UM Libraries Staff Working From Home: Acquisitions Information for Liaison Librarians

We are no longer ordering e-versions of physical items in our collections, as collections are now available either through Holds Pick Up, scanning on-demand, or HathiTrust.,   

• Exception – Because we are not offering print reserves, if a faculty member is requesting a book for a course, and you find an electronic copy of this item in GOBI, you may order it using the COVID:B fund.  

1. The agreement between HathiTrust and the UML is about what we have in print vs what they have electronically. If we have a print book, and HathiTrust has the exact book electronically we cannot circulate the physical item.  

2. HathiTrust agreement does not prevent patrons from accessing our separately licensed/purchased electronic resources/collections; nor does it prevent us from purchasing electronic versions of titles held in HathiTrust. 

3. IF a faculty member has stated that the HathiTrust version is not acceptable for course use, a liaison can purchase an ebook version of the title on another platform using COVID:B, per the allowed exception. 

1. Liaisons can purchase print books using GGE funds. 

2. Liaisons can purchase print books on budget funds if they are responding to faculty requests and no suitable e-version is available. 

3. There are currently some small approval plans that are purchasing print. 

4. Print books are being shipped by select vendors and some of those books arrive in shelf-ready form. When the shelf-ready books arrive, and as staffing capacity allows, they will be received and put into circulation.  

5. Vendors with shelf-ready agreements – Amalivre, East View, GOBI/YBP 

6. Non shelf-ready books, if shipped, will remain in technical services until staff are available to receive, catalogue and process items. As of now, cataloguing is being done remotely as much as possible, and there are minimal technical services staff member on campus to physically process the books.  

7. Currently, we are unable to order “rush” books due to the backlog of print books in technical services. A notification will be sent out when this changes.   

1. Ordering eBooks is proceeding as usual – order through the regular channels using Gift/Grant/Endowment funds or unit budget funds (if available). 

2. Approval plans are currently purchasing eBooks as usual 

The COVID Funds are to be used for collection resources that we purchase or subscribe to because of the shift to online teaching during the pandemic.   

1. COVID:B - ebooks requested by faculty for course use.   

   1. Only purchase ebooks on COVID:B if a faculty member requires the item for a course. For example, a book they would normally put on print reserve. (see section Purchasing e-versions when a physcial copy is in the UML Collection) 

   2. Use regular budget or gift funds if the book is a faculty request of any kind, other than needed for specific course support. Requests from graduate students would normally also be purchased using regular budget or gift funds. 

2. COVID:A - for limited term acquisitions like many streaming video licenses; all use of fund needs to be approved by the Collections Coordinator. 

3. COVID:SU - subscriptions; all use needs to be approved by the Collections Coordinator. 

4. COVID:T - faculty requests for electronic textbooks/course ebooks (non-print match)  

1. Procedure: https://libguides.lib.umanitoba.ca/c.php?g=715173&p=5109705  

These are intended to allow you to continue to build the collection as normally as possible during these unusual circumstances using GGE funds, unit budget funds, and GE B:F as appropriate, and have the extra-ordinary items covered centrally. 

1. Requests for streaming video should be submitted using the Streaming Video Request Form as soon as possible. Videos can be difficult to track down, and corresponding with independent filmmakers can take a lot of time. 

   • If you require assistance filling out the form (e.g. searching the vendor sites) please email Lukas Lepieszo (Lukas.Lepieszo@umanitoba.ca). You can send him a list of video titles, along with any other pertinent information (e.g. a URL, if it is a faculty request, or required access start date), and Lukas can fill out the form on your behalf. 

2. Some videos are only available via personal streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Google Play, etc. Instructors will need to include the costs of these rental/purchase sites in their lab fees if they intend to make the videos mandatory. 

3. Some videos are available for free online, but this doesn’t mean they are legitimate sources. For an extended period, American copyright law allowed many films to enter the public domain, but they are still under copyright protection according to Canadian copyright law. The Copyright Office encourages locating legal sources. If you are unsure, please contact Technical Services.

4. The Streaming Video Wishlist – see section Requesting Central Funding for Resources. 

1. Digitization of VHS and DVD videos may be possible depending on the following factors:

• There is no commercial streaming option available (this includes no personal streaming sources); and
• Permission to digitize has been received from the copyright owner; or, if no copyright owner can be found, the Copyright Office has authorized the creation of a digital copy of the video according to Copyright Act exemptions. 

2. Use of digitized videos must be limited to a specific class, with access given via links in UM Learn. A copyright statement will be added to all digitized videos informing students that they are prohibited from downloading or sharing the content and the same statement must be added in UM Learn.

3. IST is digitizing VHS films, while DVDs are outsourced for digitization. Both processes take additional time. 

If you received a request from a faculty member for a streaming video product or other online resource to help with this year’s move to online teaching, and you do not have budget or gift funds available, you can request central funding.  At this time, we are just able to commit to one-time purchases or commitments of 1 year, so any subscriptions or video licenses are limited to 1 year.   

1. Obtain a quote for the resource – email the Electronic Resources Management team e_resources@umanitoba.ca 

2. Add the resource and the details on the spreadsheet; enter as much information as you can in the columns with the blue headers 

3. Please update the spreadsheet if Technical Services provides you with additional or revised information 

4. This spreadsheet is monitored but not daily – if the request is urgent contact the Collections Coordinator. 

Please note that at this time we are not set up for receiving physical donations for our general collections.  If you receive an offer for a donation that is time-sensitive and in support the teaching and research goals of the University, please contact the Collections Coordinator (before accepting the donation) with details of the size of the donation and any initial ideas for delivery.  Since access to our physical libraries is limited and most staff are still working from home, accepting the donation now requires more coordination with Access Services and Technical Services. 

And a reminder of the following extract from our Gift guidelines: 

The University of Manitoba Libraries welcomes donations of money, and, in exceptional circumstances, considers offers of books, serials, manuscripts and non-print research materials to support the development of the Libraries' collections and the University's academic and research programs