Developing a data acquisition policy at the University of Colorado Boulder
Phil WhiteEarth Sciences & Environment Librarian, CU Boulder
Elise GowenEarth Science Librarian, Penn State
NACIS 2016
And now for something completely different.
Developing a data acquisition policy at the University of Colorado Boulder
Phil WhiteEarth Sciences & Environment Librarian, CU Boulder
Elise GowenEarth Science Librarian, Penn State
NACIS 2016
Background
CU Boulder Earth Sciences & Map Library
What is a Collection Development Policy?
Why is this necessary?
Objectives
1. Determine the current state of collection policies as they pertain to geospatial data & digital cartographic information.
2. Identify best practices that can be incorporated into my policy.
MethodsIdentified peer institutions based on AAU and
ARL members.
Located (or attempted to locate) each library’s collection policy documents (n=59; 51 of these were at libraries that provide GIS support)
Reviewed each policy following a set criteria based on Florance 2006 plus updates.
Results: Data Policy or Not?
Criteria Yes NoData policy
included: 33 18
Geospatial specific: 27 24
Hmm… not bad.
Results: Data Details
Criteria Yes NoData Format: 18 33
Metadata/Documentation: 10 41
Not Great.
Results: Purchase/AcquisitionCriteria Yes No
Purchase Criteria: 11 40
Request Mechanism: 7 44
Collective Agreements: 9 42
Institutionally Produced Data: 2 49
Bad.
Results: Usage RightsCriteria Yes No
Derived Data: 3 48
License Considerations: 10 40
Storage/Distribution: 6 45
Perpetual Access: 3 48
Yikes!
Best PracticesPurchase request form with clear criteria for qualifying data
sets
Plan for distributing and storing the data long-term
Consortial or collective options should be prioritized for general collection development
Usage and utility must be considered
Conclusion
What’s next?Continue developing policy jointly with other data-heavy disciplines
For CU, expand collection and put distribution method into place
What is the state of the field?Most likely, policies do not reflect actions --but this is a problem.
Thank you!Phil [email protected] Sciences & Map LibraryUniversity of Colorado Boulder
Cited:
Florance, P. (2006). GIS Collection Development within an Academic Library. Library Trends, 55(2), 222–235.
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