Examines the Amazon.com online bookstore as a blueprint for designing the world's largest library. Topics include selection; accessibility and convenience; quality of Web sites and search tools; personalized service; library collection development, including interlibrary loan; library catalogs and catalog records; a circulation system; costs;…

Discusses factors involved in journal competition such as price, volume of literature, the not-for-profit and for-profit sectors, as well as foreign literature quality. Presents results of a study to gauge the stability of impact factor leadership in physical sciences journals by identifying the top 100 journals in 1983 and 1993. (Author/JKP)

Although weeding can save libraries money, shelving time, and increase circulation, it can create serious political problems for college librarians. Proposes a method of compiling lists of candidate titles for weeding based on a comparison of recommended titles lists contained in three editions (1967, 1975, 1988) of Books for College Libraries.…

Examines the role of the serials vendor in the collection assessment and evaluation process in academic libraries. Topics discussed include the subscription agency's resources, including databases; issues of quality, accessibility, and manageability; costs, both present and future forecasts; availability, including document delivery; and issues of…

Examines issues that librarians must address when purchasing databases on CD-ROM for networking. Highlights include network licenses; costs; restrictions on network rights; ownership of CD-ROMs; hardware requirements; fees for upgrading software; CD-ROM servers; pricing options; training materials; and disk drives. (LRW)

University libraries are being forced to cancel subscriptions to thousands of journals, some considered essential to academic research, due to rapidly rising costs. Publishers cite increased publication costs and more articles as the source of increases. Many journals once published by nonprofit organizations have been taken over by profit-seeking…

A study has found that scholarly journal subscriptions have risen over 18 percent in 1986-87, with a few publishers accounting for most of the increase. Some feel publishers are charging as much as the market can bear. Libraries are beginning to share subscriptions and collections more. (MSE)

Considers advocates and opponents of citation analysis use in the management of academic journal collections and describes the compilation of a relational database file to model an academic journal collection. The use of citation analysis is recommended for collection management based on cost figures presented. (LRW)

Reports on an analysis of the availability of publications contained in the 1991 "Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications" through depository libraries, the Government Printing Office (GPO) Sales Program and its Publications Reference File (PRF), and federal agency distribution centers. Implications for collection…

Serials collections are a costly but essential part of a library's periodicals holdings. Jacksonville State University Library's (JSUL) budgetary problems have forced librarians to examine their serials closely in terms of cost factors, indexing, expected usage, and curriculum and research support. The purpose of this project is to assess JSUL's…

Periodicals librarians in libraries supporting smaller public colleges and universities were surveyed on issues concerning their serials collections. Findings indicate cost increases are a problem, but most respondents believe their collections are meeting institutional demands. Questions remain, however, about the influence of rising periodical…

Discussion of the rising costs of academic library materials and their effects on collection development focuses on the social science collection. It is suggested that combining the numerical weights used by the Research Libraries Group Conspectus to evaluate subject collections with estimates of publication production and changes provides a…

Reviews collection development difficulties encountered at Nigeria's University of Ilorin as a result of the inflation of serial subscription prices and the poor state of the Nigerian economy in the 1980s. Describes the library's successful use of the World Bank loan of 1990-1993 to fund journal renewals and purchases. (JMV)

Describes the in-house operational procedures developed at the Penn State University libraries to produce facsimiles of hard-to-locate, out-of-print titles using digital scanning technologies. Highlights include identification and selection, costs, copyright issues, interlibrary loan, materials preparation, and future trends. (Author/LRW)

Anne Carroll Moore, who introduced children's services at the New York Public Library, a Newbery-winning author discusses libraries, collection development, book costs, the publishing industry, fear of change, oral and print tradition, writing for children, the impact and shortcomings of technology, books going out of print, and the need for…