Electronic Resource Management in Libraries: Research and Practice

Citation

Azzolini, J. (2010), "Electronic Resource Management in Libraries: Research and Practice", The Electronic Library, Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 184-185. https://doi.org/10.1108/02640471011023469

Electronic resources are akin to infrastructures in one important respect: They are taken for granted by their users until they stop working. E‐resources, whether they are bibliographic databases, journal archives, or an organization's own captured intellectual output, are increasingly being construed as infrastructural in their underpinning of organized knowledge. Most communities of users do not have the time or motivation to set such resources aside as distinct subject matter for analysis. Librarians, however, are different. They need to know about the frameworks, implications, and best practices. It is their calling.

Plenty of know‐how is out there, but it tends to be physically and thematically dispersed across the literature. Electronic Resource Management in Libraries: Research and Practice serves the practitioner as an integrated reference guide. As the editors plainly state in the preface, “this book provides comprehensive coverage of the theories, methods, and challenges, research and practices connected with the provision and management of electronic resources in libraries” (p. xvii). It is a very valuable compilation.

A total of 21 peer‐reviewed articles are presented in five sections:

1. 1.

   Historic overview, strategic planning, and usage statistics;

2. 2.

   Workflow management and competencies in electronic resource librarians;

3. 3.

   Copyright and licensing;

4. 4.

   Working with electronic resources; and

5. 5.

   Electronic resource management systems (ERMS).

Almost all the contributors are American university librarians, with a few chapters from product managers at commercial library automation vendors. However, the issues and scenarios addressed are the same ones confronted by information professionals regardless of geography or type of library.

This book's overarching theme is the recent proliferation of electronic information use by libraries and their patrons (often described as an “explosion” or a “revolution”) and its sweeping ramifications for how the library profession plans, administers, collects, and catalogs. The authors contend that the evolving information landscape is ushering in novel technologies, business models, and legal developments that must be dealt with collaboratively and proactively.

Although any chapter can be read on its own, depending on the reader's interests, the first one provides a good contextual grounding in its brief history of electronic resources, from machine‐readable cataloging (MARC) in the 1960s to the state of e‐books as of 2006. The author rightfully reminds us that the implementation of such resources has been driven by librarianship's core value of effective and timely user access to the collection. This initial section also has a solid chapter on usage statistics, a rather dry subject that nevertheless is crucial to managing and evaluating an electronic product's place in the collection.

Section II takes up the dramatic impacts on staffing, workflow, resource life cycles, and job competencies brought about by the e‐resource revolution. One of its chapters, with the suggestive title “Sharing the albatross of e‐resources management workflow”, illustrates these challenges with a case study of the library at Jacksonville State University (Alabama). Particularly useful is its real‐world account of administrative issues and solutions and the authors' emphatic reminder that the success of such endeavors requires a coordinated effort by several library departments. A subsequent chapter suggests the application of a conventional business method, process mapping, to e‐resource management, a proposal I have never before come across but that sounds intriguing enough to try.

The third section offers a trio of excellent articles on those intimidating yet ubiquitous elements of every digital environment, copyright and licensing. The authors handily cover the basics – licensing language and negotiation, contractual principles, legal questions, and more. Section IV tackles some of the field's standard tools and processes, including reference linking, authentication and authorization, and naming conventions. The final section focuses on the ERM systems themselves. It discusses the vital importance of technical standards, the potential pitfalls that attend system implementation, the implications of locally developed systems, and the future possibilities of e‐resources management.

It is an unfortunate certainty that books on such volatile subjects as electronic resources become a bit dated not long after publication. That is the nature of the revolution. However, the first‐rate titles retain their relevancy through a perceptive grasp of underlying themes and perennial issues. Electronic Resource Management in Libraries is such a relevant source, informed and concise yet wide‐ranging. My only criticism is minor. It contains a slight 3‐page index that does not do justice to its multitude of topics. Other than that, I strongly recommend this book for all librarians. It is a trustworthy guide for a time when library planning, communication, and operational fundamentals are changing in often confounding yet always stimulating ways.