Frances Krempasky (Electronic Resources Management Librarian, Lansing Community College Library) <krempf@lcc.edu> Electronic resource librarians often find themselves navigating a complex myriad of tasks. We solve resource access issues, decipher e-resource license agreements, and are the “bridge” between Technical Service departments and collection management and reference colleagues. The job of managing electronic resources involves many skills, including the ability to organize complex processes and workflows, communicate effectively, and negotiate with vendors. In Fundamentals of Electronic Resources Management, authors Alana Verminski, Collection Development Librarian at the University of Vermont, and Kelly Marie Blanchat, Electronic Resources Librarian at Yale University, present well written, organized, and relevant content that will be of interest to both new and experienced electronic resource librarians. This book is part of the “ALA fundamentals series,” and it epitomizes the series title. The ten chapters in this volume range from “getting your feet wet,” to marketing electronic resources, and staying up-to-date with emerging trends. The authors must be commended for including topics that are important to e-resource librarians and presenting them in a cohesive, thorough, and understandable manner. Chapters on more complex

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topics, such as setting up and maintaining access, and usage statistics, include information that the reader can understand and immediately use. The authors bold keywords in the text and include a glossary at the end of the book as well as an index. Appendices include an “Open Access Resource Rubric” and a “License Review Checklist.” Each chapter has blocks of content that further showcase information on a topic such as “Sample troubleshooting triage” for access issues. Each chapter also includes references and “Further Readings.” As an Electronic Resources Librarian at a community college, I find myself wishing I had this book available to me when I was new to the field. Chapter 1, an introduction to e-resources, includes background information on the e-resources life cycle and includes pointers to NASIG’s “Core Competencies for Electronic Resources Librarians,” and TERMS (Techniques for Electronic Resource Management). The chapter “Ways to pay,” offers a clear description of electronic resource purchase models. It distinguishes subscription databases and purchasing models for eBooks, journals, and streaming media content. As we move toward more “just-in-time” purchase strategies, a discussion of PPV (pay-per-view) journal articles, PDA (Patron Driven Acquisitions) and DDA (Demand Driven Acquisitions) eBooks and streaming videos are presented. Other key areas of focus in this book are the negotiation and licensing of electronic resources and the structure and language used in license agreements and what areas should be reviewed. Verminski and Blanchat also include a chapter on managing e-resources and detail various authentication methods, activation of a Knowledge Base (KB), setting up a discovery system, link resolvers, and OpenURL. Included are steps for “Sample troubleshooting triage,” terrific information for anyone trying to resolve access issues. Often, new electronic resources librarians are stymied by usage statistics, and may not be familiar with COUNTER (Counting Online Usage of NeTworked Reports). This book presents a thorough overview of usage statistics and reporting, including basic principles for documenting workflows and investigating usage data for problems. Electronic resources librarians are often challenged by new technologies, changes in publishing, scholarly communication, and user needs and expectations. Verminski and Blanchat illustrate these changes in the last chapter of the book, which focuses on emerging trends and the impact of change on electronic resource management. For example, Open access (OA) has expanded to include low-cost access to scholarly content. Publishers are struggling to develop OA pricing models that are sustainable. Added to the mix are issues that librarians and publishers are experiencing over the sharing of scholarly articles on Twitter, or Sci-Hub, which is pirating purchased institutional content. The authors suggest that it may be libraries that educate users to be lifelong information seekers and teach them to find and evaluate legal OA content. The high costs of textbooks is a continuing problem for students and educators. In response to this, Open Educational Resources (OER) have been created as a textbook alternative. These resources are free of cost and access barriers. With an OER Creative Commons license, users can adapt and share work. Another focus for libraries is the creation of institutional repositories for their scholarly research work, including articles, theses, and dissertations. Electronic resource librarians must be aware of these changes in scholarly publishing and how they impact e-resource management. This book is a delight to read, and I highly recommend it. New electronic resources librarians will be grateful for the depth and clarity of the “fundamental” content. Experienced electronic resources librarians will also find this book valuable, especially as a reminder about good practices in e-resource management, and to keep aware of new trends in the publishing industry, higher education, and the vendor landscape. continued on page 44

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Book Reviews from page 42 Yi, Zhixian. Marketing Services and Resources in Information Organizations. Cambridge, MA: Chandos Publishing, 2018. 9780081007983. 154 pages. $78.95. Reviewed by Ashley Fast Bailey (Director, Collection Development and Workflow Solutions, Central and Southeastern U.S., GOBI Library Solutions) <abailey@ybp.com> Marketing Services and Resources in Information Organizations by Dr. Zhinxian Yi is a practical and theoretical work on marketing strategies and approaches to promoting information organizations in the twenty-first century. Dr. Yi is a lecturer at the School of Information Studies at Charles Sturt University (Australia), where he serves as the Leadership, Specialization Coordinator. He based this work on his marketing courses and practical studies of academic librarian’s perceptions and perspectives on marketing. This book introduces basic marketing concepts, how to utilize services and resources in the digital age, and gives the reader empirical-based techniques, strategies, and approaches. The chapters integrate real-world experiences and surveys, strategies, and approaches to marketing in an information organization. Dr. Yi opens the work by laying the groundwork for subsequent chapters by defining and expounding on marketing and what that means to information organizations, as well as the broader marketplace. This is the first step in the marketing process, and by defining marketing in the context of an information organization and expanding on why it is important, Dr. Yi brings in the perspective of marketing in a non-profit. Marketing is critical in identifying the needs of users and how those needs can be met and exceeded. Marketing for an information organization has a various number of steps that are expounded on throughout this work. The second step in the market research process is identifying users’ needs and wants. These needs can be individual needs, physical needs, and social needs. Dr. Yi discusses techniques to practically uncover these. From surveys to interviews to focus groups, these approaches can be used to gather information. Surveys and results from past studies are included throughout the work, and this chapter has examples of analyzing these methods. Market segmentation, targeting, and positioning is the third step in the market research process. Marketing Services and Resources in Information Organizations illustrates the importance of these pieces by outlining how segmenting a user base into smaller groups can provide an organization with more targeted marketing efforts and yield great results. Dr. Yi provides criteria for effectively segmenting markets and the methods used to do so. Going right into the fourth step of the marketing process, the marketing mix decision, Dr. Yi defines and expounds on this strategy. There are seven P’s to the marketing mix, and each is broken down in this work as it relates to a non-profit marketing strategy. In addition, tools to create a marketing mix for an information organization are outlined. Strategic marketing planning, implementation, and evaluation is the last piece of the marketing process. It is important to craft a marketing plan to implement all the information gathered and to have a process forward. Dr. Yi gives practical steps for writing the marketing plan and providing the elements that need to be a part of it. After the writing process, the organization must implement and evaluate the plan to address and meet the needs of its users. By being proactive and innovative in approaches, an information organization can demonstrate its value to its users and stakeholders. After a marketing plan is implemented, ongoing evaluation is the key. As steps are executed, the organization should keep tabs on the results. Marketing Services and Resources in Information Organizations concludes by addressing various techniques for marketing electronic resources, using social media to market to the user base, and discussing the future of marketing services and resources.

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Dr. Yi uses practical explanations, survey-based results, and various techniques to outline how the marketing process can be valuable to non-profile information organizations. Marketing Services and Resources in Information Organizations is a work that can serve as a guide to navigating the marketing process. By exploring the topic of marketing in a broad sense, it is a resourceful tool and guidebook to provide administrators, instructors, and even students with a broad understanding of marketing to information organizations and views on this process from multiple perspectives.

Burke, John R. Library Technology Companion: A Basic Guide for Library Staff. 5th ed. Chicago, IL: ALA Neal-Schuman Publishers. 2016. 9780838913826. 232 pages. $80.00. Reviewed by Dao Rong Gong (Systems Librarian, Michigan State University Libraries) <gongd@msu.edu> Writing comprehensive guidebooks on library technologies can be jarring. Now on its 5th edition, this book takes off with “a complete reorganization and update” from the previous 2013 edition. The author John J. Burk, an academic library director, has written several technology related books and is actively involved in the library information technology field. His audience are library professionals and staff in need of essential know-how on technology planning and implementation, or on dealing with patrons who may or may not be technology savvy. The book is intended to be a “one-stop overview of all technologies used in libraries today.” The text can be a how-to guidebook or a user’s manual and comes with some handy review questions at the end of each chapter, with selected reading list on related topics. Other features include an index and a glossary of information technology related terms. Although as a guidebook, the list of glossary could be a bit more comprehensive. Often guidebooks or manuals written by information professionals tend to be technology-centric. Avoiding extensive technological details, this book, on the other hand, holds multi-dimensional views for approaching the topic. In defining the library technology, it started with historical perspectives in the application of technology. It’s then followed by a unique survey instrument that the author designed and collected in 2015 to illustrate how library staff members are using technology (chapter 2), adding a very intriguing part to this book. In another chapter, he picks his argument from societal and technological angles, talking about the universal design, digital divide and accessibility, which have been getting more attention and yet remains unresolved (chapter 12). Information Management System (MIS) is often taught in business school rather than library schools. But the essence of MIS can be essentially applied to the networked computational tools in support of the library operation, for teaching, learning or purely recreation. This concept can be well aligned to this book. “Today or near future, we will have what might be called a complex library,” the author says, it’s “an amalgamation of various types of media and information sources, reaching toward amazing changes (artificial intelligence-enhanced finding tools for vast digital libraries)” (p.180). For library information technology planners, predicting what lies ahead is not merely a curiosity. The author takes this rather challenging task through his own crystal ball in the last section of his book (chapter 15, 16 and 17). Readers find an interesting read for technologies that are dead, dying or on the chopping block. Those go beyond the matter of preservation. In the section “trends and technologies to watch,” the author offered his own list of things that we ought to pay attention to. At the end, readers find advice about how to keep track of information technology development, a popular topic among IT professionals. Also a long list of bibliography that prepares people willing to take it on and stay on top of the game by themselves. As a companion book, it may not have all the details about library technologies, but it offers a good perspective about trending issues from the library technology world.

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Collecting to the Core — The Fall of the Roman Empire by Fred W. Jenkins (Associate Dean for Collections & Operations and Professor, University of Dayton Libraries; Ancient History, Classical Languages and Literatures Subject Editor, Resources for College Libraries) <fjenkins1@udayton.edu> Column Editor: Anne Doherty (Resources for College Libraries Project Editor, CHOICE/ACRL) <adoherty@ala-choice.org> Column Editor’s Note: The “Collecting to the Core” column highlights monographic works that are essential to the academic library within a particular discipline, inspired by the Resources for College Libraries bibliography (online at http://www.rclweb.net). In each essay, subject specialists introduce and explain the classic titles and topics that continue to remain relevant to the undergraduate curriculum and library collection. Disciplinary trends may shift, but some classics never go out of style. — AD

n 1996 Glen Bowersock dismissed the fall of Rome as a paradigm, saying that it is “no longer needed, and like the writing on a faded papyrus, it no longer speaks to us.”1 Many books and articles on the end of the Roman Empire have appeared since, most recently Bertrand Lançon’s La chute de l’Empire roman: histoire sans fin in late 2017; his subtitle, “story without end,” says it all.2 The idea of the decline and fall of the greatest empire in the history of the world retains its fascination, despite the views of many contemporary historians, who see transformation rather than decline. It remains a topic fraught with problems. When did the Roman Empire fall? Why? Some view the sack of Rome by Alaric in 410 as the pivotal event, others the removal of Romulus Augustulus as the last Roman emperor in the west in 476, still others the death in 565 of Justinian I, the last Eastern Roman emperor to hold a significant part of the west, including Rome itself. One can also make a case for the fall of Constantinople and the Eastern Roman Empire in 1453. Though Greek in speech and culture, the Byzantines called themselves Ῥωμαίοι (Romans) until the end; it was German historian and humanist Hieronymous Wolf who first called them Byzantine in 1557. As for causes of decline and fall, Edward Gibbon put forth over two dozen; in 1984 Alexander Demandt identified more than 200 proposed by various scholars.3 This brief overview will look at a handful of key works exploring the end of the Roman Empire, with emphasis on recent work in English. Though he drew heavily upon predecessors such as the French historian Le Nain de Tillemont, Edward Gibbon’s History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire stands as the seminal and iconic work on the subject, as well as a monument of English prose.4 First published from 1776-88, it was received with great acclaim and soon translated into French, German, and Italian. Nearly all subsequent work builds on or argues with Gibbon in one way or another. Gibbon begins with a survey of the Antonine age (98-180), which he called the “most happy and prosperous” (Chapter I) in the history of humanity. The narrative of the decline proper begins with the reign of

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Commodus (180-192) and wends its leisurely way through the division of empire into east and west, the end of the western empire in 476, the history of the eastern empire until its fall in 1453, and the history of the city of Rome from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries. Gibbon identified multiple causes for the decline of Rome, most famously the rise of Christianity and the effect of barbarian invasions. Many of the causes he put forth reflect a decline in civic obligation and virtue among Roman citizens. As a philosophical historian of the Enlightenment, he thought that decline “was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness” (Chapter XXXVIII). Gibbon was long the dominant narrative, despite criticism of his anti-Christian posture. His successors argued details, but few questioned the basic notion of decline and fall. Everything changed in 1971 when Peter Brown published The World of Late Antiquity: From Marcus Aurelius to Mohammed and founded the new field of Late Antique studies.5 He declares in his preface that “it is only too easy to write about the Late Antique world as if it were a melancholy tale of ‘Decline and Fall’: of the end of the Roman empire as viewed from the West.”6 Brown shifts the narrative to one of transformation and innovation in Late Antique society, mentioning the sack of Rome in 410 and the fall of the western empire in 476 almost in passing. His focus is on social and cultural change, shaped by the rise of Christianity. Continuing in this vein of revisionism, in 1980 Walter Goffart rejected the long-standing belief that massive barbarian migrations and invasions brought down the western empire. His influential Romans and Barbarians, A.D. 418-584 contends instead that the empire absorbed and accommodated smallish groups of barbarians in a series of “undramatic adjustments.”7 Gibbon would have been shocked to read Goffart’s assertion that “what we call the Fall of the Western Roman Empire was an imaginative experiment that got a little out of hand.”8 Twenty-five years later, Goffart published a sequel, Barbarian Tides, in which he again argues against the many scholars who attribute the fall of Rome completely or in large measure to Germanic barbarians.9 He devotes much effort to disproving the existence of a “German” people in Roman antiquity, contra generations of German scholars who constructed a quasi-mythic account of German national origins. By 2005 a reaction to the ideas of transformation and accommodation had set in. Bryan Ward-Perkins, an archaeologist, renewed the case for the barbarian invasions as the major cause of Rome’s fall in his The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization.10 He argues that by the fifth century, Rome lacked the resourc-

es (men and money) to resist the multiple threats of barbarian invasions. Ward-Perkins juxtaposes the “horrors of war” found in the sources and the painful accommodations made by occupied Romans to the “sunnier” picture found in Goffart; in an amusing send-up he writes that “some of the recent literature on the Germanic settlements reads like an account of a tea party at the Roman vicarage.”11 He traces a significant decline in Roman material comfort and economic activity in the fifth century leading up to the fall of the western empire in 476. Ward-Perkins briefly addresses the survival of the Eastern Roman Empire until 1453, ascribing it in no small part to luck. In the next year Peter Heather’s The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians also argued that Rome’s fall was due to pressure from barbarian invasions.12 He sees the empire as relatively stable for much of the fourth century, before the catastrophic defeat of the Roman army by the Goths at Adrianople in 378. Heather posits that the Gothic invasion of 476-478 and an earlier cluster of invasions by Goths, Vandals, Alans and others in 405-408 were key events in the fall of the western empire, even if it limped along for another 65 years. He holds the Huns to be indirectly responsible by driving the Germanic peoples west into the empire. As the barbarians took over more and more Roman territory, tax revenues declined and the imperial government was less and less able to maintain adequate military forces and the central bureaucracy that governed the Roman state. The former Roman provincials gradually lost much of their “Romanness,” as Heather calls it, under their new barbarian masters. While Heather is a bit more conciliatory toward the supporters of transformation than is Ward-Perkins, he firmly pushes the case for Roman decline and for barbarians as the major cause of the fall of the western empire in 476. In 2009 Adrian Goldsworthy picked up the banner of decline and fall in his How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower, which in the original British edition was titled The Fall of the West.13 Like Gibbon, he takes the death of Marcus Aurelius in 180 as his point of departure, although he stops with the death of Justinian rather than continuing the story of the eastern empire. He views deposition of Romulus Augustulus in 476 as the actual end of the empire, with Justinian a brief renewal of former glory before the eastern empire became a rump state. Goldsworthy tells a story of internal conflicts as well as the external threats of barbarians and Persians. He sees the incessant civil wars and revolts that occurred from the end of the Antonine age until the fall of the western empire as a major cause continued on page 46

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Collecting to the Core from page 45 of Rome’s decline. Not only did the conflicts themselves sap the strength of Rome, fear of usurpation led the later emperors to make the army and bureaucracy less effective in their efforts to forestall successful revolts. He notes that scholars who favor a story of transformation over decline tend to focus on cultural, social, and religious themes. Goldsworthy, like Heather before him, suggests that neglect of both narrative and military history has biased these arguments. Kyle Harper has taken a very different approach to explaining the fall of the empire in his 2017 work The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire.14 He interweaves Rome’s historical narrative from the Antonines to Justinian with another of climate change, natural disaster, and disease. A favorable climate fostered Rome’s growth and prosperity, but a transitional period of climate instability (ca. 150-450) followed by a little ice age contributed to its decline, as did multiple outbreaks of infectious disease. It is a fascinating and frightening story, one that reflects the concerns and fears of the early twenty-first century as we face the prospect of cataclysmic climate change. Every age, every historian, has their own version of the fate of Rome. Gibbon reflects the concerns of the Enlightenment. The apostles of transformation and accommodation reflect an age of multiculturalism, in which western civilization has been dethroned to become one culture among many and empire is out of fashion altogether. As one reviewer of Ward-Perkins and Heather aptly observed, their works reflect the outlook of a post-9/11 world. Harper addresses the fall of Rome through the lens of climate change, perhaps the preeminent threat of our time. In La chute de l’Empire romain: une histoire sans fin, Bertrand Lançon approaches the various interpretations and explanations of the decline and fall of Rome as a series of mirrors which reflect the ideologies and predispositions that each historian brings. And in closing, we may observe with him “à chacun, sa ‘chute’.”15

Endnotes 1. Bowersock, Glen W. “The Vanishing Paradigm of the Fall of Rome.” Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 49, no. 8 (1996): 29-43, 43. 2. Lançon, Bertrand. La chute de l’Empire romain: une histoire sans fin. Paris: Perrin, 2017. 3. Demandt, Alexander. Der Fall Roms: Die Auflösung des römischen Reiches im Urteil der Nachwelt. München: Beck, 1984. 4. Gibbon, Edward. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. London: Printed for W. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1776-88. Standard modern editions edited by John Bagnall Bury (London: Methuen, 1897-1900) and by David Womersley (London: Penguin, 1995).* 5. Brown, Peter. The World of Late Antiquity: From Marcus Aurelius to Mohammed. London: Thames and Hudson, 1971.* 6. Brown, The World of Late Antiquity, 7. 7. Goffart, Walter. Barbarians and Romans, A.D. 418-584: The Techniques of Accommodation. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980.* 8. Goffart, Barbarians and Romans, 35. 9. Goffart, Walter. Barbarian Tides: The Migration Age and the Later Roman Empire. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006. 10. Ward-Perkins, Bryan. The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.* 11. Ward-Perkins, The Fall of Rome, 82. 12. Heather, Peter. The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.* 13. Goldsworthy, Adrian. How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009.* 14. Harper, Kyle. The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2017.* 15. Lançon, La chute de l’Empire romain, 299. Translated: “to each his ‘fall.’” *Editor’s note: An asterisk (*) denotes a title selected for Resources for College Libraries.

Booklover — Black and White Column Editor: Donna Jacobs (Retired, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC 29425) <donna.jacobs55@gmail.com>

ave you ever witnessed a conversation where the participants are a family, a bunch of close long-term friends, a squad, a couple or confidants? There is usually a code spoken when referring to specifics in the conversation or aside references to situations or circumstances known only to the “group” or surface explanations where the “group” always understands the deeper realities. The back-story of the varying codes can be learned — if offered, but sometimes gets lost in translation. A Sport of Nature by Nadine Gordimer reads like such a conversation. “He was waiting to see if there was any need to explain what could not be said, whether the experience of this white girl with whom nothing had needed an explanation, so far, went so far as to ‘follow him’ as she would put it.” Gordimer begins the novel by offering the reader the Oxford English Dictionary definition for “Lusus naturae — Sport of nature: A plant, animal, etc., which exhibits abnormal variation or a departure from the parent stock or type…a spontaneous mutation; a new variety produced in this way.” This variation, spontaneity and departure from parental stock is introduced in the first line of

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the story: “Somewhere along the journey the girl shed one name and emerged under the other……she threw Kim up to the rack with her school pajama and took on Hillela.” Hillela continues to develop her unique phenotypic behavior brought on by this spontaneous act and directed by the racially charged environment in which she exists. An exploration of Gordimer’s biography identifies elements of her life experiences that are reflected in this novel: Gordimer’s parents are Jewish immigrants to South Africa (Hillela comes from a Jewish background), Gordimer’s mother is an activist influenced by the racial problems in South Africa (Hillela’s aunt is an activist influenced by the racial problems in South Africa), Gordimer’s home was raided by the local police confiscating family letters and diaries (there is a raid on one of Hillela’s lovers’ apartment where his works are confiscated), and Gordimer herself was involved in the anti-apartheid movement to the point that several of her books were banned by the apartheid regime (the course of Hillela’s life, her many love affairs, her worldly experiences, her marriages and thus this story are all entwined in the anti-apartheid movement).

“It was dangerous to believe anything open, while holed up in refugee status where everything is ulterior. They stared past, willing her to go. Then someone walked in whom she did know. She began from that moment to have credibility of her own: he came back, the man who had appeared so black, so defined, so substantial from out of water running mercurial with light. He had come between them, a girl and man in the sea, paling them in the assertion of his blackness, bearing news whose weight of reality was the obsidian of his form. A slight acquaintance seems more that it was when two people meet again in an unexpected place. Although he had not acknowledged her when he rose from the sea, and she had only put in a word here and there in the conversations he had led at Ma Sophie’s, he took her by the shoulders in greeting, shook her a little, comradely, and she was close enough to see the lines made by dealing with the white man, down from either side of his mouth, and the faint nicked scars near the ears made by blacks in some anterior continued on page 47

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Wryly Noted — Books About Books Column Editor: John D. Riley (Against the Grain Contributor and Owner, Gabriel Books) <jdriley@comcast.net> https://www.facebook.com/Gabriel-Books-121098841238921/ The Book: An Homage author Burkhard Spinnen; illustrated by Line Hoven. (ISBN: 978-1-56792-607-1, David R. Godine, Publisher, 2018. $19.95 Hardcover, 140 pgs.)

his short book reads both like a diary and a checklist of every aspect of a bibliophile’s career. Running a mere one hundred and forty pages it still manages to contain forty-two separate essays under five headings. If you are a book collector you will find a kindred spirit here who explores such topics as “The Beautiful Book,” “The Signed Book” and “The Annotated Book,” among many others. Bernard Spinnen is a German author and book collector who can tell the history of the book from many different angles. He has been a collector for over forty years and an author for the last twenty years and so he has seen all of the upheaval in publishing, reading, and collecting. Through it all he has remained a lover of the printed word and a champion of all types of book arts. The black and white illustrations by Line Hoven perfectly capture this nostalgic, but impassioned calling. Bernard Spinnen’s work might be considered a bit idiosyncratic, based on his fixation on printed books, but any of us who collect and love books will find his subjects to be quite familiar. For example, his meditation on “New Books” explores our delight

Booklover from page 46 life. — How did you find out I’d just arrived? — The shaking of her head, over the sweet warm drinks from a cupboard, became a sign to them both; she must have known without knowing. He was a man who did not laugh loosely but had a slow-developing strong smile when confirming something he was sure of. He was not curious about her presence in the country; the norms of exile were constant displacement and emplacement on orders not to be questioned, or by circumstances over which the one in refuge had no control, either. That fact that she did not have a refuge also gave her some credibility for him — what black man would believe a white girl would leave the luxuries of home without reasons valid for refuge?” And thus begins the love between Hillela and Whaila that is formalized by marriage, consummated vividly and punctuated with conception. What tone will this new expression from the spontaneous mutation take? It is a question that Hillela ponders: “Our colour. She cannot see the dolour that relaxes his face, closes his

Against the Grain / June 2018

at opening a freshly printed book, however old the text may be. We all enjoy opening a well printed new book and finding that it stays open where we leave off. The smell of new books can be a pleasure as well, but many new books simply give off an industrial strength manufactured aroma, or rather, no smell at all. Of course his next chapter deals with old books as a counterweight to new books. He first notes that old books have probably had numerous previous readers and that they contain reflections of those readers in signatures, dedications, and other handwriting. At this point a book is no longer a consumer item. Old books have survived because someone wanted to keep them, Old books seem to preserve a secret. And they smell better. Next Spinnen considers the “Damaged Book” and the “Annotated Book.” He notes how we still enjoy a text even if it is found in a damaged book. Coffee stains, red wine spillage, cigarette burns, even torn pages cannot hinder our enjoyment of a hard to find text. In the case of a Beat writer’s publication it might even add a certain connection with the era. Annotations are generally an

eyes and leaves only his mouth drawn tight by lines on either side. Our colour. A category that doesn’t exist: she would invent it. There are Hotnots and half-castes, two-coffee-onemilk, touch-of-the-tar-brush, pure white, black is beautiful — but a creature made of love, without a label; that’s a freak.” And thus the mutation moves into the population creating a new dynamic.

