Use the basic concepts and principles related to the selection, evaluation, organization, and preservation of physical and digital information items.
“A library represents the mind of its collector, his fancies and foibles, his strength and weakness, his prejudices and preferences. Particularly is this the case if to the character of a collector he adds – or tries to add- the qualities of a student who wishes to know the books and the lives of the men who wrote them. The friendships of his life, the phases of his growth, the vagaries of his mind, all are represented. ”
—Sir William Osler
EXPLICATION
The heart of any library is its collection. The value of a library’s collection is reflected in how much it is used by the community. Collection management refers to the activities central to developing and maintaining a collection that is diverse, relevant, and accurate. Developing a library’s collection is not a simple matter of purchasing materials but requires consideration of many factors such as the make-up of the patron community, the mission of the library or parent organization, how the collection will be organized, how and when weeding will be undertaken, how donations to the library will be handled, how challenges to materials are handled, and of course, funding. Consideration must be given to the library’s core collection and how acquisitions build on and compliment that collection. Furthermore, mode and ease of access must also be considered. Should items be provided in the physical library, online, or both? Is it important for all branches to provide copies of an item or is providing a means of access via interlibrary loan sufficient? Should the collection be demand-oriented or value-oriented? And who will make decisions regarding acquisitions, evaluation, deselection, and preservation? No matter how comprehensive a collection development policy is, it is important to remember that it is a dynamic, rather than static, policy and must be evaluated regularly. As a collection grows in size, the collection development policy will necessarily become more detailed. Comprehensive collection development policies help librarians justify acquisitions by providing guidelines on selection, evaluation, organization, and preservation and should reflect not only the principles and philosophy of the library or parent organization but also the American Library Association’s overall commitment to intellectual freedom through access to information.
Selection
In order to make appropriate selections for a library’s collection, collection developers must have in-depth knowledge of the library’s collection, understand the purpose of the collection, and be keenly aware of the collection’s strengths and weaknesses. Lee (2000) asserts, “an effective collection must be developed with a solid understanding of its community information needs” (p. 1109). The purpose of a library’s collection will depend on the type of library and the purpose of the parent organization. Public library collections seek to meet the information needs of a diverse patron population, while school and academic library collections will reflect the mission of the school they serve and will be made up of items that further the education of the patrons by supplementing and complementing classroom materials. Special library collections may be more focused on a certain topic or specific types of materials, such as law libraries or map libraries, and target more specific information needs.
Librarians must be aware of their biases and be able to overlook them in order to build collections that reflect the many points of view inherent in a diverse patron community. Regularly conducted community analyses help public librarians keep abreast of the dynamic information needs of patrons. This brings up the question of selection philosophy: demand vs. quality. Because taxpayer’s fund library purchases, should selections be made based on their demands, or should a more altruistic stance be taken in the interest of “better[ing] the collective intelligence of the community and improve[ing] its emotional, educational, and cognitive levels” (Disher 2014 p.53). A well-balanced collection will reflect aspects of both philosophies. Furthermore, the process of selection makes it necessary to be clear about the institution’s policies regarding challenged material in order to justify a selection for purchase as well as defending it in the face of any future challenges.
Specific types of materials require different considerations. For example, selection of audio/visual materials requires ensuring that the proper equipment is available in order to use that format. Selection of journals and newspapers requires considering the cost versus the benefit. Selection of children’s material and young adult material requires consideration of reading as well as maturity levels of users. Non-English language material may require soliciting help and suggestions from the public as well as publishers and reviewers.
Digital and electronic collections may include citation and full-text databases, e-books, photos and images, downloadable and streaming media. Recommendation and selection of digital electronic resources should be covered in the collection development policy and should be handled in much the same way as print materials. Special consideration may be necessary when comparing print versus electronic versions of an item and determining which format best satisfies the needs of patrons.
Because funding is rarely sufficient to meet all the needs and demands of the patron community, it is important that collection librarians perform due diligence when deciding how to spend those precious funds. This may include reading reviews of potential purchases, acquiring advance copies of books or periodicals, and previewing digital materials via free trials or demonstrations offered by sales representatives. A collection librarian’s toolbox should contain a list of trusted reviewers and websites providing reviews as well as a list of trusted publishers, noting the types of materials for which each publisher is known.
Evaluation
Any library’s collection should be regularly evaluated to ensure its continued value to patrons. Evaluation criteria may include accuracy and currency of materials, usage, and physical condition of materials depending on evaluation goals. Collection-based evaluations, the type most often used by public libraries, may include list checking, shelf scanning, or bibliographic analysis. Collection-based evaluations provide data on collection size (growth or shrinkage), trends, expenditures, as well as how budgeting has affected the materials. User-based evaluations focus on access to, and use of, the collection and may entail circulation data analysis, interlibrary loan analysis, or user surveys. Both types of evaluations are useful in identifying strengths and gaps in the collection. One outcome of evaluation may be weeding of the collection. Weeding, or deselection, may occur for any number of reasons including the physical condition of materials, currency and accuracy of information, materials no longer meet the criteria of the collection policy, and/or space constraints. Collection development policies should include criteria for handling of discarded materials.
Organization
According to Evans and Saponaro (2005), the law of least effort refers to “people expend[ing] as little as possible of their resources (time, money, effort) to secure information” (p.22). Put simply, “ease of access trumps all” (Disher, 2014). Users care about access and convenience. If the value of a collection is reflected in its use by the patron community, then organization is critical to ensuring access to the collection and thus creating value through usage. The most common forms of organization are the Dewey Decimal classification systems and the Library of Congress classification system, both of which classify content by subject. However, as most patrons are not well-versed on either of these systems, it is important to devise other schemes to ensure patron access to materials. Strategically located displays draw patron attention not only to “New Arrivals” but also to books highlighting specific topics, genres, or authors.
