Each aspect of the information sciences has its own vocabulary with words and phrases representing essential concepts. Here are some of the more important concepts and definitions for developing and managing collections. You will also find some introductory content.
"..., we have to be thinking about the library in the user environment rather than the user in the library environment." ~ Phyllis B. Spies [This is the key to library survival.]
"Information is random and miscellaneous, while knowledge is orderly and cumulative. Information is the raw stuff from which knowledge is derived; but information must be organized to foster connections and relevant interpretations before it will lead to knowledge." ~Sheila T. Dowd
"The majority of readers do not know their requirements, and their interests take a definite shape only after seeing and handling a well-arranged collection...." ~ Ranganthan
"In the ideal world, we have the right information at the right time, in the right place, in the right form, and of sufficient completeness and quality to perform the current activity." ~ William Jones
"...Collection development is turning into collection management and the librarian will increasingly be the interpreter of information, not its selector. To the degree that selection takes place, it is believed that it will be on a grand macro scale and not in the selection of individual materials." ~ Curt Holleman
"In the electronic age, there are immense pressures on librarians to abandon their selection principles. There is the pressure to abandon print in order to be pro active about the future; there is the pressure to stop collecting and respond only to demand, when the significance of the demand is usually at least partly defined by the status of the demander; and there is the pressure to purchase collections of materials aggregated by vendors without regard for the needs of individual libraries." ~ Curt Holleman
"The chief responsibility of a collection manager is to bring together a grounded understanding of her community and its information needs with a sophisticated and informed understanding of the publications universe. Decisions are taken on both a macro level ( how large an approval plan should we have? with which publishers?) and a micro level (is this book appropriate? worth its price? and likely to be used?) to achieve balanced and affordable collections serving the main needs of the community at a variety of levels." ~ Paul Metz
"[The Internet] made looking for these poems a whole lot
easier than
having to go up to some strange librarian who was enjoying her Diet
Coke and would do just about anything to get these people out of the
library to go on her break. The Internet is like having a virtual
librarian minus the bad attitude and breath." ~ anonymous female junior
high school student as reported in "The Digital Disconnect: the
widening gap between Internet-savvy students and their schools" ~
"One 2002 estimate suggests that Google search engines handle
more
questions in a day and a half than all the libraries in the U.S.
provide in a year." ~
"Simplistically, libraries and archives came into being to provide a central location for hard-to-find, scarce, expensive or unique material. Scarcity of information is the basis for the modern library. In countries where information continues to be scarce, a library's role is still unambiguous. In some countries where access to information is now akin to access to electricity or water, the reason to have freestanding storehouses of a subset of all information is harder to articulate. Libraries in such countries can provide access to more information than any user could want or need. Rangathan's rule "for every reader, his or her book," might be now redefined as "for every reader, hugh amounts of free-floating content, anywhere, anytime." ~ OCLC.
"As budget-squeezed public libraries rush to buy DVDs for an
insatiable public, branches must act more like multimedia centers and
less like temples of the printed page. ... "So many of us are attached
to the text, and the paper, and the binding. It's so tactile. But many
of our customers are leaving text behind." ~ Beth Elder
"Libraries should move beyond the role of collector and organizer of content, print and digital, to one that establishes the authenticity and provenance of content and provides the imprimatur of quality in an information-rich but context-poor world." ~ OCLC
The Online Dictionary of Library and Information Science (ODLIS) is reasonably comprehensive and the definitions are clear and accurate.
A less comprehensive glossary of common library terms may be found at the Marrion Science & Engineering Library at the University of Utah.
In a 2005 presentation, "Delighting the Real User, Stephen Abram makes several key points. Here is one. "As information providers, we are expected to ensure information seekers:
A recent OCLC Environmental Scan contained these statements:
"Nevertheless, we are sure that rapid transformations, particularly in the technological sphere of the public world, are more profound and more frequent than at any other time in humanity's history. Whatever occupation we hold, the day-to-day reality of our workplace is change."
"There is a subdued sense of having lost control of what used to be a tidy, well-defined universe evident among those who work in this information environment. Many are pessimistic, some are optimistic, but one theme persists: the landscape has changed and the maps have not been published yet."
