In This Together: Challenges and Opportunities for Collaborative Health Sciences Collection Development

Objectives: In this paper, two health sciences librarians at a Carnegie-designated, R1 university located in a major metropolitan area will discuss their experiences navigating collection development in the first two years of their collaboration. The authors will present an account of collection development during the initial stage of the establishment of a new Medical School Library location and activities performed to diversify and enhance existing health sciences collections, including the creation of a health humanities collection, at the Health Sciences Library university branch location.

Methods: All libraries aim to provide reliable, relevant, high-quality, useful, and easily accessible information and services. An ideal objective is the development of a central and reliable library collection that meets all the needs of a library’s users; in the case of university libraries these are the academic and research needs of a campus community.

But in today’s technology-driven, budget- conscious environment, collection development at academic health sciences libraries presents issues that can be challenging for the librarians responsible, especially for librarians new to collection development or whose primary responsibilities are not in collection development. Issues can include: gaining familiarity with institutional collection development and purchasing processes, collaborating with other selectors, managing multiple library locations, acquiring non-traditional material, and developing more diverse and inclusive collections.

The authors will describe their approach to collaborative collection development and their efforts to implement this coordinated approach in practice across two health sciences library locations. Particular emphasis will be placed on local and system-wide budgetary, time, and collection development constraints; demand of their respective liaison areas; incorporation of diverse, equitable, and inclusive collection practices; and inclusion of user feedback.

Results: The authors discuss their experiences and efforts implementing a coordinated approach to collection development in the health sciences at an academic research institution. How the collection in a new medical school library location was planned and established is outlined, including a targeted, customized humanities collection that connects to the broader humanities collection. An account of collection development activities to enhance the collection at the Health Sciences Library university branch location, including a health humanities collection, is also given. Lessons learned and strategies for leveraging challenges into opportunities are presented.

Conclusions: Collection development in the health sciences is dynamic and complex. Academic health science libraries must support the ever-increasing needs of their institutions while balancing a finite budget and responding to fluid collection development practices. Despite these ongoing challenges, collaborative approaches to collection development in the health sciences allow for building inclusive, intersectional collections that support discovery and health in the twenty-first century, and reflect voices of the communities served.

The authors recognize the need to document their activities over the course of the next several years to assess the effectiveness of their collaboration. Analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data will help identify potential areas of improvement and to elaborate more fully on areas that have proven to be effective.