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The article discusses the sustainability challenges faced by several librarians in terms of collection management and offering better services to students and the public. It mentions that there has been a call for many academic libraries to focus on creating more responsible operational models in terms of environmental impact if they are to keep information open and free to all. It relates how libraries have been managing their collections, are acquiring books and are making improvements on how they handle their materials.

The collection development role of the academic librarian in the research university library is increasingly subject to significant change as opportunities to build new types of library collections proliferate, particularly with respect to research data. A Purdue Libraries task force was charged with building faculty-produced collections for a data repository prototype. One purpose of the project was to inventory and characterize the resources and skills required of the libraries and its data-collecting librarians. This paper examines the librarian roles and activities that were identified during the project and suggests ways the experience of the task force can inform the roles and activities of librarians who are similarly charged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All forty-four departments liaisons (teaching faculty) and fifteen librarian consultants (library faculty) at Baylor University were surveyed to assess the university's liaison program, which was established to facilitate collection development in a library with a decentralized model of collection building. Survey responses and high return rate revealed that most liaisons were interested in the program, although both groups interacted at a marginal level and indicated ambiguity toward the appropriate role of the librarian consultant. To reinvigorate the program, the authors made a series of recommendations to the academic departments and the libraries through a report to the library administration. The principle recommendation was the establishment of a library committee to develop a comprehensive vision statement for the program and clear goals and objectives for all participants. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]