Sidebar

I checked two Nadine Gordimer novels from the library, tossed a coin and started reading A Sport of Nature. I don’t often read more than one work from Nobelist, except in the case of Garcia-Marquez, one of my all time favorite authors, but I felt compelled to read the second choice. No Time Like the Present is a story about a “mixed” couple struggling for freedom against apartheid. It will be interesting to see how Gordimer once again uses mixed relations to continue her theme and from what perspective.

annoying if not completely distracting part of reading older books. Some annotations in pencil can be ignored, but the florid ink or highlighter generally ruin a text. There are exceptions, where a particularly astute reader has added useful notes where we can sometimes learn more about the text at hand. Some textual scholars are even exploring marginal annotations as another form of literary history and many academic libraries are having their holdings scoured by diligent scholars looking for valuable marginalia. Another chapter where the author shares an experience we can all recall is his meditation on his “Favorite Book.” By favorite he distinguishes between text and book, because one might enjoy a work based solely on its content, but a favorite book might require more of an emphasis on the container. The ideal book is when text and container come together in one memorable experience. Spinnen recounts how he treasures some books in spite of their poor bindings or awkward illustrations based solely on the fact that this one particular edition was the first that he encountered and thus became his “favorite.” Such is the influence of early reading on all of us. In a similar vein the author emphasizes the importance of choosing the “Right Book” over the “Wrong Book.” Spinnen gauges that the upper limit both of a personal library and the number of books one can read in a lifetime is somewhere around five thousand volumes. If you read one book a week for sixty years you will only reach three thousand books read. Thoreau gave sage advice when he counseled us to read only the best books first, since we don’t have time to read everything. Thus we come to the “Wrong Book,” one that was received as a gift or picked quickly before a trip. Spinnen notes that these can actually be valuable additions to our reading regimen, as they take us out of our well-trodden path of chosen experiences. His best advice for ridding oneself of a truly wrong book: give it away. Another dichotomy that the author explores is that between the “Expensive Book” and the “Cheap Book.” With the rise of the Internet he notes how once expensive books have become commonly available and even cheap. However much this development aids the poor bibliophile, it concerns him that books are thus losing their special aura and that reading itself might become too homogenized. For the author the “Discovered Book” is the ultimate delight. He spends days on end scouring bookshops and flea markets and is never so happy as when he discovers a book he had no idea existed. He compares that to the simply utilitarian search on the Internet for specific books. In the case of the discovered book he wonders: “Had I chosen these books? Or had they chosen me?” continued on page 48

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Little Red Herrings — Uncommonly Odd by Mark Y. Herring (Dean of Library Services, Dacus Library, Winthrop University) <herringm@winthrop.edu>

bout the time you think you know where things are going, they go somewhere else. I had that experience recently with our institutional repository (IR). About five years ago, we stumbled into bepress’s Digital Commons. I had argued for one for about a decade, but no one really understood what I was talking about, and honestly, I probably ham-fisted the explanation. But then came one of those unfunded mandates for which administrations — local, state, and federal — are so famous. I mentioned bepress to a quondam administrator who had just come from another institution that had it. The off-the-cuff remark worked like magic. A light turned on and we were told to “get it.” After much toing and froing about who was going to pay for this (only this year has it been added to our budget in a permanent kind of way — let us say in heavy pencil for now), we did get it. The next few years we labored — really labored — trying to help faculty understand that publishing in our IR in no way jeopardized their publishing chances elsewhere. On the contrary, we argued, it actually increased them. And not only for them and their work, but also their students and their students’ work. Some faculty never got on board. They were convinced that whatever showed up in our IR, with or without an embargo, put an end to any hope of publishing, and, subsequently, tenure. I explained copyright, not really being an attorney, but having stayed in my fair share of hotels, as it were. Transformative works, the fact that publishers would insist on rewrites and so on

Wryly Noted from page 47 The “Gifted Book” is next on Spinnen’s list. He notes how books are ideally suited for gifting and that bookshops and maybe even the book trade would cease to exist without people buying books as gifts. Books are the ideal gift, as one can tailor one’s choice specifically to the recipient’s interests. And if things go awry, books are the easiest of gifts to exchange. “Signed Books” come freighted with a load of metaphysics. An author’s signature gives one immediate contact with their personality. Books nowadays are industrial products and the signature of an author offers the illusion of “uniqueness.” Unfortunately, the Internet has revealed just how many copies of first editions and even signed first editions there are in the world. Prices have plummeted for all except the most rare books.

48 Against the Grain / June 2018

didn’t do a lot of good. The most exasperating discussions had to do with theses. While our students were encouraged to submit them to dissertation abstracts or similar entities, they were cautioned not to put them in our IR. It took a great deal of handwringing, pleading, begging and more, but eventually most came around. We hired a delightful young librarian to whom I credit most of the good will, coaxing and cajoling. There followed about three or three-and-a-half years of IR dolce far niente, as it were. Everyone seemed pleased. In fact, we had more than our share of success stories. The helpful dashboard that comes with our digital commons also impressed more than one faculty member. Once up and running, we began uploading past theses and all went well. We had one small hiccup with a graduate who asked that we erase all evidence of a thesis he had written many years before, but we embargoed it instead for about twenty months. We never knew why but guessed it had something to do with maturity of craft. Still, we argued it was a record of work that had to be preserved. While I did not do this with every opportunity, I often sent the powers that be our headlines: surpassing various download thresholds, our recognition for various papers in various disciplines, and our papers that had “topped the charts,” so to say. Frankly, we were all feeling doggone good about ourselves.

Spinnen finally explores the many ways of collecting books. He reminisces about his first visits to his town library and how certain books were forbidden to children. Of course he could hardly wait to grow up and see what had been denied him. He also extolls the private library and says that a private library can be of any size. What counts is its value to its owner. “Collecting means giving order to something, inasmuch as one brings together those things that one feels belong together. And as long as one doesn’t commit theft or murder in the process, that isn’t the worst way to employ one’s mind or money.” If you are a book lover, collector, or both, this book will be an ideal checklist for comparing your book experiences with another devoted bibliophile. This is a book to keep on the nightstand and relish one little chapter after another.

And then, this spring, as you have doubtless surmised at this point, and as we surpassed 100,000 downloads, the wheels wobbled significantly, and nearly came off. I got a very anxious email, freighted with gloom, from a faculty member about what we were doing and why. The email came to me, surely, but also to about two dozen other faculty. I gave my usual explanation, replying to all, and explaining about how the IR works, why it’s important, and even added a plug for open access. Following the email, one of the other faculty emailed me back that she knew I could explain it better than she could and all would be well. Again, I felt pretty good. Not so fast. Another email came, explaining that I had missed the point and that tables, PowerPoints, posters and so on simply should not be deposited. These represented works in progress and letting those cats out of the proverbial bag would spell doom for faculty trying to publish. I went back over my explanations, taking more time to explain that surely that would not happen. I explained that acceptances to papers often required many rewrites, and whatever we deposited would not be the same as what appeared later. I also pointed out that many IRs had both pre- and post-prints included. Another faculty member chimed in that oh, no, that business about posters and PowerPoints and data are all things that must be held secret. Apres moi, le deluge, and all that. That publishing might take three or more years and someone would beat them to the punch. I didn’t help matters making the case that surely researchers who might well look at anything in our IR would cite it, but if there were some who wouldn’t, well, they’d likely get hoisted on their own petard. I tried talking about copyright and derivative and transformative works. I came off sounding as if I wasn’t respectful of researchers everywhere, hardly my intent. More emails followed and the two faculty claimed they could not in good faith deposit anything like posters, PowerPoints, and the like. I must admit that at this point I despaired of making any further headway. I responded finally that I respected their decision although I disagreed with it. I pointed out that our IR was entirely voluntarily but not using it not only proscribed one’s influence, but also constrained open access. This small episode has taught me that however far we have come with open access, we are still very far away from making any permanent inroads. I know this isn’t the case everywhere, of course, but I also know that our faculty aren’t the only ones with these concerns. We are a teaching institution, and while research is important, it is not sine qua non. Good teaching is. continued on page 53

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LEGAL ISSUES Section Editors: Bruce Strauch (The Citadel) <strauchb@citadel.edu> Jack Montgomery (Western Kentucky University) <jack.montgomery@wku.edu>

Cases of Note — Copyright Contrib Infringement - Safe Harbor Column Editor: Bruce Strauch (The Citadel, Emeritus) <bruce.strauch@gmail.com> HARLAN ELLISON V. STEPHEN ROBERTSON AND AMERICA ONLINE INC. UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT, 357 F.3d 1072; 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS 2074. Harlan Ellison (b. 1934) has published over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, comic book scripts, teleplays, and essays. He’s won Hugos, Nebulas and Edgars. Famous novels include Web of the City, Spider Kiss, The Starlost, A Boy and His Dog. Whew. He was expelled from Ohio State for belting a professor who belittled his writing skills. And he proceeded to send said prof a copy of each and every story he published. He refuses to use a computer and types on a manual typewriter. He voiced himself on the Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated. The episode “The Shrieking Madness” was H.P. Lovecraft inspired. And he was in a scene with Milhouse on The Simpsons. Yes, what a character. He has some famous quotes. “The two most abundant things in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.” “People who can’t get laid watch star trek and eat twinkies.” “Love ain’t nothing but sex misspelled.” “You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. No one is entitled to be ignorant.” In 1962 he began churning out screenplays for The Oscar, The Loretta Young Show, The Flying Nun, Burke’s Law, Route 66, The Outer Limits, Star Trek, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Cimarron Strip, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. Widely known to be argumentative, he assaulted an author at the Nebula Awards banquet, sent 213 bricks to a publisher postage due, and a dead gopher to another by slow mail. And he’s sued various people. Which leads us to our case. And another known quote on copyright thieves: “If you put your hand in my pocket, you’ll drag back six inches of bloody stump.”

Against the Grain / June 2018

Anderson and AOL

Around April of 2000, Stephen Robertson posted four Ellison (copyrighted) short stories on the USENET, a peer-to-peer file sharing network. The particular USENET newsgroup — alt.binaries.e-book — was primarily a vehicle for exchanging unauthorized digital copies of works by famous authors. AOL subscribers are given access to USENET, so Ellison emailed AOL, warning of the infringement in compliance with notification procedures of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). He got no reply. AOL claims to have not received it. Which it hadn’t. But there’s a reason for it as you’ll see below. Ellison sued Anderson, and included AOL for vicarious and contributory copyright infringement. Upon receipt of service of suit, AOL blocked users’ access to alt.binaries.e-book. At the trial court level, AOL got summary judgment on direct and vicarious copyright infringement, but was told contributory infringement was a triable fact. BUT, the safe harbor limitation of liability under the DMCA blows that claim away.

The Appeal

You are contributorily violating copyright if you induce, cause or materially contribute to infringement. A&M Records v. Napster, Inc., 239 F.3d 1004, 1013 (9th Cir. 2001) (Napster II) You are vicariously liable for infringement if you enjoy a direct financial benefit from another’s infringement and have “the right and ability to supervise” the activity. Napster II, 239 F.3d at 1022.

But … Safe Harbors?

Congress wrote Title II of the DMCA, Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act (OCILLA) 17 U.S.C. § 512 (2003) to get cooperation between copyright owners and Internet service providers. To give greater certainty of legal exposure to service providers, it created a series of “safe harbors” for ordinary activities.

Contrib Infringement

For Ellison to win, he must show AOL knew infringement was taking place and contributed to it.

Knowledge

Incredibly, AOL had changed its contact email address but waited some months to register the change with the U.S. Copyright Office and failed to configure the old address to forward new messages. Which was why they didn’t get Ellison’s notice. Further, AOL had received a phone call from a subscriber telling them of infringing activity on the alt.binaries.e-book group. They don’t address whether a lone phone call to a behemoth corporation should trigger knowledge. But that’s why it’s a jury question.

Material Contribution

AOL provided a service that automatically distributed all USENET postings, infringing and noninfringing when it knew of the infringing stuff. This can be a material contribution, making for a triable issue. Religious Tech. Ctr. v. Netcom On-Line Communication Servs., Inc., 907 F. Supp. 1361, 1375 (N.D. Cal. 1995).

Vicarious Infringement

Ellison must show AOL received a direct financial benefit from the infringement and had the right to supervise the activity. AOL’s future revenue depends upon a growing userbase. While the infringing group might be a small portion of AOL’s vast revenue, it can still be liable without regard to size. Indeed, almost any unit of their services might seem relatively small next to the whole. But was the infringing activity a draw for subscribers? Ellison could not show AOL attracted customers by ripping off his stories nor could it show it lost them when the infringement was lost. Good grief. What exhaustive discovery would have to be undertaken to prove this? But the vicarious claim flopped. Leaving contrib still alive but for …

OCILLA’S Safe Harbors

To be secure in a safe harbor, a service provider must have a termination of services continued on page 50

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Questions & Answers — Copyright Column Column Editor: Laura N. Gasaway (Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Law, Chapel Hill, NC 27599; Phone: 919-962-2295; Fax: 919-962-1193) <laura_gasaway@unc.edu> www.unc.edu/~unclng/gasaway.htm QUESTION: A middle school teacher asks whether it makes a difference if she prints copies of an article for each student in her class or simply provides a link to an online version of the article for her students. ANSWER: While printing copies of the articles for students is likely a fair use, there is a difference in printing versus providing a link for students to access the article. Printing concerns the reproduction and distribution rights of the copyright owner, and fair use is an exception to that right. Providing a link implicates no right of the owner. There are practical reasons for choosing one over the other. Printing copies of the articles for students makes sense when each student needs a copy in front of them for a specific classroom activity. Not all students may have access to computers or the internet. Further, the online link may not allow printing but merely reading on screen. On the other hand, relying on a link helps train students to use the Internet and is most useful when students can read from the screen or print at the student’s choice. QUESTION: A college art librarian asks about virtual reality art creations and whether they qualify for copyright protection. ANSWER: To date, virtual reality (VR) has been primarily used in video games but there is much promise that VR will soon change how we search the internet and use social media. Although still in its infancy, VR allows artists to use color and light and incorporate it with motion so that three-dimensional works seem to float in the air. Not only does VR permit the artist to create new and different types of works, but it also allows viewers to interact with the works in ways not previously possible. Section 102(a) of the Copyright Act defines the types of works that are eligible for copyright protection. While VR works

Cases of Note from page 49 policy for repeat offenders, implement it, and inform its users. The 9th Circuit found AOL did not have an effective policy in place at the time due to the email SNAFU that had new emails falling into a vacuum. Or at least evidence from which a reasonable juror could conclude no effective policy.

And So …

We go back to the trial court level for a jury

50 Against the Grain / June 2018

are not mentioned in the statute, the section’s wording indicates that new types of works can be protected under these eight broad categories, and this has occurred. For example, in the early 1980s, courts held that video games (not mentioned in section 102(a)) were copyrightable as audiovisual works even though the sounds and images varied based on manipulation by the players of the games. Therefore, there is unlikely any difficulty with claiming copyright protection for these works. As with other types of works, these works must be registered for copyright in order for to sue infringers. Some speculate that enforcement of copyrights in VR works may be more difficult, however. Of more concern are VR created solely through artificial intelligence without human intervention. In the United States, only human authors qualify as authors for copyright purposes so works created by machines or animals are not eligible for copyright protection. QUESTION: A college librarian asks whether schools are permitted to hire commercial copy shops to produce materials for the classroom that were obtained under a Creative Commons license. ANSWER: This issue was recently addressed by the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Great Minds v. FedEx Office & Print Services, 886 F.3d 91 (2d Cir. 2018). Great Minds is a non-profit organization that designs educational materials that it sells in book form and releases them to the public without charge but subject to a Creative Commons license. The license allows “any member of the public to download, reproduce, and distribute the materials subject to the terms of the license.” It offers a “worldwide, royalty-free, non-sublicensable, non-exclusive, irrevocable license to ... reproduce and share the materials, in whole or in part, for noncommercial

to consider the issues of contributory infringement and safe harbor protection. In the course of plowing through this, you might have wondered just what the damages might be for the pirating of four stories. And was the battle worth it? If we can believe Variety Feb. 5, 2002, Ellison’s lawyer didn’t take the case on contingency. At that point, Ellison had shelled out $250,000 in legal bills. But from Techdirt June 10, 2004 we learn that “after years of fighting, it looks like AOL just got fed up and has paid him off in a settlement to go away.”

purposes only.” FedEx is a commercial enterprise and FedEx concedes that its copying services are commercial in nature, and that its reproduction would be impermissible under the license if FedEx were acting as a direct licensee. The court found that Great Minds’ license did not explicitly address whether licensees may engage third parties to assist them in exercising their own noncommercial use rights under the license. Due to the absence of any clear license language to the contrary, licensees may use third-party agents such as commercial reproduction services in furtherance of their own permitted noncommercial uses. In this case, because FedEx acted as the mere agent of licensee school districts when it reproduced Great Minds’ materials, and because there was no dispute that, the school districts themselves sought to use Great Minds’ materials for other than permissible purposes, FedEx’s activities did not breach the license or violate Great Minds’ copyright. QUESTION: An archivist asks about archival works that enter the public domain and what are the circumstances under which a user must seek permission from the archives to use the work. ANSWER: The question does not specify permission for what. There are two possibilities here: copyright permission and access permission. No permission is required to use copyrighted works by reproducing sections or even the entire work. However, the archives control access to the work. It owns the artifact and may control who, if anyone, has access to that work. Usually, access is controlled to protect the work from damage. Fortunately for users, most archives want to make works available to the public and that is why they are digitizing their collections, which both protects the artifact and provides access to the content. QUESTION: A publisher asks whether handwriting can be copyrighted. ANSWER: The short answer is no although the underlying literary work certainly may be copyrighted. It would have to be a font based on the handwriting of someone even to consider the issue. One can imagine that the handwriting would also need to be that of a famous person to attract sufficient attention to raise the issue of copyrightability. Although in common speech, “typeface” and “font” often are used interchangeably, they are not the same. A font is actually a file or program (when used digitally) that informs one’s printer or display how a letter or character should be shown. A “typeface” is a set of letters, numbers and other symbols that are consistently used to compose text or other combination of characters. In a typeface, continued on page 51

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Questions & Answers from page 50 design elements are repeated and consistently applied. The U.S. Copyright Office Compendium states that typefaces are not eligible for copyright protection. This is not true in some European countries and Great Britain, however. Fonts, by contrast, may be protected by copyright as long as the font qualifies as computer software or a program and meets the typical requirements for copyright. Commercially created fonts are typically available through license agreements and the terms of the license apply. Thus, in the United States, only the font software and not the artistic design of the typeface may be protected by copyright. A font based on handwriting would be protectable, but not typeface. QUESTION: The manager of a campus bookstore asks about the recent fake textbook case. ANSWER: On April 5, 2018, the federal district court for the Southern District of New York fined Book Dog Books, a textbook selling company, $34.2 million for selling fake textbooks. The court ruled in favor of the Educational Publishers Enforcement Group (comprised of Cengage, Pearson Education, John Wiley, and McGraw-Hill Education) and awarded damages for both trademark and copyright infringement. Book Dog Books is the parent company for a number of textbook selling companies. At issue were pirated copies and non-U.S. editions of textbooks. Litigation has been ongoing for a number of years. According to the publishers’ attorney, “The jury in this case recognized the inherent value of textbooks and educational publishers, and that book distributors must exercise vigilance to avoid buying and selling counterfeit textbooks.” Book Dog Books has announced that it will appeal. See John Wiley & Sons v. Book Dog Books, S.D.N.Y., April 5, 2019, case 1:13-cv-00816-WHP-GWG. QUESTION: A public librarian asks about the huge number of copyrighted works that will enter the public domain in 2019. ANSWER: It is true that an enormous number of works will enter the public domain beginning on January 1, 2019, and each January thereafter. When the Copyright Act of 1976 was passed, the term of copyright changed to life of the author and 50 years; in 1998, the Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act increased it to life of the author plus 70 years. Works published between 1923 and 1963 originally received 28 years of protection. At the end of that period, they could be renewed for a second 28 years; if not so renewed, they passed into the public domain. The Copyright Act of 1976 gave those renewed an additional 19 years of protection for a total of 75 years. The Sonny Bono Act also increased the maximum term of works published between 1923 and 1963 to a total of 95 years. On January 1, 2019, works published in 1923 that are still protected by copyright will have reached that 95 years of protection and will enter the public domain.

Against the Grain / June 2018

Legally Speaking — U.S. Libraries and the GDPR by Bill Hannay (Partner, Schiff Hardin LLP, Chicago, IL) <whannay@schiffhardin.com>

he news in the last few weeks (as well as your email inbox) seems to have been filled with references to the “GDPR.” Why? Because this European Union law — the General Data Protection Regulation, (EU) 2016/679 — went into effect on May 25, 2018, and can significantly affect not only European-based companies but also companies based outside the EU that do business in Europe. Okay, but what about U.S. libraries? The short (lawyerly) answer is that the GDPR may or may not apply to them. The GDPR wrought a major change in the territorial scope of EU data protection law. Under Article 3 of the GDPR, the Regulation applies inter alia to the “processing” of “personal data” of “data subjects” (i.e., individuals) who reside in the EU by a “controller or processor” that is not “established” in the EU, where the “processing activities” are related to: “(a) the offering of goods or services, irrespective of whether a payment of the data subject is required, to such data subjects in the [European] Union; or “(b) the monitoring of their behaviour as far as their behaviour takes place within the [European] Union.” Thus, for example, a U.S. company is subject to the GDPR’s provisions if it “processes” personal data of an individual residing in the EU when the data is accessed for the purpose of offering goods or services or of monitoring the individual’s behavior in the EU. How does that fit with U.S. libraries? Let’s walk through the analysis: First, does your library collect “personal data”? Sure, you do. Every time a new borrower registers, you collect his or her name and contact information. That’s personal data. Every time, he or she checks out a book, that information is recorded … and what people are reading is very personal data. Second, does your library collect personal data relating to individuals who reside in the EU? Local public libraries probably don’t, but university and research libraries almost surely have some borrowers that are EU residents: foreign-exchange students, visiting faculty, and their spouses and children. Third — and this is the most thought-provoking part of the analysis — does your library “process” (let’s just say “use”) the personal data of the EU residents for the purpose of offering goods or services (either free or paid) to such individuals in the EU? (Or possibly in order to “monitor” their behavior in the EU?)1 Ask yourself what possible activities a U.S. library might engage in that would involve offering the library’s goods or service to an EU resident in the EU. Suppose that a U.S.

library sent out an email announcement to all of its registered borrowers inviting them to a free presentation by a lecturer on a topic of current interest and suppose further that some of those emails went to email addresses of borrowers who had moved (back) to Europe. Technically, that hypothetical might fit the jurisdictional requirement of the GDPR, but the library’s email announcement hardly seems a likely target of the law. (Especially since the service, i.e., the lecture, is not being provided in the EU.) Of course, if the hypothetical were changed to one in which the U.S. library regularly offered some sorts of goods or services that would be delivered in the EU, then a different conclusion would seem appropriate. In this circumstance — which may be far-fetched — the U.S. library would be well-advised to bring its data protection scheme into compliance with the GDPR. One simple step you can take to comply with the GDPR is for the library to obtain explicit consent from the data subjects (e.g., the individual borrowers) to use their personal data to email information about library programs including offers of goods or services. Library registration forms often include this sort of routine consent, but if not, it is easy enough to add it. (This is one reason you have recently been receiving notices of changes in Terms of Use agreements from vendors and others.) There are other steps necessary for full compliance with the GDPR, and those are somewhat more complicated. But these systemic changes may not be necessary, if your library does not engage in the data processing activities that would bring it within the jurisdictional parameters of the GDPR.

William M. Hannay is a partner in the Chicago-based law firm, Schiff Hardin LLP, and is a frequent contributor to Against the Grain and a regular speaker at the Charleston Conference. He can be reached at <whannay@schiffhardin.com>. Endnotes 1. The preamble to the EU regulation explains “monitoring” behavior as follows: “whether natural persons are tracked on the Internet including potential subsequent use of personal data processing techniques which consist of profiling a natural person, particularly in order to take decisions concerning her or him or for analysing or predicting her or his personal preferences, behaviours and attitudes.”

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And They Were There Reports of Meetings — LOEX 2018 and the 37th Annual Charleston Conference Column Editor: Sever Bordeianu (Head, Print Resources Section, University Libraries, MSC05 3020, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001; Phone: 505-277-2645; Fax: 505-277-9813) <sbordeia@unm.edu> Library Orientation Exchange (LOEX) 46th Annual Conference — New Frontiers: Exploring and Innovating in Uncharted Territory — May 3-5, 2018 — Houston, TX Reported by Glenn Koelling (University of New Mexico) The 2018 meeting of LOEX was held May 3-5 in Houston, Texas at the Royal Sonesta Hotel. LOEX (Library Orientation Exchange) has grown from a library repository of instruction materials formed in 1971, to the leading library instruction organization. The theme of “New Frontiers: Exploring and Innovating in Uncharted Territory” was an apt one for the home of the Space Center, and many conference presenters framed their sessions around discovery in library instruction. LOEX is a small, annual conference and its 225 registration slots fill quickly. While the main event was the presentations and workshops, there were also poster sessions, roundtables, and lightning talks. Sponsoring institutions included the libraries at Texas A&M University, the University of Houston, Rice University, the University of Texas at Austin, Houston Community College, and the University of Houston-Downtown. In addition to the quality content, the popularity of LOEX also comes from the conference’s thoughtful planning. The opening reception gave attendees plenty of time to mingle and enjoy appetizers. On session days, there were no more than two presentations back to back, and the snacks were plentiful. A hot lunch was served the first day and a bag lunch the second — a particularly thoughtful gesture for those attendees who had to rush off to the airport. The organizers also scheduled several dine-arounds to capitalize on the many quality restaurants within walking distance of the hotel. The pre-conference workshop was led by Stephanie Graves and Sarah LeMire, both from Texas A&M University Libraries. Their workshop taught participants about curriculum mapping and incorporated hands-on activities to help participants develop their own curriculum maps for library instruction and outreach programs. Dr. Michelle “Mikki” Hebl, a professor of psychology at Rice University, gave the plenary talk “Gender and Race Gatekeepers.” Dr. Hebl spoke about her studies on subtle bias and how it affects each of us — often unwittingly. An engaging speaker, Dr. Hebl used examples that were interesting and that demonstrated her point. For example, she showed a video of a group of basketball players; half wore black and half wore white. The audience was instructed to keep count of how many times the players wearing white passed the basketball. After the video played, many people reported seeing 12 or 13 passes. Then Dr.

Hebl asked how many people had seen the person in a bear costume moonwalk through the video (not many people had). The point of the video was that it is easy for the human mind to not see what we’re not looking for — especially if we’re paying attention to something else. So it is with bias. We pay attention to the big biases, but often just don’t notice the subtle ones. After Dr. Hebl’s talk, the sessions started. There were seven sessions going at once, so attendees had to make some tough choices on what to see. The categories were divided into pedagogy, collaboration, learning & assessment, technology & innovation, leadership, and failures & problem solving. Friday and Saturday both had five sessions. Despite being a several-years-old trend, gamification was a theme in at least seven presentations. Several of these gamified their library orientations. For example, Jorge A. Leon and Robert Lindsey from Pittsburg State University explained how they used a scavenger hunt app to give their library orientations new life. Jennifer L. Pate and Derek Malone of the University of North Alabama brought escape room kits that they used to transform their library orientation, and attendees got to solve some puzzles. Tricia Boucher, Lorin Flores, and Megan Ballengee of Texas State University had attendees play a game that taught them how to make their own games. Fake news was another popular theme. Jo Angela Oehrli of the University of Michigan described the process of creating a seven-week collaborative class that centered on news consumption and critical evaluation. Maoria J. Kirker of George Mason University and Ilana Stonebraker of Purdue University applied the theory of cognitive dissonance to contextualize fake news while Hailey Mooney of the University of Michigan used the sociological imagination model to view fake news through a critical information literacy perspective. Finally, several presentations focused on grit — the en vogue idea of persistence in overcoming challenges. Speakers like Celita Avila, Karen Briere, and Ernie Tsacalis (San Antonio College) taught attendees to recognize student grit through writing assignments as well as how to assess it. On the other side, Eamon Tewell from Long Island University, Brooklyn cautioned his audience that viewing students through a grit-based lens meant viewing them through a deficit model. Tewell argued that focusing on students’ grit also meant focusing on what students lack. Instead, we should capitalize on what experiences students bring with them to the classroom. Next year’s LOEX conference will be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We hope to see you there.

