PRT Agenda for Midwinter 2011 in San Diego

ACRL Philosophical Religious Theological (PRT) Discussion Group

2011 Midwinter Meeting, San Diego, CA

Sunday, January 9, 4:00 to 5:30 pm

Hilton Bayfront, Aqua 308

Co-convenors:

Joshua Barton

Michigan State University

bartonjp@msu.edu

Colin McCaffrey

Washington University-St. Louis

cmccaffr@wustl.edu

Join us at the PRT Discussion Group for discussion of “big deals” or “bulk purchases” of eBooks from publishers and aggregators (ebrary, NetLibrary, Springer, Wiley-Blackwell, etc.) and the impact they have on philosophy and religious studies. We will consider some of the following questions:

• What is the impact of “big deals” on the acquisition of print materials in philosophy, religion, and theology?
• Do these large-scale purchases replace or supplement traditional print selection or approval plans?
• Does the ready, but inconsistent, availability of monographic material online have an impact on print usage?
•  Can we help answer any of these questions with usage and circulation statistics?

We will reserve time for open discussion and to share ideas for ALA Annual 2011.

Anyone interested in these issues or in library and information service to philosophical, religious and theological studies is invited to join the discussion.