Continuations Evaluation
Need:
The selection, evaluation, and deselection of continuations is fundamental to any collection management program. Evaluating current holdings and potential new titles is a serious effort to match faculty and student needs to available library resources. Collection managers need to consider academic program priorities and determine, in collaboration with the faculty, how a title supports particular academic programs in relation to other titles available. The collection manager needs to locate the title in the collection where it will be most convenient for the user, define reference tools which will make its contents accessible, and recommend which account will maintain the title.
The current collection should be reviewed on a continuing basis--new titles are published, titles cease publication, new formats emerge with new technology, academic programs alter focus, and some continuations achieve academic respect while others lose importance. The collection manager needs to be aware of changes in the content of a serial publication, changes in the library's resources, changes in the continuations' bibliographic universe, and changes in bibliographic control and access to the current and retrospective continuations universe. In other words, the collection manager needs to manage the collection(s) in his or her area of responsibility.
The cost of maintaining the UF Libraries' continuations collection, which is now received in paper, electronic, and microform formats, increases at a rate which exceeds annual increases in the materials budget. Consequently, a significant portion of the materials budget is committed, especially in the sciences, prior to the beginning of the fiscal year. Not only does this situation jeopardize the selector's ability to place firm orders or to purchase new continuation titles but, given the current instability of the US dollar and extraordinary control over prices by a small group of publishers, the Library is losing its ability to control its expenditures in support of the academic program. Maintenance of the continuation collection, in terms of binding, repair, replacement, storage and preservation, is expensive.
The Process:
Ongoing Assumptions:
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The Libraries' materials budget will not be sufficient to cover the cost of all needed current continuations during the next five years.
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The current continuations collection contains titles which are no longer needed to support the academic program.
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Resource sharing programs and document delivery services offer a viable alternative to ownership for a number of current serial titles.
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The Libraries should expend their binding and preservation funds on materials which are permanent components of the collections.
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It is possible to establish criteria by which the importance of a particular current title can be judged relative to other titles in a particular collection.
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If a title primarily supports a particular academic program the cost of the title should be paid by the fund supporting collection(s) primarily built to support the particular academic program.
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The Library should regularly add new continuation titles to meet the current needs of the University's academic program.
Evaluation Strategies:
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Review guidelines for each fund which establish appropriate ratios for dividing firm order and continuation allocations: Ratios for specific funds can be negotiated but, generally, are as follows:
Arts/Architecture/Humanities: 45% General and Area Studies: 50% Sciences, Technology, Agriculture: 90% Social Sciences: 60%
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Determine a priority in which continuation titles, in all formats, attached to a fund are rated relative to the title's importance to the University's academic program.
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Develop a list of continuation titles which can be cancelled because they are no longer needed or because resource sharing or document delivery offers a viable alternative for user access or because the fund can not continue to support the title.
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Review titles paid through associated accounts to determine if transfers ought to be made. The intent here is to associate titles with appropriate collections supported by specific funds.
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Create a list in priority order of titles which ought to be added to collection.
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Determine a continuations budget for the fiscal year based on guidelines for dividing firm order/continuation budgets. Count savings from cancellations, cost of new titles, and anticipated cost of continuing the current continuations already taken. Projections issued by the Faxon company are generally used to determine future costs.
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If the account exceeds the ratio guidelines select titles to cut, so that the cancellations and additions will maintain the accounts ratio balance. Consider resource sharing commitments; e.g. the RLG Long Term serial project list prior to reaching a cancellation decision.
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Complete and submit appropriate forms.
Additional Information and Guidelines:
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Because many periodical invoices have been paid by December, requests to cancel or transfer purchase responsibility of a periodical title to another account will be accepted and reviewed on a continuing basis but approved changes will probably not take effect until the next budget cycle.
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If a title recommended for cancellation by one collection manager is "claimed" by another collection manager, the claiming collection manager will assume responsibility for payment.
