Rutgers University Libraries has developed a collaborative approach to managing their large collection of electronic resources, establishing a Serials Team to answer questions and share expertise across departments. The team provided extensive training to additional staff on various aspects of electronic resource management. This training approach aims to develop a culture where all staff have comprehensive knowledge to effectively troubleshoot and maintain the university's electronic collections.

1. Triage in the Digital Age
Gracemary Smulewitz
Mary Beth Weber
Charleston Conference
November 3rd, 2011

2. Rutgers University Libraries
Twenty-six libraries on three campuses - New
Brunswick/Piscataway, Camden, and Newark.
• Two major research libraries:
– Library of Science and Medicine (behavioral, biological, earth and
pharmaceutical sciences, engineering)
– Alexander Library (humanities and social sciences collections).
– Six specialized and two undergraduate libraries
– Douglass Library (women and gender studies and performing arts and music).
– Kilmer Library (Business)
• Newark-Dana Library, including the Institute of Jazz Studies.
(business, management, nursing).
• Camden -Robeson Library, (broad liberal arts collection).
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4. Link says
subscription isn't
current
Is there a
subscription? Not in
IRIS or e-journals
list. Searching
through google to
journal home page
indicates Rutgers
subscription.
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5. Traditional Responsibilities
Print subscriptions and serial standing orders work
mostly with subscription agents and some publishers
– Ordering
– Receiving
– Invoicing/claiming
– Processing
– Shelving
– Binding
– MARC Holdings
– Pre and Post cataloging processing
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6. Just some of E-Responsibilities
E-resources work with consortia, vendor, publishers, providers and
librarians
– Negotiate
– Review license
– Order
– Create access
– Maintain
– Reconciliation
– Usage statistics
– Troubleshoot – for cataloging issues, A-Z list management, Link
Resolver problems, dropped titles, just access, abuse etc.
– Renegotiate
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7. With over 47,000 FTE, over 84,000 e-journals and over 300
databases, we need to develop staff to have the skills to
maintain and troubleshoot E?
Our first steps in collaborative e-management:
We established a team that worked across departments to answer
serials and electronic resource questions, the Serials Team.
• It was a 4 person team and each had a specific expertise in electronic
resource management or serials management. A closed listserv ,
RUL_Serials, was created for communication between librarians,
staff and the team.
• The intent was to answer queries and share expertise through these
queries and the responses.
• The hope was that while fielding questions the team was building
among it’s members a comprehensive understanding of the e-
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collections and all the nuances associated with them.

8. • The Serials Team was a huge success. Questions were
answered within 24 hrs. of the request and members were
expanding their knowledge.
• One of the team member’s responsibilities was to record all
questions in a spreadsheet and a member would take
responsibility for its resolution and initial it.
• The skill development for all was extensive and they were
able to rotate coverage on the listserv.
• The number of queries/problems have grown as we have
increased the volume of our electronic resources.
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9. 9

10. Even with such a knowledgeable team we realized that
we had to increase the number of participants in the e-
workflow and then on the team.
An extensive training program was conducted by the
team with staff from receiving, bibliographic record
management and bindery, areas where the volume of
print management was declining.
The training was not limited to one particular area for any
group. The intent was to develop a comprehensive
understanding of electronic resource management.

11. The Training
Initially staff attended two sessions where they were
introduced to the content and navigability of websites of
some providers/publishers.
They were to familiarize themselves with:
Provider/publishers offerings
Pricing models -FTE, Carnegie Classifications,
Simultaneous Users, etc.
Terms and Conditions.
Coverage.

12. The Training –cont’d
In the 2nd session they were also introduced to the tools that are used
to manage and access the resources, such as:
Administrative management of the A-Z
856 in the bibliographic record
Coverage statements
Vendor’s site for management of the subscription
Order record in our ILS
Each participant was assigned a mentor to help them
with their understanding of the material.

13. The Training cont’d.
Each participant was then given three titles from a collection of a provider
where we had experienced many problems with access or maintenance.
Initially the participants reviewed the problem on their own and discussed
with their mentor.
They then presented a possible resolution to all in a classroom setting.
Collective discussion followed resulting in an acceptable resolution, such as:
Correcting or removing the 856
Placing the URL on the appropriate bibliographic record, NT or OT
Adjusting coverage in the A-Z
Activating or canceling an order
etc.

14. The Training-cont’d.
The training continued in this manner, each staff working with a
mentor and then alone.
Eventually each title in the provider’s collection was corrected on
the A-Z ,the catalog or was removed. This has been repeated with
other collections.
Currently as the Serials Team is asked complex questions to
answer/resolve they can refer the research for the problem to a
staff member to help with the resolution. We are creating a
culture of critical thinking with a TRIAGE atmosphere.

15. Staff are also evaluating packages and performing title
reconciliations which includes checking access, coverage
and price.
The Future:
It is our hope that all staff will be members of the
Serials Team operating with a collective wisdom.
We have recently formed other teams across departments
that we hope will operate similarly, having the same skills
and culture. They are -E-book Team, Media Team
Eventually they may regroup into one very knowledgeable
team known as the “know it alls”, but obviously called
something else.

16. Our contact information:
Gracemary Smulewitz
Distributed Technical Services
smulewi@rulmail.rutgers.edu
732-932-7388 ext 161.
Mary Beth Weber
Central Technical Services
mbweber@rulmail.rutgers.edu
732-445-0500
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