Collection Development Policies Research Articles

Please give generously! Handling donations to libraries

The large number of donations to the Hendrik Conscience Heritage Library in Antwerp, and the inevitable expenditure of time involved in dealing with them, gave rise to the author’s research into this form of acquisition, and in turn to publication of a guide outlining the most efficient way of handling them. The article outlines and explains the steps which should be taken to manage donations, bequests and transfers from other libraries, from basic advice such as including a section on donations in the library’s collection development policy, to the importance of efficient record-keeping in order to avoid disputes.

Pushing the Boundaries of Traditional Heritage Policy: maintaining long-term access to multimedia content

This paper will address the direction chosen by the Audiovisual Department of the Bibliotheque nationale de France (BnF) in order to maintain access to a comprehensive collection of multimedia and electronic documents. It will describe several experimental technical solutions for preservation, emphasizing the consequences of a requirement for future users to be able to use these documents for research purposes. These result in the use of emulation solutions as well as new practices of collection development policy with regard to the specific structure of information within a multimedia context

Bibliotecas virtuais e desenvolvimento de coleções: o caso dos repertórios de sites web

A avaliação de sites Web e dos diferentes recursos eletrônicos constitui um campo de trabalho cada vez mais importante para o bibliotecário realizar a gestão e o desenvolvimento de coleções em bibliotecas. Este artigo pretende mostrar como o bibliotecário pode intervir em todas as etapas do processo de criação de uma biblioteca virtual, a partir da elaboração de uma política de desenvolvimento de coleções eletrônicas até a organização ergonômica dos recursos, passando pela determinação, seleção e avaliação dos sites Web.

Evaluating the Future: Special Collections in Art Libraries

This survey was conducted online, primarily in May 2006. Institutions were selected with the intention of providing a representative sample of art research libraries across the spec trum of academic, museum, and independent research libraries and a broad geographic range of institutions within the United States. Individual recipients were those parties responsible for the administration of the art library within their institution. For the purposes of this study, academic art libraries were limited to those either supporting an independent art institution or physi cally separate libraries within a university library system. From an initial group of fifty art librarians, eighteen surveys were received; however, only fifteen surveys were complete enough to include in survey results. Within the primary group of fifteen respondents were ten art museum libraries (67 percent), four art college or university art libraries (27 percent), and one independent research library. These library varied in size from 15,000 to 920,000 total volumes. Throughout the survey the term collections was used as a generic term for rare books and special collections. Unless rare books and special were treated as distinct collections, libraries were asked to include materials defined as rare books along with special statistics. Though the number of survey responses was limited, certain trends were revealed. More than half of the libraries surveyed do not have written collection development policies in place, just over one quarter have special transfer policies, and only one fifth have special identification policies. Nonetheless, all libraries surveyed indicated that they distin guish their rare books or other special from general collections, and the majority indicated that special identification criteria are used in their libraries, suggesting that many of these libraries are engaging in the selection of special materials in the absence of a written policy. The survey included questions on collection information; collection inclusive dates; types of materials in collections; iden tification of rare and special materials; acquisitions; evaluation and transfer of materials; policies; and decision making. However, this article will emphasize the areas most directly related to the identification of special collection materials. The discussion will be preceded by an overview of how rare books and special are defined and identified in general collections.

Evaluating your nursing collection: a quick way to preserve nursing history in a working collection.

Florence Nightingale's Notes on Nursing in 1859 [1] heralded the beginning of modern nursing. Nurses in the nineteenth century had not yet achieved professional credibility, therefore, many of the early texts were written by physicians. When nurses began to publish books, librarians and nurses did not always recognize their value, and many were discarded. For example, of the historical items mentioned by Allen [2], only one copy of both Makers of Nursing History (1928) by Pennock and Nursing Ethics (1900) by Isabel Hampton Robb can be found in Ohio. It is vital that libraries now recognize and preserve the important works of nurses so that nursing students of the future have them available, both as historical background and as a basis for comparison with current nursing issues. Many books of value to the history of nursing often exist in small nursing collections and should not be discarded without much thought. The significance of many publications can be determined only in retrospect, after their full impact has been appreciated. Meanwhile, it falls to librarians who manage nursing collections to make the best decisions about what to keep, both for current and future users of the collection. On the other hand, shelf space is a problem for many academic libraries, and weeding is necessary to maintain a workable and usable nursing collection that contains up-to-date clinical information. While the collection development policies and space limitations of each library will determine how much historical material librarians will acquire and which books they will withdraw, this article proposes some basic criteria for deciding which history-related materials to keep in nursing collections and what to withdraw and offers a bit of guidance on what to purchase.