Rick Anderson has thoughtfully commented on our changing professional environment. While the comments seen below apply broadly to libraries and other information agencies, they have some special resonance with developing and managing collections.
"Over the last ten years, the information world has changed in fundamental, radical ways. It seems to me that as a profession, we have responded by changing in tentative, superficial ways. (In the literature, we refer to this as "championing core values in a time of change.") At our best, we're tying to make sure that important babies aren't thrown out with the bathwater of obsolete practices -- but often I fear that what we're really doing is trying to maintain ... an acceptable level of professional comfort."
Rick argues that we can select one of two possible outcomes:
Stephen Abram clearly indicates where we must begin. We must understand users in terms of their:
Collection development and management is simply helping users to be more successful in completing their tasks.
Creating born digital content and digitizing existing hard copy content has moved forward rapidly. The video IPod is a good example with users watching recent TV programs and listening to digital tunes. Blogging and podcasting are other examples. Data is increasingly born digital as are most books and periodicals even in sold in print editions. Consider the rapid growth in collections of digital reference books into digital databasees. School children in the elementary grades are creating digital products of some quality. More and more users are becoming creators. No need to go to the library when scholarly periodicals are available at your desk. Google, Yahoo! and others have begun substantial book digitization projects.
Content is no longer format dependent and users are not limited to traditional distribution channels. Content found in technical reports may be available in print, xhtml and pdf formats. The print copy may be purchased from the publisher while the other two formats are downloadable. Most reference and periodical publishers are increasing the proportion of their titles available in digital collections available via full-text databases or the web.
More libraries, typically those with special collections, are creating their own digital collections, becoming publishers, and making these available via the web. Thus, the library becomes a publisher and a database provider.
Wireless communication creates ubiquitous computing: creating, sharing, and accessing content is easier than before. Many libraries provide chat reference and a few provide 24/7 access to reference assistance.
In 2004, seventy million American adults logged onto the Internet in a typical day. Over 95 percent of U.S. public libraries provided Internet access. Students, many faculty, and laypeople turn to online information sources before print or the library. As a result, library use, especially for walk-in reference questions and preparation for school and college reports has declined. As OCLC summarizes: "The indisputable fact is that information and content on the open web is far easier and convenient to access and find than is information and content in libraries, virtual or physical." The Internet allows "nomadic computing" via a wide range of digital appliances. It also encourages the notion that library services ought to be available 24/7.
One 2000 study found that 55 percent of library users had Internet access at home. They tend to use the Internet for news, health information, recipes and other 'short term' content while using the library for longer term content and extensive study. Libraries received good marks for ease and low cost use, accurate content, and hard copy. The Internet received good marks for ease of access to content, range and variety of sources, currency, enjoyment of browsing, and freedome from distractions found in libraries. Females were more likely to use the library.
Bloggs and podcasting allow ordinary people to create and distribute news and opinion to a global audience. The variety of content had dramatically increased. More and more adults are creating content, textual, audio, or video and sharing their content via the web. RSS feeds make it easy to aggregrate content from many sources into one convenient package. The Internet has merged the definitions of author and publisher. Being and staying connected 24/7 creates some impatience with traditional ways of interacting with needed content.
If the "web is the information space," we must define and articulate
a persuasive role for the library and its collections in that space.
One suggestion is that the library provides a "comprehensive, rich
discovery experience as close to the user as possible." How do we do that? Another
key is to identify and evaluate the user's "resource environment" to
become more familiar with threats and opportunities. It is not
sufficient to place content on the web. Rather, we must integrate
content into user workflows, and insure "predictable, often immediate
fulfilment. What does that mean?
This is the elimination of the middle person. For example, Dell established this model by selling computers directly to users without any retail storefronts. The Internet disintermediates the library by allowing users to go directly to those who issue information and entertainment without the library retail storefront. Disintermediation includes the notion of self-service or self-sufficiency. You select your own Dell computer without asking the salesman for help. Users select the most convenient, straight-forward way to find, acquire, and use information. Ease of use becomes crucial.
Twigging is the division of knowledge or information into ever-smaller fields or topics. This is true of both scholarly and popular topics. As a result, more material is needed to cover the same scope because there are more narrowly focused or specialized publications. At the same time, material becomes more expensive because of the smaller audience. This is particularly a problem with hard copy scholarly periodicals where small audience, but expensive periodicals create a variety of problems.
