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…

Presents guide intended to aid librarians who are responsible for planning coordinated and cooperative collection development arrangements between libraries and suggests possible contexts, goals, methods, organization, effects, and processes to be investigated while establishing such programs. Benefits, problems, models, preconditions, and…

Canada has an especially difficult information problem since an enormous proportion of the publications required by Canadian researchers are produced in foreign countries. The attempt to solve this problem by a numerological or Farmington Plan approach is wrong both in theory and practice. This method emphasizes size and discounts selectivity.…

Scandinavian library cooperation, which began informally in the nineteenth century, has benefited from similarities in language, history, background, political system, ideals, and materials, and has been comparatively easy to establish. The Scandia Plan, launched in the 1950's, was the first Scandinavian library cooperation program to receive…

A project studied the need for a national library network which would deal with materials by and about blacks. A framework for such a network was developed. Existing black materials were surveyed, agencies holding collections of such materials were analyzed, and a combined agency network conceptualized. The concept was then reviewed by impartial…

Discusses the changes in the social and economic environment that have pushed libraries into retreating from their traditional objective of preserving the cultural record, and suggests that the solution to this problem must be sought by means of national-level resource and cost-sharing programs. A 21-item reference list is included. (Author/JL)

Contends that network resource sharing is a service that is not appreciated by public library patrons, who accept only immediate delivery as acceptable access to materials. Improvement and expansion of local holdings is suggested as an alternative to expensive networking arrangements. Twenty references are included. (RAA)

Cooperative collection development is discussed as a method of coping with rising prices for expensive and little used library materials. The experiences of institutions which have had success in overcoming difficulties associated with cooperative ventures are presented, and a program of 12 recommendations is suggested. Twenty references are…

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…

A survey was conducted in those academic and research libraries that are involved in the OhioLINK project to determine their use of approval plans and their budgetary patterns. Written questionnaires were used to collect data in order to examine approval plan use, approval plan and firm order budgeting, and vendor use. Analyses of the responses…

Discusses both the advantages and the limitations of the Canadian cataloging-in-publication (CIP) system, a decentralized system which began in January 1976 with three principal library agencies--the University of British Columbia, York University (transferred to the University of Toronto in 1982), and the Bibliotheque Nationale du Quebec in…

Representatives from wide spectrum of cooperative programs discuss issues associated with cooperative library development. Programs described include statewide projects in Colorado, Illinois, Alaska, and New York; University of California Shared Purchase Program; Hampshire Inter-Library Center; Triangle Research Libraries Network; Pacific…

Comments on impact of photocopying, networking, and resource sharing on acquisitions programs of research libraries and describes fiscal situation in academic institutions, specifically in Massachusetts Institute of Technology libraries. Electronic publishing, role of research library as subscriber and intermediary, and communication between…

Papers presented at the annual conference of the Alaska Library Association (AkLA) focused on the Alaska Library Network with special emphasis on collection development and resource sharing through networking. Papers and reports from the conference, some of which have been updated, are presented in six chapters. The first provides an overview of…

This document examines the importance and difficulties in resource sharing and acquisition by libraries and introduces the procedures of the Site Appraisal for Area Resources Inventory (SAFARI) system as a method of comparative evaluation of subject collections among a group of libraries. Resource, or collection, sharing offers specific…