The St. Louis Public Library conducted a survey of 3 public, 12 academic, and 16 special libraries in the St. Louis area to identify existing subject depths in various collections as well as subject areas in which libraries intend to build in the next five years. The survey data are presented in 13 tables, and the results are summarized. Plans for…

The objective of this study was to determine how large research libraries perform the function of collection development. The paper describes collection development theory within the formal organizational structure of the library, identifies the actual decision points involved in selection of materials, and examines the staff and facilities…

The emphasis of the revised Tulsa (Oklahoma) City-County Library System selection policy is on meeting needs of the community rather than balancing the collection in any one library. The policy includes the "Library Bill of Rights" and covers objectives, responsibilities, maintenance of the collection, controversial materials, gifts,…

Library use is declining in the United States because print media is no longer the preferred media of a large majority of the population. Of the wide variety of media used for information, instruction, and entertainment, only a small variety is available through the public library. Selection of appropriate media formats for library acquisition…

This SPEC kit is based on a June 1987 survey of approval plan use by 94 members of the Association of Research Libraries. It reports on the current practices of these libraries, the perceived advantages and disadvantages of using approval plans, and the effect of increased library materials costs and library automation on such plans. It is noted…

The purpose of this study was to examine the science and technology books in 18 elementary school libraries in 18 Maryland school districts and: determine the age of the books; identify what percent of the books matched a professional selection source; determine the number of books per student; and estimate costs in upgrading the collections. (AEF)

Reports on the third "Library Journal" survey of public and academic audiovisual specialists and media librarians, which focused on the long-term outlook for audiocassette and videocassette collections. The survey covered present and planned budgets, circulation growth, selection criteria, theft, damage, competition from local stores,…

Based mainly on the experiences of seven Dutch public libraries during a 5-year study, this report discusses issues related to the integration of audiovisual materials and equipment into existing library collections. Following a brief introduction, its contents are divided into chapters: (1) Collection Building; (2) Processing; (3) Cataloguing;…

The purpose of this project is to develop a set of computer programs to perform a variety of collection development analyses on the machine-readable cataloging (MARC) records that are produced as a byproduct of use of the online cataloging subsystem of the Ohio College Library System (OCLC), and made available through the OCLC Distribution Tape…

This packet is designed to guide users through the steps that ultimately lead to the assignment of collection responsibilities for individual member libraries of the North Bay Cooperative Library System, Santa Rosa, California. An initial profile of the member libraries examined the subject distribution of books owned, availability of books owned,…

A sparsely populated, agricultural area, San Benito County (California) provides library services in conjunction with the Hollister city library and in cooperation with the San Juan Bautista city library. Financing comes from the county general fund. There are no written goals or policy statements and no professionally trained librarians. As…

Indicates that the (1) largest journalism libraries employ professional librarians, (2) size of acquisition budgets does not correlate with school enrollment, and (3) average library spends two-thirds of is budget on newspapers and periodicals and only one-third on books. Provides useful guidelines for designing a collection development policy for…

Discusses results of a Web-based survey that was conducted to determine the extent to which Canadian public libraries are collecting multilingual materials, methods used to select materials, and whether public librarians are prepared to provide multilingual clientele with adequate materials and services. Examines constraints preventing public…

A standardized map policy was written based on information found in the literature for comparison with the methods which map libraries utilize in acquiring their collections. To determine the methods actually used by the field, a questionnaire was sent to 48 depository map libraries. Results substantiated the policy formulated for this study, that…

Reports the results of a survey of librarians at public libraries (PLs) that was conducted to provide details on budgets, circulation, and popular topics. Highlights include nonfiction, with the highest expenditures and circulation; local interest materials; a loss in print reference materials; and an increase in audiovisual and electronic…