Nine Canadian health libraries participated in a pilot test of the Benchmarking Tool Kit between January and April, 1998. Although the Tool Kit was designed specifically for health libraries, the content and approach are useful to other types of libraries as well. Used to its full potential, benchmarking can provide a common measuring stick to…

Discussion of electronic resources in the humanities focuses on their incorporation into library collection development practices. Topics addressed include computer-aided research and scholarly communication; differences among humanist scholars in their acceptance of electronic resources; electronic texts and electronic publishing; standards,…

The canons of literature, and their relationship to research, scholarship, and collection development are discussed, arguing that a dilemma exists for the collection development officer between neglecting possible important future materials or collecting such items to the detriment of current research needs. (18 references/notes) (EA)

Discusses selecting for a reference collection, creative budgeting, cutting a deal, collection awareness (strengths/needs), Web site reviews, R-Net (reviews from diverse areas and institutions), and print vs. electronic reference products. Reference librarian adhere to high standards for reference book and Web sites, teach assessment techniques,…