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The purpose of this paper is to find out the similarities and differences in collection management practices of the main libraries of the University of Cape Coast and the University of Education, Winneba, Ghana.

The study adopted a qualitative approach in considering the research problem and also used the case study to collect data. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the respondents.

Some of the results highlighted are: both libraries had sections responsible for collection management practices, the collection management practices carried out by both libraries were almost similar, lack of adequate professional staff, lack of adequate funds and unavailability of Collection Management Policy were some of the challenges.

The study focussed on the activities performed by the various sections directly involved in the collection management practices and excludes administrative practices.

In order to make any library functional, collection management should be a shared responsibility of all the sections of the library and that enough money is required to link the staff and the information resources in the library together.

All stakeholders of libraries must play their role to make academic libraries functional.

The study provides insight into the collection development activities undertaken by the libraries of the only public academic institutions purposely build by the Government of Ghana to train graduate teachers for Basic and Second-Cycle institutions in Ghana.

This paper aims to argue regarding the evolution of the collection management as a gradual process where internal and external factors interact to transform the collection and its management activities. In this progress, cooperation is used as a necessary strategy for assuming its roles and to fit the new goals, mission and context of the library. Libraries are living organisms in continuous change to adapt to the context where they exist and which is the cause of their progress. It is formed by “vital elements” such as the collection – which is its basic element and the nucleus of its activity.

This argumentative paper establishes a logical reasoning of the evolution process of the “collection management”, with the application of Kuhn’s structure of scientific revolutions.

The library collection has had great changes, such as its origin, composition, ownership, volume and diversity, different life cycle from paper to digital formats and evaluation process. These changes have affected the principles and practices of collection management in three key areas: expansion and change of traditional activities in collection management; enlargement and modification of agents involved; and fundamental mission of giving access to all information resources needed by actual or potential remote users. The “cooperation” becomes an essential element and the main engine of great part of the collection management.

In this paper, Kuhn’s structure of scientific revolutions theory is used to establish the evolution of the collection management, to become a revolution, with a new paradigm “cooperative collection management”.

The main purpose of this paper is to examine the current practices related to e-resource collection development in management libraries of India with special reference to the National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi with some constructive suggestions for improvement in this area.

A well-structured questionnaire was administered to the librarians of the nine management libraries under study.

The management libraries are actively involved in building e-resource collection. The budget allocation for purchase of e-resources has increased progressively over the years in majority of the libraries. The factors that, to a great extent, affect selection of e-resources include quality, subject coverage, license agreements and vendor support. The study found that libraries associated with management institutions such as ABS, DMS-IITD, FMS, BIMECH and FSM need to add more management-related databases.

The paper restricts the study exclusively to e-resources as the type of material and the librarians of nine major management institutions of NCR of Delhi as the respondents in its scope of discussion.

The study is of great importance to information professionals of similar management institutions in India. The recommendations made could also help solve some of the challenges that are being faced.

Very little is known about the electronic resource collection development practices followed in management institutes’ libraries of India owing to lack of significant research undertaken on the topic. This study is, therefore, significant because its findings fill up the existing knowledge gap in this area.

Training improves workers’ competencies by eliminating or reducing mismatch between the levels of acquired and required skills. However, the question of who needs the training can be pertinently managed by training needs analysis (TNA). Thus, the purpose of this paper was to explore the training needs of Pakistani university librarians on collection management skills.

The study was conducted on a randomly selected sample of Pakistani university librarians. Using survey questionnaire method, a five-point Likert scale was utilized to measure the acquired and required levels of collection management skills (CMS). A paired sample t-test was used to ascertain the significance of difference between the acquired and required skills. Further, descriptive statistics were used to perform TNA.

Results of the paired sample t-test showed a significant difference among all indicators of CMS. Further, findings of TNA specified more than 50 per cent of deficit (over-utilization), less than 50 per cent of surplus (under-utilization) and 20 per cent of job best-fit in terms of CMS. Based on these results, training and top-down allocation of tasks are suggested to the higher authorities to manage over and under-utilization of CMS and to produce more job best-fits.

These findings are significant to design training programs on CMS, to revise courses on collection management, to evaluate performance of collection managers and understand the causes of under and over utilization of CMS. Moreover, findings inform librarians to eliminate mismatch in the levels of acquired and required CMS through training programs that may further enhance job best-fits.

The literature on collection development largely discusses all kinds of managerial and practical issues. However, there appear to be gaps in LIS literature regarding tracing the semantic developments of the subject. The paper attempts to explore the relationship between the use of varying collection‐related terminologies and ever‐emerging forms of scholarly publishing in libraries.

