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 Whitephilip.white@colorado.eduEarth Sciences & Map LibraryUniversity of Colorado Boulder

Cited:

Florance, P. (2006). GIS Collection Development within an Academic Library. Library Trends, 55(2), 222–235.