Examines traditional conceptions of a library collection, and reveals four major presumptions associated with collections: tangibility, ownership, a user community, and an integrated retrieval mechanism. Explores challenges posed by media, and proposes an expanded concept of collection that considers the perspectives of both user and collection…

Outlines a model for determining library collection use, incorporating prediction of future demand and cost analysis to assist collection development librarians determine whether weeding or remote storage is the most economically feasible way to address the space problem in libraries. (13 references) (EA)