SPEC Kit 324: Collecting Global Resources (September 2011)
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SPEC Kit 324: Collecting Global Resources · 11 Executive Summary Introduction The purpose of this survey was to identify trends, practices, and challenges in collecting global resources in North American research libraries at a time of po- litical and economic change, on the one hand, and of significant change in scholarly communication and collection management strategies, on the other. For this survey, global resources was defined as print and electronic library materials that are pub- lished outside the United States and Canada in any language on any topic. This may include, but is not limited to, traditional area studies materials, and it is not limited to resources typically associated with the field of Global Studies. A global resources librarian was defined as a librarian working with global resources as described in this survey. We consider the term “collecting” widely to in- clude issues such as collection management/develop- ment, access, digitization, preservation, and public service.1 Accordingly, to obtain information on these issues, the survey was organized into several broad sections: Global Resources Collections (including an overview of expenditures, collecting trends, sources of funding, and acquisition strategies), Staff and Organizational Structure, Preservation Strategies, and Discovery, Public Service, and Outreach. The following summary outlines the survey results for each of the sections. Survey respondents provided a wealth of fascinating data, which is reflected in the actual survey respons- es and extensive comments sections. We encourage interested readers to peruse the responses in more detail. The survey was conducted between March 7 and April 8, 2011. Seventy-two respondents at 67 of the 126 ARL member libraries completed the survey for a re- sponse rate of 53%. Forty-five replies came from public university libraries, 21 from private university librar- ies, and one from a government institution. These institutions are geographically distributed across the United States and Canada. Not all responding insti- tutions answered all questions, accounting for the discrepancies in the number of responses throughout the survey. Global Resources Collections Sixty-four respondents reported that their library holds significant research collections in at least one global collecting area. These collections include books, serials, maps, microforms, audio/visuals, and digi- tized materials. More than half of these respondents hold collections relating to Western Europe, Latin America, East Asia, and Slavic and Eastern Europe. More than a third hold significant collections on African, Jewish, South Asian, Islamic, and Middle Eastern studies. Print monographs predominate in these historical collections, followed closely by print and electronic serials and microforms. Thirty-six respondents (56%) reported that they have e-books in at least one of their global collections. E-books for East Asian, Western European, and Latin American studies were reported most frequently. E-books for Tibetan, African, South Asian, Middle East, and Central Eurasian studies are still developing. More than half of the respondents (34) reported that they hold or provide access to digi- tized collections, although both availability and dis- tribution vary considerably by world area. Sixty-eight respondents reported that their li- brary actively collects now in at least one global area.
