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

2. 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

3. 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,

4. “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,

5. This version is from http://www. oclc

6. 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

7. Tufts & The Library
Tufts
The Library s
Small, regional institution with pockets of excellence
Small, regional library with pockets of excellence s
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

8. 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.

9. 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,

10. Tisch Library
Case Study

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

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

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

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

15. 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

16. 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.

17. Library Engagement Model
Subject Liaisons
Specialized Liaisons

18. 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

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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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,