A few large foreign or multi-national publishers dominate scholarly periodical publishing. This is a profitable business and their regular price increases have resulted in the "serials crisis" where more and more collection development money is spent on serials rather than books. Given the inflation in scholarly periodical prices, most research libraries are faced with a constant need to cancel some periodicals.
Collection development librarians face an "unprecedented array of content" in a wide mix of formats. At a time when monies are reduced, it is difficult to keep up the more traditional print formats as well as the newer digital ones. Print formats remain popular and print collections continue to be developed. At the same time, ebooks are also popular, especially in academic libraries. In public libraries, there is demand for standard print, large print, and audio books. Videocassettes remain popular even while DVD circulations increase.
Digital formats seem to have a relatively short life before they must be "refreshed" or discarded as new, "improved" formats are introduced. New DVD formats are a good example.
Digital files and photo-duplication technology allow books to
be
manufactured one at a time or in short runs. This allows books to
"always be in print" as well as allow books to be issued where there is
a relatively small audience. Vanity publishing becomes astonishingly
easy.
Increasingly, we select content that is unbundled. For
example,
periodical articles are available as individual items rather than via a
subscription to the periodical. Increasingly, we also select content
that is
bundled. For example, we select a bundle of Sage periodical titles
rather than selecting individual titles. In both cases, digitized
content allows the selector to select both "chunks" of content as well
as "collections" of content.
Collections are increasingly generic. Even research libraries
tend
to acquire the same material. This raises concern about the relevance
of "community uniqueness."
Nearly anyone can be a publisher. Inexpensive computers allow
the
amateur to create print books, audio books, or ebooks and place that
content on a website for anyone to use or a fee may be charged. The same is true for music, games, images, or whatever.
Nanopublishing or issuing microcontent, using inexpensive digital
resources and the web to
create and distribute content, creates substantial growth in
publishing on narrower topics to reach a targeted audience.
Bibliographic control becomes more difficult. The substantial increase
in new content creates selection problems.
The popularity of blogs is a good example of how self-publishing of content [text, sound, images] can dramatically enlarge the intellectual landscape. This "social publishing" has also increased acceptance of information from non-expert sources. Given the Internet, social publishing can be much more timely than traditional publishing which often has a notable time lag.
Increasingly, users prefer multi-media content.
Entertainment and information needs may be meet by the wireless
telephone-pda-media player-image viewer-laptop with content downloaded
from publisher, vendor, or library. Distribution channels for
intellectual content are more varied and pervasive than before. Users
expect convenience, immediacy, and personalization in content delivery.
This convergence of technologies seems likely to change the way that
people interact with content.
Libraries, especially research oriented ones, are
substantially
reducing spending for print while increasing spending on digital
resources. Public libraries are reducing spending on print while
increasing spending on audio-visual resources.
While there are several different types of information
agencies or
organizations, developing collections in libraries will receive most
attention here. Libraries typically collect items that are widely
available and are relatively inexpensive.
Museums and archives typically collect items that are unique
and would be expensive to acquire [such as the papers of a notable
author or political figure]. Librarians tend to focus on content rather
than container or artifact. Those in museums and archives typically
focus on the artifact and then on the content.
Librarians select new items although there is
some retrospective collection development to fill gaps. Those in
museums and archives select older items likely to tell an
important story. Librarians weed collections while those in museums and
archival settings rarely do so.
Libraries represent:
Thus libraries contain both physical and virtual space. Collections may also be physical or virtual.
Collections and services vary according to the model the
library has adopted. Common models [from Marylaine Block] include the
library as:
Information agencies add value to informational and
recreational
items by
saving the time of the user. Selection
reduces
the
number of items to be considered to those likely to be most useful and
most
popular. Thus, we select items of "high content value." Through the
provision
of intellectual and physical access, the
information agency
makes
it relatively easy for the user to identify useful items and have them
in
hand.
The purpose of any collection is to help someone to be more
successful. OCLC makes the point clearly: "When Joe
Householder
goes to a hardware store to buy a drill, he's not actually buying a
drill. He's buying the ability to make a small hole. Perhaps libraries
and allied organizations have become overly focused on drills of late."