Issues in Book and Serial Acquisition, “What’s Past is Prologue,” Charleston Gaillard Center, Francis Marion Hotel, Embassy Suites Historic Downtown, and Courtyard Marriott Historic District — Charleston, SC, November 6-10, 2017 Charleston Conference Reports compiled by: Ramune K. Kubilius (Northwestern University, Galter Health Sciences Library) <r-kubilius@northwestern.edu> Column Editor’s Note: Thank you to all of the Charleston Conference attendees who agreed to write short reports that highlight sessions they attended at the 2017 Charleston Conference. All attempts were made to provide a broad coverage of sessions, and notes are included in the reports to reflect changes that were not printed in the conference’s final program (though some may be reflected in the online schedule, where links can also be found to presentations’ PowerPoint slides and handouts). Please visit the conference site http:// www.charlestonlibraryconference.com/ to link to selected videos as

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well as interviews, and to blog reports, written by Charleston Conference blogger, Donald Hawkins. The 2017 Charleston Conference Proceedings will be published in 2018, in partnership with Purdue University Press. In this issue of ATG you will find the second installment of 2017 conference reports. The first installment can be found in ATG v.30#1, February 2018. We will continue to publish all of the reports received in upcoming print issues throughout the year. — RKK continued on page 53

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And They Were There from page 52 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2017 (continued from previous installment) CONCURRENT SESSIONS The Print Book Purging Predicament: Qualitative Techniques for a Balanced Collection — Presented by Allan Scherlen (Appalachian State University); Alex McAllister (Appalachian State University) Reported by Amy Lewontin (Snell Library Northeastern University) <a.lewontin@northeastern.edu> Scherlen, the social sciences librarian, opened the session by mentioning that the project they were planning to discuss was based on an article the two speakers had recently published in the journal, Collection Management in 2017, titled, “Weeding with Wisdom: Tuning Deselection of Print Monographs in Book-Reliant Disciplines.” He began by discussing the recent trend of getting rid of books in libraries, and also highlighted the fact that the word they were using in their talk, “purging,” was considered taboo, at the moment, in many libraries. “Renewal” and “refresh” are considered more acceptable words. He discussed how many libraries were being asked to reclaim space for other things and that based on a recent ProQuest eBook survey of 400 libraries, 78% were in the midst of de-selecting books in their collections as libraries moved to redefine themselves. Scherlen then went on to explain that their library, and many others have no storage facility, so weeding and de-selecting might mean that the books would no longer be accessible to users, so librarians needed to get things right as they moved to manage the process. And what he also emphasized was that libraries need to get a handle on how different disciplines use material differently. McAllister, the humanities librarian, then stepped into the conversation and discussed the emotional reaction that many faculty feel to the book weeding process. He also discussed how many humanities faculty simply use library material differently. He reminded the audience that with humanities books, the age of a book does not indicate a lesser value and that an older book is possibly very likely going to be needed in future research. Many humanities and “humanistic social science researchers” use older, lower circulating books, and they also often compare translations of varying editions, as opposed to the need for more current material in the sciences and the business disciplines. Also, humanities researchers tend to browse the library, and many times do not check a particular title out. McAllister talked about a need for quantitative discipline-specific criteria that should be created for each area of study, if possible. Also, a need for librarians to develop techniques for evaluating the value of older low circulating monographs was strongly emphasized during the talk. At Appalachian State, the two librarians discussed how a LibGuide was created that had the lists of de-selected titles and that these lists were then shared and reviewed with faculty. There was also a discussion of the various criteria used to review the books, but overall, both Scherlen and McAllister made the strong recommendation for finding discipline-specific evaluation criteria, as libraries move to de-select their collections as they free up space and provide newer more relevant services.

“Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees”: Using a Data-Driven Review Process to Add New Resources with No Budget Increases — Presented by Teri Koch (Drake University); Laurie Krossner (Drake University); Priya Shenoy (Drake University) Reported by Colleen Lougen (SUNY New Paltz) <lougenc@newpaltz.edu> Librarians at Drake University detailed their rationale and development of an annual review process evaluating current electronic resource

Against the Grain / June 2018

subscriptions and new acquisitions. Their process involved several factors: rigorous review of usage and cost per use data; development of a deselection candidate watchlist; promotion of underutilized electronic resources to faculty and students; and collection of faculty and liaison librarian input about deselection and new acquisitions. Ultimately, the Drake librarians deselected a substantial amount of low-use electronic resources that allowed them to purchase new subscriptions and cover the annual increases of all subscriptions. At the end of the session, the presenters polled the audience about how they make data driven decisions at their libraries. This presentation was practical and provided concrete ideas about how to tackle a review at one’s own institution.

“Mr. Watson – Come here – I want to see you.” Upgrading Your Tech Support Communications — Presented by Carol Seiler (EBSCO Information Services); J. Michael Thompson (Baylor University) Reported by Ethan Cutler (Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine) <ethan.cutler@med.wmich.edu> The session began with six volunteers from the audience, paired in two groups of three, playing a silent game of cards. Written directions were provided to each group on the first hand, but instructed not to discuss the rules verbally. Winners of the first hand were then directed to switch tables. Shortly into the second hand the objective of the game was revealed to the audience: attempting to accomplish a task under differing sets of communication rules can be difficult and confusing. Communication is crucial during technical support situations, and throughout the remainder of the session Seiler and Thompson provided authentic support scenarios to illustrate useful skills and etiquette for both sides of library and vendor troubleshooting. To highlight a few, having a positive tone and staying concise, considerate, and descriptive are tremendously helpful rules of etiquette to remember. In addition, taking full advantage of available resources, including screenshots, crowdsourcing, and various technologies to organize communication is helpful when properly utilized. Lastly, the presenters provided the audience with a humbling reminder: “none of us are perfect” and respect is always a requirement of professionalism.

That’s all the reports we have room for in this issue. Watch for more reports from the 2017 Charleston Conference in upcoming issues of Against the Grain. Presentation material (PowerPoint slides, handouts) and taped session links from many of the 2017 sessions are available online. Visit the Conference Website at www.charlestonlibraryconference.com. — KS

Little Red Herrings from page 48 Still, the allegiance to conventional publishing continues to hold — stranglehold — most faculty. It’s baffling, too, when you consider that conventional publishing hoovers out research from our institutions of higher education, pays nothing for it, copyrights the materials for themselves in perpetuity, and then charges a fortune for that research to reappear in libraries on those same campuses where those faculty work. An outsider who hears this calculus finds it ridiculous; we in academe not only find it normal, we often protect its survival. We have made great strides from where we were when I began this profession forty years ago. And that makes me optimistic. Nevertheless, events like this one remind me that we still have a long way to go.

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The Scholarly Publishing Scene — Working From Home Column Editor: Myer Kutz (President, Myer Kutz Associates, Inc.) <myerkutz@aol.com>

hirty years ago, when I was running scientific and technical publishing at Wiley, I noticed that my counterpart, who was responsible for business and trade books, had set up what was to me at that time an unusual working arrangement for the head of his production department. She was managing it (I’d guess that there were a dozen or so people in the department) from her home office in Phoenix, as I remember, nearly 2,500 miles from Wiley’s New York headquarters. No big deal, I reckoned; after all, most of the business and trade books presented far fewer production issues than sci-tech books, with, for example, extensive chemical formulae, multi-level equations, or complex tables, etc. So I was bemused, but hardly tempted to look for similar arrangements within my own staff of nearly 140 people. Besides, I’d always thought of reference book publishing as a collaborative effort, which benefitted from the ability of the people involved to work in close proximity with one another. An important aside about how the world has moved on is in order here: given the harsh economic realities of sci-tech book publishing, the production people who work on the handbooks I now package for several publishers are likely to all be located in some reduced-cost place like India. As was the case back in the day when my colleague was content for his production chief to work 2,500 miles from the people she managed, the expectation is that nothing will be lost. (Whether anything was lost, I have no idea; I left Wiley long before such questions could be answered.) In my experience, the Internet enables quick and seamless transmission from anywhere on earth of copy-editors’ queries, page proof, and chapter contributors’ responses. In hindsight, however, and despite my views on how complex scitech book publishing operations were, I probably should have looked more closely at possibilities for having any production or other staff work remotely. There was a good financial reason: Wiley’s lease on multiple floors in a tower at Third Avenue and Thirty-Ninth Street — expensive real estate under most circumstances — was at punishingly onerous terms. (The company moved its headquarters to Hoboken, NJ, as soon as it could.) The division I managed needed a lot of space in those pre-cubicle days, when two levels of staff had their own private offices, with floor-to-ceiling walls and doors that could be closed. Should I have been looking for ways to reduce the size of my division’s footprint? Might it have helped my bottom line in one way or another, lease or no lease? Let’s just say that I can’t go back to that future to find out, as amusing as that might be. Publishers can’t outsource all of the jobs their business operations require to countries where salaries are much lower than they are here. But they can find ways to economize while relatively high salaried American workers remain on the payroll. One way is to reduce rent expenditures by having fewer and fewer staffers work in expensive office space at all, or if they do have to show up, have them use shared space. At some publishers, a member of an executive search firm with publishing clients told me, even the head of sales might not have a permanent office. Just like junior employees, he has to keep his work materials in a locker and use whatever work space he can find at surfaces arranged in the open area that his firm makes available. You can reserve an enclosed space for a meeting; the local Starbucks would do just as well, it seems to me. I don’t suppose that a young person nowadays with a new publishing job would find a completely open office plan remarkable in the slightest. Instead, it might meet her expectations for the atmosphere in which she would do her work. I don’t know at what age or level of experience a more seasoned employee would find an open plan annoying or even counterproductive. I do know that I myself would find it so. There is another set of observations relevant to this discussion, namely, what do publishing employees working remotely, or operating small independent business that provide services to publishers, say about their experiences? Recently, I obtained responses to a brief questionnaire distributed to remote workers, and in one case a freelancer, located in

54 Against the Grain / June 2018

upstate New York and northeast Ohio. The three remote workers, all of them STM acquisitions editors, have been doing so for three-plus, five, and 17 years. The freelancer, who mainly provides editorial services to a textbook publisher, has been doing so for six years. Two of these remote workers, who have no direct reports, are in touch with people in various offices several times every day via Skype, email, phone calls. The third remote worker wrote: “We have multiple ‘home’ offices and I work daily with people in at least four of them. For most of that communication, email and instant messaging are effective and efficient but calls are not problematic or unusual. I am in direct contact with my publisher multiple times a day via multiple means. Today was a conference call with a team, instant messaging, a 1:1 scheduled checkin meeting, email, and a quick spur-of-the-moment ‘gut check’ phone call.” The freelancer primarily uses email to communicate with clients, with some phone calls as needed or very infrequent in-person meetings. One remote worker visits the home office once to twice a year, usually for a social activity, such as a holiday party or a summer picnic. Another visits approximately four times per year. The third does so as required — typically for corporate internal meetings or training. When I asked about the advantages of working remotely or freelance, I received these responses: “Remote working allows for greater flexibility of schedule as well as more time to get work done. Being in an office can often be a great distraction for people who are outgoing. I can be present or not present at my discretion (turning Skype status on and off as needed) which allows me to prioritize my work. In an office, people see you and assume you have time to chat, discuss things, etc. It is much harder to tell them to come back later than it is to put your Skype status on busy.” “There were limited opportunities in my region for working with publishers so this provided me with the ability to continue in my chosen career. Also allows for greater flexibility in how I do my job by supporting an environment for non-traditional work days, especially when working in a global industry. Other advantages include flexibility in hours, less distractions from others, saving on commute time and other costs incurred by working in an office (lunches out, work clothes, etc).” “Flexibility/balance with my family, flexibility in schedule, choosing my own work.” “I originally became a full-time remote due to a spousal employment-related required relocation. When I tried to tender my resignation due to the pending move, my publisher preferred to set me up as a remote. Because I started when working remotely was pretty much unheard-of, I have always recognized it not as a right, but a privilege. I’ve chosen to remain a remote employee because I appreciate the ability to focus in an environment that I control, to work independently with appropriate support, and because my job role is very well-suited to being remotely based. I have a quiet, structured environment that I control, that is designed to work for me. I’m able to leave my files out if I need/ want to, there is no lack of privacy when I need to make an author or editor call that requires confidentiality. The commute time is unbeatable and transportation costs are eliminated. Coming in early or staying late has less of an impact on my personal life. Costs for meals, etc. are lower than when I worked in an office and ate out every day. My role is ideally suited for remote because our authors and editors as well as our internal corporate colleagues are located all around the globe and this job can be done from anywhere.” What are the disadvantages? Here are the comments: “Remote workers are out of sight and sometimes out of mind. You need to be aggressive about being included in task forces continued on page 55

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The Scholarly Publishing Scene from page 54 and other special projects that initiate in the office. Some positions within the company are not attainable for remote workers (depends on company and management). It is sometimes hard to stop working because your desk is always with you. I find I work more hours now than I did when I worked in an office.” “[Difficult to] stay connected to the group at large. Sometimes lag in getting up to speed on systems due to the fact that you don’t have people right there to speak with. [Lack of] growth opportunities.” “Can be isolating; hard to stop working when the office is in your home.” “There are times when not seeing my colleagues for extended periods of time is isolating because we are very business focused during work hours when we are interacting. Typically, I see them at least once a year but for colleagues who are not part of my

Rumors from page 33 frown! It’s a shame that all of it must end but the memories are wonderful. New and Special this year — ATG Trendspotting! With all the changes going on around us, we are trying to position ourselves or our libraries or companies for the future. ATG Me-

Against the Grain / June 2018

immediate team, it could be much longer between times when we’re together. That said, it’s the same for those working in our various offices as they don’t necessarily see colleagues from other offices regularly either. It is harder to remain ‘in the loop’ if a company does not have strong corporate communication policies. If the attitude is ‘share it in the hall’ then it’s definitely hard to stay up-to-date. It requires specific effort to ensure that you’re not ‘forgotten’ by management — you have to manage your professional visibility differently than an office-based person does.” I asked, finally, do you recommend this professional life-style to others? “Yes, if you have the right personality.” “Yes, for the convenience and flexibility.” “If you can work independently; you have to be more task-oriented and less people-oriented or be able to get your social fix somewhere else.” “I recommend that you really know yourself before you make the choice. It is not for everyone by any means.”

dia is taking one smell step. Lisa Hinchliffe is taking charge of this new initiative. We want to establish an ongoing process for identifying social, policy, economic, technology, and educational trends and forecasting the impacts on the information industry, with particular attention to scholarly communication and publishing as well as academic and research libraries. We are designing a community-engaged process for collaboratively exploring

these trends and forecasts and are planning to have an online kickoff webinar on June 19. We’re working on details and will be in touch soon! Save the date! Let me know if you have any questions! Scott Plutchak’s article in this issue about the allure of shiny new things seems pertinent to a discussion of trends (p.63). When is a fad continued on page 61

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Optimizing Library Services — The Natural Role of the Public Library in Emergency Management by Michael R. Mabe (Chesterfield County Public Library, USA) <MabeM@chesterfield.gov> Column Editors: Caroline J. Campbell (Promotions Coordinator, IGI Global) <ccampbell@igi-global.com> and Lindsay Wertman (Managing Director, IGI Global) <lwertman@igi-global.com> www.igi-global.com Column Editor’s Note: This article is a summary of a study presented in the recently released IGI Global publication, The Developing Role of Public Libraries in Emergency Management: Emerging Research and Opportunities, authored by Mr. Michael Mabe, Executive Director of the Chesterfield County Public Library, Virginia, USA and Ms. Emily A. Ashley, Emergency Management Coordinator for the Chesterfield County, Virginia, USA (Copyright Year: 2018; ISBN: 9781522540977; Pages: 25-43). — CC & LW

Introduction

ince 2006, often to the surprise of local municipal leaders and emergency management professionals, public libraries have been acknowledged for their efforts in providing unofficial emergency support service to victims of man-made and natural disasters. The value of their actions has only recently begun to be evaluated and there is still much to be learned, but the anecdotal media stories are positive.

The Library and Librarians Natural Role in Emergency Management

According to Comfort (Comfort 2002), most emergency management professionals tasked with mounting a response to an emergency or natural disaster prefer to address mitigation within limits of acceptable risk. This means that emergency management professionals plan to only incorporate those staff and resources that are known to them to get the job done effectively without adding to the tragedy. Unfortunately, emergency professionals rarely consider the services of the public library and/or librarians as an acceptable risk. Following the disastrous 2006 Hurricane Katrina response, according to the Executive Director of the Mississippi Library Commission, Sharman Smith (Perlman, 2006), a public library represents a safe place for most people. They are generally well-constructed buildings and their locations are known to most of the community. Couple this with fast internet access and it is no surprise that the library is the place many residents turn to during a local emergency. Customers use the public library and its librarians as their own personal command center to survive on a normal day, so adapting library services to meet the needs of customers seeking help after an emergency or natural disaster is just part of the job. Rose (Rose 2013) states that a lesson that has frequently gone unnoticed during most emergency situations since Hurricane Katrina is that public libraries, a trusted provider of information and technology access, especially e-government, are the most logical agency to incorporate locally into the emergency management response process. Although the federal government failed at helping people after Hurricane Katrina, small-town libraries in and on the edges of the devastation operated normally, providing temporary daytime shelter, information, and basic human aid to residents who confidently flocked to the facilities day in and day out. The local nature of the response that libraries provided, without emergency management support or acknowledgment, reached communities and members of those communities more effectively than national or state-level responses.

The Library’s Capacity to Render Assistance

Although libraries are not typically designated as an essential service by their local jurisdiction, because of the public libraries emergency response during Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has designated libraries an essential service. FEMA changed their internal policy in 2011 (Library Journal 2011) to allow libraries to be eligible to receive temporary relocation assis-

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tance funds from FEMA during emergencies and natural disasters. FEMA’s acknowledgment that libraries are an essential service is a common-sense change. The fact that most emergency management agencies rely on other departments’ resources to mount an emergency response should encourage local government officials and municipal managers to consider a similar acknowledgment in the status and funding for their local public libraries. According to research, more consistent ongoing regular funding would not only be welcomed by the customers day in and day out, but would also be an investment in a future emergency or natural disaster response.

The Local Emergency Management Structure

Depending on the locality, local emergency management officials are either uniformed public safety officials, a division within public safety, or a stand-alone department manager. Given their responsibility to coordinate staff and resources with other agencies, emergency managers maintain an extensive network of partnerships that allow them to run a comprehensive program based on FEMA plans and tactics designed to help local agencies mount a response. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (April 22, 2015) has defined five mission critical areas to be used by the local emergency managers when mounting an emergency response. These mission critical areas include: prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery. Within these five-emergency management mission critical areas, FEMA has also defined seventeen Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) to guide local actions in a general response to a large emergency or disaster. ESFs ensure that no matter who is responding or shows up to offer assistance, the local plans will have familiarity and continuity from community to community. The ESFs also help emergency managers logically group people and resources for interoperability, or to match up, to ensure maximum effectiveness when mounting a response. Each of the ESF areas is assigned a coordinating agency or department who is responsible for management and oversight during activation. All state and local emergency operations plans follow this same structure.

The Naturally Occurring Roles of the Library in Emergency Situations

Given the independent, unheralded success that public libraries have had in rendering assistance since Hurricane Katrina, it is logical to want to know what libraries are doing to be successful in their response. According to Brobst, Mandel, and McClure (2012), library managers and information officials generally engage in one or more of eight naturally occurring service roles when responding to an emergency or natural disaster. These self-explanatory roles include Safe-Haven, Normal Service, Coordinate Disaster Recovery, Cultural Organization Center, Information Hub, Evacuee Resource, Improvise, Manage Oral Histories. A quick comparison of the ESFs and the library roles indicates that public libraries are capable of filling resource needs in several of the FEMA ESF areas; however, the most natural fit for the public library is ESF Mass Care. ESF Mass Care (FEMA April 22, 2015) addresses the non-medical mass care, emergency assistance, housing and human services needs of individuals and/or families impacted by natural or human-caused disasters. Of the eight naturally occurring roles that libraries have used during emergencies, the four roles that are the most aligned with the ESF Mass Care are described below in short anecdotal examples. continued on page 57

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Optimizing Library Services from page 56 Safe Haven

In 2015, Ferguson Municipal Library faced community turmoil due to the riots that engulfed Ferguson, Missouri (Library Journal, 2015). Sensing the fear and concern of the community, the library remained open throughout the trying time, conveying the importance of the public library as a safe place for all county residents.

Coordinate Disaster Recovery Center

In 2007, FEMA noted that immediately after a disaster they are always looking for locations to set up emergency centers where people can fill out forms and receive recovery information. In 2007, the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) and FEMA implemented a project to place libraries in the center of disaster recovery (Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, 2008).

Information Hub

According to Dankowski (2015), Katrina caused 35 percent of the libraries in Louisiana to close at one point, however, the overall number of visitors to libraries immediately following the storm fell only 1 percent. Although not designated as an essential service, local leaders recognized that many libraries were the center of information during the recovery locally.

Evacuee Resource

In June of 2012, wildfires drove about 1,000 residents from their homes to wait out the fires in a temporary Red Cross evacuation center in Loveland, Colorado (Weiss, 2012) community — ten miles North of Fort Collins. Staff from the Poudre River Library District in Fort Collins dispatched staff, laptops, and a projector to the Red Cross shelter in Loveland to provide information updates about the fire. Staff eventually expanded the initial service to include story times for restless kids. These four examples are only a few of the dozens that demonstrate the capacity and natural ease of public libraries to render relevant assistance to victims of emergencies and natural disasters. A key element of all of the examples is the flexibility of the library staff and the library facility to participate out of a sense of duty. The fact that they were known to the community and the emergency services they rendered are typical of routine library services reinforces their natural importance to the process of emergency response.

The Role of Serendipity in the Library Response

Most disaster responses unfold in a positive manner. Deborah Bunker (2006) at the University of Sydney Business School in Sydney, Australia found that while those in command and control positions in emergency management use official information to manage disaster response and recovery, it is not always the most successful approach. She discovered that the serendipitous use and generation of information by first responders, emergency workers, and the public was more useful to those caught up in the disaster than the information coming through official channels. This pattern fits the public library’s unofficial approach over the past decade. The circumstances that led to the disasters in Missouri, New York, and Louisiana referenced above all resulted in tragic devastation. However, the fact that local public libraries were undamaged, staff and leaders were available and able to fulfill the customers’ expectation that public libraries would be able to render the assistance they sought, was surprising as well as helpful.

Conclusion

Libraries are typically well built and can accommodate large crowds. This makes them a logical resource for use during an emergency response. In the past decade, during disasters of all kinds around the country, residents have been known to gravitate to the library after a

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disaster assuming assistance will be available. Customers tend to see the library as a clearing house of many services. When victims of an emergency or natural disaster, library customers assume that they will receive the needed help at the library from library staff.

References

Brobst, J. L., Mandel, L. H., & McClure, C. R. (2012). Public libraries in crisis management: Roles of public libraries in hurricane/ disaster preparedness response. In C. E. Hagar (Ed.), Crisis Information Management Communication and Technologies (pp. 155-172). Oxford: Chandos Publishing. Bunker, D. (2006). Serendipity in Disaster and Complex Scenarios. Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Encouraging Serendipity in Interactive Systems, 13th IFIP TC13 Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 7-10). Sydney: Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, vol.Online, 2011, pp. 0. http://interact2011.org/ Comfort, L. (2002). Managing intergovernmental responses to terrorism and other extreme events. Publius, 32(4), 29-29. Federal Emergency Management Agency. (April 22, 2015). Core capabilities. Retrieved from www.fema.gov/core-capabilities. Institute of Museum and Library Services, (2016) 2016 Public Library Survey, www.imls.gov/research-evaluation/data-collection/ public-libraries-survey retrieved 9/25/17. Kelly, Michael. (January 11, 2011) FEMA Library Journal (Recognizes Libraries as Essential Community Organizations.) Library Journal. http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2011/01/industry-news/ala-midwinter-2011-fema-recognizes-libraries-as-essential-community-organizations/ retrieved September 9, 2017 Library Journal. (2015, March 20). Scott Bonner / movers & shakers - community builders. Library Journal. Retrieved from http://lj.libraryjournal. com/2015/03/people/movers-shakers-2015/scott-bonner-movers-shakers-2015-community-builders/. Library Operating Expenditures: (2017) A Selected Annotated Bibliography. American Library Association, ALA Library Fact Sheet 4. http:// www.ala.org/tools/libfactsheets/alalibraryfactsheet04 retrieved 8/17/2017 Massachusetts Libraries Board of Library Commissioners. (2008, November 07). Libraries to serve as disaster recovery centers. Retrieved from http://mblc.state.ma.us/ mblc/news/releases/past-releases/2008/nr081107.php. National Public Radio. (2013, August 12). For disaster preparedness: Pack a library card? Morning Edition, National Public Radio. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2013/08/12/210541233/ for-disasters-pack-a-first-aid-kit-bottled-water-and-a-library-card. Perlman, E. (2006, December). Critical connectors. Governing, 57. Rose, Joel. For disaster preparedness: pack a library card (2013, Aug. 12) NPR. Weiss, L. B. (2012, June 19). CO serves kids “on the fly” as wildfires rage. slj.com. Retrieved from www.slj.com/2012/06/public-libraries/ co-library-serves-kids-on-the-fly-as-wildfires-rage/.

Recommended Readings

Bhattacharyya, S., & Patnaik, K. R. (2018). Changing the Scope of Library Instruction in the Digital Age (pp. 1-286). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. Decker, Emy Nelson, and Jennifer A. Townes. Handbook of Research on Disaster Management and Contingency Planning in Modern Libraries. IGI Global, 2016. 1-676. Management Association, I. (2019). Emergency and Disaster Management: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications (3 Volumes) (pp. 1-2000). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. Strang, K. D. (2012). International Journal of Risk and Contingency Management (IJRCM).

