UC Ethnic Studies Librarians Network Guidelines

Purpose

The purpose of the UC Ethnic Studies Librarians Network is to collaborate and to coordinate efforts system-wide in acquiring and/or providing access to and preservation of ethnic studies resources in all formats. The combination of steadily increasing prices for scholarly publications, shrinking acquisition budgets, and growing output of print and electronic research sources make it imperative that we collaborate in our collection development efforts and pool our limited financial resources to adequately support teaching and scholarship in ethnic studies throughout the UC system.

Goals

In our professional capacity as academic librarians we:

• encourage the access, building and cooperative development of library collections to support the ethnic studies departments and programs at the University of California
• encourage and support the development and establishment of ethnic studies multicultural curriculum
• support research by undergraduate, graduate students, faculty and especially faculty in Ethnic Studies fields
• promote the identification of special collections in Ethnic Studies that are hidden within the larger collections of the University of California
• create and support the designation and appointment of ethnic studies subject specialists for U.C. libraries
• provide a forum for information exchange, communication and support of librarians involved in Ethnic Studies collection development and services
• encourage California library schools to offer courses in bibliography and services to diverse cultural groups

Activities

Activities may include, but are not limited to, projects involving the collection development, management, and evaluation of and access to shared resources. Members will also share information related to their libraries collection policies and scope including decisions to cease collecting specific materials. Examples of activities that the Network has engaged in or plan to engage in include:

• Annual Survey Reports to JSC [Joint Steering Committee] regarding electronic resources in ethnic studies and related subjects that the Network recommends for purchase or licensing.
• Serials Review/Cancellation Projects -- posting of any proposed ethnic studies serials cancellations to the Ethnic Studies Librarians Network listserv for review and comment.
• Tier 2 Licensing -- coordinating the licensing or renewal of core databases wanted or subscribed to already by several (but not all) campuses in order to obtain a consortial discount.
• UC Ethnic Studies Librarians Network web site -- providing a place for links such as to the mission statement, reports and projects, campus web pages on ethnic studies resources, directory of UC Ethnic Studies collections and libraries and meeting minutes and agendas. http://library.ucsc.edu/esln/

Membership

The network comprises UC librarians responsible for developing and managing collections in ethnic studies, and for liaison with ethnic studies departments and programs.

Offices

• Chair: The Network will select from the membership a Chair who will keep track of projects, maintain a roster of members, coordinate the JSC survey reports and submit a written annual report on the group's activities through the Liaison to the Chair of UC-CDC by August 1 of each year.  The term of the Chair will be two years and can be renewed.
• UC-CDC/JSC Liaisons: The Network Chair will be the contact person with The UC-CDC/JSC Liaisons.  The CDC Liaison is the member of the UC Collection Development Committee who will serve as Liaison between the Network and UC-CDC. There is also a JSC Liaison to the Network.

Meetings

The Network will communicate mainly via electronic mail through the Network listserv: esln@ucsc.edu. Normally, it will meet annually, traditionally alternating between north and south.