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If a title is to be maintained but transferred from one account to another, then the budget supporting the title will be transferred.
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Acquisitions funds are not restricted to any particular format.
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Items are purchased by particular funds but are not necessarily located in the collection by fund code.
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The Documents fund should support the acquisition of specific federal, state, local, foreign, and international documents and access tools in support of documents regardless of the location of material in the collection. Any fund however, may purchase documents and access tools in support of documents. These selections should be coordinated with the appropriate documents collection manager prior to purchase.
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The Cartographic Materials Fund will be expended on items which are housed in the Map Library. Cartographic materials to be housed in the Map Library, however, may be purchased against any fund. These selections should be coordinated with the Cartographic Materials collection manager prior to purchase.
Procedures:
Cancellations: (Use Form SE-1 Cancellation Request)
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When a collection manager decides that a particular continuation title is no longer an appropriate expenditure, s/he should complete the continuation cancellation request form. Before a collection manager recommends cancellation, s/he should have consulted with the appropriate faculty and librarians, determined why the title is no longer useful, reviewed the library holdings, and determine where the title is held by other libraries in order to ascertain resource sharing possibilities. A decision to maintain or withdraw the run should be made.
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The completed form should be sent to the Associate Director for Collection Management (ADCM).
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The ADCM will send email notices to all collection managers, including the Health Sciences Library and the Legal Information Center, who will have ten days to either accept the cancellation or "claim" the title. It is understood that if title is "claimed" the cost of continuing the title will be shouldered by the claiming account. If a collection manager decides to "claim" a title, s/he should reply to the email sent out by the ADCM and complete the "Continuation Claim Form," which should be sent to ADCM.
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Those titles not "claimed" during the review period will be cancelled.
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Those titles "claimed" will be transferred to the new account.
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The fund proposing the cancellation will retain the funds saved.
Account transfer: (Use Form SE-3-Account Transfer Request)
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When a collection manager determines that a title attached to a particular fund primarily supports another subject of area discipline and, therefore, establishes the need for a transfer, then the manager should coordinate and negotiate the transfer and complete Form SE-3-Account Transfer Request. It is understood that the funds supporting the title will move to the account accepting the transfer.
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The completed form should be sent to the ADCM. When the request is approved Acquisitions will be asked to make the account change.
Location Changes: (Use From SE-4-Location Change Request)
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The collection manager may determine that a particular title should be moved to another location. The collection manager should coordinate with the librarian curating the collection in the new location and together they should complete Form SE-3-Location Change Request. If the location change request also includes a proposed account transfer, then the selector should complete both the SE-3-Account Transfer Request and SE-4-Location Transfer Request. The complete form(s) should be sent to the ADCM.
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The proposed change will be sent to all collection managers/curators, who will have thirty days to comment.
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The comments received will be reviewed and a decision made. The approved changes will then be sent to the library units responsible for implementing. The collection manager initiating the location change will be primarily responsible for coordinating the shift.
New Continuation:
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Materials added to the collections as continuations include periodicals, monographic series or any other title for which library orders, once placed, will stand, be renewed, or continued in effect until the title is specifically cancelled by the collection manger, ceases to be published, or is completed.
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Trigger Amounts: In order to maintain a balance between firm orders and continuations, the collection manager should maintain the established ratio between firm orders and continuations. This ratio will determine whether resources are available so that a new continuation order may be placed against the fund. If the cost of the new order when added to the current serial budget will not cause the continuation budget to exceed the determined percentage of the total allocation permitted for continuations, then the new serial may be ordered. In those cases where an account reaches the "trigger figure," collection manger must submit a cancellation request of equivalent value to cover the new order.
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Following consultation with appropriate collection managers, faculty, and the selection decision, complete the New Continuations Request Form and forward it to the Acquisitions department for pre-order searching. Searched orders will be forwarded to the ADCM for entry into the new continuations database, final approval, and returned to the Acquisitions Order Section. Lists of new continuations acquired will be issued quarterly.