"To be a selector you must be prepared for a 'life of ambiguity and
constant change.'" ~ Clifford Lynch
"We have identified collection development, acquisitions, and
cataloging as the 'hidden intellectual work' of librarianship. ... The
public generally does not know that professional librarians select and
organize the materials in the library." ~ Kirsti Nilsen and Lynne
McKechnie
"Librarians are becoming knowledge engineers. They not only identify
quality information resources, they are becoming partners in the
development of new forms of scholarly communication. They work with
faculty to make research data available to the public in usable forms.
They are exploiting the rich resources in their special collections,
digitizing them and making them available to users world-wide. They are
developing taxonomies to help scholars gain better control of
information in different but related disciplines. They are building new
types of electronic reserve and course packs that are especially useful
for distance learning students." ~ John Webb
"Collection development, on the other hand, seems squishy. Just when
one thinks that one has one's arms around it, as it were, something
pops out of one's grasp. It is like trying to cuddle winged snakes." ~
John Webb
Normally, collection development and management is done as an
additional responsibility for someone assigned to another function. For
example, reference librarians handle collection development when they
have
completed their reference responsibilities. Unhappily, not all
reference
librarians enjoy collection development and management (CDM). Too, the
demands of reference work usually leave little time for collection
development. Library branch managers focus on collection development
when they have the time and the energy. It is unusual to find a
full-time CDM position in most information agencies. The fact that CDM
is done after other responsibilities are completed says something
important about its importance.
Information professionals who are asked to do collection development
and management "on the side" often find it frustrating -- a burden.
These are typical reasons:
In many agencies, users, an user representative, or a committee representing users have make the important CDM decisions. For example, faculty select material in most academic libraries. A committee of physicians makes selection decisions for a medical library. If being a subject specialist is required to make important decisions, users are more likely to be qualified that most information professionals. Clearly, there is a tension between collections developed by information professionals who are educated in CDM and collections developed by specialists who often know little about CDM but know a great deal about a narrow subject specialty. This is likely to be a problem when the collection needs to serve varied audiences.
Centralization versus decentralization is been an issue for many
years. Collections may be centralized, all in one place, or
decentralized. Similarly, collection development may be centralized or
decentralized. When decentralization is subject based as in a library
science library, local selection builds on subject knowledge as well as
knowledge of the community served. The argument for decentralization is
less powerful when the branches lack content specialization as in most
public library branches.
Decentralization allows librarians closest to users, branch
librarians for example, to select for the community that they serve.
They ought to be especially familiar with user wants and needs.
However, lack of time for collection work and lack of collection
development resources may result in inadequate performance. However,
decentralization may be ineffective, may substantially increase
training and
service costs as well as collection development costs, especially in
the provision of current awareness sources.
Just as it is easier and
more economical to develop a centralized collection that eliminates
duplication and variety, it is easier to centralize collection
development in one location. With one CDM unit, a library system can
have full-time professional selectors and each selector will have
access to a substantial number of resources. This also insures that
each branch has the same quality of collection development regardless
of the skill, interest, or experience of the branch manager. Typically,
a broader range of materials are selected under this organization and
the time before a new item is on the shelf is substantially reduced.
Collection development and management is often a "soft" area; one that is relatively invisible to customers and co-workers. Thus, it is frequently a secondary or tertiary responsibility--a matter of relatively low priority.
Buying items to add to the collection may not be collection development since CD is a systematic, planned effort to provide users with what they need and want. Selecting may be somewhat random and based upon selector preference and not based on appropriate priorities. Material acquired may not be evaluated and compared with similar products.
Research libraries and museums are most likely to have a full-time collection development person with some professional training. This is a relatively recent development.
The CDM function is usually a staff position without line authority.In many libraries, for example, CDM is done by reference librarians who report to the head of reference for most tasks, but have a fuzzy relationship with collection development and management as well. Academic research libraries have the most fully developed CDM function, and,in the past, that might have included at least a few Ph.D. subject bibliographers.
There are many different organizational patterns. CDM activities may be organized by:
Developing and managing collections may be done by:
From collection development to CDM. Collection management may now include these functions or activities:
Could not every activity in an information agency be part of collection management since nearly everything is related in some way to collections?
Most of the literature on organizing the CDM function has been written by librarians and most of that by academic librarians in research libraries. However, there is a reasonably substantial literature for records managers and archives as well as a scattered literature for those involved with scientific collections. The museum literature also yields some valuable items. Again, the literature is not very helpful for those who work outside research organizations.
Based on research library literature, here is a list of typical tasks/responsibilities:
"The political skills of Disraeli, the financial acumen of Rockefeller, the wisdom of Solomon, Churchill's way with words, and Houdini's ability to get out of tight spots."
The ability to identify, understand, and link agency mission, goals, and objectives to collection development and management is absolutely essential. In a research environment, subject knowledge as well as format knowledge is needed. In some situations, foreign language competency is essential. Familiarity with publishing/production in areas of interest is expected, especially in libraries. This includes knowledge of trends in information technology and the cost of materials. Experience with similar communities and agencies is required for management positions.
CDM managers must have the same skills typically required of any manager:
In considering CDM tasks and responsibilities, several basic questions need to be answered. Answers will vary with experience, world view, agency, community, and audience:
There is no standard model of organization for CDM, even in academic
libraries. Quite different models work well in different
environments. Normally, you will follow the model already established
in
your situation.
Some librarians believe that they no longer select as they did in
the past. Firm order selection has been replaced with standing orders,
approval plans, consortial agreements, licenses for bundles, and
selecting on the basis of usage data rather than author/publisher
reputation or review attention. In this sense, a substantial amount of
selection has been delegated or outsourced to others. Thus, the
collection development - management librarian may spend only ten or
fifteen percent of her time on pure selection and much more than that
on various administrative tasks.
Select an information agency of your choice. Consider the several questions raised immediately above. Answer these questions as best you can and then suggest an appropriate model for the collection development function. Your model should include some specifics on staff and organization.
What rationales might you muster to support the notion that information professionals rather than subject specialists should make the final decisions on collection development and management?
