Issues for collection managers

Collection Building

ISSN: 0160-4953

Article publication date: 1 April 2014

179

Citation

Cassell, K.A. (2014), "Issues for collection managers", Collection Building, Vol. 33 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/CB-02-2014-0013

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited


Issues for collection managers

Article Type: Editorial From: Collection Building, Volume 33, Issue 2

At the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia collection managers met to discuss current issues. E-books continue to be a challenging part of the library collection. Each e-book vendor offers its own model. Thus libraries are faced with trying to make the best decisions considering the options available for each model. The lack of consistency from vendor to vendor keeps libraries from developing uniformity in their collections. This continues to be a challenging and complicated situation.

Consortial arrangements are important in sharing the costs of e-resources. But formulas for dividing the costs are challenging. It is hard to develop formulas that work for all the libraries involved. Libraries use fte’s, library budgets and other relevant measures. Smaller libraries cannot pay as much but yet they may actually use the databases and e-book packages just as much as larger libraries. So finding the right formula is not very easy.

Collection development policies are important for libraries. One librarian said that a collection development policy provides the library with cover and that is indeed accurate. It offers explanations as to how the library is collecting and why. Collection development policies show how the library is thinking about its community and the needs of the community. The policy can be a guide to the future as well as a documentation of past decisions. There are many new areas that libraries need to add to their policies such as guidelines as to how they handle open access and born digital materials. Libraries also need to explain how they decide between electronic and print materials in both their reference and circulating collections. They need to articulate when they choose to buy print vs when they buy e-books. These decisions are not always obvious to the public and may need some explanation. Collection development policies can be a powerful tool in communicating with its users.

Kay Ann Cassell

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