Among the fundamental tenets of library science is the idea, first articulated by S. R. Ranganathan, that “the library is a growing organism,” and this perspective has been critical to our continuing efforts to manage and develop the DePaul University Library’s collection within the context of an evolving academic program and changes in the broader environment for scholarly publishing.
Over the past 6 years, librarians have worked with faculty members and colleagues in Academic Affairs to ensure that DePaul students, faculty, and staff have access to a wide range of resources needed to meet their needs related to teaching, learning, and scholarship at the university, including new investments in digital discovery platforms like HathiTrust, resource-sharing programs like the Center for Research Libraries, and full-text databases, streaming media, e-journals and e-book collections in areas of traditional and emergent strength in our academic program, including a number of new resources acquired this year. Together, we have worked to ensure sustainable access to a wide range of resources in an environment where prices for library materials continue to inflate at a steep rate.
During Spring 2018, librarians led by Kelli Getz, Coordinator of Collections and Scholarly Resources, completed a substantial review of electronic resources licensed for the library collection based on scope of available content, unique nature of available content, data on use of resources over the past 3 years, and cost-per-use of licensed databases, e-journals, and e-book collections. The goal of this review was to identify lower-use resources, as well as resources providing duplicate access to content or access to content available through other means, in order to allow the library to maintain access to higher-use resources and to allocate funds to new resources in key areas of the academic program, including those noted above. While new resources are being made available to the DePaul community as a result of this review process, there are also resources that are no longer available in the formats previously provided (with the end date for access to those resources dependent on individual subscription periods). Final decisions regarding the FY18 collection review and re-allocation of resources were completed during Summer 2018 following discussion with colleagues on the Library Review Board, Council of Deans, and Academic Affairs.
If you have any questions about the library resources currently available to support teaching, learning, and scholarship in your area of interest, please contact your liaison librarian.