Interest Group Reports
Collection Evaluation and Development
Members Present
- Ellen Frost, Perkins School of Theology, SMU
- Bo Adams, Candler School of Theology, Emory University
- W. (Wynette) Field, William Booth College, London
- Stephanie Garrett, Catholic International University
- Heather Hicks, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
- Tammy Johnson, Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, GA
- Déborah Ortiz-Rivera, Candler School of Theology, Emory University
- Terence Sheridan, Amridge University
Agenda
The Collection Evaluation and Development (CEAD) Interest Group met on June 30 via Zoom. The group held a brief review of several helpful collection development sessions from Atla Annual, most notably “Bridging Cultures: Curating Resources for a Vibrant Hispanic/Latino Theology Collection” led by Déborah Ortiz-Rivera, and “Collecting Catholic Open Access Religion Journals” led by Barnaby Hughes. Garrett also mentioned the St. Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology (https://www.saet.ac.uk/) presentation by Rebekah Dyer.
The group continued their discussion from earlier in the spring regarding the announcement from Clarivate ProQuest of their intention to make extensive changes to their e-book platform in June 2026. These changes include the discontinuation of their DDA plan and their termination of individual title purchase. ProQuest included that any titles purchased outright will remain available for the purchasing library or institution. However, this has led to a great deal of distrust among the members of CEAD since these librarians are responsible for collection development for their individual libraries. Several members expressed concern that not all publishers are available for unlimited users on ProQuest’s peer platform, EBSCOHost.
Frost reminded the group that they had compiled a list of publishers for the Atla staff to present to EBSCO. Frost will follow up with the Atla staff to see if any information is forthcoming. Field mentioned that publishers available through ProQuest may not actually be available through EBSCO if libraries are in the United Kingdom. Field did state that the British Library Association is lobbying for libraries in the UK.
Johnson shared that Columbia moved all their ProQuest titles from ProQuest to EBSCO; this was a negotiation they made with EBSCO, and it included Columbia relinquishing their use of ProQuest.
Ortiz-Rivera shared that EBSCO has signed contracts with many Spanish-language publishers, but that smaller publishers may have difficulty making this transition.
Several members shared that they find LibCentral, ProQuest’s e-book manager, easier to use than EBSCOhost Collection Manager, EBSCO’s management platform. Hicks shared that EBSCO has a video tutorial that is very helpful and shared the link: https://connect.ebsco.com/s/share-video?language=en_US&vtui__mediaId=a1hUT000000Rak9YAC.
Frost asked if anyone was interested in chairing the interest group in the coming year; there were no volunteers, so Frost will continue for another year.
Due to time constraints, the interest group did not hold a round robin. The meeting adjourned.