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Being Earnest with Collections — Collection Development from the Library Services Vendor’s Point of View by Ashley Fast Bailey (Director, Collection Development and Workflow Solutions Central U.S., GOBI Library Solutions from EBSCO) <abailey@ybp.com> Column Editor: Michael A. Arthur (Associate Professor, Head, Resource Acquisition & Discovery, The University of Alabama Libraries, Box 870266, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487; Phone: 205-348-1493; Fax: 205-348-6358) <maarthur@ua.edu> Column Editor’s Note: In this issue of Being Earnest with Collections, readers will get the perspective of a librarian working for a library services provider. I have worked with Ashley Bailey on a number of projects related to collection development as we have transformed our monograph operations. Moving from a large approval plan profile toward an almost complete reliance on demand driven acquisitions, Ashley provided guidance and detailed reporting that resulted in an efficient transition to DDA. Now, as we reach year two, the DDA program has benefitted from several changes to profiling and EBSCO enhancements designed to improve the user experience and help us manage the overall process. I am grateful to Ashley for the great customer service she has provided. I believe ATG readers will enjoy her perspective on how a library services vendor can help libraries build collections that meet the needs of students and faculty. — MA

hen I graduated from library school, I didn’t take a job at an academic library. My first job as a librarian was as a Collection Development Manager with what was then YBP Library Services, now GOBI Library Solutions from EBSCO. Over the last decade I have worked on the vendor side of the library world, partnering and working alongside my colleagues in academic libraries to make collection development and the collections aspect of library workflows as efficient and effective as they can be for the needs of their library. As I embarked on my professional career, I dove head first into learning all I could about collections needs on the library side, as well as what that entails from the vendor side. As a librarian, I work to meld the two together to help create efficient and effective workflows for libraries. Being a librarian on the vendor side requires the wearing of multiple hats, just as librarians wear many different hats in the academic library. My goal is to ensure that the work I do creates better workflows, more effective ways to discover and acquire content, and more efficient ways to complete the monograph acquisitions process. The key to my work with libraries is the consultation process. No two libraries are alike. Each has its own challenges and specific set of needs. While many can be similar, just like snowflakes, no two are identical. There is, however, an overarching set of tools that a library can employ to make their monograph

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collections process most efficient and streamlined. It’s my role to make sure that each library I work with understands those options and how to leverage the acquisitions, technical services, and workflow support we provide in the way that fits their unique needs. Central to our work are Approval Profiles, a mechanism that allows for an automatic shipment of books or notification slips, based on a press list, set of Non-Subject Parameters, and LC Class specifications set to meet a library’s needs. A library can use an Approval Profile to bring in automatic shipments, electronic notification slips, or underpin a Demand Driven Acquisitions Program (DDA). This is a key part of the monographic acquisitions process on the vendor side. No two Approval Profiles are the same. By consulting, listening, and using the knowledge and experience I have with GOBI’s profiles, I can work with a library to make sure their collection development areas are covered in a way that meets their library’s goals by surfacing the specific content that addresses their profile requirements while filtering out content that’s not relevant for their needs. This vetted content is then made available to the library through the automatic shipment of core materials, and/or through notification slips of newly published content. In addition, core content can automatically be sent to a library to ensure the most efficient way of delivering that needed content. Many librarians think automatic shipment approvals are only for large libraries, but that is not the case. A profile can bring in core content from a very targeted set of publishers or specific LC Classes, or it can employ a very broad set of guidelines to bring in thousands of books on an annual basis. For example, a community college can craft a profile to bring in core undergraduate materials that are very practical in nature to meet the needs of their users, or a large library can set up a broader set up parameters to allow for automatic shipments of the core materials for their undergraduate user base, in addition to materials needed by their graduate level researchers. A well-written profile can serve the library well and allow for librarians to focus on other priorities. It is a big part of our role on the vendor side to aid in this process. We are here to help make selectors’ jobs easier, freeing those librarians

up to work on projects and services they would not be able to focus on otherwise. By working with librarians to keep their profiles relevant and up to date, the partnership between vendor and library is a valuable one. Bringing in content automatically and providing a stream of relevant new titles to review via the notifications slips, the vendor’s approval profile saves librarians time and brings awareness to a universe of relevant content they might not otherwise discover. Beyond Approval Profiles, part of my role involves working with libraries to keep them informed of industry changes and discuss ways to adjust and enhance their collection development strategy. For instance, there are niche aspects of collection development that fall into the realm of profiling, such as DDA (Demand-Driven Acquisition). While DDA doesn’t work for every library, a DDA program takes a subset of content and moves it into a pool of titles for patrons to discover and use. The library then incurs charges based on use. Many libraries aren’t aware that the books made available via a DDA model represent a relatively small percentage of the overall universe of scholarly publishing, so relying exclusively on this model will result in gaps in a library’s collection. The Approval Profile can underpin this process. The Approval Profile allows the DDA model to work in tandem with an auto-shipment and notification slip plan providing libraries with a well-rounded collection development strategy. With this seemingly ever-changing model and other models being made available to libraries, an important part of my partnership with a library is to make sure they are informed of changes so their profile can evolve with the shifting landscape. Aside from acquisitions, libraries lean on vendors to provide additional workflow support. This includes both selection and ordering support, but also shelf ready services and invoicing efficiencies. Once a book is profiled and allocated against an Approval Plan, a library can receive an automatic shipment or firm order that title (print or eBook). The ordering process is streamlined via GOBI and there are pieces of the technical services end that can aid in efficiencies. For instance, Electronic Order Confirmation Records (EOCRs) for firm orders can save valuable staff time entering order continued on page 59

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Biz of Digital — Exploring Digital Librarianship and Defining Library Digital Services By Column Editor: Michelle Flinchbaugh (Acquisitions and Digital Scholarship Services Librarian, Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery, University of Maryland Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250; Phone: 410-455-6754; Fax: 410-455-1598) <flinchba@umbc.edu> With paragraphs about their positions as digital librarians by: Sarah Schults (Outreach and Digital Services Librarian, Utica Public Library) <sschultz@uticapubliclibrary.org>; Rachel Appel (Digital Projects & Services Librarian, Temple University) <rachel.appel@temple.edu>; and Jodi Hoover (Media Services Librarian, University of Maryland Baltimore County) <hooverj@umbc.edu>. Introduction

Library digital services and digital librarian are amorphous terms that may seem to represent a jumbled set of disconnected activities. The lack of a clear understanding of them muddies communication because the terms are understood in different ways by different people. Meshing research, general information, and specific information from practicing librarians, library digital services and digital librarians are defined, allowing for shared meaning when communicating about them. The transitional column wrapping up “Biz of Acq” and beginning the “Biz of Digital” mentioned some of the digital services that libraries offer and provided a broad definition of library digital services. This issue’s column goes to the literature and to practicing digital librarians to find out what digital librarians do and the characteristics and skillset that a digital librarian needs. Based on the information discovered, the definition of library digital services provided in the previous column is broadened to be inclusive of all the different types of work that digital librarians do. The definition of digital services that we used in the last the column stated that library digital services includes providing the following, or providing instruction and support for the following: 1. Building a digital collection of information for further study and analysis 2. Creating appropriate tools for building digital collections 3. Creating appropriate tools for the analysis and study of digital collections 4. Using digital collections and tools for their analysis and study to generate new intellectual products 5. Creating authoring tools for these new intellectual products1 This column will provide evidence and the rationale for further modifying that definition, broadening its specific focus on digital collections to focus instead on digital content and technology.

Being Earnest with Collections from page 58 records when using this service. Upon shipment, a print or eBook MARC Record can be provided. This would overlay the EOCR and allow for staff to check in a title more quickly by allowing valuable order data to carry over from the vendor system into this record. It makes the receiving process of a print book much more efficient and provides a vendor specific MARC record that contains library local practices for eBooks. When a title is invoiced, physical processing (full shelf ready or partial shelf ready) can add in the speed that a book gets to the library shelf. EDI invoicing, also known as Electronic Invoicing, provides the final purchase data needed for a library’s ILS,

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The Literature

Research on digital librarianship is limited to job advertisement analyses, but these analyses provide a great deal of information. Other articles and a couple of blog posts offer additional perspective on digital librarians, and one book chapter provides a broad overview of digital librarianship. The focus here will be on those works that were most helpful in understanding digital librarianship in a broad and inclusive manner. A 2002 article by Croneis and Henderson reports on an analysis of advertisements for electronic and digital librarian positions. They analyzed 223 ads published in College and Research Libraries News from 1990-2000. They looked at position title, functional area, institution, and the year the ad was first published. They found that for jobs with “electronic” in the job title, the most common duties were reference, website/ webpages, instruction/training, and collection development. For jobs with “digital” in the title, they found the most common responsibilities were administration, supervision, digital projects/initiatives, instruction/ training, and partnerships. Digital projects and initiatives, leadership in the field, and production were unique to ads for digital positions.2 In 2009, Choi and Rasmussen published an article on their analysis of 336 job advertisements published in College and Research Libraries News from 1999 through 2007 with the word “digital” in the job title or in the position description, duties/responsibilities, or qualifications. They found that these positions have many variants, but divided them into 5 groups: 1) Digital in the job title, focusing on managing digital projects and initiatives, 2) A title related to services, e.g., Digital Services Librarian, Digital Services and Scholarly Communication, etc. 3) Administrative positions to manage a special unit or project. The remaining ads were for various positions ranging from technical services, systems, tech support, and resource management and services. The most frequently mentioned competencies were technological knowledge

making the process of ordering a monograph from start to finish as efficient as possible. A library can make the back end of their acquisitions workflow more efficient by taking advantage of these value-added services. While these services can often bring real fiscal saving to libraries, quite often the opportunity costs that these services eliminate are a key driver for libraries. These support services allow staff to focus on those tasks that cannot be outsourced, ranging from the processing of special collections materials to the provisioning of metadata services. Exactly which services a library may want or need to employ will vary based on their individual circumstances. My role is to work with libraries to identify the options and services that best align with their libraries’ needs.

continued on page 60

After spending the first eight years of my career working directly with specific libraries on their individual plans, I now lead a team of Collection Development Managers in crafting solutions for the libraries in our territory. From this vantage point, I have an even greater appreciation for the importance of the librarian/ vendor relationship. As a librarian, I see how consulting with your vendor partners can lead to developing collaborative collection development solutions. As a librarian who has worked on the vendor side for the last ten years, I have seen the myriad of ways a vendor can bring greater efficiency to libraries of all shapes and sizes. From both angles, the mission remains the same — we are all working toward the same goal of ensuring library users have access to the quality materials they need.

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Biz of Digital from page 59 appearing in 56% of ads, followed by resource building, and knowledge organization. The most frequently appearing qualifications were communication and interpersonal skills, appearing in 57% of the ads, followed by knowledge of current trends in digital libraries, experience in digital library development and digital information systems, knowledge and experience with metadata, and the creation and management of digital information. The technology competencies were also analyzed for the specific competency required. They found that the most required specific competency was trend analysis in the digital library environment, followed by frequent mentions of HTML, coding, general computer skills, computer literacy, knowledge and understanding of information technology, a mark-up language such as SGML and XML, creation and management of digital information, digitization, and metadata. Competency in management was also frequently mentioned in the ads.3 A chapter titled “So You Want to be a Digital Librarian — What does that Mean” in a 2013 LITA Guide titled Jump-Start Your Career as a Digital Librarian provides a thoughtful and broad view of digital librarians. It rejects defining digital librarians as providing digital products and services because all librarians do this as part of their job. It rejects defining digital librarians as those working with digital libraries, as what digital librarians do extends far beyond that boundaries of the digital library. It attempts to define digital librarian in terms of characteristics of the person in the position, and characteristics of the work being done, and settles on digital librarians as those in positions that revolve around technological means of sharing and storing information. It also discusses fusing the role of the traditional librarian with technology, and the importance of not fusing the definition with a particular technology as they often go obsolete.

The Digital Librarian

The digital librarian is not primarily engaged in the activities of traditional librarianship and is in a position that didn’t exist twenty or thirty years ago. All librarians are engaged in work that utilizes digital content, tools, and technology, but the digital librarian’s expertise and primary job responsibilities focus on the digital rather than the specific content, tools, and technology that happen to intersect with her primary expertise and primary job responsibilities that are in another area. The activities of the digital librarian may be analogous to the activities of librarians in traditional roles, and the activities of the two may even overlap in that their work has the same or similar goals. However the activities and methods of the digital librarian are inexorably digital so that they vary substantively from that of the activities and methods of the traditional librarian. That is, the digital librarian has no traditional print-based counterpart like that separating the (print) cataloger from the electronic resources cataloger, who both use the same tools and methods for their work. In the public library, the digital librarian may be primarily engaged in supporting the use of digital devises and creating digital content and collections. In academic libraries, the digital librarian may be primarily focused on creating digital content and collections, but may also focus on managing digital projects and initiatives, or in providing digital scholarship services, such as supporting or collaborating with faculty in developing a scholarly website. Additionally, in academic libraries, the work of the digital librarian may be deeply intertwined with scholarly communication, advising the community on copyright issues and conventional publishing options, or supporting new forms scholarly works such as the open digital textbook or the digital story. However, digital librarians’ work encompasses even more than this, extending beyond the digital collection and digital scholarship to include promoting resources and/or services via social media, leading new system adoption and system migrations, website content development and design, etc. But the focus still remains on digital content and technology. The day-to-day work of the digital librarian will vary depending on the priorities of the library, and the role of the particular position. The

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digital librarian may research and plan new services and systems as needed, quickly acquiring expertise in unfamiliar technologies. She may manage or provide services in a digital scholarship or digital humanities lab. He may collaborate with community members on projects and/or offer consulting in support of community member’s projects, providing information on the planned format, project planning, standards, platforms and tools, usability studies, and project lifecycle management. The digital librarian may manage platforms made available to community for digital projects. He may work with digital objects — ingesting them into digital collections, maintaining them, manipulating them. She may manage system migrations. The digital librarian may manage a digitization lab. The digital librarian may promote library resources and services using digital media, i.e., social networking. She may offer specialized services, assisting community members with visualizations, geospatial data, digital mapping, text analyst and mining, etc. For the digital librarian, a collaborative approach and tools to manage and resolve conflict to move a group forward are more often the keys to success than technical wizardry. Knowing a bit about programming can be advantageous, but programming is generally done by programmers, not by digital librarians. Project management skills may be more apropos when managing the implementation of complex systems impacting entire libraries or consortium and one or more communities. Perhaps most important for the digital librarian who deals with multitudes of new technologies is the attitudes and behaviors that allow him to not only survive, but thrive, in times of rapid change, all the while staying consistently true to the values of librarianship. She accepts change, is comfortable working in unknown territory, takes risks, and leaves behind the old to embrace the new. She has the ability to quickly figure out how to use a wide variety of digital tools, and understand how they connect with the mission of the library, the needs of the user, and with other systems, tools, and services already in use. Resilience is also important in that all risks don’t result in success — the digital librarian views failure as an opportunity to learn and to try something different instead that might work. Since this is a column with a focus on the practical, it’s important to move beyond the general to what practicing digital librarians do. A few practicing digital librarians have described their work here: Sarah Schultz, Outreach and Digital Services Librarian, Utica Public Library — As the Outreach and Digital Services Librarian at a public library, part of my job is to help people use and understand their technology. This is both through one on one appointments and computer classes. The one on one appointments occur both at the library and out at other community organizations. I meet with people to answer specific questions they might have on using their smartphones, tablets, laptops or other devices. I schedule and teach monthly computer classes which include Computer Fundamentals, Online Job Searching, and Microsoft Office Programs to name a few. I also help to create content for the library’s website and social media pages, help staff members with their technology questions, and train staff on how to use new digital resources provided by our library system. Rachel Appel, Digital Projects & Services Librarian, Temple University — As the Digital Projects & Services Librarian I coordinate the implementation of digital projects in the Library. Currently, I work on three major projects. I co-project manage PA Digital, the Pennsylvania Hub for the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA). DPLA brings together digital collections all over the country to be discovered within a single search portal that points out to the collections’ local repositories. I organize consultation calls with prospective contributors, review metadata and OAI-PMH output, convene the cross-institutional metadata and rights teams as well as the developer standup, and coordinate education efforts such as workshops and webinars. I also work as a part of a cross-campus team to implement Elements, a research information management system, at Temple. Elements provides a holistic record of faculty work including publications, professional activities, grants, and teaching in order to track scholarly output. I develop workflows on how to best configure faculty profile’s search settings and retrieve their correct ORCID and other database IDs to ensure accurate matching continued on page 61

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Biz of Digital from page 60 and ingestion of their authored publications. I then oversee three to five student workers for the population of faculty publications in their respective profiles. Lastly, I co-project managed a Knight Foundation grant-funded project to examine the role of libraries in civic data management and preservation. I worked on two technology prototypes for testing dataset preservation and worked on the white paper detailing our project findings. We are currently exploring the next phase of the project. In addition to my major projects, I’m part of a Scholarly Communications Strategic Steering Group and I am set to begin work on Temple’s institutional repository. Jodi Hoover, Digital Media Librarian, The University of Maryland Baltimore County — In my role as a media librarian I work to provide access to non-text based library resources such as films, music and images regardless of format. I work with departments throughout the library to make sure these resources are well integrated into our regular workflows and provide input on specific media related issues. If media purchases are expensive or involve signing a particularly restrictive license, I work with our Acquisitions Department to recommend options. Working with the Reference Department as a liaison has given me the opportunity to make sure appropriate media resources are included in subject guides and library instruction sessions. As media collections can often become hidden within discovery layers I routinely test to make sure that media items display properly and are present in search results. I work with our Discovery Librarian and Bibliographic Services Department to resolve any issues that may impede access. Additionally, I assist faculty members with selecting media resources for their classes, including working to resolve access issues for students with disabilities by finding materials with captions, audio description or transcripts.

Conclusions on the Definition of Digital Services and Digital Librarians

DelRosso and Lambert defined digital librarians as those in positions that revolve around technological means of sharing and storing information, and this might have been a suitable definition and also led to a definition of library digital services. However, their definition eliminates many digital librarians whose work may include specialized ways of presenting or manipulating information, such as in web exhibits, digital maps, data visualization and digital storytelling, or in presenting information in an interactive manner, through a database, or through a map or graphic that changes based on user settings, data mining and analysis, and other types of work done with information that are inexorably technological. The use of the term “sharing” seems obsolete, as in the digital age, librarians more often provide access to electronic materials that are provided via purchase, for free, or via ILL (even if via a scan of a print article) rather than via sharing which suggests a physical object that only one person can use at a time. Therefore, this definition seems off the mark. Instead we continue to utilize the definition provided in the introduction. The first item in the definition in the introduction is “building a digital collection of information for further study and analysis.” In looking at what digital librarians do, it’s apparent that this extends beyond digital collections to include content for websites, content for social media, content for subject guides, and insuring that content appears appropriately in the discovery layer. Further, the content isn’t necessarily for study or analysis, but may also provide information about the library and its resources and services, or gather information in a particular way that is

Rumors from page 55 a trend and vice versa? My son-in-law bought bitcoins way back when and sold them at the right time. But that seems to take some luck. Blockchain is another hot topic these days. Is

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of value to the user, such as in a subject guide or in the discovery layer. Further, the digital librarian goes beyond providing but also assisting and educating in the use and creation of digital content. A more inclusive wording of this point moves the specific of building digital collections to the more general: Library Digital Services creates or maintains digital content and provides instruction and support in the use, creation, or maintenance of digital content. The second through fourth items on our list of digital services in the introduction are about providing instruction and support in the creation of a range of different types of tools for working with digital collection in a variety of ways. Digital Librarians, however, are just as likely to provide existing tools as to create them from scratch, specifically, technology tools, and not just tools for working with digital collections, but tools that support a broad range of library goals. Digital librarians may maintain a set of software for common staff or patrons needs. When a new need becomes apparent, the digital librarian identifies the tool that might meet it and manages its implementation. When a new tool is developed that might be of use to the library and its community, the digital librarian manages the adoption and implementation process. Additionally the digital librarian teaches and assists with the use of technology tools. These four items are better combined and stated as Library Digital Services provides, creates, or maintains technology tools and provides instruction and support in the use, provision, creation or maintenance of technology tools. In utilizing these definitions, it’s important to note that digital content is composed of objects that are expressions, and digitals tools are for carrying out a function. The same application may be viewed as both content and tool, as many applications mix them, for example, the text in a database is content, and the search box is a tool to find the content. Labelling a particular application as one or the other isn’t important, but knowing that digital librarianships may engage with either or both is very important. The following definitions are reached utilizing the above conclusions: Library Digital Services supports the mission and goals of the library by engaging in any of the following activities: 1) Creating or maintaining digital content. 2) Providing instruction and support in the use, creation, or maintenance of digital content. 3) Providing, creating, or maintaining technology tools. 4) Providing instruction and support in the use, provision, creation, or maintenance of technology tools. A digital librarian is in a position that focuses on any of the above activities in support of the mission and goals of the library. Endnotes 1. “Our Cultural Commonwealth: The Report of the American Council of Learned Societies Commission on Cyberinfrastructure for the Humanities and Social Sciences,” 2006, 7, http://www.acls.org/uploadedFiles/ Publications/Programs/Our_Cultural_Commonwealth.pdf. 2. Karen S. Croneis and Pat Henderson. “Electronic and Digital Librarian Positions: A Content Analysis of Announcements from 1990 through 2000.” Journal of Academic Librarianship 28, no. 4 (July 2002), 232-7. 3. Youngok Choi and Edie Rasmussen. “What Qualifications and Skills are Important for Digital Librarian Positions in Academic Libraries? A Job Advertisement Analysis.” Journal of Academic Librarianship 35, no. 5 (Sept. 2009), 457-67.

it going to last? We will have more than one talk about this in Charleston I am sure. Look at all the hype about Facebook and privacy. I am struck by the fact that millennials don’t seem to value privacy the same way we older types do. Is that a valid observation? As we develop this trendspotting, keep your eye out for what is happening. Would love to hear from you!

Hope you have all read Corey Seeman’s business column — Squirreling Away. Corey says he spends a lot of tme indoors and he enjoys taking pictures of squirrels when he is outside. He has so many pictures of squirrels to share and we will be able to have a different picture with each issue. And I should have continued on page 71

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Library Analytics: Shaping the Future — Data, Privacy and the User Experience by Neil Scully (IT Director, OpenAthens) <openathens@eduserv.org.uk> Column Editors: John McDonald (EBSCO Information Services) <johnmcdonald@ebsco.com> and Kathleen McEvoy (EBSCO Information Services) <kmcevoy@ebsco.com>

ibrarians are being given more insight into online user activity, but the question of how best and how ethically to use the available data has never been more relevant. With single sign-on access, users identify who they are by verifying which learning institution they are from. But with the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica data breach a hot topic, the arguments over privacy, ownership, transparency and exactly how data is stored and used has never been more important. Publishers know that making the online user experience as positive as possible is key, but simple access must balance security and transparency, permissions and privacy. Librarians and publishers are looking for detailed analytics so they can see who is using online services and where they are being used. These analytics do not need to be at an individual level because aggregated groups or trends also provide a great deal of value. Librarians and publishers want to ensure that end users can access as many library resources as possible. Core to this is the digital identity, which builds trust between the library and the user. The digital identity is not an email address or first name and surname but an opaque ID tied to the user data in the institutional user directory. The digital identity authenticates the user and allows publishers to know where that user is from and what they are using the resource for. The data that can be collected carries a huge amount of value and enables strategic analysis and planning. For example, professors can see how many students have accessed course material and amend teaching literature to make sure more specialist content is utilized. It can allow faculty to plan classes on how to get the most out of library resources and to sit down with students to encourage them to make full use of online library services. Research has shown that students who access more course materials online are more likely to do well in their studies. Librarians can also see if students aren’t using available resources and can re-invest their money where it will have the greatest impact. However, there is a flip side to data like this being collected. That data is valuable, but who owns it and who manages the rights to analyze and interrogate that data? The concerns over privacy are centered around who owns the permissions — the user, organization or publisher? We have all heard about Cambridge Analytica and the fall-out over Facebook data. It has come to light at the UK Parliament’s digital, culture, media and sport select committee that a lot more than 87 million people might have had their data processed and ana-

62 Against the Grain / June 2018

lyzed without their permission and certainly without their knowledge. Former employee Brittany Kaiser said the consulting firm had a number of personality quizzes designed to extract personal data from the social network, including Aleksandr Kogan’s This Is Your Digital Life app. This leveraging of data without permissions has caused a major trust issue. But with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which aims to give people more control over how organizations use their data and heavily penalizes organizations that don’t comply with the rules — a regulatory framework for maintaining that trust is being created. GDPR provides a common standard that people controlling and processing data must follow and the protection of the individual is at the heart of the regulation. But provided data collection is ethical and legal, institutions could be doing more to realize the value and insight contained within the data they hold. This also creates an opportunity for scholarly publishers — who can be helped to realize these benefits but always within the framework of permission — both user and institutional permissions.

Examples

With single sign-on access platforms, users can verify they are who they say they are and can be taken to a particular publisher, such as ScienceDirect. Librarians can then be given insight into who the user is and where they are coming from. For example, a UK University could have up to 80 partnerships or affiliated colleges across the UK and overseas. They can now see how people from their different partnerships are engaging with their resources and use that data to optimize their collection. A lot of further education institutions struggle to get students to use the library. Now staff can look in six months’ time and monitor how many people are using which platforms and for what, and base training around it. There are of course dangers, in the general sense, of using data. Focusing on Brexit, an extreme example might be that names and data could be collected on all academics with a specific political leaning whose research talks down the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. There are many within academia who believe this kind of research should be protected. A recent OpenAthens conference, called, “Championing the User,” focused on current and future online users. OpenAthens is a gateway to secure online services through single sign-on access.

Commercial Director Jon Bentley, in his talk, “The Authentication Landscapes of Tomorrow,” tackled the importance of trust to the user and discussed his Facebook data. He downloaded his own Facebook data ahead of the event, describing it as “shocking.” Until the data held on him was delivered in its totality it had not been possible to comprehend the breadth and depth of the data that had been collected — nor how far back it went. It was easy to argue that the data was not an authentic reflection of his own identity and he is encouraging other Facebook users to download their own data to understand how much information is held on them and how it could be used to create an inaccurate profile of who they really are. Bentley also cited the Financial Times as an example of a publication that is “phenomenal” at using data in a legal and compliant manner in order to create the best product and service possible for its customers. With a legitimate, user-centered approach, academic institutions can do more to make use of their data and create services that are shaped around their users and ultimately improve outcomes for all involved. OpenAthens’ Head of Sales Rob Scaysbrook says many institutions struggle to get students to use their library. “Analysis of data could help reverse this if it is used in the right way. OpenAthens is giving libraries insight into who the users are, where they are coming from and what journals and databases they are reading.”

Growth Areas

Future considerations need to focus on data relationships that libraries, individual users and publishers are comfortable with, then on how that data can be managed, analyzed and best utilized. One Australian healthcare library has 30 different user types from pharmacists to medical students. If libraries require funding, these analytics can show which groups are taking advantage of their online resources and how often. Heat maps are now available showing where users are coming from, which are proving to be a big hit with librarians because they lift a veil on the value different user communities are placing on the digital resources that are available. The way reports are being made is changing and they are becoming more flexible and as a result offering more value. It is now much easier for library staff to access and understand analytics and take advantage of the reports that are available. Many North American academic libraries are using these data and resources more, as are those in the continued on page 63

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Library Analytics ... from page 62 U.S. healthcare sector, healthcare libraries in Australia and other countries around the world. Many people can be very nervous about sharing data with a third party and want confidence in the technology and security surrounding that. And this is a global concern. People want an assurance that they don’t have to share their data and that data won’t be shared without their permission. But when it is collected and processed legally, it creates opportunities for all parties to gain rich analytics that can support decision making and improve services and ultimately deliver better outcomes.

Conclusion

Making the online user experience as positive as possible is vital and publishers know this. But privacy must not be lost as a result of easy access. Publishers need to be sympathetic to user concerns when it comes to taking and analyzing data. GDPR will help in providing a regulatory framework while allowing more people to recognize the value within data. But Cambridge Analytica is just one example of a situation that has highlighted dangers of data exploitation. We know that librarians and publishers are looking for detailed analytics so they can see who is using online services and where and how much value this can bring to their future strategy. They want to ensure that end users can access as many library resources as possible and target those reports and articles that are doing well, as well as those that aren’t. Central to this digital identity governance — establishing trust between the library and the user — is using tools and technology which set a pseudonymous ID as a default. This identity authenticates the user and allows publishers to know who they are (e.g., where they are coming from without their names associated) and why they are using the resource. With technological improvements, it is now much easier for users to access analytics and understand them. New features include the ability to open, save and favorite reports meaning they can make more comparisons and collate the data more effectively. Some users can be very nervous about sharing lots of data with a third party and the security and policy issues surrounding this need to be addressed. They will need assurances that they don’t have to share their data and that data won’t be shared without their permission. However, one of the key messages is that without it, services will not evolve to be the very best they can be for all users.

