Fundamentals of Collection Development & Management

FUNDAMENTALS of COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT & MANAGEMENT Peggy Johnson American Library Association Chicago 2004 While extensive effort has gone into ensuring the reliability of information appearing in this book, the publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, on the accuracy or reliability of the information, and does not assume and hereby disclaims any liability to any person for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions in this publication. Composition and design by ALA Editions in Avenir and Sabon using QuarkXPress 5.0 for the PC Printed on 50-pound white offset, a pH-neutral stock, and bound in 10-point coated cover stock by Victor Graphics The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. ϱ Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Johnson, Peggy, 1948- Fundamentals of collection development and management / Peggy Johnson. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8389-0853-5 (alk. paper) 1. Collection development (Libraries) 2. Collection management (Libraries) 3. Collection development (Libraries)—United States. 4. Collection management (Libraries)—United States. I. Title. Z687.J64 2004 025.2'1—dc22 2003016815 Copyright © 2004 by the American Library Association. All rights reserved except those which may be granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. Printed in the United States of America 0807060504 54321 ❙ CONTENTS FIGURES v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii PREFACE ix 1 Introduction to Collection Management and Development 1 2 Organization and Staffing 32 3 Policy, Planning, and Budgets 65 4 Developing Collections 101 5 Managing Collections 138 6 Marketing, Liaison, and Outreach Activities 172 7 Electronic Resources 199 8 Cooperative Collection Development and Management 235 9 Collection Analysis: Evaluation and Assessment 268 APPENDIX: SELECTION AIDS 299 GLOSSARY 307 INDEX 327 iii This page intentionally left blank ❙ FIGURES 3-1 Collection Development Policy: Geography 81 3-2 Budget Planning Cycle 93 4-1 Online Order Request Form 112 4-2 Approval Plan Notification Slip 114 5-1 Simple Treatment Decision Form 143 5-2 Detailed Treatment Decision Form 144 6-1 Faculty Profile 188 7-1 E-Resources Decision-Making Flowchart 213 8-1 The Three Components of Successful Cooperation 237 9-1 Collection Analysis Methods 270 v This page intentionally left blank ❙ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book could not have been written without the support of many. My thanks go to Marlene Chamberlain, my editor, for her persistence and encouragement during the time it took to get this book from concept to reality; to my colleagues and confidantes Bonnie MacEwan and Barbara Allen, who were always supportive; and to my parents, who kept asking if I was done yet. I also wish to acknowledge Bonnie MacEwan’s contribu- tions to chapter 3, especially the section on budgets. I owe the most to Lee, my best friend, for his patience, love, and inspiration. vii This page intentionally left blank ❙ PREFACE Writing a book on collection development and management offers two challenges—what to include and what to exclude, not unlike the practice of collection development and management itself. Entire books can be and have been written on the topics addressed in each chapter in this book. Within the limitations of a single book, my goal is to introduce the theory and practice of collection development and management and to present each of the responsibilities that fall within it. In addition, chapters contain a brief history of how these responsibilities and topics have evolved along with the major influencing factors. Collection development and management are the meat and potatoes of libraries. If you don’t have a collection, you don’t have a library. In the earliest libraries, people concentrated on building collections and locating materials to add, though the need for preservation has been with us for the duration of libraries. Medieval monks often spent their entire lives copy- ing manuscripts to preserve them—and creating questions about the muta- bility of content similar to those that trouble us today. By the late 1970s, the idea of collection development and management as a professional specialization and as more than “selection” (if ever it was just that) was gaining acceptance. Over the last thirty years, collection development and management have come to encompass a suite of responsibilities. This book aims to address this breadth of responsibilities. Chapter 1 presents an introduction to and an overview of collection management and development. Chapter 2 addresses the organization and assignment of collection development and management responsibilities within libraries. Chapter 3 looks at planning activities, including policies and budgeting. Chapter 4, “Developing Collections,” introduces various topologies for defining types of materials and explores the selection process and criteria, sources for identifying titles and acquisition options, and selection challenges. ix x ❙ Preface “Managing Collections,” chapter 5, examines the responsibilities that come into play after an item is added to a collection: decisions about weeding, storage, preservation and conservation, serials cancellation, and protecting materials from theft and damage. The very important responsibilities of reaching out to and understanding a library’s user community are the topics of chapter 6. Electronic resources are addressed in every chapter; however, their special nature and the unique challenges as well as opportunities they present are considered in chapter 7. Chapter 8 consid- ers library cooperation and its increasing importance to those with collection development and management responsibilities. The final chapter cov- ers collection evaluation (Is it a “good” collection?) and assessment (Does it serve the community for which it is intended?). Two appendixes provide suggested “Selection Aids” and a library-centered “Glossary” of terms used in this book. The work of collection development and management is being pro- foundly changed by the Internet and increasing options for resources in digital format. Librarians select print materials that will be digitized, remote e-resources to which they will subscribe, e-books and CD-ROMs that they will purchase, and free web resources to which they will direct their library community. Decisions about e-resources cannot be separated from the decisions that librarians make on a daily basis—selecting, budgeting, planning, assessing and evaluating, canceling and withdrawing, and so on. To that end, I have aimed to integrate digital with more famil- iar, traditional formats in each chapter. Nevertheless, e-resources continue to present unique challenges, and a separate chapter addressing these remains necessary. Collection development and management does not exist in a vacuum. It is done well only when its practitioners interact constantly with others within a library and with the collection’s users and potential users. Librarianship, regardless of the speciality or range of responsibilities or the library in which it is practiced, cannot be separated from other areas of professional research and theory. To reiterate that point, I have sought to introduce the reader to relevant theories and resources outside the traditional literature of librarianship and information management. References are made to experts and their research in sociology, organizational behav- ior, communications, history of science and technology, and business and management. A list of suggested readings accompanies each chapter. For the most part, I have recommended more recent resources, electing not to provide literature reviews unless a landmark article or book provides a historical context for current discussion. Preface ❙ xi Each chapter, excluding the first one, concludes with a case study. The reader is presented with a fictional library situation that illustrates the topics covered in that chapter. Each case includes pertinent facts needed to analyze the issue and make recommendations or solve a problem. The reader should consult materials presented in the chapter’s “Suggested Readings” for additional resources that will assist in responding to the problems presented in the case study. My intent is to ground theory and recommended practices in the reality of situations librarians encounter every day and to foster analysis either through group discussion or indi- vidual exploration. To this end, questions, outlined in an “Activity” section, accompany each case. All URLs referenced in this book were valid as of late summer 2003. The URLs at the web site of the American Library Association are contin- uing to change; therefore, I have provided directions (a sequence of steps) for locating sources within this web site. This book is intended for those with little experience in collection development and management—students preparing to enter the field of librarianship and experienced librarians with new or expanded responsibilities. I hope that the combination of history, theory, current thinking, and practical advice also will be of interest to seasoned selectors, who may value a work that aims to present a contemporary perspective on important issues. This page intentionally left blank CHAPTER 1 ❙ Introduction to Collection Management and Development This chapter begins with an introduction to terms and concepts, followed by a capsule history of the

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