Citation analysis of Minnesota Department of Health official publications and journal articles: a needs assessment for the RN Barr Library*

The paper describes the information needs of a state public health agency, compares needs to its library's collection, and evaluates collection development policy accordingly. A citation analysis of journal articles authored by Minnesota Department of Health staff as well as official publications from 2002 to 2004 was conducted. Fifty-six publications fitting the criteria for inclusion in the study were identified using PubMed and library records. Information on each cited reference was recorded, including reference type, relative age of citation, and journal name, if applicable. The library's collection and collection development policies were analyzed in regard to the results. As expected, journals were the most heavily cited format: 63% (n = 897) of all citations were to journal articles. Most cited materials were between 2 and 5 years old. The 897 journal citations represented 265 different journals. The top 10 cited journals (4% of all titles) accounted for 36% (n = 320) of all citations; 62% (n = 320) of journals were cited only once. Of the total journals cited, the library subscribed to 70% (n = 627). Overall, no large gaps appeared in the RN Barr Library's journal collection. The analysis confirms that the library's collections budget for serials and books reflects the cited use of these materials.

From Osler’s Library to the Osler Library of the History of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal: An Overview

The Osler Library of the History of Medicine was opened in 1929 at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. Sir William Osler (1849-1919), arguably McGill's and Canada's most famous doctor at the time, had bequeathed his magnificent library of almost 8,000 historical works in medicine and, to a lesser extent, science and literature to the university. Under the 30-year reign of its first librarian, Dr. W W. Francis, the Osler Library became famous for its rare books and for its connection with Sir William. Since the 1950s, however, the library has pursued an active collection development policy for both primary and secondary material that has taken it far beyond Osler's original gift. The library has grown in both the size and scope of its holdings and the services it offers to scholars and students of the history of medicine. These have made the Osler Library a major resource centre for studies in the history of the health sciences. This article looks at the Osler Library today in the hopes of making the range of its collections and services better known to the Canadian and international communities.

Licensing Content for PDAs

Health sciences libraries have grown comfortable with licensing Web-based electronic resources such as e-journals and texts in recent years. Libraries attempting to license PDA resources will find some similarities, but many new pitfalls await them. Major issues include difficulties in evaluating products, multiple versions of products, vendors' lack of familiarity with institutional markets, and access and pricing models. The library collection development policy statement (CDPS) is seen as one way for a library to develop an approach to offering PDA products, but for the present, libraries may be restricted by the actual cost to provide the content. doi:10.1300/J383v04n01_16

A longitudinal investigation into the changing citing behavior of geomatics postgraduate students at Wuhan University, China, 1988–2004: Implications for collection development

Aim: The purpose of this study is to identify and describe the citing behavior of geomatics postgraduate students at the Wuhan University in China. These students constitute one of the main user groups of Wuhan University Library and the analysis of their use of literature (through the means of citation analysis) can yield valuable insights against which to benchmark and inform collection development policy and other services at the Information Technology Library (ITL) at Wuhan University. Design/methodology/approach: In this project, 9317 citations in 21 PhD and 180 MSc theses submitted at the Wuhan University in the years of 1988, 1996, and 2004 were analyzed. All cited materials were divided by output format (monographs, proceedings, journal articles) and the more in-depth analysis was conducted for all cited journals. The following characteristics of the cited journal literature were analyzed: subject, age, language, and dispersion of journal titles. Findings: An increased use of journal literature in bibliographies of geomatics theses was observed over time. A trend to increase citations to international conference proceedings was also noted as well as a trend to cite more journals in disciplines other than surveying and mapping. It was also noted that, over time, citations to documents in languages other than Chinese and English have significantly decreased (in some cases, disappeared). Large dispersion among the most frequently cited journals in different time periods (only 25% of titles were repeated in 1988, 1996, and 2004 top ranking journal lists) was also noted. It was also noted that the core of geomatics literature is expanding (it now takes 42% of journal titles to cover 80% of all citations). Practical implications: By analyzing citation patterns of the graduate students of geomatics in China, we can track the developments and changes within that discipline in China and can compare these trends internationally (e.g. increased role of a journal, the importance of conference proceedings, domination of the English-language sources, dispersion of journal literature, and increasing multidisciplinarity of the discipline). The techniques and methods used in this study can be replicated to study other disciplines. Also, it is hoped that the findings of this research will inform collection development planning, development of reference services, and information literacy training.