Against the Grain / June 2018

Epistemology — The Allure of the Latest Shiny Thing Column Editor: T. Scott Plutchak (Librarian, Epistemologist, Birmingham, Alabama) <splutchak@gmail.com> http://tscott.typepad.com

received a small inheritance from my Mom. It was the remainder of her IRA, split equally among her five kids. I arranged to have my share moved from her broker in Appleton down to mine in Alabama. The day I went to see Laura to sign the paperwork was near the peak of the most recent Bitcoin bubble and it just so happened that the amount from my Mom was almost exactly the price of one Bitcoin. I joked with Laura that instead of giving the money to her to invest, I was going to go ahead and buy one. Naturally, the next day the value started to drop and a week later the price was down 25%. As I write this, it’s gone down another 25% and no one can predict with certainty which way it’ll go next. The true believers are hanging tight and the sceptics are enjoying their self-righteousness. I wasn’t ever really interested in putting any of Mom’s money into cryptocurrencies, but I was intrigued with how the financial frenzy has turned media attention toward these digital mysteries and their underlying technology, the blockchain. For several weeks after the peak it seemed every day brought a new article or review exploring, or breathlessly predicting, the ways in which blockchain technology was going to transform commerce and education and our very political systems for the better, or was going to blow up in the biggest financial bust since — oh, pick your favorite, from housing to dotcoms to tulips. About that same time Steven Johnson published a long piece about blockchain possibilities in the NYT Magazine1 and as I read it I wondered what Geoff Bilder thought. Bilder (Director of Strategic Initiatives at Crossref) is the most insightful person I know when it comes to the intersection of people and technology. He’s done a lot of work on trust and identity, concepts which are central to the blockchain hype. A quick search to see what he was up to lately took me to the PIDapalooza 2018 website and I wasn’t surprised to see that he was doing a session (with Martin Fenner of DataCite) titled, “The Bollockschain and other PID hallucinations.” I sent him an email. He replied with a number of useful comments but I think the most important is his observation that technophiles “keep trying to address social issues by attempting to hack around them. They have essentially given up on the messy, slow and tedious stuff of coalition building, politics and good governance.” I’m writing this on April 10th, just as Zuckerberg is testifying before Congress about what went wrong with Facebook, that the personal information of millions of users was sold to Russian trolls who used it to target political rants at

possibly suggestive voters in an attempt to sow discord among the electorate and (possibly) tip the election to Donald Trump. The outrage is couched in terms of personal privacy, but that misses the point. Privacy is among the least of my worries. (After all, it was long ago in 1999 when Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems, raised a ruckus by declaring, “You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it.”) Much of the opprobrium being tossed at Zuck blames him for not adequately protecting Facebook’s users’ privacy because his business model, the algorithms that have made him one of the richest people in the world, is based on hoovering up as much detailed information about peoples’ behaviors and tastes and inclinations and desires as possible. This argument sees the mistakes Facebook has made as driven by his business interests. But I think he’s an idealist. His idealism made him rich, but he didn’t get into this with that as the main goal. He believes he’s creating a better world. He’ll do it by connecting people, setting up social sharing systems beyond anything previously imaginable. One cost of this better world is the loss of privacy, but he was fine with that. He didn’t focus on protecting privacy because he didn’t believe it mattered that much — certainly not as much as we stood to gain. Now he’s confronted with a backlash. There’s the Facebook “Ugly” memo, in which VP Bosworth appears to say that the collateral damage of somebody being killed by bullies or in a terrorist attack is an acceptable cost. “The ugly truth is that we believe in connecting people so deeply that anything that allows us to connect more people more often is ‘de facto’ good.”2 Give Bosworth and Zuckerberg the benefit of the doubt that they didn’t believe that statement when it was written, that Bosworth was deliberately being provocative to get people inside the company to think about what the acceptable cost should be. It still vibrates with their passionate belief in the underlying goodness of connecting people. They don’t see that this degree of radical connectivity has unavoidable social costs. So they think that they only need to figure out how to tweak things around the edges to “protect privacy” and all will be well. They’re certainly not alone in their technophiliac idealism. The expansion of the World Wide Web itself was fueled by the belief that it would usher in a new age of citizen democracy. Remember “the wisdom of the crowd?” We don’t hear so much about it anymore now that we’re busy trying to keep our heads down among the rock-throwing mobs. Trolldom has rather tarnished our belief in the perfectibility of self-government by giving continued on page 64

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Epistemology from page 63 everyone the tools to say whatever they want to everyone in the world. But the belief that if we can just get the technology right — or get the right technology — it’ll finally empower our best natures and defeat our worst impulses continues to pump through the veins of the technophiles. Now we have the blockchain. And the breathless promises that it will fix the ills of the world including everything that’s deficient with scholarly communication and education. The most entertaining hype I’ve come across is from the Tapscott machine, purveyors of excitable business books since the late 80s. The latest, The Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin is Changing Money, Business, and the World, imagines the technology ridding society of inequality and unfairness and empowering people in all economic strata.3 For a taste, check out the article in Educause Review, “The Blockchain Revolution and Higher Education.”4 The rhetoric whipsaws between claims that the revolution is inevitable because the technology is so powerful, and warnings that we might miss out on the benefits if we don’t get properly organized. All that’s required is for everybody to get on board. Consultants are standing by to assist you. To be fair, not all of the interest in blockchain is breathless hype. Digital Science recently announced a project to explore using blockchain to support peer review.5 ORCID is participating, as is Nature Springer. They’re working with Katalysis, an Amsterdam startup that is exploring blockchain technologies “to democratize the value of online content.” (Well, okay, they’re a little breathless.) It makes sense for ORCID to explore this, since identity and trust are at the core of their mission. The rhetoric in the Digital Science Blockchain for Research report teeters on the edge of hype, but it is clear about the problems potentially being addressed by the technology as well as the challenges inherent in getting widespread adoption.6 Very far from breathless is the long, dense and sober report from the European Commission, Blockchain in Education.7 It cautiously concludes that, “blockchain could probably disrupt the market in student information systems and loosen the control current players have over this market.” Not surprisingly, given the source, after enumerating the key areas where blockchain implementations have the potential for improving certain aspects of higher education, the authors warn, “For all this to come to be, regulation and standardisation will determine the extent and speed of progress either forward or backward.” The libertarian enthusiasts who believe the blockchain will finally free us from the tyranny of centralization and governments will not be pleased. Nonetheless, the report does an excellent job of outlining the real potential for blockchain technologies in education, particularly in regard to certification and the management of intellectual property, while avoiding the hype and being realistic about the governance challenges.

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Most of the enthusiastic writing about blockchain, even when it tries to rein in the hype, ignores the technical limitations — it’s slow and uses obscene amounts of energy. (For a well-written and sarcastically sharp antidote to the Tapscotts, check out David Gerard’s Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain8). Read deeply into the articles and books imagining large scale transformations of social systems and it becomes clear that the core to solving the problems involves bringing people together to come to agreement on goals and desired outcomes, winners and losers, control and economics. Where the hard work of achieving consensus on difficult social problems has been done — and that certainly includes many of the issues we face in education and scholarly communication — blockchain technologies may provide helpful infrastructure (or might turn out to be superfluous). But the technology doesn’t create agreement and goodwill. It’s been a little sad this week watching Zuckerberg’s idealism being chipped at. He still believes that connecting the world is a good thing and that we’ll all be better off in the long run. But it turns out that connecting us hasn’t made us better people. The blockchain hype cycle is like that. There are undoubtedly areas where the technology will help people implement solutions to particular problems. But the debates that have roiled scholarly communication for the last several decades are about goals and objectives and competing interests and visions and who gets to control what. Inserting blockchains isn’t going to make it any easier for us to sort all of that out.

Endnotes 1. Johnson, Steven, “Beyond the Bitcoin Bubble,” The New York Times Magazine, January 16, 2018. https://www.nytimes. com/2018/01/16/magazine/beyond-the-bitcoin-bubble.html 2. Mac, Ryan, Charlie Warzel, and Alex Kantrowitz, “Growth At Any Cost,” Buzzfeed News, March 9, 2018. https://www.buzzfeed. com/ryanmac/growth-at-any-cost-top-facebook-executive-defended-data 3. Tapscott, Don and Alex Tapscott, The Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin is Changing Money, Business, and the World. Portfolio, 2016. 4. Tapscott, Don and Alex Tapscott, “The Blockchain Revolution and Higher Education,” Educause Review, March 13, 2017. https:// er.educause.edu/articles/2017/3/the-blockchain-revolution-and-higher-education 5. “Digital Science and Katalysis Lead Initiative to Explore Blockchain Technologies for Peer Review,” STM Publishing News, March 7, 2018. http://www.stm-publishing.com/digital-science-and-katalysis-lead-initiative-to-explore-blockchain-technologies-for-peer-review/ 6. Van Rossum, Joris, Blockchain For Research: Perspectives on a New Paradigm for Scholarly Communication, Digital Science, November 2017. https://figshare.com/articles/_/5607778 7. Grech, Alexander and Anthony F. Camilleri, Blockchain in Education, 2017. Inamorato dos Santos, A. (ed.) EUR 28778 EN; doi:10.2760/60649, http://publications.jrc. ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC108255. 8. Gerard, David, Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain: Bitcoin, Blockchain, Ethereum & Smart Contracts, 2017. https://davidgerard. co.uk/blockchain/book/

Considering Games and Gamification in Libraries & Associated Entities — How the Longing for Tabletops has Revitalized Games Column Editor: Jared Alexander Seay (Media & Services Coordinator, Addlestone Library, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC 29424; Phone: 843953-1428) <seayj@cofc.edu> blogs.cofc.edu/seayj

bout five years ago I was introducing a board game to students in a live classroom. (One of my colleagues characterizes this as a “butts in seats” class as opposed to an asynchronous online class). As I was explaining the rules to the class of 27 students, I noticed a sea of increasingly confused faces. “Sorry, Mr. Seay,” one of the students piped up, “but I have never played a board game before.” Astonished at this obvious outlier, I asked if anyone else shared his predicament. I was stunned. None of them had ever played a board game. It had finally happened. I was the “old school” guy with an 8

track tape in a room full of digital downloaders. I was officially old. It was only after I got over my shock of just being old that I was able to lament the end of the analog game era. Now, fortunately I think I was a bit premature. I am still old. But analog is back. Today around the world in pubs and public libraries (because, what is the difference really?) people are gathered in groups of actual people around actual tables to play board and card games. In fact the board game cafe1 — where for a $5 cover charge a group of friends gets a table and chooses from a myriad of continued on page 65

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Considering Games ... from page 64 board games to play — is a growing business and business opportunity. As a board game cafe manager in Austin, Texas said, “The thing that...we hear from our customers that’s appreciated is just the sense of community.” Another cafe manager says, “Customers also welcome the chance to put down their smartphones.”2 I think it no coincidence that board and tabletop games that involve the face to face interaction of live people are now experiencing an upsurge in popularity and a renaissance of design. As this column goes to press, International Tabletop Day is about to dawn. Thousands of libraries and game and hobby shops nationwide — not to mention board game cafes — will host the play of gazillions of games on boards, games with cards, games with plastic or cardboard pieces — games that have anything that can be touched, pushed, and manipulated on a tabletop. Face to face human interaction, like old blue jeans (albeit with many more holes this time), is back in style. Analog board and card games that involve real people and synchronous live communication (with full non-verbal interpretation capability) are competitive with immersive online video games. So, why is this even happening in our very high tech society where nearly everything we do is connected to a keyboard and a computer with reality rivaling digital special effects?

Against the Grain / June 2018

We are a fully wired and social media mad world. Ironically we communicate with other human beings both near and far more often than any human has ever communicated with any other human at any other time in human history. But, we do most of this communication through email, chat, text and insta-whatever while staring at a screen and typing on a keypad in solitude. Even more troubling is that this solitaire, techno-only communication is happening more and more within sight and touch of other human beings. This was strikingly brought to my attention last Thanksgiving as my extended family gathered around the family dining table to play a game of cards. Everyone at the table who was 25 years and younger was glued to a mobile phone and frantically texting to another human being somewhere. Or so I imagined. When two of my nephews started giggling simultaneously (and still not looking up from their screens), the realization hit me. They were texting each other. They were less than a table’s length apart, and they were texting each other! Oh, the humanity! Oh, the lack thereof. Obviously many people are so enamored of their wireless (and distance-less) technological communication ability that they use it much more than (and sometimes in place of) face-to-face communication — even when they are face-toface. We play in online worlds with thousands of other people from around the world and never see

a single real human face. But, lately it seems that many people immersed in this sterile, high tech bubble sometimes long for real human interaction. They want high touch with their high tech. This term “High Tech High Touch” was first coined by John Naisbitt in his 1982 best seller Megatrends. He theorized that in a world of ubiquitous technology, people long for personal, human contact. He re-examined the concept in his 1999 book High Tech High Touch. Naisbitt said we are creating a society that is a “Technologically Intoxicated Zone” in which we are assailed with technological stimuli. Naisbitt’s partial list of symptoms include: “we fear and worship technology; we blur the distinction between real and fake; and we live our lives distanced and distracted.”2 He further concluded that we seek relief and meaning by buying self-help books, popping Prozac, Viagra, and other supplements. We seek a tangential connection to nature and we yearn for human to human connection.3 It would be hard to argue that Naisbitt did not pretty much hit the nail on the head 36 years ago as to the effect of our current state of technology. The blurring of the distinction between real and fake is particularly chilling. But, besides those who are popping Prozac and Viagra, the need to experience tactile contact is also driving “old school” high touch. I recently conducted a quick anecdotal poll revealing that even the majority of continued on page 67

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Squirreling Away: Managing Information Resources & Libraries — Are Bad Actors Driving Your Policies? Column Editor: Corey Seeman (Director, Kresge Library Services, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan; Phone: 734-764-9969) <cseeman@umich.edu> Twitter @cseeman

had the opportunity to watch the wonderful 2002 Disney movie Lilo and Stitch when I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes. As the movie barreled towards a happy ending, we were reminded by Cobra Bubbles (voiced by the brilliant Ving Rhames) that “Aliens are all about rules.”1 And if I were to think of another group of people...or beings...who are also “all about rules,” it might be librarians. We have rules about everything: policies, procedures, cataloging, metadata, and how much someone can use, borrow or download. There is a very logical reason why we have these rules — but it is possible that they may have been generated for the wrong reasons. And many of those wrong reasons are set up by bad behaviors from some of our users. We might call these our “bad actors.” There are many types of bad actors out there. There are some that are just bad (Tommy Wiseau — famously from the 2003 movie The Room). There are good actors who have the habit of choosing bad roles (Nicolas Cage — that’s high praise).2 And there are good actors who turn out to be very bad people (Kevin Spacey and Bill Cosby for two — is it too soon)? Anyway, with all the different types of bad actors out there, we can end up with policies that do more to thwart certain behavior than really reflect what type of relationship we would like to have with our communities and end users. As I think about another sector in the economy with rules and regulations, I am thinking of retail. As I have shared freely, I am a veteran of three weeks and one day in the JC Penney Manager Training Program right after college. I realized quite quickly that it was not for me. But in the stories that I remember from that short stint at the East Brunswick (NJ) store, was one the store manager told me. JC Penney had a very liberal return policy. Most of the time — there were no questions asked as the store gladly strove to make the customer happy. But in the story shared with me, a local businessman bought a hot plate from the store and used it in his restaurant. It was a product designed for home use, but was operating a large number of hours a day. That caused the product to burn out. And when it did, the person brought it into the store for an exchange. This story repeated itself out and then (I believe) on the fourth or fifth exchange, the store manager interceded to say that the store was no longer going to exchange the product for a new hot plate since it was used in a manner that it was not designed for. I have no idea if that person went to a different Penney’s store or upgraded to a commercial product-line. Either way, it was not the store’s problem any longer. And while JC Penney has been known over the years as having a very customer-focused return policy, few have been able to be as well known as L.L. Bean. Well, that is until

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this year. On February 9th of this year, L.L. Bean announced that their unlimited returns program, a central tenant in their value proposition to customers since 1912, was being changed. If you knew anything about L.L. Bean, it was likely about their return policy. You can return anything at anytime. It is how this outfitter became known across the globe as a place where you can be assured that you were buying the best goods anywhere. When Leon A. Gorman, grandson of L. L. Bean, died in 2015, the obituary in the New York Times featured an anecdote that cemented this return policy in retail lore. “Like his grandfather, he was an avid practitioner of the outdoorsy existence and rigorously committed to customer satisfaction. Those two sensibilities combined to produce the ethos that may have informed his grandfather’s decision in 1912 to return the money paid by 90 of his first 100 customers after the leather accidentally separated from the rubber soles of their hunting boots.”3 And when Steve Fuller was interviewed in 2015 for the Boardroom Insiders, the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer said this: Lenient Return Policy: L.L. Bean has an astonishingly lenient return policy. Fuller has said that the Company wants customers to be happy with their purchase, and will accept returns on items purchased years ago. “If she believes her zippers should last a longer time, we’ll respect that and we’ll refund her money or give her a new product until she’s happy,” he said. Fuller says he’s never been in a meeting where someone questioned the value of the guarantee. The only question he gets is whether the Company talks about it enough, reported Planet Money. Fuller adds that crazy return stories are a great marketing tool for the Company.4 And I think it really was. The whole notion of a crazy return — something that no other store would honor (save for Nordstroms or REI — who ditched their lenient policy five years ago) became a reason why you did shop there. It was part of the ethos of the brand. They made products that would last forever because they knew that this guarantee was hovering in the back of each customer’s mind. The case in point was a leather bomber jacket I have from L. L. Bean. I have had this coat since the mid1990s, a gift from my mother — as has been every coat I own. I have worn the heck out of it and it has been my constant winter protection since.5 I have had it repaired twice — once for a zipper and once for a pocket where the stitching

was coming out. In both of these instances, I did not even think for a moment about sending it back. My jacket is well worn, but in great shape. I fully expect it to be the last winter coat I ever need. But about the store….on February 9th, 2018, Shawn O. Gorman sent a message to customers with a modification to their return policy.6 What struck me was this statement in the message to customers: “Increasingly, a small, but growing number of customers have been interpreting our guarantee well beyond its original intent. Some view it as a lifetime product replacement program, expecting refunds for heavily worn products used over many years. Others seek refunds for products that have been purchased through third parties, such as at yard sales.” He went on the write something even more puzzling: “This update adds clarity to our policy and will only affect a small percentage of returns. It will also ensure we can continue to honor one of the best guarantees in retail, with no impact for the vast majority of our customers.” While they claim that the new policy will only affect “...a small percentage of returns,” the optics are very different. Overnight, the company went from a business that stood solidly behind every purchase to one that is casting a bit of doubt over the customer. The Boston Globe reported that “L.L. Bean officials said the company has lost $250 million on returned items in the last five years, with the number of returns doubling in that period. The annual losses on these items alone were ‘equal to the amount of revenue generated from Bean boot sales,’ they said.”7 Their annual sales hovered around 1.5 billion dollars during this time period, so it is not insignificant. However, if we read this accurately, they might have lost $50 million a year on returned items — that is around 3.5% of their total sales if we go with the $1.5 billion figure. What is interesting is that according to the National Retail Federation’s 2015 Consumer Returns in the Retail Industry report, the returns as a percentage of total sales is 8% and return fraud and abuse as a percentage of total returns is around 6%.8 So while these numbers seem big, it could be chalked up as the cost of doing business. The lore of abuse is a set of stories all to itself. Nanos wrote “Stories among Bean customers have become part of New England lore — kids getting a new backpack every school year, and a mother who had been exchanging the same pair of corduroy pants for the past 30 years, according to accounts posted online. One Appalachian Trail hiker recalled returning a poncho that ‘had burn holes, delaminations, tent continued on page 67

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Squirreling Away from page 66 spike holes, tears, blood stains, stretch marks and smelled more now than when new,’ he wrote in comments to a Globe story.”9 And while the person who buys the boots at a garage sale to get the retail back from the company likely happened and did in fact cost the company money, it is possible that these stories also encouraged people to shop there who were likely never going to return anything — like my bomber jacket. So what does this all mean? For over 100 years, L.L. Bean chose their own path and set out their own identity. While retailers and manufacturers were stepping back from guarantees and warranties, L.L. Bean defiantly asserted that their opinion of their goods AND their customers did not change. They had as much faith in their customers as they did in the goods that they put their label on. There were definitely people who were abusing the policy. Everyone knew that, but the numbers were very small, and are likely still so. The interesting part of this story is that bad actors have driven L.L. Bean into a new customer service model. These bad actors forced the hand of a company that put the customer first and foremost. Now, the customer is viewed in a different light. In our libraries, we deal with the same situations. We set up rules about how long books can circulate and what to do when the items are not returned. We establish limits on the number of items people can download or how long they can work on our public terminals. Part of this is a means of ensuring that we enable equal access to as broad a group in our community as we can. But part of these policies remain more traditional and restrictive than what we might need. As we look at our services and the limits we put on users, we should be careful that we do not set up policies that protect ourselves at the cost of our community members. One very interesting study was from Duane Wilson, Cynthia Frazier and Diana Harter

Considering Games ... from page 65 college students these days prefer to curl up with a real book (with real paper and cover) rather than a glowing screen. They said they liked the smell and the feel of a book better.4 So, is there any surprise in the mighty resurgence of analog tabletop/board games? This is an industry that many thought would be killed by the advent of video games. Sales figures for 2016 place the hobby game market (the trade name for tabletop games) at over $1.4 billion and growing at 21%.5 There are even board game versions of video games. Incidentally in an ironic anti-twist there is a growing number of video games based on board games. With this resurgence in analog high touch, it is no wonder that teachers and trainers in all fields are leveraging it to enhance and inspire their instruction. I noted in a previous column

Against the Grain / June 2018

of the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University. They were assessing their circulation policies and decided to explore what other comparably sized ARL Libraries were doing. They wrote, “After evaluating the results from this study and other internal studies, the Harold B. Lee Library decided to adopt some non-traditional circulation policies in order to better serve the needs of its patrons.”10 They further added two excellent points in their conclusions. First, “As circulation continues to decrease in academic libraries, updating circulation policies to provide a stronger patron focus can build good will and encourage patrons to use library materials.”11 They go on to say: “The non-traditional methods tend to be more liberal and to provide materials to patrons with fewer constraints. The libraries who use these methods report higher patron satisfaction and no additional problems with the return and preservation of their materials. It is time for libraries to more seriously examine their circulation policies and determine if they can better meet the needs of their patrons through more generous policies.” So instead of being more traditional and restrictive, we should be more liberal and flexible with our users. There will be people who abuse our policies and game these systems we set. There always are. But our rules say a great deal about our institutions and what we believe in. So we can send the wrong message when our policies can be viewed as ones that solely thwart these bad actors rather than support the majority of the users who have no ill intent. It is clear to me that if L.L. Bean took this approach, they would not have changed a thing.

Corey Seeman is the Director, Kresge Library Services at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is also the new editor for this column that intends to provide an eclectic exploration of business and management topics relative to the intersection of publishing,

how libraries and educators are getting into the escape room phenomenon. Libraries have always been centers for community and campus activities. This analog immersive activity is itself an even more high touch, interactive game environment than tabletop games. It seems to me that this entry into escape rooms is only a beginning and augurs well for the potential of other immersive group learning experiences like LARP and megagames. Humans, after all, create their best synergy within an actual group of intermingling humans. Go figure. Everything old is new again and fully analog interactive. To be sure, this analog resurgence will not replace or even overshadow the digital world we have come to know and love. But, it will greatly influence and shape it even as it is becoming a place of reprieve from the digital world. I for one am happy to apply my 8 track brain where it is still useful and experienced. Though I should still upgrade my music collection to vinyl while there is still time.

librarianship and the information industry. No business degree required! He may be reached at <cseeman@umich.edu> or via twitter at @cseeman. Endnotes 1. Lilo & Stitch (2002): Quotes: https:// www.imdb.com/title/tt0275847/quotes retrieved May 17, 2018. 2. Check out this article from FiveThirtyEight, https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/ the-five-types-of-nicolas-cage-movies/. 3. Roberts, S. (2015, Sep 04). Leon A. Gorman, 80, L.L. Bean chief, dies. New York Times. Retrieved from http://libproxy. bus.umich.edu/login?url=https://search. proquest.com/docview/1709343606?accountid=34476. 4. Stephen M. (Steve) Fuller, SVP and CMO, L.L. Bean (2015). San Francisco: Boardroom Insiders, Inc. Retrieved from http://libproxy. bus.umich.edu/login?url=https://search. proquest.com/docview/1776433025?accountid=34476. 5. Here I am wearing it in January 2015 — and a friend, https://flic.kr/p/qxrxnR. 6. You can see the text on their facebook page (along with comments): h t t p s : / / w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / l l b e a n / posts/10155636619902415. 7. Nanos, J. (2018, Feb 09). L.L. Bean dropping its unlimited returns policy. Boston Globe (Online) Retrieved from http://libproxy.bus.umich.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/ docview/2002015169?accountid=34476. 8. National Retail Federation. 2015 Consumer Returns in the Retail Industry, p.3. Retrieves from https://nrf.com/sites/default/ files/Images/Media%20Center/NRF%20Retail%20Return%20Fraud%20Final_0.pdf. 9. Nanos, J. (2018, Feb 09). 10. Wilson, D., Frazier, C., & Harter, D. (2015). Circulation policies in major academic libraries. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 41(6), 798-803. 11. Ibid.

Endnotes 1. MacArthur, Jeff. “The Exciting Rise of Board Game Cafes.” Geek & Sundry, August 26, 2016, https://geekandsundry. com/the-exciting-rise-of-board-game-cafes. 2. Driscoll, Molly. “Board game cafes: why game night no longer means staying in.” The Christian Science Monitor, December 26, 2017, https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/ Society/2017/1226/Board-game-cafes-Whygame-night-no-longer-means-staying-in. 3. Naisbitt, John. High Tech High Touch. Broadway Books, 1999, pp. 4-22. 4. I polled about a dozen students from the reference desk. I actually read this somewhere too, but I can’t remember where. In any case it is certainly what I would rather do. 5. Griepp, Milton. “Hobby Games Market over $1,4 billion in 2016.” ICv2: The Business of Geek Culture, July 20, 2017, https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/38012/ hobby-games-market-over-1-4-billion.

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Briefly Noted Column Editor: Bryan Dillon (University of Illinois) <bryandillon3@gmail.com>

The Gun Debate — edited by Grey

Radio Drama and Comedy Writers, 1928 -19 62 — by Ryan Ellett

House Publishing (2016, Grey House Publishing, 978-1-68217-102-8) — In modern history, there has quite possibly been no greater controversy compared to that over guns. That being said though, it is hardly a new subject of discussion, as this collection points out. Having the ability to judge this versus some of this set’s other books, this one’s narrower focus makes it a much more useful tool. A compendium of not just the court cases in the U.S., but also the organizations that have fought for and against gun control. It is interesting to see how the discussion has shifted over the years, and would be a must read for anyone looking to discuss the long running ramifications of the fight over the 2nd Amendment; a controversy that shows no sign of losing steam.

(9781476665931 / 9781476629803 $39.95) — Author Ryan Ellett is here to give some unspoken writing heroes their due. Before television became mainstream, the venue for aspiring writers was radio and both veterans and newcomers wound up entering the field. The reference source is a catalog of not just who they were, but also the notable work they created, who they collaborated with, and if they continued to do anything after the world of entertainment moved on. It should be noted however, that extra focus was given to making sure the “underlings” got their due, as the author makes it clear that it was always a possibility for these people to get swept up and away by the grand scale of the discussion. A great beginning point for anyone interested in learning more about radio, academically or otherwise.

World Epidemics — by Mary Ellen

Snodgrass (9781476671246 / 9781476631066 $95.00) — The only thing scarier than getting sick from a nasty disease is to be caught up into a global pandemic. This reference material collects the records of every outbreak epidemic that has occurred in record human history. Thankfully, the entries also include the record treatments that were used, possibly to alleviate the notion that this was simply a catalog of the terrible diseases that humanity has encountered. A useful record to study for both those who are interested in disease and those study the spirit of human perseverance.

The CASSIA Spy Ring in World War II Austria — by C. Turner

(9781476669694 / 9781476629919 $35.00) — CASSIA, though possibly unknown to many casual observers, was the spy ring in the heart of Nazi territory that kept the Allies up to date on the machinations of Nazi command, until a fatal error ultimately got most of the team killed. With a scale as large as the second World War, it becomes understandable that some events would get lost in mix of everything else, but this book goes into depth and detail of a group of heroic civilians who could have been killed any day but still risked it all to help the Allied cause. A gripping story of forgotten heroes, and a must read for anyone interested in the early days of spies and espionage.

