Lord Keynes, the British economist, is famous for saying that in the long run we are all dead. His point was that remedies that work in the long run are of little use to those who live now. Information professionals live in the present where there are many opportunities for both hard copy and digital collections to be developed and managed. In fact, the growing number of information resources makes developing selective collections more valuable than ever. As long as there are collections, there will need to be collection developers.
However, there may well be fewer collection developers and they may not be mostly employed in libraries or other traditional information agencies. There will be more user developed collections as in the collection of bookmarks on your personal computer. The rapid proliferation of Internet resources along with the continued popularity of tangible media should create a situation where users value pre-selected collections of material that is of good quality and genuinely useful. It may take some time before the value of these collections is widely appreciated. As WWW resources become much more popular, the most important opportunity for collection developers may be associated with WWW sites and their owners.
In the past, the present, and the future, these are the key responsibilities:
Each of these functions will be needed in the future. As long as there are collections, collection developers will be needed. The question is whether or not they will be full-time information professionals or enthusiastic amateurs.
In the future, artificial intelligence may be available to develop collections on an ad hoc basis in an effective and efficient manner. Problems with WWW search engines and directories illustrate that automated collection development is not likely tomorrow. Still, it seems reasonable to imagine a situation in the near future where "on the spot" collections are created according to user selected criteria by much smarter search engines. Such engines would verify that the sites are alive and current before including them in the collection.
Digital publishing allows collections of smaller "chunks" of informational and entertainment products. Articles or single songs may be added to the collection rather than subscribing to a periodical or ordering an album. This will encourage users to create their own collections. Why purchase an album if you only want a single song. Why purchase a book if you only want one chapter? As the information environment becomes more complex, professional selectors may be required to order items and develop collections if the software does not make this a relatively easy and intuitive process.
It does seem reasonable that there will be fewer collection developers and more identifiers, retrievers, and evaluators, especially as computer software becomes smarter and it becomes even easier for individuals to create and distribute their own intellectual products.
What do collection developers do that ordinary folk cannot do? Professional judgment is obviously a key ingredient as is education that makes efficient, effective identification, retrieval, and evaluation more likely. We add value by:
Above all, we eliminate noise. We select and retain only good and useful items. We keep collections to an optimum, functional size. We weed regularly to eliminate any dead wood.
Will there be a need for traditional collections and collection developers in the future? In particular, what about the need for collectors to develop traditional library collections?
What do collection developers do that lay people are likely to find difficult or are not likely to do well?
Are collection developers likely to be victims of technological unemployment?
What can collection developers and managers do to add value to their collections?