When Bill Robinson goes to the library to check out a heroic fantasy
novel, he's gaining the ability to escape from daily woes and perhaps
learn a bit more about sword play. When Daniel Robinson goes to the
library to check out material on economics, he hopes to be more
successful with his econ paper. Outcome measures of success are
essential to library survival. We need to be able to specifically
relate collections to user success and use their definition of success.
We should not be in the "spinach is good for you" business.
A collection is a coherent selection or gathering of appropriate items to serve an identifiable need for a particular audience. An anthology is a collection of shorter works with a common theme. Collections are developed with specific priorities and audiences in mind so that some items are more important than others. With the exception of the comprehensive collection, collections are filtered to insure that the most appropriate, likely to be most useful, items are included and less useful items are excluded. Collections are created to insure that the right item is available for the right person at the right time in the right order and at the right price.
Until recently, most information professionals assumed that
"collection"
meant ownership and that the only way to insure access to items was to
purchase them and place them in a local collection. Today, we use local
and
distant collections. Those who create and distribute information make
it
available at no cost, purchase, lease, and subscription so that
ownership may
be
temporary or subject to a variety of licensing requirements. The
Internet
provides local users with access to many resources that are not locally
owned. It is not appropriate to link ownership and collecting.
The important point
is
that ownership is one method of providing access, Ownership certainly
does
not guarantee access since owned items may be in circulation, lost or
missing, or otherwise unavailable. Besides ownership, other methods of
providing access include lease/rental, borrowing, and visiting other
collections.The
Internet and the more traditional ILL are also examples of shared
collections or collections owned by one person or agency
but
shared
with others.
Collections focus on both intellectual content and on the
container.
In
many cases, users simply need content and any one of
several
containers will do. In some cases, the container is very important. An
application may run only on a particular platform or an image must be
in a
particular format. A novel wanted by the partially-sighted must be in
the
large print edition. In other cases, the user really doesn't care. It
may be
that a mass market paper edition is just as good as the large print
one. The
digital full-text but no image version of a periodical article may be
just as
good as the printed original. It is important to know when certain
content
needs to be in a particular format or container. For example, back
files of
periodicals in micro formats may not be used because of user distaste
for the
format.
As containers change in popularity, collections need to
change. For
example, many public libraries now report that a half or more of all
the items circulating are in audio-visual formats. CDs, videotapes,
audio books, and DVDs are notably popular.
Traditionally, we have selected information or entertainment in relatively large containers, e.g. the monograph or a periodical subscription. Sometimes, this is a cost-effective way to secure information. Other times, it is a poor investment because most users only need part of the book or an article of two from the periodical. As more information is created digitally, it is easier to purchase "chunks" of information as needed. Document delivery services, Uncover is an example, allow organizations and individuals to purchase articles as needed without subscription.
In full text databases, the container is often part of a "bundle" of many containers (periodical titles) issued by different publishers. Bundles are attractive because of their lower per title costs, but likely will include items not locally desired.
As more items are leased, the library may be unable to preserve items for future use because the lease may not allow permanent retention. Increasingly, control over local collections with digital containers has moved from librarians to vendors. As publishers remove titles from databases, local collections change in often hidden ways. Content instability and content erosion are increasingly important concerns for collection developers and managers.
Since a collection provides access, it may include locally held items as well as items in distant collections. The local hard copy collection normally provided relatively immediate access to standard, frequently requested items in traditional formats. Distant hard copy collections are more likely to contain specialized, less popular items. As more publishers and information vendors provide digital materials and collections, the distinction between local and distant collections disappears.
This "one stop" access benefits users, but is also confusing since intellectual and physical access blur together. Users may not distinguish between resources locally available, perhaps via a library portal, and resources available elsewhere on the WWW. The library website may not seem that different from others.
Offline collections are those hard copy items that are not digitized. Online collections may include locally held or distant items that are digital and are available online. It seems likely that most information content will be online in the future while many fictional items will remain offline [unless the ebook becomes more popular].
Collections may be comprehensive. The comprehensive collection is inclusive and attempts to include all or nearly all available items on a chosen subject. Because they are relatively expensive to create and maintain, most information agencies have few comprehensive collections. Local history in a public or academic library would be a good example.
