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Hi ARLIS/NA colleagues,

Here's my promised recap of using Kickstarter for the acquisition of library materials.

I heard from only two other colleagues who had used Kickstarter to purchase library materials. One was a museum librarian describing how they were able to purchase items offered by artists relevant to their collections or exhibitions. The artists were known to the museum. The other was an academic librarian and her main comment was to be aware of the need for original cataloging of the item as it is often a very low publication run and somewhat unique in that regard.

My own experience: I did get permission from my collections manager to pursue this purchase. Though they (The Docent Educator Online) were only half-way to their goal just days before the deadline, they made it! So, as a contributing partner, we'll receive a print version of the newsletter and know that we were instrumental in their effort to provide the newsletter online (we'll all have free access to that).

As a collection development tool, Kickstarter remains to be viewed with caution here. Our current policy is that the decision to participate or not in any particular campaign has to be made by our Associate University Librarian for Collections, not by an individual selector. Aside from the somewhat risky nature of Kickstarter, I think their concern is that sometimes there may be a (real or perceived) political aspect (meant in the broadest sense) to the campaign.

best,
Rebecca

--
Rebecca Price

Architecture, Urban Planning & Visual Resources Librarian

Museum Studies Liaison

Art, Architecture & Engineering Library

2396 Duderstadt Center

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2094

734.647.5274

http://www.lib.umich.edu/aael/

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