Presents results of a study undertaken for the state library of Maryland to develop a process for the development of a Maryland Digital Public Library. Highlights include planning; management; implementation requirements; networked environments; technical infrastructure issues; collection development; standards; information content; information…

In accordance with a long range plan for libraries in Colorado, a committee was appointed to develop the first standards for basic library service in Colorado public libraries. Libraries and their boards may use this document as a workbook for assessing their library and its services, as well as a document to assist in planning for the library's…

This 5-year plan for the improvement of library service in Louisiana identifies specific existing inadequacies and presents specific goals and objectives as part of an overall plan to overcome barriers to the best possible library service in the state. It is noted that, in Louisiana, the State Library does not have administrative authority over…

Describes the collection assessment methodology presented in the Research Libraries Group's "Conspectus," and assesses the usefulness of this instrument both in general, and as applied to an attempt to coordinate collection development at the consortium level. (eight references) (CLB)

Discusses collection development policy as means to express and systematize guidelines for collection building that fulfill three basic functions: the referential, the generative, the rhetorical. Division of policy into subject categories, and use of "collection levels" to rank the collection and collecting effort for each subject are…

This collection development plan of the Minnesota State Law Library includes detailed information on policies and annotations. After an overview of the Library's collection, general policy guidelines on the following are discussed: material selection; principles of selection; exclusions; gifts; interlibrary loan; cooperation; replacements;…

Discussion of the role of subject bibliographers in collection development activities focuses on an approach developed at Virginia Polytechnic and State Institute to provide a formula for estimating the collection development workload of subject bibliographers. Workload standards and matrix models of organizational structures are discussed, and…

Approval plans challenge library boundaries, require consensus on collection development priorities, cooperation among library departments, and a close partnership with the vendor. Few concrete performance standards exist, and effectiveness is difficult to measure. Vendors will play an active role in the evolution of approval plans, though…

This report presents and explains new standards developed for Alabama public libraries in response to a need for a clearly articulated, easily used, and broadly based public library planning and development tool. Intended to provide an overview of the new standards, the introduction discusses why the standards were developed; their purposes; how…

Discusses the role of librarians in terms of their responsibility to examine the social content of children's literature and then decide whether that content is appropriate for a particular child based on possible biases. (CLB)

Describes a study that examined the selection process used by two inmate/library assistants to develop Hispanic and African ethnic collections in a prison library. The findings of the study are used to develop a selection process model for the development of ethnic collections using the expertise of ethnic inmate/library assistants. (25…

Attention to school libraries must be at the heart of any comprehensive plan for improving youth literacy. Excellent school libraries are essential if young people are to have access to the reading resources to help them gain the level of literacy achievement vital to meeting the challenge of the twenty-first century. Sections of the booklet…

In response to wide concern regarding the present state of school libraries in Alberta, Canada, and a strong perception that the quality of school library programs was deteriorating, the Department of Education devised a provincial statement of policy, guidelines, procedures, and standards designed to guide the development and implementation of…

This study evaluated the collections of all seven university libraries in Saudi Arabia against Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) standards. Data collected by questionnaire on holdings and collection development programs indicated that six libraries were below the ACRL standards. It was found that King Saudi University library…

Designed for the reference staff at the Golda Meir Library, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, this manual functions as a guide to insure a uniform standard of service, to explain the duties and responsibilities of the reference staff, and to provide step-by-step explanations of how a variety of procedures are performed. The purpose of the…