Should libraries acquire books that are widely held elsewhere? A brief investigation with implications for consortial book selection

This document is the final, published version of an article in the Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, vol. 32, no. 3 (February–March 2006), pp. 25–27. It is also available from the ASIST web site at http://www.asis.org/Bulletin/Feb-06/walters.html

GIS Collection Development within an Academic Library

Locating usable spatial data is essential for the application and use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). GIS data collection development constitutes a core element of GIS services within academic libraries. Managers of geospatial resources require a fundamental understanding of the nature and use of GIS data. In the creation of a GIS collection development policy, library professionals should consider the established collection development policy, needs of the GIS user community, campus GIS services, and library infrastructure. Library professionals also need to employ a variety of online resource guides and spatial search engines and navigate a network of government agencies, academic institutions, commercial enterprises, and GIS professionals to locate, select, and acquire spatial datasets. When making decisions regarding GIS data acquisition, the selector should consider cost, availability, license agreements and distribution policies, documentation, data structures, and software and hardware.

Evaluating Scholarly Communication at the Subdisciplinary Level

While traditional citation studies offer insight into the literature usage patterns of specific disciplines, they fail to capture the diversity of information needs at the subdisciplinary level. Understanding scholarly communication within subfields can help academic librarians tailor their collections to better meet the requirements of the faculty they serve. Analyzing the citations in three specialized economics journals demonstrates that practitioners of different subfields draw upon different types of resources in conducting their research, which has implications for collection development policies.

Council of Australian State Libraries (CASL) working group on stack management: Guidelines for planning collection storage of physical collections

Collection storage and access in libraries with large and complex collections require high level planning and support at the senior management level. A key issue is positioning the collection storage program appropriately within the scope of library wide management to ensure effective support and budgeting. A review of a library's current collection storage and access situation is a good starting point for the development of a long-term storage plan. The review should consider factors such as collection development policy; statutory responsibilities, for example, Legal Deposit; historical arrangements and cataloguing practices; access and preservation requirements of different categories of the collection; and especially, the range of formats to be stored.

Council of Australian State Libraries (CASL) working group on stack management

AbstractCollection storage and access in libraries with large and complex collections require high level planning and support at the senior management level. A key issue is positioning the collection storage program appropriately within the scope of library wide management to ensure effective support and budgeting.A review of a library's current collection storage and access situation is a good starting point for the development of a long-term storage plan. The review should consider factors such as collection development policy; statutory responsibilities, for example, Legal Deposit; historical arrangements and cataloguing practices; access and preservation requirements of different categories of the collection; and especially, the range of formats to be stored.

Community Consultation and Collection Development Policies in Medium-Sized New Zealand Public Libraries

This study considers how selected New Zealand public libraries engage in public consultation as part of collection development policy formulation by investigating the consultative methods used by a sample of library managers during the formulation and application of their collection development policies. Five public libraries in the North Island of New Zealand participated in the investigation. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with each of the study participants. The collection development policy documents from each library provided additional sources of data. The data were analysed according to a set of coding themes developed for the project. The results indicate that New Zealand public libraries practising responsive collection management demonstrate the following characteristics: (1) the collection development policy has been formulated as a result of research into client needs and wants; (2) this research uses a variety of community consultation and data analysis techniques; and (3) research into community and customer needs is ongoing. The investigation also shows that managers employ a limited range of consultation techniques, which needs to be broadened in order to collect more robust data about client and community needs. Furthermore, public library collection development policies, where they actually exist, are dated, outmoded and little used. The study suggests that public library managers should make greater use of library surveys and focus groups as a means of collecting consultative data from their clients. It also suggests that managers can create more robust, consultation-based collection development policies using community needs analysis techniques as an integral part of the process.

Using document delivery data for selecting medical titles in a large STM library: the experience of CISTI

PurposeThe Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (CISTI) undertook an in‐depth analysis of its current serial subscriptions to determine whether they were meeting the needs of internal clients at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and document delivery clients. The assumptions were that extended gaps existed in business literature needed by NRC clients and medical literature needed by document delivery clients. Seeks to address this issue.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis was done from two perspectives: review and analysis of usage of the print serials subscriptions; and analysis of unfilled document delivery orders. The project team matched current serial titles with document delivery usage and then classified the titles by subject. Second, the team used data from unfilled orders to create a ranked list of titles not held at CISTI but for which clients were requesting articles. The ranked titles were validated by data from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) on titles requested by Canadian libraries and not widely available in Canada.FindingsNRC users showed a need for more business titles and all client groups showed a marked need for medical titles. While 36 percent of titles in the collection were medical, they accounted for 57.2 percent of document delivery activity and for 64.6 percent of unfilled orders. As a result, CISTI purchased 135 new medical serial subscriptions and will update its collection development policy to allow for a broader collection in medicine and business.Originality/valueThe study shows that document delivery usage data can play a key role in supporting strategic collection decisions.

