Looking at the “Alert Collector”

Abstract

The Alert Collector is one of RUSQ's most popular columns, offering selectors in both academic and public libraries starting points for developing collections focused on specific topics, subject areas, or genres. With a long-running column, it can be useful to occasionally step back, examine the premise of the column, and offer suggestions to readers who might be interested in contributing to the Alert Collector in the future. Here, current editor Kelly Myer Polacek and past editor Neal Wyatt collaborate to examine the art of writing about collection development and to give some guidance to potential authors.--Editor Collection development is not a simple task. In 2001, Deborah Barreau conducted an extensive investigation into the responsibilities, strategies, and tools associated with the task of collection development in public libraries. (1) She reported that collection development librarians not only choose but they also contribute to policy design, analyze collections, evaluate offerings, and weed materials. In addition to this extensive list of responsibilities, librarians are faced not only with the confines of time, space, and money, but must also overcome the challenges of evaluating the need for e-materials, developing subject matter expertise, and predicting patron usage (for which there remains no exact science). Collection development librarians utilize a variety of resources to aid in these pursuits including recommendations by patrons, vendors, publishers, and media sources, among others. Attempting to simplify collection development by relying solely on statistical models derived from usage data or citation analyses can leave a library without the breadth and depth of materials ultimately desired by patrons. Editors of the Alert Collector advocate for collection development strategies that allow librarians to use the multiple approaches that will result in the carefully assembled collections that best meet their specific users' needs. We seek to help this endeavor by publishing curation devices that not only describe essential materials on specific subjects but also provide models for thinking about how to develop collections on innumerous subjects. It is our hope that the Alert Collector pieces we publish identify key resources and include annotations that illuminate how and why these items are essential to collections. Instead of simply providing lists of undoubtedly important titles, good columns enable librarians to supplement, start anew, or complete a collection. Alert Collector articles should be usable by public librarians, academic librarians, and other professionals specializing in user-oriented information services. They should include print and e-resources, books, periodicals, individual articles, databases, websites, and other forms of media when appropriate. The not-so-secret goals of the Alert Collector are to advocate for collection development and model its best practices. Exceptional columns are those that illustrate the myriad aspects of building a collection and the important and expansive work of selectors. Sometimes columns, such as Andrew Walsh's Learning Spanish Today: A Research Guide, remind us that the borders of our collections are not bound by what can be bought and easily cataloged. (2) Changes in language learning afforded Walsh a particularly rich opportunity to make this point. His column mixes traditional print resources with free podcasts, social websites, and free email courses. He also includes smaller paid subscription services and textbooks. While at first glance such resources might be dismissed as problematic or even unsuitable for a collection, Walsh reminds us that valuable resources can be included in a collection even when they are not for sale. With the growing flexibility and widening scope of library catalogs and websites, such resources can be added through specially designed bibliographic records or the creation or augmentation of research guides. …