68 Against the Grain / June 2018

American Nation-Building — by

Kevin Dougherty and Robert J. Pauly, Jr. (978-0-7864-9796-6/978-1-4766-2821-9 McFarland Press $39.95) — When it comes to battle, the United States has a habit coming to battle in other countries…without feeling a need to clean up the mess left behind. This book, however, seeks to show that, despite the seemingly warmongering efforts of the forces, the country is trying to revitalize the countries where war has gone on. It’s also interesting to see that the writers acknowledge that controversy that surrounds these actions. One is left debating the benefits of actually “cleaning up the mess” versus forcing one’s systems on another country. It also does it’s best to remove the politics from the situation. Overall, an interesting discussion about war and responsibility.

Star-Begotten: A Life Lived in Science Fiction — by James Gunn

(978-1-4766-7026-3/978-1-47662966-7 McFarland Press $25.00) — Though the name might not initially ring a bell, James E. Gunn was instrumental in laying the groundwork for how Science fiction became a serious subject. Interestingly enough, it wasn’t for any major fantasy or lasers and spaceships, but instead by grounding his stories in realism. No longer was the genre relegated to children and the childish, and given his later decision to become a teacher, science fiction became a subject that one could candidly discuss without fear of ridicule. This biography offers an enticing look into the life of a man who, despite being a big fish in a little pool, was a major player in shaping the American cultural landscape.

Defining Documents in American History: Immigration & Immigrant Communities (16502016) — edited by James S. Pula (978-1-

68217-285-8/978-1-68217-286-5 Grey House Publishing $175.00) — The United States of America is a country that was founded by immigrants, and for immigrants…eventually. Unfortunately, a mistrust of outsiders is nothing new in America, as displayed prominently by this collection of how cultures migrated to the U.S. and were initially hated until they found a place to call their own, and as time progressed, were ultimately integrated into our culture. What’s more; this catalog of immigrants honestly, albeit possibly unintentionally, shows how U.S. society ultimately benefitted from being a more accepting culture. An incredibly useful tool for those concerned about the country’s latest anti-immigrant craze as it shows how illogical the issue really is.

A Hollywood Tragedy: Laird Cregar — by Gregory William Mank (978-

0-7864-4956-9/978-1-4766-2844-8 McFarland Press $49.95) — The early days of Hollywood was something of a lawless place. Indeed, so great was the draw of fame, that history is littered with horror stories of women pushed to the edge and ultimately, tragically, destroyed by the machine. This book however, tells the tale of a man who sought to change himself and instead died young. Although Laird was actucontinued on page 69

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Assembling the Marvel Cinematic Universe — edited by Julian C

Briefly Noted from page 68 ally well received as a brutish actor, indeed he was critically acclaimed for it, he sought the fame boost that could only come from being seen as attractive. Like many others, he sought to remedy this by going on an extreme diet, failing to realize that as a man of large stature he was never meant to be at the size he strove for. A relatable tragedy for all walks of life made all the worse by the fact that this is the first time it’s ever really been brought to light.

Ukraine Over the Edge — by

Gordon M. Hahn (978-1-4766-6901-4/978-14766-2875-2 McFarland Press $39.95) — In recent years, we as a country have grown weary of Russia possibly restarting the Cold War. If one incident put people on edge the most it was their seeming move to recapture Ukraine. Though things have calmed down for a moment, with only a section of the country taken, that doesn’t ease anyone’s suspicions. This book looks to explain the events, in their entirety, to the western audience, on the grounds that many might not have seen what happened on the ground that, unless something massive occurred, most would have likely not heard anything on what had gone down. This book is an interesting study of the world possibly repeating itself, and possibly a harrowing portent into what is to come.

Japan’s Green Monsters — by

Sean Rhodes and Brooke McCorkle (978-14766-6390-6/978-1-4766-3134-9 McFarland Press $39.95) — On August 6, 1945 the life of mankind was changed forever; the atom bomb was dropped. While reactions to the incredible show of force, ranging from fear to almost reverence, one response that has surprised many is the emergence of “Kaiju” cinema. Seen almost as the antithesis to nuclear firepower, this genre was created a decade after the bombs dropped and almost exclusively seem to feature plotlines about ecological issues, be they manmade or semi-natural occurrences. As time passed, it became clear that the franchise was used as a coping mechanism for what issues were bothering the creators. An interesting study of both film and psychology, and a must read for franchise fans outside Japan who may not have realized the deep rooted history the franchise has.

Classic Architecture vol.1-3

— by Gene Waddell ($25.00 each vol. 1 9781-9744-5405-1, vol. 2 978-1-9761-3458-6, vol. 3 978-1-9746-6307-1) — A trio of in depth, well researched breakdowns of architecture, ranging from ancient to modern, by art historian Gene Waddell, these books offer an easy to read breakdown of the material covered within each volume. Offering both an in-depth breakdown of the tactics used in construction of their era, and a history lesson to justify and explain why the architecture was done the way it was. This duality is what makes the books so useful, both as a history book and as a history of building. The ease of use also elevates the texts above the standard fare of a history textbook. The text was split apart to give in-depth detail about its different categories, and to allow further exploration into the subject’s background and previously mentioned history (vol. 1 Greek and Roman Architecture, vol. 2 Renaissance Architecture, vol. 3 Academic Architecture).

Chambliss, William L Svitavsky, and Daniel Fandino (978-1-4766-6418-7/978-1-47663285-8 McFarland Press $39.95) — One might wonder if anyone sets out one morning to change the world, do they look at what they create and think “This will change how the world sees the country I live in?” This is addressed because, for better or worse, Disney/ Marvel’s “Cinematic Universe” has undeniably become a facet of how the world perceives America. This essay collection tackles the subject in three phases: what it’s like to try to make such a massive collection of interwoven stories, what it’s like to be the manifestation of this new universe, and what the end product says about the people who made it. It’s undeniable that no company has ever tried something this ambitious before, and this collection is a fascinating study of the ramifications of almost literal world building.

Harry Potter and Convergence Culture — edited by Amanda

Firestone and Leisa A Clark (978-1-47667207-6/978-1-4766-3253-7 McFarland Press $39.95) — Speaking of multi-media empires, the Harry Potter franchise has truly taken a life of its own, almost exclusively thanks to its fans. Despite the massive reach of this series, its creator has only written nine books, one film, and contributed to the creation of a play. Every other aspect has been fueled by fan demand. This essay collection explores all the ways the world of Harry Potter has been expanded upon in the internet age, and how this franchise might have been the first to be fully embraced in this fashion. An interesting look at “Millennial” culture, and an enjoyable case study of the powers of the Internet.

Baseball Greatness — by David

Kaiser (978-1-4766-6383-8/978-1-4766-28622 McFarland Press $35.00) — A must read for all baseball fanatics, the author uses the Wins Above Average metric to not only breakdown the winning teams of each year, through 2017, but to also show just exactly why those teams won so handily, pointing to who really were those teams MVPs. The only issue the book has is the slightly alienating effect of its own technical prowess. While it’s true that the author does their best to make the book approachable, it is still undeniable that the information may be too tied up in the science of baseball to be of interest to anyone other than its own die-hard niche. Quite possibly the most in depth discussion of baseball success that one could have, and a must have for fantasy baseball players.

Jack Lord: An Acting Life — by

Sylvia D Lynch (978-1-4766-6627-3/978-14766-3175-2 McFarland Press $39.95) — Though a name that may escape the purview of modern TV fans, Jack Lord made his name during the ’70s as the driving force behind seminal cop drama Hawaii 5-O. That being said, as he was a prolific character actor, it makes sense to know that he had a notable life prior to his television heyday. An interesting case study of an actor who, though he never made an indelible mark on the Hollywood scene, continually produced material of solid caliber to earn respect. Recommended for those interested in ’70s pop culture, or those interested in the groundwork to the popular procedural drama genre. continued on page 70

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A Reference Book You May Have Missed by Marjorie Hlava (President, Access Innovations, Inc.) <margie_hlava@accessinn.com>

Chinese Medicinal Plants, Herbal Drugs and Substitutes: An Identification Guide by Christine Leon and Lin Yu-Lin. Publisher: Kew. Place of publication: Richmond, Surrey, UK. Hardback, English. ISBN: 9781842463871. UPC: 9781842463871. EAN: 9781842463871.

t’s the organization of the book that sets this reference, Chinese Medicinal Plants, Herbal Drugs and Substitutes: An Identification Guide, apart from all the others. The listings include a wealth of well-done photographs of the plant in all its forms: living leaves, flower, fruit, as well as dried in crude form, decocted, carbonized and sometimes ground. Identifying the native habitat where the plant is found, the morphology, methods for decocting the pieces, harvesting, how to process, which parts to use (and not use), the common and botanical names including a full synonymy (botanical names change with amazing rapidity). Plant descriptions provide both a botanical and a layman’s plant description. There is also a handy conservation status of the plant in China and globally. It is an indispensable guide for anyone working with traditional or herbal remedies. The items covered in the book are recognized in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (CP) and western medical associations. It is the first botanically authoritative as well as

practical identification guide for traditional Chinese medicine. It is easy to read and beautifully illustrated. The book is organized into major sections depending on the plant part most used: underground (rhizomes, roots, tubers and bulbs) above ground (aerial parts and whole plants), stems and woods, barks, leaves, flowers and their parts, fruits, seeds and other fruit parts. Each section is color coded at the page edge and then alphabetic order by their Pin Yin names as used in the CP2015. In addition there are three layout types for the pages: Layout A — Single species which are not widely used outside of China, Layout B — Comparative text for a pharmacopoeia drug obtained from more than one species not widely used outside of China, and Layout C — A pharmacopoeia drug obtained from more than one species traded internationally.

About the Book’s Authors Christine Leon is a medical botanist specializing in Chinese medicine. She has worked at the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens since 1997 where she helped establish the Chinese Medicinal Plants Authentication Centre at Kew, in partnership with the Institute of Medicinal Plant Development in Beijing, China. Lin Yu-Lin is a Professor at the Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College known as the leading authority on Chinese medical plants and their materia medica.

Briefly Noted from page 69 IMPACT Learning — by Clarence May-

bee (978-0-0810-2103-3/978-0-0810-2077-7 Chandos Publishing $80.95) — An amazing guide to breaking down the steps to getting the most out of teaching higher education students, incorporating the best of Purdue’s university library system. This collection breaks down not just methods to reach out to the student population, but also to staff. A very useful read for those who are having issues with their outreach programs, or need more talking points for why there are so many nuances to working in the library, something many a librarian has had to deal with. Basically, it serves as the best teaching guide to the process for using the IMPACT system, recommended for the librarian and the patron.

70 Against the Grain / June 2018

Perhaps the most important aspect of the book is that is gives the official and unofficial substitutes. This is a safety feature that most libraries will want to have available to their patrons. Use of potent “natural medicines” has high risk due to the similarities of the plants, especially when they are dried. Many of these plants are easily confused or adulterated with other plants making them unsafe or ineffective. There are many substitutions made and the user must be alert to which are effective versus those which are placebos or, worse, dangerous to the point of poisons. There is extensive front matter and a very extensive 30 page index in this 806 page tome. The authors, Christine Leon and Lin Yu-Lin, spent 15 years collecting, assembling, testing, and checking the information contained in the reference. The work is the result of a joint project of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the Institute of Medicinal Plant Development at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. The taxonomy and scientific nomenclature reflects current opinions by aligning with Kew’s Medical Plant Name System (MPNS) portal which allows a cross walk from The Chinese Medical sources to Western Medicine. A significant bonus for the researcher and layman alike.

Marjorie Hlava is the President of Access Innovations, Inc. where she is known for her work applying taxonomies and other controlled vocabularies to digital collections. She has a degree in Botany as her first love and continues to read widely on the subject.

A Practical Guide for Informationists — by Antonio P DeRosa

(978-0-0810-2016-6/978-0-0810-2017-3 Chandos Publishing $79.95) — The very concept of information is something that many take for granted, and why wouldn’t they? It is so easy to go out and find whatever information you are looking for in this age of instant gratification. However, one might fail to consider that someone has to put that information there before you can access it; this can become especially problematic for those in the medical field. This guide offers a two prong method for moving forward in the information field with medical professionals, not only offering methods to get your information to the public but also pointers on the best way to convey this, so that your readers will easily understand it. A useful thing to read for those both in the information management field and the medical field.

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Don’s Conference Notes by Donald T. Hawkins (Freelance Conference Blogger and Editor) <dthawkins@verizon.net>

The 13th Electronic Resources & Libraries Conference (ER&L) Column Editor’s Note: Because of space limitations, this is an abridged version of my report on this conference. You can read the full article which includes descriptions of additional sessions at http://www. against-the-grain.com/2018/06/13th-erl/. — DTH

he Electronic Resources & Libraries (ER&L) Conference returned once again to the AT&T Executive Conference Center in Austin, TX on March 4-7, 2018. It drew over 1,000 attendees from 17 countries, as well as about 500 online attendees. Besides the traditional mix of plenary and Sandy (L) and Bonnie concurrent sessions, the conference Tijerina, Conference featured an exhibit hall with over Coordinators 80 exhibitors, a number of poster presentations, and pre- and post-conference workshops.

Opening Keynote Content Standards and Their Consequences Robyn Caplan, Researcher at Data & Society Research Institute (https://datasociety.net/), noted that the power of platforms lies in the central position that search engines occupy. However, distinctions between media companies and platforms have begun to blur, leading to ambiguity in our perceptions of how people are Robyn Caplan consuming information: • Platforms might be thought of as publishers, but large ones like Facebook, Twitter, and Google cannot define themselves well because it is difficult for them to categorize their content well. • Are platform companies really media companies? Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, has said that Facebook defines itself as a technology company because media companies are largely known by the content they create. • Are media companies platform companies? Some of them think of print as just another platform, and news media have shifted their strategies to be platforms. • Barriers between distribution channels and publishers are converging. Platform operators are wondering what content they should be prioritizing, which are decisions publishers used to make. • The Internet was intended to break down barriers between producers and readers and was initially advocated as the true public sphere. But it is unlikely that early Internet companies could foresee today’s situation that there would be only a few companies dominating the Internet.

Rumors from page 61 told you that Corey is also taking over the Monograph Musings column from Regina

Against the Grain / June 2018

Caplan referred to a report recently published by her organization, which she co-authored: “Dead Reckoning: Navigating Content Moderation After “Fake News.” Fake news can be detected by • Intent: the author intends to spread false information, • The type of information being conveyed, such as hoaxes, conspiracies, satire, etc., and • Its features: unique words, visual cues, sensational images, and social patterns. It is difficult to tell the difference between someone intending to inform and someone intending to deceive. Solutions to the fake news problem depend on: • Trust and verification by third-party fact checkers, • Demonetization of content not meeting standards, • Banning accounts known to be producers of fake news and de-prioritizing their content, and • Regulatory solutions (generally used outside the U.S.). Platforms now rely more than ever on people to moderate and categorize content types.

Community Engagement: Using Linked Data to Increase Event and Collection Discoverability

According to Ravi Singh, Executive Director, Demco Software (https://www.demco.com/software), linked data creates visibility for libraries. He cited a recent Pew Research report, which reported that 80% of the adult respondents to a survey said that libraries should offer programs to teach people how to use digital tools such as 3-D printers, and 50% said that libraries should buy the tools. However, the same report also found that many Americans do not know that libraries offer learning-related programs. Linked data opens up internal data to the web and encourages companies and others to publish it freely, but in libraries, linked data has been largely applied to books. Search engines use linked data to enrich their results, which can help libraries transform themselves from passive repositories into educational centers. Demco’s product, Demco Discover, provides a suite of tools to help libraries use linked data effectively.

How Do Students Do Research?

Molly Beisler, Discovery Services Librarian at the University of Nevada-Reno, presented a fascinating talk on her research into how students do their research. Instead of using the traditional method of having the searchers describe what they were doing, she had 222 students from eight classes draw diagrams. Images allowed expressions of ideas or feelings that might not emerge through words alone and also encourage abstract thinking. Some of her findings were: 1. 89% of the images showed research, and it was good to see that some students mentioned the library’s databases. 2. Students are using the library’s resources, and several of them mentioned the discovery system used at the library (Summon) by name. 3. Help was used at various points in searches, and it came from multiple sources — peers, family, and the writing center. The preferred source of help was peers; it was not frequently sought from the library.

Gong who is going to enroll in a PhD program (see above). I look forward to getting the Scholarly Kitchen article most days. I was so struck by Kent’s Anderson’s article on “The Race to the Bottom: Short-term Bargains versus

continued on page 72

Long-term Vitality” that I asked if we could reprint it in ATG. You may remember that Kent was one of our judges for Fast Pitch last year and maybe this year? I am so happy that Nancy Herther is continued on page 85

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Don’s Conference Notes from page 71 Here are some of the drawings made by the students.

an obstacle to meeting library users’ needs, despite the role of the faculty in selecting content (especially videos) for the library. SAGE wanted to facilitate conversations between publishers, faculty, and libraries, and librarians were receptive to getting feedback from the faculty. So a “Field Editor” positon was created to work with academic departments and determine the best way to help the library make decisions. The result was that SAGE received information from libraries that was useful for product development.

Best Practices for Licensing Online Video Efficiently and Effectively

Erin DeWitt Miller and Andrew Trantham from the Media Library at the University of North Texas (UNT) noted that online video is fairly new, but it has become hard to imagine a world without it. Library users have come to expect it, and by 2020, it is estimated that online video on-demand viewing will be the equivalent of circulating 7.2 billion DVDs per month. As older media becomes obsolete, preservation aspects of online video become important, and libraries must be ready to support online courses using video. At UNT, all legacy print licenses have been digitized and are stored on a departmental shared drive, so they are available to staff members and can be keyword searched. Here is some general advice regarding licenses: • Clarity and specificity in the language are preferable. • Maintain a clear understanding of your institution’s legal requirements and a strong working relationship with the legal counsel. • Establish clear documentation policies and procedures. • If you have specific needs, don’t be afraid to ask the vendor for them. • Stay organized and track license expiration dates. Library users should be able to see all license terms. • Plan for growth in budgeting and know your vendors. As this slide shows, there are many steps involving significant time in acquiring online video after it is requested by a faculty member; it is important to recognize this in planning.

I Have Never Seen Anything Like This: Student Interpretations of Metadata

Three researchers from the University of Arizona libraries reported on a study of 26 undergraduates in social and behavioral science programs which asked how students interpret metadata. The students were given some metadata terms from search results and asked to identify the subject of the articles, the producer, and whether the articles were relevant to the search topic. Here are some of the students’ reactions: • “This looks like something I would not look at. I have never seen anything like this. If I saw this, I would go somewhere else.” • “This looks like a handbook. I’m not sure if that is just a smaller book?” • “Is this a PDF, book, or article?” • “I look at the title, then subject, then creators or publishers to see if it is a credible source.” Metadata is clearly not what students are used to seeing in their search results, even though it is the interface between the user interface and information literacy.

Using Personas to Meet Users’ Research and Scholarship Needs

According to Melissa Gustafson, Electronic Resources Librarian, Indiana State University, personas were introduced in the library world in 2003. Qualitative personas are used in interviews, usability testing, focus groups, etc., and quantitative personas are used in surveys and data analysis.

Listening to Stories: Partnerships Between Faculty, Publishers, and the Library

Lou Palmer and Bekah Shaw from SAGE Research noted that there is often a tension between faculty members and librarians, which is

72 Against the Grain / June 2018

Digital Publishing: A Home for Faculty in the Library

Clare DeMarco and Kyle Courtney from the Harvard Law School (HLS) said that we are all doing digital scholarship, and have an opportunity to deepen the faculty-library relationship by showing the value that we can bring to the work of the faculty. We must consider: • What is the role of digital publishing in the library? • Where can libraries look for support to remain competitive in the digital space? • How can libraries support and develop faculty members who are creating digital scholarly content? Librarians must continue to demonstrate their value to the faculty and leverage their strength as a community. We should not be afraid to call ourselves digital content creators. continued on page 73

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Don’s Conference Notes from page 72 The Importance of Discovery

Kari Paulson, VP of Market Development, and Jed Reinitz, Director of Product Management at ProQuest, discussed how prioritizing exploration of content promotes the value of the library. If we acquire and index content, will our users find it? We need to think about how we are doing at multiple levels of discovery because discovery and content are intertwined. Discovery is the ability for users to find the content they are looking for, or in some cases, content they did not know that they needed. It is a shared goal that all stakeholders must work together to achieve. Priorities are different for everyone: • Users: connecting to content. • Publishers: increase the visibility of their brand and content. • Aggregators: optimization over multiple content providers. • Librarians: connect users to the library’s content and demonstrate impact and usage of their resources. The results of a study available from Simon Inger Consulting (now Renew Publishing Consultants, http://renewpublishingconsultants. com/) on how readers discover content in scholarly publications are encouraging because they show that many users still consider the library their most important resource. Twitter is now playing an increasingly important role. Aggregators provide metadata enrichment, indexing across many suppliers, holdings updates, keeping everything in sync, and platform searching. We need to be reminded of their impact when we get discovery right or when problems arise. By bringing bibliographic information closer to users’ workflows, libraries can enable them to better evaluate available resources, create new pathways to serendipitous exploration, and provide a modern user experience. There are numerous pathways for discovery, and the user experience can be enriched with features available on other systems outside of the library, such as “more like this,” “about the author,” and “you may also like,” all related to the library’s resources.

Special Session: The Messy Reality of Algorithmic Culture

danah boyd, Founder and President, Data & Society; Principal Researcher at Microsoft; and Visiting Professor at New York University, began this special session by wondering what has happened to our algorithmic culture. She said that AI and Big Data seem to depend on the myth that if we just collect more data, we can solve the world’s problems. We are not dealing with technology but an image of social problems. For danah boyd example, we can now see into the lives of people through social media platforms, so we must be able to deal with things more intelligently. The important point is not just the fact that we have the data, but how we make sense of it, which can be broken down into these four steps: 1. How did we get the data? • By choice: you know you want the data and get something in return, then share it. • By coercion (the opposite of choice). There is coercion at multiple levels; people in your network pull the data out of you. • By circumstance: you share something and hope something bad won’t happen. 2. Seeing patterns, creating problems. • We make sense of what we are seeing by discrimination: the action of perceiving, noting, or making a distinction between things.

Against the Grain / June 2018

• How power comes into this is where the biggest problems lie. We may take our own discriminatory logic to the data, and how we use it can be an abuse of power. • When do we use data? Do we make wrong assumptions? How do we deal with resulting recommendations? 3. Explicit corruption of data. • For example, brand names inserted into updates are more likely to be seen in a news feed. • White text on a white background is invisible and can be used to game a system. • Someone’s name on Google can be used to make an unfavorable political point. • Hacking the attention economy has become fun for a lot of young people. • We are living in an ecosystem where data is being systematically manipulated for a variety of purposes. 4. Address values and cultural norms first. • Our responsibility is to ask the hard questions first, learn from the data, and help people. Part of the process of analyzing information is prediction of the future. (For example, airline pilots are expected to step in when something goes wrong; otherwise planes are flown on autopilot.) • Much of what we do could be smarter. We need to figure out what we want our tools to do. No technology is ever neutral.

Vendor Relations: Evolving Ethos and Etiquette

Laurel Sammonds Crawford, Head of Collection Development, and Allyson Rodriguez, Coordinator of Electronic Resources, University of North Texas Libraries, noted that today’s environment is changing significantly: demand for electronic information is increasing; budgets are being restricted; content is becoming increasingly complex; and vendors are consolidating. Librarians need to decide what they want from their relationships with vendors. The most important thing is that the relationship is a business transaction, and the financial implications are always there. Negotiations are necessary and can be burdensome. Inevitably, conflicts with vendors will arise. We must always be professional, but that should not prevent us from firmly advocating for the user. Timely and accurate invoicing is important, and we must evaluate resources and decide if it makes sense to purchase them for our organization. Following these principles will result in strengthened relationships, focused discussions, and the best use of time. You have a large responsibility to make sure your users are getting the best information for their needs.

Going Where Our Users Are: Enhancing Discovery and Access

Michael Levine-Clark, Dean and Director, University of Denver Libraries, and Jason Chabak, Director of Institutional Sales, ReadCube (https://www.readcube.com/), described a collaboration and pilot project to improve access to content for users. Users now expect instant access to everything; often, after several clicks, they discover for a variety of reasons that they do not have access to an article. For many users, the library is hard to use, so they do not start their searches with the library, but instead, go to sources like Sci-Hub. The University of Denver Libraries began collaborating with ReadCube, which provides a seamless user interface and integrated access to PDF references from Google Scholar, PubMed, and other search engines. Users can read articles directly while browsing the web and create their own personal library. The main pain point for users is access to articles; inconsistent and frustrating experiences are driving users elsewhere. ReadCube’s vision is to provide access from anywhere that is easier than using rogue sites like Sci-Hub, so that users can easily get the content they need when they need it. So far, ReadCube has been focusing on increasing its coverage of scholarly subscription and open access journals. continued on page 74

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Don’s Conference Notes from page 73 Moving Beyond IP Authentication: The New Frontier in Single Sign-On

Andrew Nagy, Director of SaaS Innovation, EBSCO; Robert Scaysbrook, Head of Sales, OpenAthens; and Dale Saenz, Library Director, Laredo Community College, described how EBSCO has partnered with other companies to help libraries be as successful as possible. The typical end user journey is shown here:

But it can also be represented in terms of providers and their services:

The Bookstore is for T-Shirts: Cooperatively Marketing the Library’s eBooks as Textbooks

Maura Diamond, Director, Institutional Sales, Springer Nature; Kelly Robinson, Head, Collection Management, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU); and Krystie Wilfong, Associate Librarian for Collection Management and Scholarly Communications, Bates College, addressed the widespread problem of high textbook costs for students. Robinson reported on a survey of 22,000 college students in Florida that concluded that the high cost of textbooks (averaging approximately $1,200/year) is negatively affecting students’ success and course completion. About 2/3 of the survey respondents said they did not purchase a required textbook, and over half got a poor grade or failed a course as a result. Alternatives to textbooks include: • Open Educational Resources (OERs) curated by the library, • E-journals permitting fair use, and • DRM-free eBook collections. Willfong noted that Bates College’s reserve policy has changed since 2013. Formerly, traditional textbooks were not included, but now the library has a policy that all required textbooks are put on reserve. They have arranged for the library bookstore to proactively promote reserved books to students. Although the average use per item is ten copies, some books have been accessed over 200 times. And sales of those books by the bookstore have significantly decreased. The faculty is in favor of these efforts because all students have an edition of the required books. Maura Diamond said that over 6,900 librarians and professors have expressed interest in Springer Nature’s “Affordable Textbook” campaign, in which they used the library’s records to identify which books were being used in courses at Hope Colleges. Editorial Board members of book series are working with Springer Nature to develop materials that they can use to market licensed eBooks in their departments. After the appropriate books were identified, a toolkit was created for librarians to use to find which textbooks are available and create awareness with students.

Closing Keynote Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects People and Undermines Democracy

There are many scenarios for accessing content; how can we streamline them and make it easy? Is there anything we can do to make it more of a managed service? Authentication is a significant problem in the user experience, so EBSCO has partnered with OpenAthens (https://openathens.org/) to create a fully integrated, librarian administered, single sign-on solution for libraries, even when the library is closed. It is widely recognized that authentication based on IP address no longer works in today’s distributed world because access is increasingly through mobile devices; personalization is expected; and changing license requirements are resulting in more to manage. Multiple technology services must be integrated, and usage of collections must be monitored. OpenAthens is different from IP/proxy authentication because it was designed by librarians for librarians and works across all devices and locations. It is a cloud-based service that collects detailed usage statistics, supports user personalization, and uses a security protocol (Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML)) to pass information about users to service providers. Using the OpenAthens system, EBSCO built tools for access, searching, and training users, and aiding libraries in their support for higher education. Savings in costs and time are the result.

