Tell us Emily (2/7): Selecting with Care : The Vital Importance of Access to Information

Tell us Emily (2/7): Selecting with Care :
The Vital Importance of Access to Information
https://youtu.be/1GoPptLFH3o

We couldn't do this without print and non-print Distributors and Publishers. As Librarians, our job is to select an acquire, organized and prescribe and circulate and preserve information. But that information isn't something that we can do all on our own. And so, we're always working with Partners in the publishing industry. We're all in the same ecosystem together without our Publishers and Distributors. We would have a very difficult time talking to collection in ways that are meaningful for our community

In terms of those collections, it's really important to think about the value of both print and non-print materials. For me, I always think about who my user is first and the people who use our libraries, sometimes they have access to computers and reading devices and they can use their phones. But a lot of times they don't have those resources or they don't want to use them for particular kinds of reading and research. So, we have to develop print collections that can sustain services to those parts of our populations. Of course, we also, also know that many many people rely on their devices. I have three or four sitting around me right now and really prefer to read online and so we need a combination of the two. I also think it's important to think about cost of materials. My library in the United States, we often have to two books, we have an e-book copy and a print copy and thee-book copy will cost for 2 to 5 to even 10 times what the print copy cost. So, we're always building and collections mindful of budgets and that means acquiring print sometimes rather than electronic when that is what we can afford. 

It costs a lot of money to purchase those materials but that is sort of what libraries do. And so I think of the librarian as being an advocate for the resources necessary to purchase the materials and infrastructures that we need to circulate are content. All of the pieces of the production of information, cycle of the knowledge and sort of information lifecycle. Every piece of that has people involved. Those people need to be compensated fairly for their work. We don't live in a world where any of that is free. So, it's important for organizations to plan for and purchase materials for their collections