Editor’s Note: On a regular basis, we publish the profile of a member of Doody’s Library Board of Advisors (LBA). The LBA has guided the development of our company’s library services since our inception. With gratitude, this month we present the profile of Andrea McLellan of the Health Sciences Library of McMaster University.

Where do you currently work and what is your position?

I am currently the Head of Collection and Technical Services at McMaster University Health Sciences Library. My responsibilities include budget planning, strategic planning, the collection, acquisitions, license negotiations, electronic access, cataloging, assessment, and supervision of technical services staff.

Provide a one sentence description of your library and its services.

The Health Sciences Library fosters excellence in health education, teaching, and health research by providing barrier-free access to information, information literacy instruction, and clinical tools training at point of need.

When did you start in medical librarianship? What was your position? With what institution?

My experience as a health sciences librarian began at Dalhousie University, where I was fortunate enough to land a position at the Kellogg Health Sciences Library as a library student intern. It was a marvelous experience and set the course for my career. After graduating from Dalhousie, I was hired as the Electronic Resources Librarian at the Health Sciences Library of McMaster University in 2003.

Name two of the most important issues facing medical librarianship today.

I work at a large research-intensive university and am keenly aware of Plan S and other open access developments happening in Europe. We are seeing the emergence of transformational agreements in North America, and these second-generation licenses offer a different way of interfacing with publishers. Some librarians speculate that there will be cost saving for libraries, but I believe it is more likely that institutions will simply see a change in cost distribution for authorship and access. I anticipate that my library will become much more involved in tracking article processing charges (APCs) as a result of these new types of agreements, so that we can better assess whether a journal deal is “good” for the institution. A second big development in collection librarianship relates to data analysis. The availability of Counter 5 usage reports means that librarians have access to much more granular information about open access and use. Collection librarians will need to harness this information in order to negotiate reasonable licenses or transformation agreements for their institutions. In tandem with Counter 5 reports and transformational agreements, I believe that librarians will start to develop greater expertise in data science techniques.

How do your colleagues and you use Doody’s products in your library? Or, what is one thing you want to make sure all librarians know about Doody’s services?

Doody’s Review Service is an important part of my resource selection process, especially in areas where our users are less vocal about their needs. The product is very useful when assessing the impact of new programs; for example, if a new program is established within our faculty I can quickly identify important titles using Doody’s Review Service and compare these against our holdings. I then use cost-analysis information within Doody’s Review Service to estimate the required funding for new resources in support of a program. As the primary selector for my library I look forward to the Weekly Literature Updates in order to keep abreast of the newest and best books in all disciplines.