Library literature from the late 19th century to the present offers numerous guides to materials selection. Yet, collection development policies and lists of selection criteria are inadequate for humanities electronic texts. Libraries, humanities disciplines, and electronic texts are too complex for any rigid approach to acquisition. To meet goals…

As the purchase of virtual resources accelerates, particularly through consortial agreements, the autonomy of the local library will fade and the roles of librarians will change drastically. This rapid transformation is illustrated by a discussion of OhioLINK and its positive and negative effects on one member library. (Contains 21 references.)…

Discusses changes in libraries and the influence they have on library budgets. Highlights include reorganization in response to changes; automation, including document delivery in place of acquisitions; the library role; relationships with dealers and vendors; library materials, including the expansion of nonprint materials such as databases; and…

Librarians have paid insufficient attention to the conflict on college and university campuses about the role of print and digital resources in the library of the future. Effective communication with all sectors of the academic community, especially those maintaining a strong loyalty to books, will be essential as hybrid print and digital…

Describes efforts by the Newberry Library (Chicago) to obtain original source materials for studying the literature and history of western Europe from the Middle Ages to the eighteenth century. Discusses joint acquisitions with higher education institutions; acquisition of rare book collections from religious colleges and seminaries; and…

Collecting full-text CD-ROMs for a humanities library requires an examination of literary research and the way literature is taught. It is within this context that selectors must establish selection criteria and develop plans for promoting use of these new resources. Includes a checklist of literary and technical criteria for selection. (Contains…

Eleven articles address issues relating to agricultural libraries and information, including background on agricultural libraries and information, trend management, document delivery, reference services, user needs and library services, collection development, technologies for international information management, information sources,…

The four basic criteria for the selection of library materials--quality, library relevancy, aesthetic and technical aspects, and cost--remain the same in the electronic era of information. What they mean and how they are used has changed. But even quality and cost, the two most controversial criteria, carry great importance for the responsible…

Availability in electronic format of scholarly and scientific literatures and other forms of information has altered challenges faced by library collection managers. Drawing on ideas of the multi-library consortia, which have grown up partly in response to the advent of electronic resources, librarians have devised new criteria and means of…

Discusses library collection development and information retrieval strategies for acquiring materials related to deafness. Highlights include defining a collection policy; acquisition tools; other information sources, including libraries and organizations; serial acquisitions; information retrieval and computer databases; and addresses of relevant…

Develops a comprehensive, unified, explanatory theory of librarianship by first making an analogy to the unification of the fundamental forces of nature. Topics include dependent and independent variables; publishing; acquisitions; classification and organization of knowledge; storage, preservation, and collection management; collections; and…

In the past, serial cancellations and storage decisions focused primarily on print resources. With the addition of electronic resources, librarians in large research institutions must now manage an integrated collection of both print and electronic formats. Explores the impact of electronic resources on decision decisions. Identifies criteria for…