Subject liaisons are responsible to their facility and students for subject-specific research tools funded by the library, but most subject liaisons
don’t make the final decisions on subscriptions and other big-ticket items. How can we make
effective recommendations to the decision makers? And how can we
influence vendors about product development, pricing, and licensing issues as subject specialists but not budget controllers?
We will discuss these issues and opportunities while also providing a
few successful and not so successful examples. Librarians and vendors are welcome to provide their own ideas, frustrations, and happy endings. We intend this program to be relevant to
any type of subject liaison.
Being a "lively discusion", this session will be
discussion-centered and will feature small/breakout groups as well as large group interaction and sharing.
The facilitators are early-career and mid-career subject liaisons representing medium and large campuses.
Topics will include:
- The role(s) of subject liaisons in budget decision making;
- Pitching to decision makers regarding content, pricing, and licensing issues;
- Influencing vendors through building relationships, explaining our roles in the budget process, and describing the situation and needs on our campuses;
- And sharing final recommendations on how to influence as a subject liaison.