Selective collections are the norm; they are exclusive and attempt to include standard and noteworthy items. Nearly all collections are selective and that is why collection development is so challenging. Selecting the best items from several is challenging, especially with reduced financial resources.
Collections may be centralized. With a centralized collection, everything is found at one physical location. There is an economy of scale and duplication of material, staff, and space is substantially reduced. In academic libraries, there has been a notable trend to more centralized collections. Lack of adequate financial resources encourages centralization in information agencies.
Decentralized or distributed collections are more popular with users since they are closer to where the work is done. A departmental library adjacent to class rooms and faculty offices is a good example. Accessing a web source from a home or office work station is another example. Decentralized collections may present barriers to users if needed material is found in a variety of locations and it is difficult to get from one to another.
Collections should be balanced. By definition, comprehensive collections are balanced. Balance means different things to different people. For many, a balanced collection is one in which a variety of views are present on topics, especially controversial ones. For example, a balanced collection would include holocaust denial works as well as the conventional ones. Here, balance may be controversial since it would include views that are unpopular and not based upon evidence.
Because it is unlikely that a collection could ever truly be balanced [does one pro work really balance one con work?] it may be better to consider diverse collections. Diversity would also mean that a wide variety of views are represented, but there is no strict attempt at balance.
Another way of looking at a balanced or diverse collection is to say that such a collection includes material for several audiences. Thus, the public library would have something on time management for the adult who reads at the 7th grade level and the adult who reads at the post-graduate level. The school library media center would include material for children who read below, at, and above grade level.
Core collections or the core of a collection consists of the basic or standard works in a field or subject. For example, MS Word is the standard word processing application. Core items are usually found on selective lists of the best or standard works.
A second definition for core is that the core consists of those items that are most heavily used, such as the top 10 downloads at a FTP site. In both cases, the core as best items or the most heavily used items, the core collection will change over time.The Pareto Principle (Vilfredo) is often known as the 80/20 rule. In the late 1800s, the Italian economist found that 80% of the wealth was held by 20% of the population. Since then, others have found that these ratios are widely applicable. For example, in academic research libraries, about 80% of collection use comes from 20% of the collection. This 20 percent would be the core of the collection.
Core access is a similar notion for
items that are not
held
locally, but are considered essential and are available locally. For
example,
access to the Westlaw databases in a law library or law firm may be
core
access.
Selection is the act of deciding which items should be included in the collection. For each selection act, there is also an exclusion act because of the very real problems associated with opportunity cost [if you spend money on one item you can't spend that money on another]. Examining the inclusions and exclusions over time provides insight into selector and community values and interests.
In most research libraries, selection had been done by the subject experts, the faculty. In the last four decades, academic librarians have assumed this role in academic research libraries. There is clearly a tension between the role of the selector as a subject expert and the role of the selector as an information professional who is familiar with collection development and management. As more materials are available on the Internet, the responsibility for selection may return to the user, especially those who are subject experts.
Selection is intended to match intellectual content with a particular audience. The selector must be familiar with present and potential users so that likely use ran be realistically estimated. Selection is intended to strengthen the collection. The selector must be familiar with the present collection so that gaps may be filled, strengths maintained, and unneeded duplication avoided. Selection is intended to be cost-effective. The selector should know which formats or methods of securing access are best and when an item should be purchased, borrowed, leased, or ignored.
Unless a comprehensive collection is being developed, selection involves both inclusion and exclusion. Selected items are more accessible than those not selected and are much more likely to be used. In 1934, Jose Ortega y Gasset argued persuasively that there were too many books, that many books were "useless and stupid" and that the proper role of the librarian was as a "filter interposed between man and the torrent of books." Ranganthan made a similar comment in his fourth law of library science which is that the purpose of the library "is to save the time of the reader." In a time of infoglut and information overload, this function is more important than before.
Traditionally," pure" selection was making decision on one item at a time after a thorough local examination of that item. In some libraries, pure selection has been called "previewing." Because of time, effort, the need for subject knowledge, and difficulty in getting examination copies, pure selection is rarely practiced. As more publishers provide sample chapters of new books on their web sites, it is easier to examine at least samples from a new work so some form of pure selection may return. Shareware, freeware, or demo software allows examination before purchase but usually requires some time and effort.
