The four basic criteria for the selection of library materials--quality, library relevancy, aesthetic and technical aspects, and cost--remain the same in the electronic era of information. What they mean and how they are used has changed. But even quality and cost, the two most controversial criteria, carry great importance for the responsible…

Library literature from the late 19th century to the present offers numerous guides to materials selection. Yet, collection development policies and lists of selection criteria are inadequate for humanities electronic texts. Libraries, humanities disciplines, and electronic texts are too complex for any rigid approach to acquisition. To meet goals…

This document describes a collection assessment made of the Economics and Finance holdings at Ward Edwards Library at Central Missouri State University (CMSU). The assessment is divided into three parts: (1) books, (2) serials, and (3) standing orders/reference materials. In addition to standard collection development sources such as…

A survey designed to investigate how challenges to school library materials relate to the overall selection process found that (1) the number of challenges increased steadily with increasing grade level; (2) local challenges were more restrictive than state challenges; and (3) active challenges affected administrators' selection, making them more…

Shows how a well-respected collection development tool contains ideological frames, using the "Public Library Catalog" (PLC) as an example. Evaluation by library science graduate students indicate that the PLC makes recommendations that have an imbalance of perspectives, overemphasize a particular facet or theory within a field, lack authority,…

Collecting full-text CD-ROMs for a humanities library requires an examination of literary research and the way literature is taught. It is within this context that selectors must establish selection criteria and develop plans for promoting use of these new resources. Includes a checklist of literary and technical criteria for selection. (Contains…

This project report critiques library print materials used to support grades 10 and 11 social studies curriculum in British Columbia. The data collected are intended to provide a ready reference for school librarians when considering the particular print materials listed. Four criteria were used: readability, format and style, organization, and…

Availability in electronic format of scholarly and scientific literatures and other forms of information has altered challenges faced by library collection managers. Drawing on ideas of the multi-library consortia, which have grown up partly in response to the advent of electronic resources, librarians have devised new criteria and means of…

Three attempts at consensus lists of evaluation criteria for the Web are compared with reviews in "Choice" magazine. There is little agreement on the most important/appropriate criteria for a Web site's value, and few of the criteria appear in the sample reviews, suggesting a continued lack of consensus. The extreme rapidity of change in the Web…

Demonstrates through five examples that censorship is an act of both negation and affirmation because at the same time that censors are removing information, values, and language from children's consideration, they are confirming knowledge they think is valid, valuable, and virtuous for school curricula and library shelves. (RAE)

Over the past 20 years, academic collection development specialists have dealt with changes, brought about by decreasing purchasing power and the growing importance of electronic resources. Throughout, collection managers have rethought their efforts and revised criteria for selection of materials in new formats while maintaining traditional…

Discussion of the book review process focuses on a study that evaluated the efficacy of major journal reviews as a selection tool for books for adult children of alcoholics. Highlights include selection strategies for books not reviewed by major media; multiple reviews; small press books; and recommendations for strengthening review media. (12…

Describes hypermedia, which allow the associative retrieval, manipulation, and storage of music, video, text, and graphics. Examples of applications are given, the use of hypermedia with interactive video and with microcomputers is discussed, and their implications for library and information specialists are explored. (12 references) (CLB)

Discusses the theoretical value of national bibliographies as a library material selection tool and evaluates African national bibliographies using four criteria--comprehensiveness, thorough and reliable bibliographic data, currency, and directory of publishers. It is concluded that there is a significant gap between the theoretical and actual…

A study was undertaken to determine the extent to which "Choice" provides librarians with an adequate evaluation of the best books in the field of western American history in a reasonable amount of time. To assess the overall coverage, the titles of all the books reviewed in "Western Historical Quarterly" from 1970 to 1974 were searched in…