Gifts and exchange evaluation

Importance of gifts

• Developing special collections
• Source of out-of-print materials
• Acquire unique holdings

Why gifts may not be valuable

• Duplicate existing holdings
  o If in good copy, replace the a library copy needing replacing
• Inappropriate to collection
• Poor condition
• ALWAYS REMEMBER: GIFTS ARE NOT FREE
  o Gifts will save the cost of purchase.

Gift policy

• Selection criteria
• How gifts are accepted and disposed of
  o Be upfront on how gifts will be accepted
• Who has responsibility of appraising gifts for tax purposes
  o Get a appraiser to appraise rare materials
• What types of non-library materials may be accepted as gifts
  o Donations
  o Money
  o Equipment
• Tax implications
• Method of acknowledgement

Unsolicited gifts

• Donations are accompanied by a great deal of emotion
  o Explain policy, the donor should be aware of it
• Library workers must be tactful in the handling of gifts
  o Be grateful, regardless of knowledge it won’t be kept
• Policy to accept all donations, with proviso of being able to dispose of unwanted gifts
• Policy to only accept those items which fit into selection criteria
• Be wary of gifts with special requirements (i.e. must stay together, housed in separate rooms)
• Appraisals for tax receipts
  o If item is really valuable, library might get donor to pay for the appraisal. It can get very expensive.

Solicited gifts

• Free publications requested in same manner as purchased materials
  o Paper trail, no money sent
• Letter or order form sent out
• Development officers now hired in libraries to assist in fundraising or in approaching individuals to bequeath special collections to the library
  o Hire someone who knows what they’re doing

Acknowledgement of gifts

• Gifts should always be acknowledged 
• Letters should be sent to donor
  o Thank you
  o valuable addition to the library
• Often plates will be placed in items, or plaques on walls acknowledging donation of a collection
• Library newsletters are a good place to acknowledge gifts

Record keeping

• Unsolicited gifts need the same paper trail as purchased items, so that they may be catalogued and processed in the appropriate manner
• Solicited gifts will have the same paper trail as purchased results

Exchange programs

• Most often used in academic libraries and museums
• To acquire materials that are available in no other way or for which exchange is more economical than purchasing

Why are materials not available for purchase?

• Items published in smaller countries not easily identified
• National bibliographies in other countries may be outdated by the time they are published
• Other countries may not be able to accept foreign currency or may be too poor to purchase items, and want to exchange

Sources of exchange materials

• 3 types of materials to for exchange
  o own publications (e.g. museum or gallery)
  o unwanted or surplus duplicates
  o Items purchase specifically to give to an exchange partner (Barter exchange)

Items to be included in exchange agreement

• Exact mailing address for each partner
• Specific titles or general types of materials
  o list titles and materials to be exchanged
• How materials to be sent
• Basis for exchange
  o piece by piece

  give 10 receive 10

  o title for title
  o # collection for # collection
  o page for page
  o value for value
 
• $100 for $100
• o lot for lot
•  # collection for # collection

Exchange procedures

Costly

• Correspondence
• Preservation treatment
• Original cataloguing
• Preparation of lists
• Storage
• Packing and shipping
• Record keeping

Canada Book Exchange Centre (CBEC)

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/cbec-ccel/index-e.html

• unwanted materials shipped to NLC
• list of available items sent out to participating libraries
  o send items before receive items
• approx. 3 million items held
• approx. 2 million are periodicals
• approx. 60,000 Canadian official publications
  o federal and provincial
• approx. 200,000 foreign official publications
• approx. 200,000 are monographs

Sources of information

• UNESCO Handbpok on the International Exchange of Publications
• UNESCO Bulletins for Libraries
• Yearbook of International Organizations
• International Library Directory

Evaluation of collections

• Why?
  o Judge the effectiveness of what we do
  o Judge the efficiency of our doing it
  o Judge whether results are worth the cost

Internal reasons

(G. Edward Evans. Developing Library and Information Center Collections, 3rd Ed. (Englewood Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, 1995) 403)

• What is the true scope of the collection?
• How does the service community use the collection?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the collection?
• How well are collection staff carrying out their duties?
• Are changes in the policy needed?
• What allocations are needed to strengthen weaknesses?
• Is the overall budget adequate?

External reasons

(G. Edward Evans. Developing Library and Information Center Collections, 3rd Ed. (Englewood Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, 1995) 404)

• What is the library’s performance?
• Is the library comparable to others?
• Are the alternatives to space expansion?
• Is the level of duplication appropriate?
• Provide data for funding agencies
• Provide data for consorts, networks, and other cooperative programs
• Provide data to donors

Evaluation methods

• Impressionistic techniques
  o Get a field expert to browse for important works.
  o Survey users for collection thoughts
• Checklist method
  o Most frequent
  o take compiled list of major resources and check against library
  o Drawbacks
  * Titles on list may not be appropriate for your library
  * Most lists are selective
• Doesn’t give a clear picture
  * Lists may be out of date
  * No attention given to ILL
  * Time-consuming

Statistical methods

• Use studies
  o heavily used areas
• Develop set of criteria for quality and value
• Examine the use of a random sample of items in the collection
• Collect Document Delivery statistics
• Keep record of in-house use
• Calculate how much obsolete material in library
• Relate findings to library’s local goals