"Proxy" selection is the delegation of selection to another, usually a subject specialist who is a reviewer. The reviewer does the pure selection, creates the review, and concludes with a recommendation. Nearly all collections are based on proxy selection. Effective proxy selection assumes expert knowledge, but sometimes it is difficult to know if the reviewer is a genuine expert. Objectivity is also assumed. Since people write reviews, they vary notably in quality and utility. It is usually best to find more than one review and compare the conclusions. Reviews are usually timely for popular material, but there is often considerable time-lag in the reviews for scholarly and specialized materials. Many popular items receive multiple reviews while less popular items may not be reviewed.
Gathering is selecting items in batches. This is normally done with more comprehensive collections. The two best-known gathering methods are the "standing order" and the "approval plan." The standing order [sometimes called a blanket order] is an arrangement with the publisher so that you agree to take one [or more] copies of all new material as it is issued, The benefit is a greater discount, earlier arrival, and no need to select any items by that publisher. Standing orders may also be placed for groups of publishers such as all university presses.
The approval plan is essentially a standing order with a vendor that allows a small (5 - 8%] number of items to be returned. The information agency creates a "profile" listing characteristics of works desired or not. Such characteristics are usually limited to tags found in the MARC record such as subject descriptor, LC or DDC class number, publisher name, price, format and the like. The vendor will match this list against the characteristics of new works acquired during a week or fortnight. Items that meet the specifications are then sent to the agency for examination [a form of semi-pure selection]. For doubtful or no return items, the vendor may send slips instead of the book. Slips for desired items will be returned to the vendor and those non-returnable items will then be shipped. The main benefit of the approval plan is that it eliminates the need to select most obvious items because they will come automatically. Selectors could then spend more time on more difficult selections such as small press books, foreign language material, and unusual formats. In general, approval plan vendors focus on books from major domestic publishers so that a collection based only on approval plans would not likely be as diverse as one thoughtfully selected in-house [if using a variety of selection resources and industrious, informed selectors].
In recent years, there has been some discussion of two
approaches
towards
access selection "just in case" and "just
in time."
"Just in case" is publication based collection development which
attempts to
select and add to the collection a variety of seemingly important items
before or as
they are issued. It further assumes that useful material may not be
available
in the future and thus selects items so that they will be available
when
needed
in the future. "Just in case" selection is not economically feasible in
most
environments.
"Just in time" is user based collection development which attempts to select those items requested by users for immediate or near future use. Ordering requested films, articles or monographs should eliminate waste (if the user really knows what is needed and does not request too many items), but also eliminates the need for librarian selectors. It may assume that useful items will be available when needed and thus selects only items needed now. As more information is found on web servers [and preserved] and publishing on demand becomes more popular, "just in time" collection development is likely to become even more popular. It can certainly be much less expensive.
Traditionally, librarians have selected particular items for
particular
[actual or potential] users -- by the drink.Today, many libraries
select
bundles of materials -- the kitchen sink --
which will
include some
locally
important items and others that are not useful. Bundles are
particularly
important when selecting content from periodical publishers or
collections of reference materials.
The
bundle is less expensive and easier to handle than ordering individual
titles, but you
are
likely to receive some titles with little local interest. However, some
evidence suggests that availability creates local demand when items
become locally visible.
Collection development is the process of establishing priorities to allow the most effective use of resources to develop a collection to meet particular needs and wants. Collection development includes:
Collection management includes a variety of functions and activities associated with creating and maintaining a useful, usable, and used collection. A good definition might be the systematic, efficient, and effective use of scarce resources to provide information as it is needed. This is challenging in an environment with increasing demand for information, including new formats or containers, while faced with fewer financial resources. The heart of collection management is mediating among competing needs, especially reconciling divergent and competing wants and needs with conspicuously inadequate resources.
Typical collection management functions include:
For selection to make a difference, the items selected must be purchased in a timely and cost-effective manner. Purchasing, ideally, should acquire all selected items:
The collection developer must have a close, effective working relationship with those who purchase materials. In a library, this would be the acquisitions [order work] department. In other agencies, it would be purchasing department. Poor relationships between selection and purchasing can cause many problems and are likely to result in inadequate collections. For example, purchasing could insist that you only order items easily available from a particular vendor or prohibit any orders that require prepayment.
