Jane Stephens

Revisiting an Abandoned Practice: The Death and Resurrection of Collection Development Policies

Academic libraries have a long tradition of endorsing and creating written collection development policies to communicate, both internally and externally, their dynamic collection practices. As revealed by a literature search, academic libraries, over time, appear to have abandoned this practice. This article documents how Texas A&M University Libraries embraced the ambitious task of resurrecting written collection development policies and, as part of this process, assessed the current state of collection development, systematically planned for future collection growth, and identified emerging fields of research requiring additional collection support. This process also undertook the integration of collection development into the organizational culture of the libraries. Reflecting on this process, the authors present the case for creating and maintaining written collection development policies in academic libraries.

The chat reference interview: seeking evidence based on RUSA's guidelines

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare established reference interview guidelines (RUSA) with actual reference provider behaviors in remote reference transactions. The data is used to argue that specific reference interview “best practice standards” should be developed for remote access reference services.Design/methodology/approach – Remote reference transactions were examined for evidence of adherence, or not, to the RUSA guidelines and behaviors. The transcripts were also coded for showing evidence, or not, of user satisfaction.Findings – Data from 1,435 virtual reference transcripts shows that in 82 percent of the reference sessions the user found the information needed. Analysis also shows that librarian compliance with RUSA‐recommended reference interview behaviors, especially in the areas of listening/inquiring and searching is frequently poor – possibly due to time constraints.Research limitations/implication – This study adds to the empirically‐based knowledge on the reference intervie...

Tenure support mechanisms provided by the Faculty Research Committee at Texas A&M University Libraries: A model for academic libraries

Purpose – The Research Committee at Texas A&M University (TAMU) Libraries provides a model of tenure support that includes funding of research projects and an annual Research Forum. The purpose of this article is to review these support mechanisms and their outcomes. An argument for the benefit of such a model is presented.Design/methodology/approach – Tenure support provided by the Research Committee and the broader supportive environment in which it functions is described. Each supported project was reviewed to determine its outcome (publication or conference presentation).Findings – This model of support benefits tenure‐track librarians at Texas A&M University Libraries.Practical implications – This model of support would likely benefit other academic libraries that require librarians to engage in scholarly communication. Thus this paper should be of interest to academic librarians and to library managers seeking to enhance tenure support for their faculty librarians.Originality/value – Much of the lit...

Bundled Database Subscriptions: Challenges, Opportunities, and Assessment

ABSTRACT This case study describes the second part of an experiment using a bundled database subscription model. Texas A&M University (TAMU) Libraries pursued a multiyear agreement with ProQuest to address “administrative churn.” This agreement was known as “ProQuest Comprehensive.” During 2014, the final year of the agreement, the TAMU Libraries considered renewal and assessed support for ProQuest Comprehensive. The company is a well-recognized information provider, but to date there are no studies assessing bundled ProQuest content. This article will outline the evaluative criteria developed to assess ProQuest Comprehensive and the steps TAMU Libraries undertook to determine what ProQuest databases to renew, what databases to cancel, and the challenges encountered in the decision-making process.