Purpose and Program Description

The Libraries digital information collection development objective is to select those materials, which will support the current curricular and research needs of the Columbia community.

Members of the Columbia Community access digital information using personal computers in their offices, dorms, homes, and by public terminals located in libraries and other public buildings on campus. The sophistication and knowledge of the Libraries’ digital information users varies significantly. The Libraries have many patrons whose only contact with computers has been word processing. Others routinely locate and exchange information with colleagues the world over using the Internet. The digital Library research skills of most of Columbia’s undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and post-doctoral researchers lie somewhere along the continuum between these two extremes. The breadth and depth of information sources needed by them also differ. Consequently, the Libraries provide access to a wide variety of materials using an equally wide variety of access mediums to meet patrons needs.

General Selection Guidelines (See classed analysis for further details)

Overall, the Libraries collect at the research level.

Specific Delimitations

1. Access mediums employed: The Libraries employ remote Web access to digital sources of information on an extensive basis and networked CD-ROM and single CD-ROM workstations selectively. The Libraries favor Internet and WWW products because they offer ease of use, wider access, more rapid updating, and the cost savings over local maintenance and storage. It is in the process of migrating away from all Telnet applications in favor of Web access.

2. Archiving: The Libraries share with other research and educational institutions the responsibility to determine the most effective methods for the long-term preservation of the digital materials accessed by Columbia but not stored locally in its collection. It has a special preservation responsibility for digital materials unique to Columbia. Items for which the specific archiving responsibility has not been established may be purchased. In the future, however, the lack of a fixed archival responsibility may become increasingly important selection criteria.

3. Consortial purchasing: The Libraries participate in the Northeast Research Libraries Consortium and the New York Consortia of Consortia in order to take advantage of aggregated purchasing agreements. It seeks consortial licensing opportunities whenever possible.

4. Coordination and promotion: Networked Resources Coordinators (NRC’s) are assigned for each networked title. NRC’s are responsible for promoting the use of each new tool, of overseeing librarian and user training, of communicating to members of the Columbia community the strengths and limitations of the digital collections, and of working with vendors and publishers when problems cannot be easily resolved by Library Systems Office personnel.

5. Digital conversion: As funds are made available, new technologies absorbed, and current copyright barriers overcome, materials previously purchased in print form will selectively be converted to digital form.

6. Document types collected: Reference tools, e.g., indexes, abstracts, directories news services, etc., and full-text e-journals are collected very extensively; relevant Web pages extensively; Zines, machine readable data files, and digital monographs selectively; and multimedia courseware are collected very selectively.

7. Duplication: The Libraries generally purchase duplicate copies of the same content for only high-use titles. However, until more is known about the level of patron acceptance of digital sources of information, the Libraries will acquire both print and digital versions of the same material. The intent, however, is to gravitate toward the digital format a soon as possible.

8. Electronic journal aggregation preferences: The Libraries prefer a subject interface that permits the use of both a controlled vocabulary and key words to search the full-text contents of electronic journals without giving up the ability to browse the contents of individual issues. It favors the following models of access; (In order of preference)

   1. Web-based indexing and abstracting services linked to full-text electronic journals, e.g., ISI’s ability in the near future to link between SCI/SSCI/AHCI and the contents of full-text journals.

   2. Aggregated databases composed of a variety of media, e.g., newspapers, newsletters, government reports, monographs, reference works, etc., e.g., Academic Universe, ProQuest Direct.

   3. Aggregated collections of journals published by a variety of publishers but sharing a common searching a common searching interface, e.g., J-Stor.

   4. Aggregated collections of journals published by a single publisher but sharing a common searching interface, e.g., Ideal, Project Muse, etc.

   5. If none of these aggregated forms of access are possible, individual titles will nonetheless be collected.

9. Electronic selection criteria: Like print materials, digital titles added to the collection need to match the needs of our clientele; be of appropriate scope, content, depth, and quality; be affordable; the content must be timely; be bibliographically accessible; and in the appropriate language, etc. It is also presumed that there are no technical reasons why the Libraries cannot provide access, e.g., doesn’t use a proprietary browser, permits printing, etc., and that their use by library patrons and librarians will not require an inordinate amount of training.

10. Funds used: Regular library materials funds are used to purchase digital forms of information with separate budgets for networked digital resources. Aggregated packages of electronic journals are also purchased with these separate digital resource funds (Humanities, Science, Social Science, and General, Interdisciplinary and Undergraduate). CD-Roms used on individual workstations are normally purchased with individual monographic or periodicals funds. Individual electronic journal subscriptions are also purchased with individual subject periodical funds.

11. Language and place of publication: The Libraries collect largely English-language commercial/electronic forms of information but which are produced worldwide. Non-commercial Web page links are collected without regard to language or origin.

12. Licensing: Licenses should provide the Libraries with permanent rights to the content that has been paid for; should not require the Libraries to police the use of or hold it liable for the use of the information; should require only "reasonable effort" on the part of the Libraries to address misuses by Libraries patrons when discovered by the publisher or vendor; allow use by all of Columbia’s faculty, staff, and students as well as casual walk-in patrons; should permit "fair use" of the information, understood to mean to include the same sorts of curricular and research purposes that have been pursued with print materials; should allow the Libraries to enhance the use of the data to make it more visible or convenient as needed, e.g., on-line reserves; to respect the confidentiality of information about individual users and their use of the information; should protect the Libraries right to the information as advertised by the vendor or publisher; should allow for reciprocal rights to terminate the license agreement; should clearly identify what information is confidential; and to provide use data to facilitate internal needs and service analysis.

13. Multiple electronic formats: When more than one digital format is available for the same title, decisions about which to acquire are based upon the alternative costs for each medium and the breadth of access needed. In general, the larger the user group needing access, the more likely the Libraries would prefer that the title be available on ClioPlus or LWeb so that there is broad access across campus and from dorm and home computers. The smaller the user group, the more likely that the Libraries would prefer to provide access from a CD-ROM LAN or single workstation. If the cost of each alternative is the same, the Libraries prefer ClioPlus or LWeb access.

14. Non-commercial forms of information: In addition to the purchase of digital forms of information, because of the nature of the Internet, the libraries actively acquire "free" forms of information to a much higher degree than in the past. These are selected and added to the individual library and subject home pages maintained by the library materials selectors and reference librarians.

15. Security: Columbia currently utilizes Kerberos, Cheesewiz, and WebScript for campus authorization and authentication and vendor-based IP authentication to prevent the unauthorized use of services licensed by Columbia. The Libraries is also developing a proxy server approach to allow off-campus patrons, employing a commercial Internet service provider, to dial into the campus network using a modem. The Libraries is encouraging vendors to use a WebScript-like login system to facilitate the use of digital resources from off campus.

16. Selection responsibilities: Digital library materials will be selected by each of the regular subject specialist library materials selectors. These selectors have the responsibility of assessing the needs of the users in the subjects assigned to them, monitoring the scope of commercial and non-commercial materials that become available, selecting and ordering employing appropriate channels needed materials, and seeking out opportunities to cooperate with other librarians to better meet the needs of Columbia’s faculty, students and staff.

17. Technical considerations: Selectors need to be mindful of a variety of technical considerations when evaluating new digital tools: Technical compatibility with existing hardware, software including Internet browsers, the availability of technical support, response time and reliability of telecommunications, servers, etc.; and the significant staff and digital storage costs associated with local tape