Consideration must also be given to organization of digital items. Library displays should make note of digital items such as e-books as well as print items. Well laid out library webpages make it easy for patrons to locate digital items as well as databases and other information resources. Organization of online items should include easy-to-follow tutorials explaining at least basic use of online resources.
Preservation
A collection that is well-used is going to have items which fall into disrepair: pages falling out, written on, or smudged with food, worn bindings, etc. The condition of books should be checked by circulation staff and repaired as needed. CDs and DVDs may require polishing to remove smudges and small scratches. In some cases, it may be necessary to update items from one format to another in order to allow their use with current technology, for example, replacing popular VHS tapes with DVDs.
Preservation refers not only to the upkeep and repair of items in the collection but also preservation of information in the form of collections that preserve the history and cultural identity of a community. Preservation of unique collections may include providing special climate control (e.g., temperature or humidity), use of appropriate materials for repair, and special tools for handling items (e.g., gloves). It also may entail converting physical items into a digital format.
COMPETENCY DEVELOPMENT
Certainly INFO-266, Collection Management, is the class in which I learned the most about collection development. In this class I learned that collection development should be tied to, and reflect, the mission and vision of the library and, when appropriate, the parent organization. I learned how to gather information–both anecdotal and statistical–about a library’s service community as a means of gauging what materials will best suit the needs and interests of that community. I learned about the importance of having a comprehensive collection development policy. And I learned that an important part of collection management is weeding, eliminating items that no longer fit with the purpose of the collection as a whole or reflect the needs and/or interests of the community.
Other classes that also had sections related to collection development were INFO-210, Reference and Information Services, which focused on reference collections, and INFO-282, Correctional Library Management, which focused on the special considerations that must be made when developing a collection for the incarcerated, including exclusion of works portraying violent behavior and inclusion of a large variety of materials that support the rehabilitative efforts of inmates.
EVIDENCE
1. What is a Collection? (discussion post)
The first piece I offer as evidence of my mastery of Competency F is a discussion post from INFO-266—Collection Development. The premise of scenario two was to assume myself to be the head of a special library devoted to model and prototype railroading. Some board members are interested in “expanding the scope of the collection to include a variety of models, including some that have historical value” (Disher, 2016), while others believe the models should be in a museum instead of a library. For the post, I had to explain the difference between a museum collection and a library collection as well as explain my position on the suggestion. My answer—that the models should be included in the library collection—is based on the premises that “items [in a library] must be connected to each other in some way” and “the intended audience or users define or are used to define what items are ‘appropriate’ for their use” (Disher, 2014, p.1). User-defined collection development is central to a demand-oriented selection philosophy.
2. Collection Development Philosophy
The next piece of evidence is another discussion post for INFO-266, this one in response to articles regarding collection development philosophy. In the first article, “The case for quality book selection,” Bob champions a value-oriented philosophy, arguing that librarians are better suited than patrons to decide what material patrons should be reading. The second article, “Give ‘em what they want: a one-year study of unmediated patron driven acquisition of e-Books,” Fischer advocates for demand-oriented collection development, noting that funds are better spent purchasing materials (in this case, e-books) that patrons demand because the materials will certainly be used. Both questions posed by the instructor required a discussion of my impressions of the two arguments in an effort to determine which argument was more in line with my collection development philosophy. From my answers, it is clear that while I feel it can be appropriate to expose patrons to reading material other than that which they usually choose, my collection development philosophy is more in line with that of demand-oriented rather than quality-oriented.
3. Selection Recommendations for a Public Library
Collection development is a key task in any library. One assignment in INFO-266 required making selection recommendations for the San Jose Public Library using some basic information about the library and a budget allocation of $750. First, I collected additional information about the patron community by analyzing the demographics and geodemography of the primary service area. Armed with this information, I made a preliminary plan to select items targeting the needs and interests of specific facets of the community. I not only had to decide what titles to purchase but also the number of copies of each item. For each item, my rational was supported with information based on my pre-selection analysis. My recommendations reflect a tendency towards a demand-oriented collection development philosophy. This assignment was challenging because as a student, I am use to working towards providing THE right answer for a question or task. However, as pointed out by my instructor in comments provided at the end of the assignment, there is no right or wrong answer for this type of assignment. All a librarian tasked with collection development can do is strive to build a collection that best meets the information and entertainment needs of library patrons and to do so within the constraints of budget allocations.
CONCLUSION
As stated previously, the heart of any library is its collection. Collection development is a critical task requiring understanding of the purpose of the collection, the mission of the institution housing the collection, and the make-up of the patron community in order to determine its interests and information needs and make appropriate selections for purchase. It also requires regular evaluation of the collection and the users in order to keep the collection current, accurate, and relevant as well as how to preserve items for use and special preservation requirements inherent in certain types of collections.
The discussion and evidence presented here demonstrates my understanding of the necessary components in a comprehensive collection development policy as well as my understanding and mastery of collection development tasks.
References
Disher, W. (2014). Crash course in collection development. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.
Evans, G. E., & Zarnosky Saponaro, M. (2005). Developing library and information center Collections (5th ed.). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
Lee, H.-L. (2000), What is a collection? J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci., 51: 1106–1113. doi:10.1002/1097-4571(2000)9999:9999<::AID-ASI1018>3.0.CO;2-T
Kristin Lehigh 