Firm orders are orders for individual items to be purchased. Firm refers to the fact that the information agency is committed to purchasing this item if it arrives in a timely manner. This is the traditional output of the selection process.
It is equally important that good relationships exist with those in the technical services so that new items received are soon ready for the shelf. It does little good to select an important new monograph if it is placed in an storage for several months awaiting cataloging copy.
Developing and managing collections has existed since the beginnings of civilization, most visibly in temple libraries and early bureaucracies. In the U.S., this activity was called "selection" for many years. After that, "collection development," and then "collection development and management." One could certainly argue that collection management would include collection development. In the business community, collections, especially non-traditional ones, may be seen as "information resources" so that "information resource management" has become a popular term. Certainly, IRM has much more appeal to outsiders that collection management. Information resources may seem to be more valuable than collections even though they may be the same thing.
There is a small, but growing trend to bundle several related
functions
into what is called "access services." This unit would include
collection
development and management, ILL, preservation, digital library services
[digital texts, leased digital products], and sometimes the circulation
department as well. In some organizations, communication and
information
functions, including publishing, are placed in one unit which might be
called
creation, dissemination, and access services.
While not really "laws," these five laws provide a capsule summary of the essence of collection development and management as welll as of librarianship. I have rewritten them slightly to make them more generic:
Historically, there have been two major selection philosophies. The value philosophy has been the traditional one and is still popular today in youth services. Value oriented selection focuses on providing the user with what is good for her. This matches well with the professional model that involves:
This model assumes that the professional knows what is best. Selectors focus on goodness, both in the material and its likely effect upon the user. Value oriented selection is concerned with "needs" or what is good for you.
The second philosophy, notable only since the Second World War, is demand orientation. The focus is on providing the customer with what she asks for. There is little or no mediation required. Selection here involves order-taking and there is little consideration of goodness. Demand oriented selection is concerned with "wants" or what people ask for.
Critics of value oriented selection argue that it is elitist,
ignores
popular values, and allows the information professional to dictate what
people are able to read, view, or listen too. Advocates say that when
there
is so much information and entertainment available, much of it in poor
taste,
and of poor quality, that it is important to select material likely to
have a
positive impact. A key question is whether or not popular material is
likely
to be of poor quality. It may be that popular items are also good items
[as
is often the case in scholarly, professional, and hobby publications].
It may
also be that popular items, the Wicked and the Whipped,
for
example,
are of dubious taste and may push civilization toward rapid decline.
One of the most difficult aspects of developing and managing collections is that user and potential user expectations are often unrealistic. Sometimes, funders of information provision lack realistic expectations as when they believe that almost all that users need will be available on the Web for free. Exciting headlines in popular media often strongly suggest that new information technology will do it all better and cheaper. One of our most important responsibilities is to help users and funders understand what can reasonably be done with limited resources.
Unrealistic expectations may be too positive, as in the example above. They may also be too negative, as when a potential user falsely assumes that local or distant collections will not meet needs. We need to make collections more visible to present and potential audiences and work with these people to secure the resources needed for collections that meet current and future wants and needs.
It is unusual for an information agency to be the sole provider of information or recreational material. While there may be but one public library in a community, there are several opportunities for those seeking reading, viewing, or listening material. Competition may be local as in a chain book store or it may be distant as with a book club or information found on a website. Collection developers and managers need to be aware of the competition. Ideally, collections would be differentiated so as to reduce competition. Be aware of other collections. As seems reasonable, avoid unnecessary duplication. Some times, this leads to controversy. For example, for decades there have both those who wish to eliminate duplicate collections serving children in the public and the school library. Some library critics have argued that the library should not compete with private business by acquiring and circulating popular videos in VCR or DVD format.
The key to surviving competition is satisfied customers. The customer-driven collection is likely to be a competitive one. A collection with dissatisfied customers may find it difficult to survive, especially if publicly funded.
We practice collection development and management in a complex, difficult, and political environment. The more that we know about this environment, the more successful that we may be. Failure to have current knowledge about the environment may lead to unpleasant surprises and even failure.