Cataloging Electronic Resources and Metadata: Employers' Expectations as Reflected in American Libraries and AutoCAT, 2000-2005

The institutional roles of libraries evolved from that of local resource repositories to global gateways for access by the new millennium. Twenty-first century library users demand access to electronic materials. Library school students and employers articulate expectations for entry-level cataloger positions that include understandings and familiarities with a theoretical basis for cataloging e-resources. Therefore, entry-level catalog librarian position announcements provide insight into requirements regarding graduate education, expertise, and preferred preparations for these positions. This empirical research study explores 266 entry-level cataloger position announcements published during a five-year period in order to determine the importance of cataloging e-resources as articulated by employers. A rigorous content analysis methodology enabled the researcher to identify employers' expectations and requirements among public, special, and academic libraries. Recommendations include the expansion of cataloging courses, addition of metadata schema to LIS course offerings, and the need for increased numbers of faculty teaching in these areas. Introduction Much of the future relevance for libraries will be derived from the services they provide, especially those functions of identifying, organizing, and providing access to information resources with no distinction made regarding ownership or delivery method.1 During the closing decades of the last century, the institutional roles of libraries evolved from that of local resource repositories to global gateways for access.2 In her discussion of the continual change and updating of electronic resources (e-resources) and their impact on libraries, Younger states that there is no escaping the fact that technology has moved us into a transition from a print-based world to an era in which scholarly discourse will be conducted largely within a globally networked electronic environment.3 Consequently, library users challenge librarians to provide immediate access from anywhere.4 To meet these challenges, Atkinson encouraged librarians to study the changing needs of the academic community and to design services that will meet those needs more effectively than services offered by other agencies inside or outside of academe.5 The symbiotic relationships among reference, acquisitions, and cataloging functions establish a foundation and foster an inevitable fusion of these operations. Librarians have had to rethink assumptions about which materials to hold locally, new resource sharing relationships, consortial partnerships and document delivery packages from commercial sources.6 Twenty-first century library users demand access to electronic materials. They use computers to search and receive information, create documents, and communicate with others. Libraries are increasingly spending collection development funds for current online access in lieu of purchasing print materials.7 In addition, librarians handle manifestations in an increasing array of physical formats, depend on adynamic diversity among technologies to access materials, and face the implications of providing information support in an environment in which physical remoteness becomes the rule rather than the exception.8 Expanding access beyond the resources in local and regional collections to libraries worldwide have presented significant and unique issues to librarians. E-resources have already overtaken print resources in their importance to research library collections. Scholars want broad access to digitally reformatted materials and use and prefer information that can be accessed from desktops, especially finding aids, catalogs, abstract and indexing services, and online journals. Gray literature is available with a few keystrokes.9 Librarians have to determine how best to provide access, incorporating e-resources (particularly e-journals) into traditional collection development policies and determining how electronic materials should be indexed and cataloged. …

Urquhart's Law

ABSTRACT Part 1 of this three-part paper discussed the genesis of the law formulated by Donald J. Urquhart on the use of scientific and technical (sci/tech) journals through interlibrary loan and central document delivery. It concentrated on the study of such use conducted by Urquhart in preparation for the establishment of the National Lending Library for Science and Technology (NLL), which became the central document delivery library of Britain. The focus of Part 1 was on the statistical and probabilistic bases of this law. In Part 2 the emphasis shifts to how Urquhart utilized probability to develop and manage the NLL's sci/tech journal collection. Urquhart based his collection development and management policies on a high-loan core of journals, causing the stability of sci/tech journal use over time to become the main theoretical issue. Part 2 analyzes the controversy over this issue between Urquhart and his successor, Maurice B. Line.

Okul Kütüphanelerinde Derme Geliştirme: Politikalar ve Dermelerin Betimlenmesi

Geleneksel olarak kütüphanecinin en övgüye değer görevlerinden biri, kitap seçimi ve derme geliştirme olmuştur. Bu çalışmada, okul kütüphanelerinin mevcut durumu ile derme geliştirme politikası hazırlama aşamaları arasındaki bağlantı tartışılmaktadır. Yapılan araştırmada, derme geliştirme çalışmalarıyla ve Türkiye çapında uygulanacak Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı’nın standart kitap listesi hakkında bilgi verilmiştir. Mevcut durumu göstermek üzere, 2004 – 2005 öğretim yılı içinde Ankara’da 117 ortaöğretim okul kütüphanesini kapsayan geniş kapsamlı bir araştırma yapılmıştır. Bulguların, okul kütüphaneleri için derme hazırlama ve geliştirme politikalarının düzenlenmesinde kütüphanecilere katkıda bulunması beklenmektedir.

A collection development policy for digital information resources?

Library collections are, increasingly, hybrids of print and digital materials. This paper considers whether library collection development policies, whose ‘golden age’ in Australia was in the 1980s and 1990s, are still required for today’s hybrid collections.