1. Embracing Digital Collections:
Access Issues and Practices for Academic Libraries
Oregon Library Association
Salem, OR
April 7, 2006
Emily Asch
Cataloging/Technical Systems Librarian
Pacific University Library

2. Pacific University Profile
Private university
2,500 undergraduate and graduate students
200+ faculty
Liberal Arts undergraduate
Graduate programs focus on Health Sciences and Education

3. Library Profile 14 staff 4 librarians 250,000 volumes
Partial government document depository
1,000 print journals
New 49,000 square foot library (opened in August 2005)

4. Electronic Resources 200 Research Databases
Includes paid & free resources
Accessed through separate web page
Divided by subject
Some are cataloged in our catalog
JSTOR, Project MUSE, etc.
33,000 electronic periodicals

5. Library’s Role
The Library currently does not provide formal access to digital collections
This is not to say that we wouldn’t love to provide this access…
There are many limitations that have prevented us from providing access to these digital collections

6. TIME Limitations ITYPES – cassette, video, …
Media items – Our videos (still need to be desensitized), DVDs in locked cases
Barcode placement – sometimes hard for our students to find, they are in four to five different locations, etc.
If they were in a consistent location we could have the item placed in the V and the barcode scanner would scan the barcode while it was sitting in the V
Magstripe
New system (which can always create interesting things)
Could not separate out just the barcode so I had to create a filter…

7. What takes so much time? Selection / Weeding Points of access
Library website, catalog, subject guides, faculty websites
Maintenance of links
Catalogers, subjects specialists, faculty
Educate faculty and students about the use and access of these resources

8. Faculty Use of Digital Collections
Directly provide access to students
Webliographies, syllabus, course management software
Many do not know what is out there
No time
Don’t know where to look

9. What Faculty Want
Resources and links provided for them and their students
Information about what type of research can be sustained
In a timely manner
When and where it is needed, not ahead of time
Not sure of the best access route

10. Future Work with faculty to provide most effective access
Collection development policies
Selection and cataloging
Improve the work of our faculty and students and open new avenues of research and …

11. Creating Pacific University Digital Collections
Limited Resources
Time, personnel, money, and servers
Political arenas
Plans are in the works for some of our archival material