Interest Group Reports
Collection Evaluation and Development
Members Present
- Ellen Frost, Perkins School of Theology, SMU
- Stephanie Garrett, Catholic Distance University
- Marvin Hunn, Dallas Theological Seminary
- Liz Leahy, Azusa Pacific Seminary
Agenda
The Collection Evaluation and Development IG met on June 19 via Zoom. Ellen Frost led a quick discussion about the CEAD Ebook panel held on Friday, June 16th. Marvin Hunn noted that Frost had a concrete example of ebook pricing variations to give the publishers, but that the group still lacks understanding as to the range of prices for titles. Stephanie Garrett mentioned textbook pricing for ebooks, which tends to be high; the group consensus was that most seminary libraries do not purchase textbooks in the usual sense. All attendees feel that CEAD can continue to explore the area of ebook publishing.
Frost then suggested several possible topics for sessions at the Atla 2024 conference:
- Follow-up session on ebooks, either with publishers or aggregators
Frost heard from a board member that John Kutsko, the Atla Executive Director, was extremely interested in our session and may be interested in having Atla sponsor something similar next year. Frost emailed two Atla staff to follow up on this. - Multilingual Collection Development
This is a conference topic idea mentioned at the 2022 business meeting. Garrett said their institution is completely bilingual (Spanish/English) collection development as of July 1st; Liz Leahy said their institution is trilingual (Korean/Spanish/English). Leahy also shared that there are Korean and Spanish bookshops in the Long Beach area (the site of next year’s conference) so the CEAD group may be able to tap into those resources. The attendees agreed that this might be the ideal location for a “Conversation Group” session with these resources available, especially considering the fact that the local host regional group includes Korean, Spanish, and Chinese seminaries. The group agreed that if this conversation group is scheduled before a coffee break, people interested in continuing the conversation would feel free to do so.
As part of this conversation, the group discussed translation options and ways to translate for students, patrons, etc. Hunn mentioned leveraging English language resources into translations for students and the copyright legality for libraries. Frost mentioned Atla’s Copyright Office Hours hosted by Christine Fruin; Fruin popped in to say she’s always available for copyright questions at cfruin@atla.com. Other translation options (Deep Translator https://www.deepl.com/en/translator, Google Translate, and Google Lens, and Canvas’ Pronto social media program were mentioned. - OCLC Choreo
Choreo, a new collection development tool from OCLC, is a presentation idea for 2-3 years from now. This is a new product offered by OCLC that includes collection analysis and the ability to analyze a library’s collection to align with the institution’s academic goals and priorities. Tabling this idea for a few years will allow time for schools to try the product and explain how they are using it. Fruin mentioned that Atla offers a discount for Green Glass and posted these links in Chat:
Green Glass demo recording for Atla https://vimeo.com/395216087/34885ebe9b
https://www.atla.com/member-benefits/consortia-oclc/
Garrett and Leahy agreed to work together to write up and submit a proposal for a Multilingual Collection Development conversation group for Atla 2024.
The following members agreed to serve on the 2023/2024 CEAD steering committee:
- Ellen Frost, Chair
- Caitlin Soma, Co-Chair
- Liz Leahy
- Lee Webb
The meeting adjourned at 12:00 p.m. CDT.