SPEC Kit 337: Print Retention Decision Making · 119
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
Collection Retention Working Group: Report and Recommendations
9
retention plan. As CRPWG learned about collaborative projects being developed at other
institutions, we found that OCLC holdings analysis combined with local circulation data
informs retention decisions. Consultants were brought in to provide the data to support the
initial decisions about what is/should be retained.
Conclusion
Libraries face many challenges in the coming years in terms of collections use and formats. Our
goal is to create a living, breathing collection that serves the needs of our students and
researchers. At the same time, we must respond to changes in library services and use of library
spaces, and corollary changes in higher education teaching and learning taking place now and
into the foreseeable future. Ultimately, CRPWG members came to understand the University
Libraries will need to make a concerted effort to:
Meet the needs of changing service models and emerging usage patterns
Provide optimal management of limited public and annex storage space
Retain collection strengths and distinctiveness.
There are five overarching themes to our recommendations:
I. Find appropriate balance for space committed to user, collection, and service needs
II. Support the role of selectors in making data-informed decisions to manage collections in all
locations
III. Develop centralized, efficient processes for collection development and management
IV. Increase leadership in cooperative decision making
V. Define Penn State’s responsibility as a leading research library in relation to other ARL and
CIC institutions and within Pennsylvania
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
Collection Retention Working Group: Report and Recommendations
9
retention plan. As CRPWG learned about collaborative projects being developed at other
institutions, we found that OCLC holdings analysis combined with local circulation data
informs retention decisions. Consultants were brought in to provide the data to support the
initial decisions about what is/should be retained.
Conclusion
Libraries face many challenges in the coming years in terms of collections use and formats. Our
goal is to create a living, breathing collection that serves the needs of our students and
researchers. At the same time, we must respond to changes in library services and use of library
spaces, and corollary changes in higher education teaching and learning taking place now and
into the foreseeable future. Ultimately, CRPWG members came to understand the University
Libraries will need to make a concerted effort to:
Meet the needs of changing service models and emerging usage patterns
Provide optimal management of limited public and annex storage space
Retain collection strengths and distinctiveness.
There are five overarching themes to our recommendations:
I. Find appropriate balance for space committed to user, collection, and service needs
II. Support the role of selectors in making data-informed decisions to manage collections in all
locations
III. Develop centralized, efficient processes for collection development and management
IV. Increase leadership in cooperative decision making
V. Define Penn State’s responsibility as a leading research library in relation to other ARL and
CIC institutions and within Pennsylvania