The internal environment is the place
where you work.
Some
would also include the immediate community served. In a university
library,
for example, the internal environment would include the library
itself--its
mission, goals, objectives, resources, staff, information technology,
history/traditions--and perhaps the university--curriculum and
instruction,
research, and public service. Since collection developers must often
say no
to people who wish to add or retain certain material to the collection,
the
internal environment is a very political one. This is particularly true
when
attempting to secure and retain financial resources.
The "Community" represents all those eligible to use a particular collection. Typically, only a fraction of the community will use any particular collection. A community, then, consists of users and potential users. There is considerable disagreement about the probability that potential users will become users, regardless of the nature and visibility of the collection. A minority view is that with the "right" collection, potential users will become actual users.
The external environment includes everything else. There are political, economic, social, scientific/technological, and legal aspects. Information technology that allows desktop access to a rich blend of distant resources may have an immediate impact on the number of reference questions asked within the library. State or Federal legislation may require filtering software to be placed on all public work stations that provide web access. A glance at any metropolitan newspaper will reveal several events or trends that may impact information providers. Today, the political environment for publicly funded collections is a source of much anguish.
Environmental scanning is the name for attempting to identify change likely to impact the agency. Change can be seen as a threat or an opportunity. For example, some see inexpensive information technology and the Web as the end of the library. Others see an opportunity to provide new services and provide traditional ones more efficiently and effectively. Successful collection developers need to develop a program to track change, especially since change often drives the needs and wants of information seekers. Community change can have an immediate impact as seen in curricular change in K12 schools, new courses in academe, or new R&D initiatives in government or business.
Collections are intended to be used. That use may be present
or in
the
future, but there is little justification for developing a collection
that no
one would use. This means that the selector should visualize particular
users
when selection decisions are being made. Use is a recordable
transaction
linking an item in the collection with a particular user. In some
environments, it is relatively easy to identify use. A transaction log
will
record who visited a website, when, and how long they stayed, The log
will
not, however, indicate if the site was useful. Similarly, circulation
records
indicate that an item left the collection but does not indicate if the
item
was actually used or ... was useful. Ideally, all items in the
collection
would be used and useful; they would make a positive contribution to
the life
of the user.
There is considerable doubt that librarians can change user
behavior
and preferences. Convenience is often more important than service or
content quality.
Users may be local or distant. They may use the collection themselves or via a proxy such as a graduate teaching or research assistant. Many professionals, including faculty, use collections only via a proxy and this may create a variety of problems since the collections are known only "second-hand."
Obviously, there are degrees of use. You take a quick, unproductive look at a web page and move on, You might spend some time reading and thinking about that web page content. You might save pages to your hard drive or print them off. You might download a file from a server. The file may not run well or might clearly be inappropriate and is quickly placed in the trash. You might use the file to do something. You might find the file to be useful and continue to use it every day. Similarly, in using a library collection, there is a big difference between reading a spine label in the library and using an item at work or home and finding it useful.
Most collection developers are particularly concerned with the heavy users. If 20 percent of the customers account for 80 percent of the sales, the selector needs to be very familiar with the needs and wants of that 20 percent.
You are Head of a medium sized public library in a community much like Knoxville. About 33 percent of the community adults have library cards and about 25 percent actually use the library once each year. Your board is eager for initiatives to transform potential users into actual users. Does it seem reasonable that people would use the library if the collections were improved? To what degree should the public library collection resemble that of a typical chain book store?
Some community leaders have proposed that a new school be constructed without library or media center. The assumption seems to be that needed information is freely available on the web. Is this likely to be true? Does the web eliminate or substantially reduce the need for local collections at the building level? What kinds of local collections would be most useful?
You are Head of Information Center at Robinson Widgets. Senior managers are considering a proposal to outsource all the information services to Information Resources Incorporated which claims to provide better service at less cost. How would you respond?
You are the new collection development librarian in an organization with a purchasing department. What steps might you take to develop better relations with purchasing?
As a new collection developer, you are developing contacts and learning more about your internal environment. Which aspects of the external environment are most likely to impact collection development? You may select an particular information agency for your discussion.