74 Against the Grain / June 2018

Siva Vaidhyanathan, Professor of Media Studies at the University of Virginia, closed the conference with a revealing look at Facebook and how it controls many aspects of its users’ lives. Much of his address was taken from his forthcoming book Antisocial Media, which will be published in September 2018. He began by marveling that Facebook now has over 2.2 billion users, and this number is rapidly growing, especially in Myanmar, Brazil, and India. Facebook’s engineers must therefore deal with a vast universe dispersed around the globe — it has become a system too big to govern. Vaidhyanathan’s main premise is that if you wanted to invent a propaganda system to promote nationalism and authoritarianism, Siva Vaidhyanathan you could not invent one better than Facebook. It scrambles our social, economic, and political contexts. All of its users are in the same social milieu, which is not the way we live; we manage our lives and reputations according to the relationships where we are at the moment. In contrast, Facebook wants us to interact with as many people as possible in the same way because that is in their interests; its developers believe that the more people we share things with, the better our lives will be. We are unable to have collective calm deliberations about anything important because our news feeds are constantly interrupting us and capturing our attention. Vaidhyanathan said that is a disaster when it is expanded to a universe of 2.2 billion people. continued on page 75

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Don’s Conference Notes from page 74 Facebook has a huge breadth of influence in the world. It scrambles our relationships in three major areas: 1. Personal. Facebook accelerates the distribution of content that is likely to generate clicks, links, and shares (for example, cute puppy, cat, and baby pictures). This type of material appeals to our emotions, even negative ones, such as condemnation of hate speech, and generates many strong comments on both sides of an issue. 2. Commercial. Every marginal dollar spent on advertising in the last two years is spent on Facebook. Advertising used to be a faith-based practice; there is no way to accurately measure the impact of a print ad, but now with Facebook’s system, it is easy to target ads to a precisely defined audience, measure their effect, and alter them as necessary in real time. Marketing budgets are therefore spent much more effectively; it is not uncommon to run an ad on Facebook that cost in the hundreds of dollars but results in thousands of dollars in sales. 3. Political. Facebook’s internal investigation of Russian political ads in the 2016 election showed that they undermined faith in the U.S. democracy. Other examples are well known: Donald Trump’s campaign officials said that he won the election because of Facebook’s ad targeting; Narendra Modi, the current Prime Minister of India, runs all of his political campaigns on Facebook and uses it to threaten

Against the Grain / June 2018

dissenters; and corrupt elections in various countries have been traced to Facebook ads. There is no oversight, transparency, or opportunity to respond to such actions. Vaidhyanathan’s conclusion is that the reason Facebook’s mission went wrong is that its leaders believed that good intentions were enough, and that blind faith in technology could generate a better world. For a very general overview of the conference, see “Top 10 Trends at the 2018 ER&L Conference,” https://hub.wiley.com/community/ exchanges/discover/blog/2018/03/18/top-10-trends-at-the-2018-electronic-resources-libraries-erl-conference. The 2019 ER&L Conference will return to Austin on March 3-6.

Donald T. Hawkins is an information industry freelance writer based in Pennsylvania. In addition to blogging and writing about conferences for Against the Grain, he blogs the Computers in Libraries and Internet Librarian conferences for Information Today, Inc. (ITI) and maintains the Conference Calendar on the ITI Website (http://www.infotoday.com/calendar.asp). He is the Editor of Personal Archiving: Preserving Our Digital Heritage, (Information Today, 2013) and Co-Editor of Public Knowledge: Access and Benefits (Information Today, 2016). He holds a Ph.D. degree from the University of California, Berkeley and has worked in the online information industry for over 45 years.

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ATG PROFILES ENCOURAGED

John Henry Adams Graduate Student Indiana University Department of Information & Library Science <adamsjoh@iu.edu> Born and lived: Born in Germany, I grew up in Pennsylvania and have lived in Ohio, Arizona, and now Indiana.

Professional career and activities: I came to library science after completing a PhD in English at Arizona State University and am now working on an MLS with a focus on rare books at Indiana University. My dissertation work focused on books and personal identity in 16th century English literature. That still shapes how I think about libraries: I’m interested in how books, reading lists, and library collections help characterize and shape the identities of the people who use them. In my spare time: I enjoy playing board games, reading genre fiction, and sketching. From time to time I dabble in bookbinding and book repairs. Favorite books: In alphabetical order: Katherine Addison, The Goblin Emperor; Katherine Briggs, An Encyclopedia of Fairies; Susanna Clarke, Jonathon Strange and Mr Norrell; Wolfram von Eschenbach, Parzival; Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust, Der Tragödie erster Teil; J. V. Jones, The Barbed Coil; William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night; and J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings. Philosophy: There’s always something new to learn.

How/where do I see the industry in five years: I think that libraries will become more focused on workshops and conveying information literacy. I also expect that general libraries will be moving towards a model closer to special collections where most of the stacks are closed to users and we rely more on metadata than browsing for serendipitous discovery.

Serin Anderson Collections & Budget Coordinator University of Washington Tacoma Library 1900 Commerce Street Box 358460 Tacoma, WA 98402 Phone: (253) 692-4815 <serin@uw.edu>

Born and lived: Born in Tacoma, Washington. Grew up in Port Orchard, Washington. In later years, moved around Germany and then Colorado before heading back to Washington. Early life: Spent an inordinate amount of time playing pinochle and canasta with overly competitive octogenarians. Subsequently, my taste in music was warped by excessive exposure to Liberace and Lawrence Welk. Family: I met my husband when we both joined the same fourth grade class mid-year. We’ve been married for almost 28 years and have two kids, a daughter who is 21 and a son who is 9. In my spare time: I like to quilt, sew Halloween costumes, play an excessive array of board games, grow vegetables I don’t really eat, and dance around the living room with my kids. Favorite books: Almost anything written by Neal Stephenson or Lois McMaster Bujold.

76 Against the Grain / June 2018

Philosophy: “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.”

How/where do I see the industry in five years: I wish I had a clear answer to this question! Consolidation has resulted in a small handful of companies that seemingly dominate the information landscape, yet innovation still seems to break through. Sometime soon, I think that artificial intelligence will truly infiltrate the day-to-day work of research to the point that any product requiring instruction in boolean operators or subject headings will be dead on arrival. Now, whether or not that happens in five years…I don’t know. But it certainly feels like some fields are already closing that door.

Ameet Doshi Director, Innovation and Program Design Georgia Institute of Technology Library 704 Cherry St., Atlanta, GA 30332-0900 Phone: (404) 894-4598 Fax: (404) 894-0399 <ameet.doshi@library.gatech.edu> library.gatech.edu

Born and lived: I was born in Des Plaines, IL in the shadow of O’Hare international airport, and then lived in Knoxville, TN for much of my life. I have also resided in Wilmington, NC and for a brief while in New Zealand. Early life: I went to college at the University of Tennessee for my Bachelor’s and MLS (go Vols!), earned a second Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington (go Seahawks!), and am currently enrolled in a PhD program in Public Policy at Georgia Tech (go Jackets!). Professional career and activities: My primary research interest is in the area of library innovations, sustainable library design, and programming leading-edge library spaces and services. I have served on the jury for the AIA/ALA Building Awards Committee, as a member of the Center for the Future of Libraries Advisory Board, and as co-chair of the ACRL National Conference Innovations committee. Family: I am married to a wonderfully supportive wife and we have two beautiful children: Kieran, 5 and Mirabel, 9 months. In my spare time: LOL :)

Favorite books: Siddhartha by Herman Hesse; Governing the Commons by Elinor Ostrom; A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe. Pet peeves: Cruelty to colleagues within academia. Philosophy: “Others first.”

Most memorable career achievement: Being part of a project at Georgia Tech called Library Next (http://librarynext.gatech.edu/). This project consists of a complete reimagining of what a research library can and should be for our campus, including redesigning physical spaces, overhauling digital experiences, organizational reinvention, and supply chain optimization. Goal I hope to achieve five years from now: To successfully defend my dissertation and continue to support my colleagues and “junior colleagues” (e.g., students) in their research and learning pursuits. Within five years I also hope to successfully procure a major NSF grant and teach a course about the use and misuse of information within public policy. How/where do I see the industry in five years: Libraries have been in a state of perpetual flux for millennia, but the increased uptake of information and communication technologies over the past few decontinued on page 77

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ATG Profiles Encouraged from page 76 cades has accelerated the pace. Early adoption of technology and being sensitive to user needs are deeply held values within librarianship, and prioritizing these two values will continue to ensure that libraries remain relevant institutions. Furthermore, by integrating processes to incentivize continual innovation, libraries can be viewed as “force multipliers” for their communities by accelerating knowledge sharing and equitable dissemination of technology, data and information.

Bruce Henson Associate Dean for Research & Learning Subject Liaison for History & Sociology Georgia Institute of Technology Library 704 Cherry St., Atlanta, GA 30332-0900 Phone: (404) 894-1390 <bruce.henson@library.gatech.edu> library.gatech.edu

Early life: Spent most of my youth playing sports and listening to rock and roll. Professional career and activities: I’ve been a librarian for 24 years. I’ve been in academic libraries for 15 years, public libraries for five and a half years, and three and a half years at Ovid Technologies as a database developer and quality assurance analyst. Family: My wife and I are lucky that our four cats let us live in their house. In my spare time: Watch sports, listen to music, garden, and ride bicycles.

Favorite books: My favorite author has always been Kurt Vonnegut. My favorites are Player Piano, Mother Night, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, and Slaughterhouse Five. I also like rock and roll biographies. My most recent favorite was Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements. Pet peeves: When I see people texting and driving. Philosophy: Stop and smell the roses.

Most memorable career achievement: Becoming a full librarian at Clemson University. It just became official in early May 2018.

Born and lived: Born and lived in Lynchburg, VA until 1995 when I moved to Chapel Hill, NC. Have lived in Atlanta since 1998.

Goal I hope to achieve five years from now: Continue to be involved with the transformation of library spaces and resources.

Early life: I went to Central VA Community College and received a Bachelor’s in History with an Historic Preservation minor from Mary Baldwin College in Staunton Virginia. I have an MLS from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I worked for over a decade at Central Virginia Community College as an Audio-Visual Manager.

How/where do I see the industry in five years: I see libraries transforming even more as physical collections move off site and space becomes even more important. It’s crucial to remember one size does not fit all when it comes to relocating physical collections. If one library moves all of their physical collections off-site that may not be the best solution for another library.

Professional career and activities: I have been at Georgia Tech Library my entire professional career as a Librarian. I have participated in numerous ACRL and University Library Section committees as chair and member. Family: Partner Hoke and tuxedo cat Blackie.

In my spare time: Read, movies, garden, travel. Favorite books: Raymond Chandler.

Pet peeves: Receiving the reply “No Problem” when thanking someone for a service. Philosophy: Conscious gratitude.

I also see libraries changing with the times to stay relevant by providing current and future scholars with the collections, services, and expertise they need, especially in the areas of digital literacy and intellectual property.

Andy Horbal Head of Learning Commons University of Maryland 1101 McKeldin Library, 7649 Library Ln. University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 Phone: (301) 405-9227 <ahorbal@umd.edu> https://prodigalcinephile.com

Born and lived: Born in Harrisburg, PA; grew up in Lancaster, PA; went to college (undergrad and library school) and started my career in Pittsburgh, PA; currently reside in Baltimore, MD.

How/where do I see the industry in five years: Will see the online presence of academic libraries become increasingly sophisticated to meet user needs, as the majority of library business is done virtually.

Professional career and activities: I have worked at the University of Maryland since 2013. Previous stops in my career include McDaniel College and the University of Pittsburgh, where I earned both my BA and MLIS. My professional interests include copyright and streaming video.

Family: I reside in Baltimore, MD with my wife Marion, my daughters Lucy and Alice, and my dogs Sally and Obi.

Bobby Hollandsworth Learning Commons and Adobe Digital Studio Coordinator Clemson University Libraries 116 Sigma Drive, Clemson, SC 29634 Phone: (864) 656-3118 <hollan4@clemson.edu> libraries.clemson.edu/

Born and lived: Born and raised in Greensboro, NC. Lived in Wilmington, NC and Salt Lake City, UT. Currently reside in Clemson, SC.

Against the Grain / June 2018

In my spare time: With two children under three years old and two dogs, I don’t have much spare time, but my hobbies include cooking, watching and discussing movies, reading, running, and arguing about politics. Favorite books: Classic sci-fi and American history.

Philosophy: “Maybe love is just an economy, Based on resource scarcity, What I fail to see is what that’s gotta do, With you and me.” — Father John Misty continued on page 78

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ATG Profiles Encouraged from page 77 Most memorable career achievement: I was proud to publish my first solo-authored peer-reviewed article in The Journal of Academic Librarianship earlier this year, “Instructor Use of Educational Streaming Video Resources.” Goal I hope to achieve five years from now: I hope to one day write a book-length study of the film Groundhog Day. If I have a few finished chapters five years from now that I can shop around to publishers, I’ll be happy! How/where do I see the industry in five years: Interestingly, my answer to this question is the same as it was when I contributed to the November, 2016 issue of ATG, although the continued move toward user-driven acquisitions has added an extra wrinkle: “Over the next five years, academic libraries will begin to explicitly redefine the primary value they add to their communities from building and maintaining collections for them to facilitating access to collections built and maintained by others.”

Lorrie A. McAllister Associate University Librarian for Collections Services & Analysis Arizona State University, Noble Library 601 E Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281 Phone: (480) 965-2600 <lorrie.mcallister@asu.edu> lib.asu.edu

Born and lived: I was born in northern Ohio and have lived in Michigan, Illinois, central Ohio, Massachusetts, and now Arizona. Professional career and activities: I came to librarianship through the love of art and art history. My first job as a student was in the slide library that supported Art History and Studio Art programs at Michigan State University. This experience paved the way to my career as a librarian. I have worked with a wide variety of media in various settings, including historical societies, museums, corporate libraries, and academic libraries. My interest in policy, strategic planning, and inclusion in education led me to pursue my current administrative role at ASU Library, where we seek to innovate and rethink librarianship, space use, and engagement within an ambitious and fast-paced institution. In my spare time: I enjoy traveling to experience places and cultures around the world. Favorite books: Most important books In no particular order: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien; most fiction by Robin McKinley; Dog Songs and other poetry by Mary Oliver; Rilke’s Book of Hours translated by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy; They Called it Prairie Light by K. Tsianina Lomawaima; Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paolo Freire; and Teaching to Transgress by bell hooks; and many art books by my favorite artists. Philosophy: Be patient and kind.

How/where do I see the industry in five years: There is a real need to radically change the discovery of trusted and authoritative informational and educational resources and to forge a real path for multiple educational commons that are free of commercial interests.

Jan Middendorp Owner Druk Editions, Fust & Friends Leuschnerdamm 43 10999 Berlin, Germany Phone: +49 30 6956 5663 <jan@dutchtype.com> janmiddendorp.com • fustandfriends.com

78 Against the Grain / June 2018

Born and lived: The Hague (the Netherlands). Lived in Amsterdam (Netherlands) , Bologna (Italy), Ghent (Belgium), Dubai (UAE), Berlin (Germany). Early life: High school activities include editor and designer of the school newspaper. Studies: Italian Language & Literature, Theory of Literature and Theory of Theatre. Student activities include political theatre, editor and designer of magazine and posters, organizer, DJ. Professional career and activities: Theatre and dance critic. Commercial copywriter, translator. Graphic designer. Design and typography critic. Editor and consultant of type companies: FontShop, Linotype, MyFonts, Monotype. Book designer. Author of international design books: Dutch Type, Made with FontFont, Creative Characters, Hand to Type, Shaping Text, and others. Family: Three sisters and one brother.

In my spare time: Music, literature, art, travel. Favorite books: Many.

Pet peeves: None.

Philosophy: Liberal.

Most memorable career achievement: Books that designers and design schools find useful — Dutch Type, Shaping Text, Hand to Type, etc. Goal I hope to achieve five years from now: More useful books and magazines. How/where do I see the industry in five years: If “the industry” is type design and production, I hope for a stronger position of the adventurous, independent micro-company because that is where risk-taking and innovation happen. However, large players aim for a Spotify structure of the market: predictable income from subscriptions, marginal significance of the creative type designer. Will this paradox be solved? I don’t know.

Jennifer L. Pesanelli Deputy Executive Director for Operations Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) 9650 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20814 Phone: (301) 634-7159 <jpesanelli@faseb.org> www.faseb.org

Born and lived: I was born in Lincoln, Nebraska and grew up in Salina, Kansas. I went to the University of Kansas and then moved to Auburn, Alabama where I worked for a county newspaper for a year and a half. I moved back to Lawrence and took a job with Allen Press where I was introduced to the world of scholarly publishing. Professional career and activities: In early 1997, I applied with and was hired by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) in Bethesda, Maryland as the advertising assistant for a program called FASEB AdNet. At that time, AdNet provided advertising sales and services for about 30 journals including the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Journal of Biological Chemistry, and all of the journals of the American Physiological Society. My responsibilities included coordinating the production of the ads with the society journal staff, their print and online vendors, and the advertisers. The FASEB Journal had just launched online with HighWire Press. There were no staff positions in the FASEB Office of Publications to support many of the initiatives with the online journal, so I was lucky enough and interested enough, to expand my role and work directly on the journal. Twenty years later, I’m still at FASEB, but my position has continued to evolve. I was promoted to the Director of Publications in 2005. A couple of continued on page 79

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ATG Profiles Encouraged from page 78 years later, I took on the membership department, then business development, IT, and others. Now I’m the Deputy Executive Director for Operations but still very much involved with the Office of Publications. While FASEB has its own programs, we also work with a number of scientific societies in support of their efforts. In that regard, I’ve had the opportunity to work on many other journals, both society published and commercially published, and with a wide range of vendors in the scholarly publishing community. I’m serving as the President of the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) until June 2018. I served on the SSP Board of Directors, chaired SSP’s Audit Committee, and participate as a member of the Scholarly Kitchen’s Kitchen Cabinet. I previously served on SSP’s Education Committee for five years. Family: My husband, Eric Pesanelli, is also in scholarly publishing. He is the Editorial Art Manager for The American Physiological Society. Our 13 year-old son, Eli, thinks we have too many meetings! In my spare time: I like to spend time with family and friends. I love to play board and card games and relax with a good book. Favorite books: I can’t pick just one! I love memoirs and appreciate good story telling. Philosophy: I like the quote, “Whatever you are, be a good one.” It is most often attributed to Abraham Lincoln , but whether he said it or not, it is what I try to do in every aspect of my life. Most memorable career achievement: I’m very proud of the contributions I’ve made at FASEB and being elected President of SSP. How/where do I see the industry in five years: I see the industry constantly evolving and stakeholders challenged to keep up. Those who can be nimble are more likely to thrive. I think Artificial Intelligence will have an established role in scholarly communication.

Lauren Pressley Director, UW Tacoma Library; Associate Dean, UW Libraries Vice President/President Elect, Association of College and Research Libraries 1900 Commerce Street, Tacoma, WA 98402 Phone: (253) 692-4444 <pressley@uw.edu> laurenpressley.com • twitter.com/laurenpressley

Born and lived: Grew up and spent the first part of my working life in North Carolina, spent a few years in Virginia, and now live and work in Seattle and Tacoma, Washington. Professional career and activities: Evolving libraries to help communities thrive in today’s information environment. Family: I live with my husband, 8 year old son, and 2 cats.

In my spare time: My time is either spent parenting, working, or volunteering with ACRL. Favorite books: My favorites that I’ve read this year include: Naomi Alderman’s The Power, Steven Pinker’s The Better Angels of Our Nature, and George Saunders’ The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip. Philosophy: Do good, be kind, and build something better.

Goal I hope to achieve five years from now: That I will be learning and contributing to positive change in my library and university. How/where do I see the industry in five years: Academic Librarianship will continue to evolve, our understanding of the collection will become more connected to evolving research practices, and will continue to integrate information literacy into the curriculum. Equity, diversity, and inclusion will increasingly be a major thread in the literature and our

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conferences, and I hope that we see improvements for our professional community and our students as a result. I also hope that we are able to stake out more ground in leading higher education, as the work we do to constantly transform in light of the evolving needs of our community can be useful at the institution level as well.

Anna Sandelli Student Success Librarian for User Experience & Instructional Assessment University of Tennessee Libraries 1015 Volunteer Blvd., Knoxville, TN 37996 Phone: (865) 974-4351 Fax: (865) 974-4259 <asandell@utk.edu> • http://www.lib.utk.edu

Born and lived: Born in Pembroke, NH and moved to Oak Ridge, NC in high school. Early life: Reader, daydreamer, and backyard adventurer who aspired to be the next Nancy Drew or Harriet the Spy. You could usually find me writing down or reciting story ideas and cajoling my little sister into listening (thanks, sis!) or inventing new projects, like combining roller blading with bike riding and digging a pool in our yard (thanks for putting up with me, mom and dad!). Professional career and activities: I received my Master’s of Science in Library Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2014, where I participated in the Carolina Academic Library Associates program. That same year, I joined the UTK Libraries, where I have been able to continue to grow my interests in student success, user experience, and assessment. In 2017, I began my current role, in which I provide vision in implementing and expanding instruction and engagement programs, working with colleagues to reach students where they are and help students learn the tools of scholarship while navigating life at a four-year research university. I serve as our libraries’ liaison to transfer students and School of Information Sciences and oversee the libraries’ Dean’s Student Advisory Committee and Teaching & Learning Advisory Group. In my spare time: You can find me running, reading, making lists of more books I’d like to read, exploring the outdoors, frequenting coffee shops, or attempting new recipes (sometimes successfully). Favorite books: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The Remains of the Day, Harry Potter, Anne of Green Gables, likely whatever I’m reading at the moment. Philosophy: “Never hope for it more than you work for it” — Rita Mae Brown; “The only way to be bored is to be boring” — my grandfather. Most memorable career achievement: Being selected for the American Library Association’s Emerging Leaders Program in 2017; presenting a pechakucha on ethnographic whiteboard research for our campus’ biannual MicNite (quite a challenge for an introvert voted shyest student in middle school!) Goal I hope to achieve five years from now: Help to foster an environment of continual learning and professional development within our library, particularly around topics of instruction and user experience, and contribute to a framework in which others feel empowered to adopt or enhance this approach for their own departments and projects. How/where do I see the industry in five years: I see being user-centered as integral to both libraries and publishing. To accomplish this, I think, means recognizing the diversity of users’ experiences and needs, as well as the value they can bring as creators of and contributors to content. I hope the future brings continued conversations about open access, open educational resources, collaborations among libraries (particularly university and community college libraries), collaborations between academic libraries and other partners, on and beyond their campuses, and seeing assessment as a way of learning and of sharing our stories in order to enhance the next chapters. continued on page 80

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Rita H. Smith Executive Associate Dean University of Tennessee Libraries 1015 Volunteer Blvd., Knoxville, TN 37996 Phone: (865) 974-6877 Fax: (865) 974-4259 <rsmith19@utk.edu> http://www.lib.utk.edu

in the case of academic libraries) and centers of collaboration, while more of the physical collections will move to storage or fulfillment centers. We must be more strategic than ever before in building our collections, hiring our personnel, and creating and sustaining our spaces. Otherwise someone will do it for us.

Coordinator of Maker Technologies University of Maryland Libraries 2105 McKeldin Library 7649 Library Lane University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 Phone: (301) 405-9066 <ptobery@umd.edu>

Born and lived: Born in Kentucky and moved to Illinois at the age of 4 months where I was raised and went to college. Early life: My family moved a great deal and I count that I went to seven different schools from kindergarten to high school and then three institutions of higher learning. When I got my job at the UT Libraries, I wanted to put down roots and live somewhere for at least 4-5 years. I stayed 42 years and counting — hmm…I think those roots went deep. Professional career and activities: Rita H. Smith is Professor and Executive Associate Dean at University of Tennessee Libraries. She earned a BA in history and political science from Southern Illinois University (’72) and an MS in Library Science from University of Illinois (’75). Following a 31 year career in reference and instruction, she has now served as an Associate Dean for 11 years. Her responsibilities as Executive Associate Dean include oversight for budget, facilities, personnel, assessment, marketing, community services and diversity programs, and Hodges Library public services. In recent years, Professor Smith has taken a leading role in transforming environments and spaces at the UT Libraries by building key partnerships and encouraging innovation. She is a 2014 recipient of the Chancellors Citation for Extraordinary Service to the University of Tennessee. All of which means IT IS TIME TO RETIRE. That is scheduled for August 2018. Family: One of six siblings, mother of two grown sons, one of whom lives in my basement – just kidding he actually lives upstairs. With his dog and three cats –sigh. In my spare time: I like to travel to cities and visit museums. I am a reader as I have time and I love 20th century history. I also love brew tours — a lot. Favorite books: The Things They Carried and To Kill a Mockingbird are two of my favorites. Pet peeves: People who offer to assist or “gladly” take on responsibility for something and then make sure you know just how much trouble it has been for them. Doesn’t that drive everyone nuts??? I’m not the only one to get peeved by that am I? Philosophy: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I aspire to this daily, though I know that I don’t always succeed. Most memorable career achievement: Seeing the success of those I have mentored and/or sponsored.

Preston Tobery

Born and lived: Born and raised in Frederick, Maryland.

Early life: I was a member of Boy Scouts of America for 8 years. Former jobs were general contracting, a trained chef, and an information technology professional. I also served in the Marine Corps. Professional career and activities: I have worked at the University of Maryland since 2013 as an IT professional. I have also worked previously at Mount St. Mary’s University. My career interests include maker-related technology like 3D printing, virtual and augmented reality. Family: I currently reside in Hagerstown, Maryland with my wife Amber, my children Jacob and Morgan, and my three rescued cats. In my spare time: Woodworking and metalworking. Most anything outdoors including camping, hiking, and kayaking. Favorite books: I prefer any military related historical audio books, I also enjoy podcasts related to learning new things like How Stuff Works and How I Built This. Most memorable career achievement: I was very proud when I won the Outstanding Library Employee award in 2017 for the work that I did launching and guiding a MakerSpace in the campus’ main library. How/where do I see the industry in five years: I believe that the maker movement is very important to America and the world’s future. I feel that this “maker movement” has the potential to change people from consumers into makers. When people are given the right tools like 3D printers or Virtual reality headsets, they have the potential to change the world.

Teresa B. Walker Associate Dean, Learning, Research, and Engagement University of Tennessee Libraries 1015 Volunteer Blvd., Knoxville, TN 37996 Phone: (865) 974-4351 Fax: (865) 974-4259 <tbwalker@utk.edu> • http://www.lib.utk.edu

Goal I hope to achieve five years from now: Happy in retirement…zzzz!

Born and lived: LaFollette, TN.

How/where do I see the industry in five years: I am not sure there will be an “industry” if we don’t emphasize continued specialization on the part of librarians to align with university strengths and growth areas. I am speaking to this from the perspective of academic libraries. The generalist librarian is a thing of the past and already today librarians must bring highly specific knowledge, skill sets, or technical expertise that can enhance the work of a team of faculty and student researchers and be valued. I also see more reliance on professional staff, who are not librarians, in areas such as facilities, personnel, financial management, assessment, and even public services. This is already happening. I believe we will see more and more space devoted to community spaces (campus community

Professional career and activities: As Associate Dean for Learning, Research, and Engagement at UT Libraries, I lead the Libraries in conceptualizing and implementing services in support of research, instruction, and student engagement. I provide leadership for an engagement-centered liaison model and for guiding an evolving program of learning, research, and engagement services at all levels throughout the greater university community. I guide the assessment of services to support teaching, research services, and student success. My research interests focus on campus academic partnerships, informal learning spaces, and the role of the library in student success and retention.

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Early life: Reading, television, roller skating.

