Designed to help library students gain an understanding of building library collections for specific communities of users, this text presents the process of collection development. Emphasizing collection development in general, rather than the process in any particular institutional setting, the book provides a discussion of needs assessment,…

Based on communication with librarians from Russia, Mongolia, the Baltic States, Bulgaria, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, and Romania, this paper discusses library collection development and preservation policies. Highlights include: mission statements of national and regional libraries; availability of a formal structure responsible for collection…

Reviews the research on maintaining information currency in reference collections. Discusses age versus use; continuity of maintenance; problems with irregularly published works; manual maintenance methods; computer-assisted methods; assignment of responsibility; and collection management/maintenance policies. Suggests how to improve reference…

This document presents the collection development policy for the Douglas Library and Learning Resources at Chicago State University. Collection development committee policies are presented in terms of planning (allocation of resources budget, implementation of resource sharing and related programs, development of policies and procedures, liaison…

In 1991, the staff of the Houston Cole Library (Jacksonville State University, Alabama) published its first formal "Collection Management and Development Policy." This was used as a guide in conducting a complete assessment of the Library's collections. This second edition is a revision of the 1991 publication. The first section is an…

This document is a statement of guidelines for the collection of reference materials at the Ethel K. Smith Library in Wingate University (North Carolina). The library's mission statement is given at the outset. Then parameters are established for the reference collection's scope and size, including subject-area and media priorities. The statement…

Intended for use by the head of reference and subject-area bibliographers at Penfield Library, this document provides guidelines for the selection and evaluation of titles for the 25,000 volume reference collection at this primarily undergraduate institution. The reference collection also supports the general information needs of both the college…

This document is an overall policy statement for library collection development for the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Part 1 comprises the library mission statement and a list of ongoing objectives. The second part provides some background information about the university environment and campus libraries. It also gives instructions…

This document provides guidelines on policymaking for public librarians and public library trustees in Vermont. Topics covered include: (1) the importance of policies in bringing order, logic, stability, and continuity to a library's operation; (2) the roles of trustees and librarians in adopting carrying out policies; (3) reasons why policies…

Published 10 times a year, Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) Kits and Flyers contain information on issues of concern to libraries and librarians; they are the result of surveys on topics related to practice and management of library programs in the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). This document focuses on the organization of…

This case study examines social influences in research libraries' collection development. It shows that individuals' ideologies and political agenda shape their impression of user needs and their decision making. The study also reveals how the institution's operating structures, campus politics of interdisciplinarity, personnel deployment, and…

As electronic objects challenge categorical distinctions central to library organization, efforts are being made to integrate these hybrids and new forms into traditional library systems and to recreate the stability of the print environment. Explores conceptual and theoretical issues raised by the proliferation of electronic objects and suggests…

Discusses changes taking place in the library systems of Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Topics reviewed include the influence of Soviet Russian library theory and practices; decentralization of library administration; library finances; library education; library employment; library technology; and censorship and collection policies.…

This Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) kit reports results of a survey of 64 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) institutions conducted in the fall of 1990 to gather information on the performance appraisal of collection development librarians. Data are reported on the frequency of the performance review cycle, reporting…

Provides a description and assessment of the merger of the government publications division and the maps division at the San Diego State University (California) library that was necessitated by budgetary constraints. The impact on patrons is discussed, including reference assistance, arrangement of materials, reference and circulation policies,…