Communicating Collections: Strategies for Informing Library Stakeholders of Collections, Budget, & Management Decisions

A challenging aspect of the collection management process is effectively communicating with stakeholders about library resources.  Communication can range from obtaining patron feedback integral in collection planning to effective messaging elaborating on collection budgets and cancellation decisions.  It has also become increasingly necessary to explain the various acquisition models that affect the landscape of library content and use of electronic resources. In this paper, the University of South Florida will present the results of a survey of the approaches used in academic library websites to communicate collection policies along with related considerations, statistics and data, justifications, and factors affecting selection practices. Information about the important elements used to construct a dialog with faculty and administration in order to demonstrate the costs and value of library resources to those in the academic community is included. A case study demonstrating the practical implementation of these communication principles at the Arthur Lakes Library at the Colorado School of Mines will be discussed. The study will show how the Library was able to break free from a cycle of collection stagnation, which was perpetuated by a lack of effective communication. The result was that the Library was able to tell a story with data in order to communicate a message, as well as strengthen their partnerships with faculty regarding collection management.