Library

April/May: Greenglass Implementation

To manage our collections throughout the three-year life of this project, the Brandeis Library has implemented Greenglass, a powerful tool leveraged by libraries across the country. Filtering and processing our collections through Greenglass allows us to:

• Explore and visualize the collection in the context of the collective collection
• Quickly model deselection and print management scenarios to ensure the best outcomes
• Generate custom reports and lists to support collection management and shared print activities

Summer: Initial Shift

Undertaking a project as massive as this one requires ample amounts of flexible swing space, where we can hold materials that are still being processed and decided on. Our primary swing space for the project will be on Farber 4, which will be cleared of its current collection of fine arts materials. (This shift will have the added benefit of protecting those materials from flood damage, given Farber 4’s propensity towards wetness.) Farber 4 will be used to stage materials throughout the project, particularly our collection of microfilm cabinets, which will require individual and specialized processing.

The initial shift will also be one of the most disruptive phases of the project, as it will entail moving materials from all collections throughout the Library building. Because of this, we will do the brunt of the work over the summer, and ensure that usability is restored by the time the Fall 2022 semester begins.

The final phase of this major shift will be the creation of a dedicated, named collection for our oversized materials, which are currently scattered throughout the Library but will ultimately be combined and discoverable in an A-Z selection on Goldfarb 3.

Gerstenzang Science Library Clearance

The Gerstenzang Science Library space has, in recent years, been used mainly as storage for physical science periodicals, monographs, microfilm, and other materials, many of which are outdated and underutilized. In order to return the space to Brandeis and allow it to be included in the larger Science Building renovation, the Library will spend the summer of 2022 processing, deselecting, and shifting periodicals and monographs from “G-Zang” back into our main physical collection.

Goldfarb Mezzanine

The Brandeis Library’s invaluable collection of physical Judaica materials is currently scattered across multiple locations within the Library. The Strategic Collections Project will rectify this by pulling, sorting, and combining all Judaica materials into a dedicated collections space on Goldfarb Mezzanine, sorted A-Z for easy discovery. All non-Judaica materials will be removed from the Mezzanine, processed in Greenglass, and interfiled back into general collections.

Goldfarb Level 3

In 2023, we will focus our processing and sorting efforts on Goldfarb Level 3, which currently houses the largest chunk of our collections. We will spend the year reviewing all physical collections in the space, ensuring their relevance and ease of access, and interfiling materials moved out of the Mezzanine during the Judaica overhaul.

Goldfarb Level 1 & Level 2

In 2024, we will focus our processing and sorting efforts on Goldfarb Levels 1 and 4, reviewing all remaining collections and ensuring their relevance and ease of access. The goal is to create as much usable seating and collaboration space on Goldfarb 1 as possible.

Final Shift

The project’s final year will be spent finalizing our new collection and making it as fully browsable and discoverable as possible. By the end of the year, the Goldfarb Library will feature dedicated collections spaces for reference, periodicals, Judaica and oversized materials, and a general collection sorted A-Z throughout the building, to complement our robust digital and consortial access to any materials needed by our community members.

This group establishes the long- and short-term strategies that shape this project. They also determine the criteria for all decision making, and manage communication and messaging to the broader community.

• Matthew Sheehy, University Librarian
• Mark Paris, Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Resources & Discovery
• Brenda Cummings, Director of Public Services
• Alexis Scanzani, Manager of Acquisitions & Discovery
• Aimee Slater, Government Information & Social Sciences Librarian
• Pu Wang, Faculty Representative
• Walt McGough, Project & Communications Associate

This group enacts data analysis best practices during the life of the project, configures and implements the Greenglass software, and establishes our guidelines for deselection of materials.

• Mark Paris, Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Resources & Discovery
• Alexis Scanzani, Manager of Acquisitions & Discovery
• Maric Kramer, Social Sciences Librarian
• Liz Bodian, Metadata Technologies Librarian
• Chris Underwood, Library Applications Developer

This group is responsible for establishing workflows for review, managing the withdrawal and discarding processes, and handling division of labor and resource allocations.

• Brenda Cummings, Director of Public Services
• Alexis Scanzani, Manager of Acquisitions & Discovery
• Mary Calo, Public Services Coordinator
• Lou Hartman, Metadata Coordinator
• Maureen Reynolds, Public Services Late Night Coordinator

The current state of the Library’s physical collections is unsustainable. It is our responsibility to make sure that our collections best suit the needs of Brandeis’ research and educational mission, and doing so means that we need a better and more robust approach to determining which physical materials are necessary and relevant at all times.

Though it may sound counterintuitive, removing materials from the library collection is essential to responsible maintenance of the library collections, and librarians use the same professional judgment that we apply to build the collection to identify what we can remove. We’re committed to making sure that access to all relevant materials is maintained, whether in physical or digital form, and we will make sure that no truly unique collections are lost in this process.

As our uninterrupted document delivery services during the pandemic helped confirm, we have the ability and dedication to make materials available to all who need them, even if a physical book is not present. Utilizing Greenglass during this project means that we can run up-to-the-moment analysis of which collections are available in what formats, and through which of our consortial partners. We are confident that we can find just about anything you may need in the course of your research, and that the physical materials we keep will be more discoverable and relevant than ever before.

We’d love to hear them! Please feel free to direct any questions, comments or concerns to our project leads, at librarycollectionproject-group@brandeis.edu.