Blessings in Disguise Rebuilding Efficiencies and Communication Between Collections and Acquisitions Kevin Garewal, Head, Research & Learning Services Frank J. Bove, Coord. Acquisitions Services Sean Kennedy, Collection Management Librarian

Rebuilding our staff Timeline Jun-Dec 2013 – Acquisitions Dept. Chair & Coord. of Acquisitions retire Fall 2014 – Move subscriptions from SWETS to EBSCO Nov 2014 – Kevin G., Collection Management Librarian Jan 2015 – Frank B., Coord. of Acquisition Services Aug 2015 – Staff layoffs, lost 2 of 3 FTE staff members Oct 2015 – Hire .5 FTE staff member (shared with Systems) Dec 2015 – Staff member retires Feb 2016 – Hire 1 FTE staff member Mar 2016 – Sean K., Collection Management Librarian

Background – current climate Collaboration and communication All of the projects we will discuss are not possible without the current level of “interdepartmental” communication and collaboration. Daily contact and discussions. Email list/group for communication and record keeping. Friendly, open, and honest working group. However, we still disagree from time to time and hold each other accountable as needed. Respect is key ingredient for making collaboration happen. Especially between various types of individuals on the team (staff, tenured faculty, NTT faculty, administration).

Understanding existing procedures Legacy documentation and processes

Adjusting existing procedures Moving forward…we note everything!

Procedures & Processes Review towards shared understanding Workflow analysis meetings (2 significant rounds) Feb-Apr 2016 – Understanding Acquisitions workflows and processes. Talked through and evaluated how various materials are selected, ordered, received, and processed. Jul-Aug 2016 – Acquisitions Data Dictionary Working Group meetings. The previous discussion underscored the need to standardize the acquisition records, to share the same understanding of how to use the system elements, and to create documentation for training.

Data Dictionary & Procedures Manual Building two vital documents Data Dictionary Procedures Manual

Some initial efficiencies implemented Amazon Prime & the Material Request Form

Project: Ebsco journal renewal The goal of the project was to systematically review all journal subscriptions. Started using the Ebsco Usage Consolidation product in 2016. This was UA’s first attempt for a comprehensive review of our journals both print and online. Mixed results with the product. Export functionality is very limited. Decided to create a master worksheet manually populated by 5 people. Gathered 2 years of use and cost data. (number of downloads from aggregator and publisher site, pubfinder/full-text finder data, and cost per download) 44 Columns to be filled in. (Too many!) When the sheet was populated it was distributed to the subject librarians for comment and recommendations.

University of Akron – Renewal Sheet First attempt

Lessons learned Process was laborious and time-consuming. 4 weeks of preparation time until the sheet was distributed to the subject librarians. (Time was lost with Ebsco trying to create a similar sheet.) Format types were mixed on the sheet. (Online, print, and print and online) Found that the pubfinder and full-text finder stats were not all that helpful. (We hoped this would give us some data when no publisher data was available.) Had a postmortem meeting and decided to reduce columns from 44 to 31. Still too many but it is a start. The process worked! Cut 80k and added 40k in e-journals and increased use!

Ebsco spending 2016 – pre-project

Ebsco spending 2017 – after Project

Invoice Tracking Sheet Created an invoice tracking sheet to better control spending and have a firm understanding of our budget. Tracking sheet is used as an approval mechanism between Collections and Acquisitions. This has essentially allowed us close our budget with zero dollars remaining for three fiscal years in a row.

Invoice Tracking Sheet Summary of accounts

Invoice Tracking Sheet Tracking Sheet example

Additional collaborative projects Claims Donation / gift procedures Streaming video workflows Excel programming Cleaning up exported order record / payment data VBA to make tracking invoices and spending automated

Questions? Kevin Garewal – kgarewal@uakron.edu Frank Bove – fjbove@uakron.edu Sean Kennedy – skennedy@uakron.edu