Metadata Management Librarian Textbooks: Required of our students, unwelcome in our academic library? Leanne Olson Metadata Management Librarian Western University lolson3@uwo.ca

Why collect textbooks? Why not? Today’s agenda Who I am, where I’m from Why collect textbooks? Why not? We’ll look at student feedback, collections policies, textbook use, cost, and lifespan Please ask questions & join in the discussion

Where I’m from Western University Charleston Imagery @2016 Landsat, Data SIO, NOAA, U.S. Navy, NGA, GEDBCO, IBCAO, U.S. Geological Survey. Map data @2016 Google, INEGI

Western University 38,335 full-time equivalent students 7 major libraries on campus 3 affiliated university colleges: King’s, Huron, Brescia 48 librarians & archivists 66 library assistants $16.4 million acquisitions budget 5,431,600 book holdings 4,570 print serial subscriptions 140,840 online serial subscriptions Statistics from http://www.ipb.uwo.ca/facts.php Photo by Brandon Belbeck

We examined results from recent student surveys…

I think the libraries should have more copies of textbooks available I think the libraries should have more copies of textbooks available. It would be more of an incentive for students to study at the library if they have access to more copies. - Undergraduate student, Science Too often, I find that my textbooks are unavailable in digital format through the library website. - Graduate student, Social Science I would like better access to current and useful books including course textbooks. – Undergraduate student, Science

I save money on textbooks with 2-hour loans, and it allows me to be productive between classes – Undergraduate student, Social Sciences Good study space…allow[s] me to study during the day without needing to bring my own textbooks. – Undergraduate student, Law Having access to [textbooks] is great because sometimes it's hard to buy a textbook or not worthwhile as it isn't used a lot in the course. - Undergraduate student, health sciences

Textbook Myths? Textbooks don’t belong in a university collection Students think they want them, but won’t use them Textbooks are too expensive Textbooks have a short lifespan

Definition of a textbook Any required course text, designated as required by the course instructor, and listed on the course outline.

1. Textbooks don’t belong in a university collection

Collections Policies at Western Policy #1: The following types of material are not acquired: popular literature, conference proceedings, theses or dissertations from other institutions, and course textbooks. Policy #2: With the exception of individual requests and some selective acquisitions, the following types of material are not acquired: conference proceedings, theses or dissertations from other institutions, and course textbooks. Policy #3: Due to the nature of the work performed by medical practitioners, standard textbooks are frequently a core source of information and referral. Core textbooks are collected and updated and form an important part of the collection.

Practices across Western (paraphrased liberally) Social Sciences We rationalize getting around our policies. There’s a demand; policies should be inclusive. Sciences/Medical We don’t collect them proactively. Materials that students use the most should be actively collected. Law We get the required textbook list and buy everything. We know Canadian content will be used. Business We buy them specifically for courses on a case by case basis, knowing what circulates the most. Education We collect them in a comprehensive manner, building relationships with faculty. Music We purchase textbooks on request, and provide access to many professor’s copies.

2. Students think they want textbooks, but won’t use them

Are they worth it? Circulation of Western’s textbooks Average # of Circulations (Total) Average Cost per Circulation (CDN) Textbooks in the general collection 38.3 $9.38 Textbooks on reserve 47.9 $4.18 Compare to: Cost of borrowing through interlibrary loan: $14 Average circulation of a “regular” print book: ???

Comparing textbooks and regular books by call number range Example: Books about medieval history

3. Textbooks are too expensive

Are they worth it? Circulation of Western’s textbooks Average # of Circulations (Total) Average Cost per Circulation (CDN) Textbooks in the general collection 38.3 $9.38 Textbooks on reserve 47.9 $4.18 Compare to: Cost of borrowing through interlibrary loan: $14 Average circulation of a “regular” print book: ???

Comparing textbooks and regular books by fund code Non-textbook

Prices of Science Textbooks (Canadian Dollars) Western Libraries’ Book Vendor Campus Bookstore Amazon.ca Multivariable Calculus, Stewart, 8th ed. $409.72 Open Channel Hydraulics, 2nd ed. $392.03 Moons and Planets,5th ed. $461.62 Organic Chemistry, Wade $442.66 Advanced Engineering Mathematics, 5th ed. $405.62

Prices of Science Textbooks (Canadian Dollars) Western Libraries’ Book Vendor Campus Bookstore Amazon.ca Multivariable Calculus, Stewart, 8th ed. $409.72 $170.30 $165.30 Open Channel Hydraulics, 2nd ed. $392.03 $101.95 $314.95 Moons and Planets,5th ed. $461.62 $230.50 Used only Organic Chemistry, Wade $442.66 $188.70 $187.00 Advanced Engineering Mathematics, 5th ed. $405.62 $203.95

4. Textbooks have a short lifespan

A few quick counterexamples… Multivariable Calculus, Stewart, 8th ed, 2015. Used for 6 distinct courses, some over multiple years of a student’s career Linear Algebra, 4th ed, Friedberg, 2002. Same textbook in use for 15 years Art of Making Dances, Humphry, 1962. Used for multiple 3rd & 4th year dance classes Norton Anthology of Short Fiction, Bausch Copies from 1995 and 2006 have both been checked out this year

Textbook Myths? Textbooks don’t belong in a university collection Students think they want them, but won’t use them Textbooks are too expensive Textbooks have a short lifespan

Our next steps Environmental scan Surveys to understand user needs Slicing potential collections of textbooks – 2,150 undergraduate courses Proposal for a pilot project? Photo by Brandon Belbeck

Metadata Management Librarian Textbooks: Required of our students, unwelcome in our academic library? Leanne Olson Metadata Management Librarian Western University lolson3@uwo.ca

R Applets Please feel free to check out and download the R applets I’ve used, which I have posted on GitHub: https://github.com/LeanneOlson/Textbook-Collections-2017 These are still very much in development, but may give you a head start and some code to play with. I’ve included a small subset of textbook data from Western Libraries to use as examples.

Learning about R R Studio – tutorials and articles https://www.rstudio.com/online-learning/ Flowingdata - free and paid courses https://flowingdata.com/courses/ Shiny – an R package to build interactive web apps http://shiny.rstudio.com/tutorial/ Braun, J., & Murdoch, D. J. (2016). A first course in statistical programming with R, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chang, W. (2013). R graphics cookbook: Practical recipes for visualizing data. Cambridge: O’Reilly.