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ATG Profiles Encouraged from page 80 Family: I have an amazing network of family and friends who support my habit of working way too much. In my spare time: I live in beautiful East Tennessee, so I like to get out and hike and kayak. Favorite books: The Chet and Bernie Mystery Series by Spencer Quinn (I know!); James Joyce’s The Dead. Philosophy: Be kind and generous and eat good food! Also, help others succeed. Most memorable career achievement: My most memorable achievement has been working with Executive Associate Dean, Rita Smith, and many other wonderful people at UT to create our first learning commons in 2005 — and to keep reimaging and recreating it since. This is what first pointed me in the direction of supporting student success. Goal I hope to achieve five years from now: In five years, I would be thrilled to see some of the students, faculty, and staff that I have mentored move into positions of leadership and to make a difference in the lives of future generations. How/where do I see the industry in five years: In terms of academic libraries, but perhaps all library and information services, I expect to see a more seamless integration of the physical and virtual. This will be critical in supporting an increasingly online learning environment and more critical in creating a robust intellectual community that can thrive in an online environment. Specifically, I see libraries taking a greater role in integrating the tools of scholarship with content. I see an increasing role in supporting knowledge creation and especially in creating safe places for exploration and discussion.

Derek Wilmott Collection Management Librarian Clemson University 103 Clemson Research Boulevard Library Depot Anderson, SC 29625 Phone: (864) 656-2897 <rwilmot@clemson.edu>

Born and lived: MCAS Cherry Point, NC and lived in Deming, New Mexico. Early life: With apologies to Welcome to Night Vale: My youth was spent in the friendly desert community of Deming, New Mexico, where the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful, and the stars seem endless. Professional career and activities: Worked for the last 12 years at Clemson University as a Special Projects and Monographs Cataloger, which later included cataloging metadata and electronic resources. In the last three years, I have served as the Librarian team leader for the Collection Management Team. This position includes the acquisitions and cataloging of electronic and print resources, bindery operations, and coordinating large-scale discard and relocation projects. Family: Robin Wilmott and I have been happily married for the past 24 years and have two children and cat. In my spare time: I serve as President of the Friends of the Library for the Central-Clemson Regional Public Library, coach the R. C. Edwards Middle School Chess Team, and play board wargames and D&D RPG with my family and friends. Favorite books: Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks.

Pet peeves: Circulation of false information to promote a specific agenda and blind devotion to a cult of personality. Goal I hope to achieve five years from now: Help to significantly increase the number of librarians from underrepresented groups achieve leadership roles in academic librarianship. How/where do I see the industry in five years: The publishing industry will continue to improve access to electronic resources, while satisfying the print needs of consumers. Open educational resources will find a niche market at universities that does not threaten the for profit publishing industry. Librarians will continue to find ways to balance their patrons needs for “free” or reduced cost resources in a market-based system.

COMPANY PROFILES ENCOURAGED Druk Editions Leuschnerdamm 43 10999 Berlin Germany Phone: +49 30 6956 5663 dutchtype.org (in development) janmiddendorp.com fustandfriends.com Affiliated companies: Jan Middendorp Design Writing; Fust & Friends (type company). Officers: Owner, Jan Middendorp. Association memberships, etc.: ATypI, Ephemera Society. Key products and services: Writing, Editing, Consultancy (Design, typography, branding). Core markets: Typography, graphic design, type design.

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Clientele: Publishers, book distributors, type companies, graphic designer, general audience. Number of employees: 1

Number of books published annually (print, electronic, open access, etc.): 2 (starting up).

Number of journals published annually (print, electronic, open access, etc.): 1

Total number of journals currently published: 0

History and brief description of your company/publishing program: Still in the making, concentrating on type design, lettering, graphic design, illustration, vintage commercial art. Is there anything else that you think would be of interest to our readers? See my interview in this issue of ATG. continued on page 82

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ATG Profiles Encouraged from page 81 Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) 9650 Rockville Pike Bethesda, MD 20814 Phone: (301) 634-7000 www.faseb.org Affiliated companies: We have 30 Member Societies: The American Physiological Society (APS) (1912); American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) (1912); American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) (1912); American Society for Investigative Pathology (ASIP) (1913); American Society for Nutrition (ASN) (1940); The American Association of Immunologists (AAI) (1942); American Association of Anatomists (AAA) (1993); The Protein Society (PS) (1995); Society for Developmental Biology (SDB) (1996); American Peptide Society (APEPS) (1996); The Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities (ABRF) (1998); American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) (1997); The American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) (1998); Society for the Study of Reproduction (SSR) (1998); The Teratology Society (TS) (1998); Endocrine Society (ES) (1999); The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) (1999); International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) (2003); American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) (2005); Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) (2009); Genetics Society of America (GSA) (2010); The Histochemical Society (HCS) (2011); Society for Pediatric Research (SPR) (2012); Society for Glycobiology (SfG) (2012); Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) (2013); Society for Redox Biology and Medicine (SfRBM) (2014); Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine (SEBM) (2016); American Aging Association (AGE) (2016); U.S. Human Proteome Organization (US HUPO) (2016); Society of Toxicology (SOT) (2017).

Vice President for Science Policy, Hannah V. Carey, PhD; Treasurer, David M. Rocke, PhD; Vice President-Elect for Science Policy, Louis B. Justement, PhD; Immediate Past Vice President for Science Policy, Scott I. Simon, PhD; Treasurer-Elect, Chester A. Ray, PhD; Secretary, Frank Krause, CAE FASEB Executive Director. Association memberships, etc.: FASEB is a federation with 30 member societies in the biological and biomedical sciences representing 130,000 individual scientist. Mission: We advance health and well-being by promoting research and education in biological and biomedical sciences through collaborative advocacy and service to our societies and their members. Key products and services: The FASEB Journal, Science Research Conferences, Society Management Services. Core markets/clientele: The life science community. Number of employees: 65

Number of journals published annually (print, electronic, open access, etc.): The FASEB Journal — monthly, print & electronic, subscription based with open access option. FASEB BioAdvances — launching in June/July 2018, monthly, electronic only, open access. History and brief description of your company/publishing program: FASEB is over 100 years old, founded in 1912, and is recognized as the policy voice of biological and biomedical researchers. The FASEB Journal publishes international, transdisciplinary research covering all fields of biology at every level of organization: atomic, molecular, cell, tissue, organ, organismic and population. The FASEB Journal is highly cited and consistently ranks among the top biology journals globally. Each month The FASEB Journal publishes peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary original research articles as well as timely editorials, reviews, and news of the life sciences. As disciplines in the life sciences continue to overlap, readers are drawn to the journal for its interdisciplinary coverage.

Officers: President, Thomas O. Baldwin, PhD; President-Elect, James M. Musser, MD, PhD; Immediate Past President, Hudson H. Freeze, PhD;

LIBRARY PROFILES ENCOURAGED Arizona State University Library

Clemson University Libraries

P.O. Box 871006 Tempe, AZ 85287 Phone: (480) 965-2600 lib.asu.edu

116 Sigma Drive Clemson, SC 29634 Phone: (864) 656-2897 https://libraries.clemson.edu/

Background/history: ASU Library is home to nine library facilities across five ASU campuses, providing students and faculty access to millions of information resources, world-class collections, outstanding study spaces and research centers, and a suite of maker services. Does your library have an ILS or are you part of a collaborative ILS? ASU Library uses Alma. Do you have a discovery system? Primo

Does your library have a collection development or similar department? Collection development for distinctive collections, open stacks, and licensed collections is spearheaded by several units within the Collections Services & Analysis directorate. If so, what is your budget and what types of materials are you purchasing? Print or electronic or both? Print and electronic.

Background/history: R. M. Cooper Library opened in August 1966 and serves as Clemson University’s main library. The Emery A. Gunnin Architecture Library was established in Lee Hall on April 24, 1972. By April 1989, the Strom Thurmond Instituted Building becomes the home of the Special Collections and Archives. In July 2010, the Libraries partners with the College of Education to support the Education Media Center in Tillman Hall. The Library Depot, the Libraries off-site print storage, University Records Center, Technical Services Unit, and digital imaging labs are established at the Clemson Research Park, which opened in June 2012. Number of staff and responsibilities: The library employs 27 faculty and 55 staff members and 60 student workers. Overall library budget: $14,106,883

Types of materials you buy (eBooks, textbooks, DVDs, video streaming services, databases, other): The Libraries continued on page 83

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ATG Profiles Encouraged from page 82 purchases all types of materials that support the educational and research mission of Clemson University, which includes electronic and print books, periodicals, and serials, CDs and DVDs, audio and video streaming services, databases. Does your library have an ILS or are you part of a collaborative ILS? We use the III Millennium Integrated Library System.

Do you have a discovery system? Yes, we use ProQuest’s Intota OneSearch discovery system. Does your library have a collection development or similar department? No, we have collection development librarians, who work closely with their assigned departmental faculty. What do you think your library will be like in five years? We will continue to reduce the number of print resources in the R. M. Cooper Library, relocating a larger share to off-site storage and through shared print collection state and regional initiatives. The space created in the building will be used for class and multipurpose rooms. What excites or frightens you about the next five years? I am concerned that in the rush of reducing our print collections, we lose sight as to what our students and faculty need for their educational and research needs and in turn marginalize ourselves and our services. Georgia Institute of Technology Library 704 Cherry Street Atlanta, GA 30332-0900 Phone: (404) 894-4530 Fax: (404) 894-0399 http://library.gatech.edu Background/history: The Georgia Tech Library has been an integral part of the Georgia Tech educational experience and research infrastructure for much of the Institute’s 120 year history. Although a small collection of books was made available to students and faculty in 1889, the first formal instantiation of the library began as one of the first college Carnegie libraries in 1907. In 1952, the first of two main library buildings was constructed, with the second following in 1968 and called the “graduate addition.” Like many library building additions constructed during the mid 20th century this facility was programmed primarily for housing print collections, but required significant continual rethinking to accommodate a growing need for individual and collaborative spaces for students. Over the decades since, creative and tactical interventions in both library buildings helped Georgia Tech to keep pace with changing norms for student use of the facility. During this period, Georgia Tech Library was also an early adopter of the online library, and also expanded research assistance and instructional offerings. Since the library’s initial start as a Carnegie library (now the President’s office), the story has been one of continual evolution. However, in spite of such innovative projects as the Library West Commons (2003), Library East Commons (2007) and the user-designed 2 West Commons (2009), over the past 10 years the physical plant of the library had deteriorated to an unsustainable point. This opportunity resulted in a dramatic reimagining of the library’s physical space, collections management, service offerings and digital presence to support a new generation of “born digital” scholars. A key part of this transformation involves an innovative public-private partnership with Emory University to create a shared collection available to both campuses and an off-site facility for the long-term preservation and storage of Georgia Tech’s print collection. In 2019, after an innovative process of piloting and prototyping design concepts, the first phase of the new Georgia Tech Library will open, and in 2020 the second and final phase of the building will be complete.

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Number of staff and responsibilities: Approximately 100 including library faculty and staff. Librarians are dedicated to every discipline at Georgia Tech and many librarians partner with faculty on teaching, research and grants. Overall library budget: $15 million (approximate).

Types of materials you buy (eBooks, textbooks, DVDs, video streaming services, databases, other): The majority of the collections purchases are in the area of eBooks, eJournals, databases and statistical datasets, and emerging streaming services. The Library also maintains a large collection of technology resources and “gadgets” to support student learning activities. What technologies does your library use to serve mobile users? The library subscribes to BrowZine and Overdrive which streamline mobile access to the journal and popular reading collections, respectively. In addition, the library website is undergoing a major overhaul in 2018 to coincide with the new physical facility opening in 2019 which will result in greater accessibility for mobile devices to the library’s electronic resources and databases. Does your library have an ILS or are you part of a collaborative ILS? The library is part of the GALILEO consortium within Georgia, as well as an innovative partnership with Emory University to create a shared collection of books available to both campuses. Do you have a discovery system? Primo from Ex-Libris.

Does your library have a collection development or similar department? The Library’s collection development / technical services departments have been overhauled into a holistic “Infrastructure” unit that has adopted supply-chain best practices for continual optimization for the procurement and dissemination of library electronic and print resources. If so, what is your budget and what types of materials are you purchasing? Print or electronic or both? The budget is approximately $8 million, and the library purchases collections almost entirely in electronic format. What do you think your library will be like in five years? The next five years will be an exciting time for Georgia Tech Library with both phases of the 250,000 sq ft renovation complete. A new generation of students and faculty will experience this new vision for a research library, and will undoubtedly continue to evolve the institution for millennia to come. What excites or frightens you about the next five years? The fiscal pressures on higher education and libraries are immense and daunting. New models of funding higher education will be required to keep college within reach for everyone. I am excited and frightened by the prospects of this situation for libraries. Excited because libraries and librarians have a singular opportunity to promote the “public good” quality of our collections, spaces, services, and expertise to be part of the solution. Concerned because continual pressure on budgets may constrain libraries from achieving their full potential impact. Is there anything else you think our readers should know? The culture of Georgia Tech and the Library prizes innovation, piloting and an emphasis on “trying things out.” This importance on experimentation has resulted in numerous unique and innovative spaces and services embedded within the Library Next project. Furthermore, the Library’s entrepreneurial affect is an exemplar of a much larger ambition to create a more sustainable and inclusive future for higher education. This future is described as part of the “Creating the Next in Higher Education” initiative launched in 2018 and communicated via a report titled: “Deliberate Innovation, Lifetime Education.” (http://www.provost. gatech.edu/cne-home) continued on page 84

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John & Stella Graves MakerSpace

The UT Libraries participate in cultural programming on the UT campus, hosting a Writers In The Library (https://www.lib.utk.edu/writers) series of readings, international and documentary film series, and co-sponsoring programs with campus groups such as the Baker Center for Public Policy and UT’s Ready For The World initiative.

McKeldin Library Room 2105 7649 Library Lane College Park, MD 20742-7011 https://www.lib.umd.edu/tlc/ makerspace

Number of staff and responsibilities: 50 faculty; 103 staff; 28 student assistants.

ATG Profiles Encouraged from page 83

Background/history: The John & Stella Graves MakerSpace was founded in 2014 as the University of Maryland Libraries’ very own makerspace. It is located in the Terrapin Learning Commons (TLC) on the second floor of McKeldin Library, the main library serving the 37,000 students and faculty of the University of Maryland’s flagship College Park campus. What do you think your library will be like in five years? In five years we anticipate that we will have completed our transition to an entirely educational model for providing access to equipment in the MakerSpace. Currently, we still offer a mix of instruction, print-on-demand services, and loosely supervised experimentation. We also hope to have developed a much larger and more cohesive community of MakerSpace users. What excites or frightens you about the next five years? We are excited to see more and more makerspaces being opened in academic libraries on our campus and elsewhere! We are also excited to see how fast maker technologies progress to help educators teach and students learn. Is there anything else you think our readers should know? Please contact us at <lib-makerspace@umd.edu> any time if you’d like to visit us in College Park: we’d love to show you around! University of Tennessee Libraries, Knoxville, TN 1015 Volunteer Boulevard Knoxville, TN 37996 Phone: (865) 974-4351 Fax: (865) 974-4259 http://www.lib.utk.edu/ Background/history: Under the leadership of Dean Steven Smith, the UT Libraries serves the flagship campus of the state university system. The Libraries support the teaching, research, and service mission of the university and enhances the academic experience of each student at the Knoxville campus — through outstanding print and electronic collections, reference and instructional services, and top-notch facilities and technological resources. The John C. Hodges Main Library (https://www.lib.utk.edu/about/about/ hodges/), Webster C. Pendergrass Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine Library (https://www.lib.utk.edu/agvet), and George F. DeVine Music Library (https://www.lib.utk.edu/music) serve the Knoxville campus. In the Hodges Library, research assistance and computer services are available 24 hours a day in the attractively furnished, student-centric Commons (https:// commons.utk.edu/) — a popular venue for both studying and socializing. Technology-rich facilities and services include a multimedia digital production Studio (https://www.lib.utk.edu/studio) and ever-expanding virtual resources that are easily discoverable on our website (https://www.lib.utk. edu/) from any computer or mobile device. The UT Libraries are an active advocate for open access to research. Notable current projects include the online imprint Newfound Press (http:// www.newfoundpress.utk.edu/) and the university’s institutional repository, Trace (http://trace.tennessee.edu/), which showcases and disseminates UT scholarship. The UT Libraries digitize unique historical documents and images from its Special Collections (https://www.lib.utk.edu/special/) and University Archives (https://www.lib.utk.edu/special/university_archives/).

84 Against the Grain / June 2018

The UT Libraries champions diversity in collections and staffing. A successful Diversity Librarian Residency Program, launched in 2002, attracts recent library school graduates to a challenging career in academic librarianship.

Overall library budget: $ 27,489,120

Types of materials you buy (eBooks, textbooks, DVDs, video streaming services, databases, other): We buy research materials, special collections, journal content, print materials, eBooks, DVDs, streaming video, and more. What technologies does your library use to serve mobile users? Mobile-optimized website; Tie-in to University mobile app, BrowZine, and a variety of e-books available in mobile-friendly formats. Does your library have an ILS or are you part of a collaborative ILS? Yes Do you have a discovery system? PRIMO by Ex Libris.

Does your library have a collection development or similar department? Research Collections.

If so, what is your budget and what types of materials are you purchasing? Print or electronic or both? Approximately $ 14,710,552; We purchase print and electronic resources in a variety of formats. What do you think your library will be like in five years? We will continue to develop teaching and learning spaces to support evolving needs in higher education, particularly in creating spaces to support innovation, teamwork, and maker activities. Most likely that means we will be finding creative ways to find more room for users!

What excites or frightens you about the next five years? I am excited by the opportunity to help our campus build a meaningful and robust online learning infrastructure that connects our library users with the expertise of our librarians, relevant research tools, and collections to support research and learning. I am also excited about the opportunity to continue to transform our library spaces to support innovation and outreach through maker spacers, visualization labs, and other experiential learning spaces. Is there anything else you think our readers should know? The University of Tennessee is invested in student success. Our subject liaisons, student success librarians, and library faculty and staff across departments contribute to creating community, teaching valuable skills, and connecting students with resources and spaces to promote success inside and beyond the classroom. University of Washington Tacoma Library 1900 Commerce St., Box 358460 Tacoma, WA 98402 Phone: (253) 692-4440 Fax: (253) 692-4445 http://www.tacoma.uw.edu/library/ Background/history: Established as part of a statewide initiative to increase access to higher education, the University of Washington Tacoma campus started with a handful of students in a temporary building in 1990. By 1997, the first permanent campus buildings opened in the center of a once dilapidated warehouse district and included a library reading room partially remodeled from a 1902 transformer house. The current library, continued on page 85

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ATG Profiles Encouraged from page 84 part of the University of Washington Libraries system, now spans two buildings and shares space with the campus Teaching and Learning Center. Number of staff and responsibilities: 16 permanent staff including six librarians (5 FTE) covering services including reference, instruction, circulation, digital scholarship, and a campus repository. Overall library budget: Approximately $1,750,000.

Types of materials you buy (eBooks, textbooks, DVDs, video streaming services, databases, other): The majority of the library’s collection development is done in coordination with colleagues across the tri-campus University Libraries system and includes serials, print and e-books, textbooks, DVDs, streaming media, digital archives, and a variety of disciplinary databases.

Back Talk from page 86 imagining the digital library goes back to the 1940s in Vannevar Bush’s famous article “As We May Think” (July 1995, The Atlantic), and that the reality of the digital library began to shape itself already very soon thereafter. Our systems predate the personal computer and widespread use of the Internet and continue to evolve. We will continue to be leaders. Third, we share important working principles. The Global Vision insists that we must be leaders who advocate effectively for librarianship’s values and practices, and by so doing ensure that our stakeholders understand the value and impact of our work. We are reminded to be less bureaucratic, more collaborative, and ever change-friendly.

Rumors from page 71 back and writing up a storm online! Social Media: the 21st Century Communication Standard? Part 1 as well as parts 2 and 3 are waiting for you to read them and react! https:// against-the-grain.com/2018/04/social-media-the-21st-communication-standard/ While we are going around our work and lives, I cannot believe what Leah Hinds is doing! She and her husband Patrick and their two kids, Maddie and Jacob, (and their two dogs), have been traveling across the U.S. She moves back and forth looking for good reception for her cell phone and how she keeps track of the times and time zones while still conducting ATG and Charleston Conference business is truly amazing! Kudos to Leah! See her letter in this issue, p.6. Got an email from Anthony Watkinson just today! (isn’t email wonderful?). Anyway, he was at the 40th SSP and met up with Barba-

Against the Grain / June 2018

Does your library have an ILS or are you part of a collaborative ILS? As a member of the Orbis Cascade Alliance, all University of Washington libraries are part of the consortially managed ExLibris Alma and Primo implementation. Does your library have a collection development or similar department? Because the majority of the library’s acquisition work is centralized on the Seattle campus, Tacoma has a collections coordinator, but not a collections department. All subject liaisons contribute to collection development What do you think your library will be like in five years? The library will be more deeply connected to the learning and research missions of the institution. The specific implementation of this will depend on campus growth and budgets, though it is clear that campus administration is interested in implementing a learning commons, a makerspace, and there is renewed interest in creating more partnerships across campus.

And fourth, the Global Vision reminds us that our new and younger professionals are precious, essential resources, commanding us to care for training and professional development as the single most powerful force we can muster to build a successful future. During the Global Vision meetings in Barcelona this March, I recalled one of my saddest library experiences ever. In 1999, during the IFLA Congress in Bangkok, I traveled to Phnom Penh in neighboring Cambodia, and while there we visited the National Library. It was a dreary and lifeless place, an old French colonial building, dusty, somber and quiet. But, I remind myself now, that, in spite of all the travails of that poor, small country, the national library was still there. I fished out a photograph I took then of a quotation that has since stayed with me. Inscribed in French

over one of the doorways: “Force can bind you for a while,” it said (paraphrasing a little), “but an idea can hold you forever.” Even after all Cambodia had been through, even though (another photo that is too sad to share) the card catalog drawers were almost empty, even there the idea of the library held on. And from a couple of miles away, another photo of the shiny new “Hun Sen Library,” named after the strongman ruler who is still there almost twenty years later. Even the strongman was held by the idea of the library. That kind of resistance, persistence, and power are what the IFLA Global Vision is about. It’s a privilege to be part of the process and to encourage everyone to seize the opportunity participate and become part of the Global Voice of Librarianship.

ra Meyers (Ford). Barbara was there as one of the original founders of SSP. Barbara was a great friend of the Charleston Conference. For those of you who are old timers you will remember that for many years, she used to run a half day Plenary Session focused on publisher issues. The sessions were always wildly popular. I have tried to reach her by email unsuccessfully so I’m ecstatic that Anthony wants to reconnect with her! No grass is growing under Barbara’s feet. She is now Interim VP Publications, American Geophysical Union and DBA Meyers Consulting Services (MCS)! Some ATG history. In every print issue of ATG, on page 5 you will notice the ATG ad and subscription request form. That was Barbara’s suggestion and brainstorm! Hooray Barbara! Hope to see Barbara in Charleston soon! Our 40th is coming in two more years (2020)! Let’s reminisce!

choices include: Soonish, by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith, Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan, All They Will Call You by Tim Hernandez, Hamilton: The Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording) by Lin-Manuel Miranda, The Good Food Revolution by Will Allen, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, Tigerland by Wil Haygood, Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward, Lab Girl by Hope Jahren. To read more specifics, go to https:// www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/06/08/ what-freshmen-are-reading-summer/.

Inside Higher Education has been noticing what student reading assignments are this summer for common reading. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein tops the list this summer but other

And more reading! To be published in July by ABC-CLIO — The Complete Guide to RFPs for Libraries by Frances C. Wilkinson and Sever Bordeianu, Editors. Foreword by Katina Strauch. Congrats to Fran and Sever! https://www.abc-clio.com/ABC-CLIOCorporate/product.aspx?pc=A5565P Have a great summer and see you online! www.against-the-grain.com/

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Back Talk — Articulating a Global Vision for Libraries and Librarians Column Editor: Ann Okerson (Advisor on Electronic Resources Strategy, Center for Research Libraries) <aokerson@gmail.com>

he first time I attended the World Library and Information Congress, organized each summer by the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA’s WLIC — international organizations need acronyms!), the host city brought out tanks into the streets and staged a political upheaval of world historical significance. It was Moscow in August of 1991. The meetings were mainly canceled as attendees were called home by their governments, but it made apparent for many the strong sense that IFLA really does live and act on a global stage. IFLA brings together professional librarians and their colleagues and friends not only for a week of stimulating exchanges in the annual Congress, but also in through-the-year work of over 60 standing committees and special interest groups, devoted to subjects all the way from art libraries, to copyright, to women in libraries. As the Congress moves around the world, moreover, it represents an opportunity region by region for librarians who can’t attend every year to participate when WLIC comes to their vicinity (for example, two meetings in South Africa, Durban in 2007 and Cape Town in 2015, when it was truly wonderful to see librarians coming together from all of sub-Saharan Africa to get energy and inspiration from the colleagues from around the world who joined them).

But now IFLA has seized an even bigger opportunity. Under the leadership of Secretary General Gerald Leitner (former leader of the Austrian Library Association and now the full-time executive officer of IFLA) and current President Gloria Pérez-Salmerón (from Spain), a Global Vision process with remarkable promise has been patiently and carefully built. Previous IFLA key initiatives and long-term plans have been made, as for many of our organizations, by leaders, managers, and officers investing thoughtful weeks and months to develop mission statements and strategic goals, which are then fine-tuned with staff and constituent feedback. This time, an ambitious IFLA leadership has imagined that, instead of the usual topdown planning process, the process will be up-ended. Imagine a library organization building an agenda and a plan that has been shaped by tens of thousands of library and information professionals worldwide. First, the world library community is engaged to offer input from all levels, and then that input will become the plan’s foundation. Can this upside down kind of strategic planning, on so large a scale, possibly work? We’re learning that the answer is a resounding YES. With careful structure and facilitation, launched over the course of the past year, more than 10,000 librarians from around the world, via some 200 workshops, have participated in face-to-face dialog about the most important issues facing librarianship. [By the time this column is published, the numbers will be much higher.] Special, widely-based meetings

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86 Against the Grain / June 2018

held last year in Athens and this year in Barcelona have focused attention and energy, with a view to preliminary roll-out of the Global Vision at the Kuala Lumpur Congress this August. Building on those in-person events, over 20,000 individuals from 190 countries have contributed additional input. On the basis of that massive input, substantial work on an overall IFLA action plan will take place between the KL Conference in 2018, Governing Board meetings in 2018 and 2019, and the 2019 IFLA WLIC. The underlying intuition that the leadership has seized is that a global organization (one that’s been around over 90 years) has a fresh opportunity, with a worldwide network of professionals, for impact across many cultures. For it is remarkable that the notion of “libraries,” in a culturally diverse world, is very nearly as strong and consistent as shopping malls have become — however, libraries own a kind of respect across those many cultures that shopping malls will never have! There are libraries just about everywhere, all kinds, and more all the time. What is impressive is not so much that the Global Vision project identifies elements we never before thought of, but that it “connects the dots” in a compelling way. Four themes emerge for me. First, as a library and information community, we can and should continue to embody the principles for which we have always stood. Free and equal access to knowledge and information is essential, supported by a commitment to support literacy, learning, and reading. We are, as the Global Vision already affirms, the “guardians of the memory of the world” and have the obligations of guardians accordingly, in the service of our communities. Second, we can, must, and should embrace digital innovations. Sometimes when I am shaking my head over the latest whiz-bang techno-marvel (most recently, a headset that hears what I’m thinking?!), I remember that continued on page 85

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