Transforming a Collections Department Working “Inside-out” Transforming a Collections Department Martha Kelehan Head of Scholarly Communications & Collections, Tisch Library Tufts University

Unique Materials “And what will differential us one library from another 20 and 50 years from now is not which databases we subscribe to, but what unique materials we have in our libraries…” --Jim O’Donnell, Charleston Conference, 2015

Process-driven structures “When research libraries were more collections-centric operations, they tended to have more process-driven, departmentally focused structures.” –Roger C. Schonfeld, “Organizing the Work of the Research Library,” ITHAKA, August 18, 2016, https://doi.org/10.18665/sr.283717

“Brokers, Curators, & Organizers” “Today’s more efficient online marketplace features much lower prices and much lower barriers to personal collection building, a pervasive full-text searching capability that makes traditional cataloging less obviously necessary, and widely distributed storage and access points that undermine traditional approaches to preservation and curation.” --Rick Anderson, “Can’t Buy Us Love: The Declining Importance of Library Books and the Rising Importance of Special Collections,” ITHAKA, August 1, 2013, https://doi.org/10.18665/sr.24613

This version is from http://www. oclc

Tisch Library Strategic Plan, 2014 Transforming Spaces and Services to Enhance and Enrich Learning Curating and Stewarding the Scholarly Record Fostering Research and Knowledge Creation https://tischlibrary.tufts.edu/sites/default/files/TischLibraryStrategicPlanFY2015-17_Final%2BIntro.pdf

Tufts & The Library Tufts The Library 1852-1970s Small, regional institution with pockets of excellence Small, regional library with pockets of excellence 1970-1980s Starts attracting research faculty, on path to R1 1990s Continues on path to R1 Hires professional bibliographers to build the local collection 1990s-2017 R1 Strong teaching collection, strong journal collection

Dempsey et Al., “Figure 1: Future Trends in the Nature & Scope of the Evolving Scholarly Record,” In “Collection Directions: The Evolution of Library collections and Collecting.” Portal 14, 3 (2014): 400.

Changes in Scale “…for many parts of the general collection, less selection is taking place at a title level and much more is taking place through various types of aggregations, collection profiles, and demand-driven models.” –Roger C. Schonfeld, “Organizing the Work of the Research Library,” ITHAKA, August 18, 2016, https://doi.org/10.18665/sr.283717

Tisch Library Case Study

Science Bibliographer Social Science Bibliographer Structure for 15+ Years Head of Collections Science Bibliographer Social Science Bibliographer Humanities Bibliographer Professional staff member

Small Functional Portfolios Science Bibliographer Social Science Bibliographer Humanities Bibliographer Big Deals Gifts/Scholarly Communication Special Collections

A Retirement and 2 Promotions (2014) Associate Director Head of Collections & Social Sciences Bibliographer [Science Bibliographer & Scholarly Communications] Humanities Bibliographer Professional staff member

Another retirement & Promotion (2015) Head of Collections [Research Data & Science Bibliographer] Digital Collections & Social Science Bibliographer Special Collections & Humanities Bibliographer Professional staff member

Renaming the department (2016) Head of Scholarly Communications & Collections Research Data Librarian Digital Collections Librarian w/ Social Science collections Special Collections Librarian w/ Humanities collection Professional staff member

SPEC Kit 349: Evolution of Library Liaisons, 2015. Reading Up On Liaisons New Roles for New Times: Transforming Liaison Roles in Research Libraries, ARL, 2013. Leveraging the Liaison Model: From Defining 21st Century Research Libraries to Implementing 21st Century Research Universities, Ithaka S+R, 2014. SPEC Kit 349: Evolution of Library Liaisons, 2015. Association of Research Libraries/Columbia University/Cornell University/University of Toronto Pilot Library Liaison Institute: Final Report, ARL, 2015.

Library Engagement Model Subject Liaisons Specialized Liaisons

SUBJECT Liaisons in Clusters Social Sciences Economics, Urban & Environmental Policy & Planning Political Science, International Relations Anthropology Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies Child Study, Education, Sociology Psychology, Business Arts & Humanities Art History, Drama/Dance, Languages Philosophy, Religion, English Romance Languages Fine Arts - BFA Fine Arts - MFA Music Classics History, Race, Colonialism, Diaspora Science & Engineering Engineering, Computer Science Biology, Chemistry Physics, Math Earth & Ocean Sciences Environmental Studies Alt text: graphic of three clusters. Circle with Social Sciences, surrounded by circles representing different liaison librarians with different department responsibilities. Circles are color coded to show that the clusters include people from different departments – Metadata Services, the Branch Libraries, Research & Instruction, and Scholarly Communications & Collections Reporting Department Branch Libraries Metadata Services Scholarly Communications & Collections Research & Instruction

Special Collections Research Data Digital Collections Specialized Liaisons Special Collections Research Data Digital Collections Social Science Data Digital Design Studio Metadata Services

Specialized Liaisons with Subject Liaison Responsibilities Head of Scholarly Communications & Collections Research Data Librarian Digital Collections Librarian Special Collections Librarian Anthropology Earth & Ocean Sciences Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies Romance Languages

Summer of big changes in the library Portfolio sizes are uneven Early Assessment Challenges Successes Summer of big changes in the library Portfolio sizes are uneven Early fall isn’t a good time for collections work (commodity or distinctive) More cross-departmental work More outreach opportunities for specialized liaisons Everyone is in learning mode; everyone can be a mentor

Digital Scholarship Project Work together to identify collection Special Collections Librarian assesses for preservation, sends for digitization Digital Collections Librarian does basic metadata, ensures ingest Research Data Librarian prepares a dataset, looks at mapping opportunities Work together to propose structure for online exhibit Digital Collections Librarian creates online exhibit Share exhibit, dataset(s), & digitized pamphlets with the world Repeat

Reconfiguring to meet strategic goals Build distinctive collections that mesh with institutional strengths & priorities Research data Faculty & student publications Special collections Small collections from the open web Spend less time on commodity collections Position librarians for outreach Work with and around reporting structure

Different Priorities for Different Institutions “The level of attention to inside-out resources in this way will become an important differentiator between libraries (and the universities they support). Research institutions, specialist libraries, and others with a mission to share their resources with the world will focus more attention on these services. Institutions more focused on supporting learning and student success may choose to make less of an investment here.” --Lorcan Dempsey, “Library Collections in the Life of the Use: Two Directions,” Liber Quarterly, 26, 4 (2016): 343, http://doi.org/10.18352/lq.10170.