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Summary of Collection Development Subcommittee Meeting, January 10, 2012

Maine Shared Collections Strategy Collection Development Subcommittee Meeting
January 10, 2012
10-12, Colby College, Miller Library Conference Room

Attending: Joan Campbell, Christy Coombs, Brian Damien, Valerie Glenn, Clem Guthro, Tom Hayward, Toni Katz, Lanny Lumbert, Susan MacArthur, Judy Montgomery, Peggy O’Kane, Deb Rollins

The meeting was primarily a general discussion about the collection analysis system, what we need to do re: analysis, and what we can do soon.

Concerns/quirks of the system:

  • “Unique” items in the MSCS Strat data set should be unique within the group. Some results have at least 2 partner holdings (so should be in the “Shared by 2, etc.” category). [Note: Valerie is following up with OCLC. In order to alleviate confusion, an example title was chosen and screen shots were sent.]
  • “No title available” listed at times.
    [Note: WCA’s FAQ has this question listed, along with one possible explanation: “‘No Title Available’ likely indicates that you have withdrawn an item from your collection since the last quarterly update. When WCA searches WorldCat for this record, your symbol is no longer attached, producing the “No Title Available” records.”  Meghan from OCLC indicated that “Sometimes if the limits are too specific No Titles would be available, and sometimes it is a system issue. If you notice this when performing a certain repeatable task please let us know and we will look into if it is a system issue”]
  • How can we get a “true” unique in WCA?  [OCLC’s Collection Dashboard allows libraries to see the number of unique titles they have in WorldCat. Currently this does not link to a list of titles/records. According to Meghan, “We will be installing a new version of that on January 26th at which time the titles will display on the screen (top 100) for each of the following categories: unique, 2-10, 11-20, 21+. In a later release there will be a way to export those out.” Meghan is following up on this question as it pertains to WCA.]
  • When is the next snapshot for WCA? (This will impact reclamation deadline).
    A: It is scheduled for the last week in March.
  • Will WorldCat Knowledge Base information be included in the collection analysis?
    A: Yes.
  • Is there a way to export the data from WCA and into a review file in Millennium? This would allow libraries to review item-related data such as circulation, location, etc.
    A: We’re not sure. Venice (Maine InfoNet) is looking into this issue. (The lack of bib numbers may be a problem.)
  • Comments: Alisia (now at Maine InfoNet) was a great help to CBB folks during their analysis. She would be a good resource person.

Discussion about how to “chunk” items for analysis:

  • It may be a good idea to break down items for analysis by time period (ie, pre-1923, 1924-1950, etc. Need to determine breakdowns; what is “recent”?)
  • Until “unique” item issues are resolved, look at the titles in the “shared by 5” category. Deb and Valerie will create a sample set of around 200 titles and send to the group. Hopefully this will allow us to begin categorizing items and developing criteria for future decision-making.

Immediately following the meeting the group viewed a CRL webinar, “Optimal Copies, Accessibility, and Shared Print Decisions.”