SPEC Kit 324: Collecting Global Resources · 41
branch libraries. However, our present structure that omits many tech services presents many problems for some of us,
especially for the East Asian Library and SPLAT. We are not always aware of problems with ordering and receiving, and
problems are not always addressed. The symbiotic nature of those duties has not been recognized. Outreach and access
has not improved as a result of the reorganization. Outreach has remained the same—at a very high level. Access to
the librarians has decreased somewhat as we are now no longer located on the main floor. Our office is located on
the upper most floor of the library. Access to materials may have decreased, as tech services no longer functions as
smoothly as it did when those responsibilities were in area studies’ hands.
In the Woodruff Library subject librarians were organized into four subject teams one of those teams is Area Studies.
Liaison librarians work with global resources as part of their subject areas.
Our public service units are organized around Undergraduate Services and the Scholars Commons (the latter serving
faculty and graduate students).
Question about which staff handle tasks is not as simple as “direct unit” or “same as other collections.” Often it’s both.
Rather than the previous DILARES (Division of Latin American Resources and Services) department which includes
cataloging and acquisitions staff, as well as bibliographers and public services staff working exclusively with Latin
American Resources and in Latin American public services, our current department—Inter-American Studies—is part
of a collections and outreach program that encourages selectors to be increasingly involved with the constituencies
they serve. The goal is to move away from the reference desk model toward a more chat/phone/virtual basic reference
model bolstered by an expert consultant model, in which the library representatives go straight to the professors,
students, campus groups, departments, etc. This means a lot of contact time across campus and service to both Latin
“Americanists” and “Latinoists.” Our Latin American catalogers and acquisitions specialists are currently in a different
department: Cataloging and Acquisition Services.
Same as other collections: Art+Architecture+Planning, David Lam Library (business), Education, Humanities &Social
Sciences (including government publications), Law, Music. Distinct branches for Asian materials (vernacular) and First
Nations materials/Indigenous materials (Xwi7xwa Library).
Slavic and East European Studies: The Librarian performs acquisitions and advanced public service functions specific
to the Slavic and East European field. Previously, librarian for Slavic collections also had other selection responsibilities.
South Asian Studies: Consolidated first-response reference services with the rest of the library. Specialized public
services and outreach are still in global resources unit. Impetus was library-internal. N/A on the improvement front.
The East Asian Collection is managed by one librarian from within Technical Services, who does selection, cataloging,
direct reference, instruction, and ILL support. It has been that way since 1996.
The Global Resources Center was a reiteration of an existing service that had a narrower geographic scope.
The International and Area Studies department was created in 1990 by pulling some bibliographers out of Collection
Development. It has grown over the years, as we have added positions (Japan, China, Korea, Judaica) or moved
positions from Reference (Middle East, British, and Canadian Studies). Goals were to further the collecting for areas
outside the US. Impetus came from within the library. Outreach and access has improved as it has been an explicit part
of the mission.
The only distinct unit is the East Asian Library, which acquires and catalogs CJK resources and also provides public
services on these materials. Humanities and Social Sciences were reorganized in 2004 with the merging of the Reference
Department and the Collection Management Department, so that area and global resources librarians are now required
to serve at the general reference desk and provide information literacy instruction. Time devoted to area and global
studies is consequently less than pre-merger.
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