Collection Manager's Duties and Responsibilities

Collection Managers are responsible for all aspects of collection management and development for their assigned subject area, including selection of information resources; storage, preservation, and retention decisions; liaison activity with faculty and departments; specialized instruction and consultation; ongoing collection evaluation; and budget responsibility.

The following bullets describe various competencies that should be developed over time and which may vary depending on the subject area.

Selection of Information Resources

• Know the subject area and be aware of current trends within the discipline.
• Develop a working list of selection tools.
• Select materials in a variety of formats.
• Review incoming materials in the Approval Room to see new titles and to flag materials for special locations such as “Reference” or for faculty notification.
• Review the approval plan profile for each of your subject areas.
• Identify and fill in gaps in the collections.
• Identify emerging areas of interest, based on publishing patterns, and UCSD faculty research and instructional activity.
• Collaborate with other librarians to develop collections in areas of overlap.
• Review gifts for possible addition to the collection.
• Solicit gifts to enhance particular subject areas.
• Identify book dealers and publishers specializing in the subject.
• Encourage suggestions for additions to the collection from library users.
• Identify and enter online resources into Sage.
• Identify online resources that should be sent to the Metadata Services Department for cataloging.

Collection Management: Storage, Preservation and Retention

• Consult with appropriate staff concerning receipt, cataloging, and binding.
• Identify needed additional copies, replacement copies, or new editions.
• Identify materials needing preservation.
• Identify low-use materials for transfer to SRLF or for withdrawal.

Faculty Liaison Activities

• Establish and maintain open communication with departmental representatives.
• Inform yourself of the department's plans, recruitment of new faculty, and introduction of new courses.
• Offer to meet with potential new faculty during the library portion of their interview day. Take this opportunity to suggest they ask for new faculty start-up funds to enhance the library’s collection in their areas of interest.
• Become familiar with the research and instructional activities of the faculty.
• Meet with new faculty members to offer a specialized overview of the library's resources and services
• Remain informed about the composition of the department, including the number of full-time faculty, lecturers, majors, teaching and research assistants, and graduate students.
• Offer to attend faculty department meetings to update them on library issues.
• Inform the department about library resources and services
• Maintain current “new items lists” in Roger, as appropriate
• Discuss expensive items with faculty to gauge interest and potential use before purchasing.
• Offer to provide library instruction for classes that have a research component.
• Provide research consultation for faculty and students, as needed.

Collection Evaluation

• Know the collection strengths and areas of distinction within your subject areas.
• Conduct an evaluation of discrete parts of your subject areas every year
• Undertake major assessments of significant portions of your subject areas every 3-5 years
• Conduct use studies

Budgetary Management

• Manage your funds for assigned areas
• Know the current trends in discipline related costs for different types of materials
• Know the current trends in exchange rates and other costs associated with acquiring materials
• Predict the impact of costs on funding requirements
• Develop written justifications for special purchase proposals
• Establish and apply priorities for spending allocated funds
• Monitor spending and adjust spending patterns, as needed

Resource Sharing

• Know existing UC resource sharing agreements and their effect on selection decisions at UCSD
• Consider potential resource sharing agreements and their effect on UCSD’s collection development activities
• Coordinate acquisitions with other library collections and UC Libraries
• Coordinate acquisitions with national and international consortia such as the CRL Global Resources Program
• Recommend materials for UC-wide acquisition
• Volunteer to serve as a Database Monitor for UCSD electronic resources.
• Volunteer to serve as a Resource Liaison for CDL resources.
• Identify other resource sharing possibilities to discuss with other Collection Managers