An extensive review of the available literature was made to illustrate the impact of the developments in both production and formats of information sources on libraries' collection related patterns and expressions since the last quarter of the twentieth century.

It was found that the related emerging terminology has been expanding rapidly because of the direct impact of the never‐ending developments, though with different pace in different countries. The varying use pattern reflects the expansion in the aims and ways of functioning of a modern library.

The paper falls in the category of “literature review” and provides an overview of the connection between developments in theory and practice of collection managing aspects.

This paper aims to examine the attitudes and experiences of information professionals with descriptive standards and collection management systems (CMSs) used for managing documentary heritage collections held by cultural heritage institutions in New Zealand (NZ). The aim is that such insights will inform decision-making around promoting documentary heritage collections discoverability and accessibility, in terms of advocating for appropriate system requirements when procuring or updating CMSs, and application of descriptive standards.

A qualitative design was applied to investigate the attitudes and experiences of information professionals working in libraries, archives and records management institutions, museums and public galleries. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with thirteen participants who worked across ten different cultural heritage institutions.

The findings reveal that variances among metadata in libraries, museums, public galleries, archives and records management institutions continue to lead to challenges around discovery and access of documentary heritage. If opportunities for connecting documentary heritage collections in the age of linked data are to be realized, the sector needs to work collectively to address these variances along with consideration of the CMSs used. The study findings highlight issues currently affecting the NZ cultural heritage sector goal to make collections discoverable and more widely accessible.

The findings highlight a need for deeper research into CMSs used by the cultural heritage sector as these systems have an impact on metadata management including constraining the application of appropriate descriptive standards for documentary heritage collections.

Collaborative efforts in academic library collection management and development are frequent topics in library literature. This paper aims to analyse the nature of collaborative projects among Hong Kong academic libraries, with a view to whether further synchronisation of collection management is likely or not.

By comparing collaboration, as defined in the academic library literature from the 1970s to the present, to the status of current collaboration in academic libraries in Hong Kong, the local outlook for collaborative collection decisions among an eight-member library consortium was analysed. The ramification of local weeding projects and collection management decisions without a joint storage facility and its associated communication benefits regarding collection management decisions are detailed.

Hong Kong academic libraries will all need to communicate clearly to one another and agree on local strategies before they can expect to build up to see any benefits from collaboration in collection management and development.

Although many of the themes have been touched upon before, in an Asian context it is useful to emphasize that success in collaboration is not dependent on budgets and resources alone.

The purpose of this paper is to examine Providence College's experience in organizing, creating, and implementing the library's collection management system.

The paper discusses the need for and the development of a collection management system to help make decisions regarding the cancellation and retention of periodical titles.

The collection management system provided the librarians with information required to integrate the periodicals collection. It allows the academic departments to manage the periodical titles in their respective areas and to make decisions about which periodical titles they would like the library to subscribe or to cancel. It allows the library to inventory the collection.

The paper provides insight into the integration of a collection management system and would be useful to those involved in that field who are looking to follow suit.

This study aims to propose an electronic waste collection and classification system to enhance social, environmental and economic sustainability by integrating data-driven technologies in emerging economies.

GM (1, 1) model under grey prediction is used in this study in order to estimate the trend of the amount of collected electronic waste in emerging economies.

It is revealed that the amount of collected electronic waste is increasing day by day, and within the framework of sustainability in the process of collecting and classification of electronic waste, digital technologies were found to be lacking. It has been determined that this deficiency, together with the increasing amount of electronic waste, has caused environmental, social and economic damage to emerging economies.

The main originality of this study is integrating electronic waste collection and classification processes with data-driven technologies and sustainability, which is a relatively new subject.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight collection development activity in UK higher education libraries and to place it within both a conceptual and strategic context.

This paper uses a theoretical approach to collection development and content strategy derived from literary theory to contextualise debates. It uses current examples from collection management within UK academic libraries.

This paper suggests that collection development is not exclusively a library practitioner activity but needs to be considered within a wider context that takes account of multiple strands of collection selection and management. Collection development cannot be considered in isolation but alongside collection management and in relation to content strategy.

This paper includes consideration of the topic of collection development that is influenced by other disciplines, notably literary theory. This suggests that research in library science should include input from other disciplines.

This paper includes implications for content development within academic libraries that suggest that a re-focus at the strategic level of content is required.

This paper introduces a conceptual register to collection development outside of traditional library science models and posits a move to strategy.