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To describe and evaluate the collection of the library of the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC).

The relevant Association of College and Research Libraries’ (ACRL) Standard for College Libraries of 1986 (Standard 2) is used to assess the quality of the Library collection.

The library of the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC) achieves level B of the ACRL standard.

The paper takes one very particular, widely respected quantitative tool for collection evaluation and uses it “as is” – the paper thus accepts and applies the theoretical framework on which the tool is based, but applies it in a relatively unfamiliar library setting.

The description of the collection is of value to those needing to locate materials relating to Islamic culture and civilization; the implementation of the ACRL methodology is a useful demonstration of a practical tool for collection management and assessment.

It is important for any educational institution to establish an effective library collection, one that is able to support the teaching and learning activities of the institution. To ensure that the library achieves its objectives, evaluation of the library collection needs to be done. This paper applies an internationally accepted standard for collection evaluation to a particular library, giving a model for other libraries to follow, especially libraries in the developing world. It is important to demonstrate that libraries in the developing world can aspire to and attain standards designed for collections in developed countries: this paper achieves that goal.

An important responsibility of collection development libraries is to ensure that what is being collected is appropriate for the university’s curriculum and research needs. Unfortunately the large number of techniques that have been developed to measure collections work better with small college collections. As libraries grow and the range of library materials increase, many of these methods have proved to be inadequate. This study explores the use of statistics from the National Shelflist Count Project to gather enough valid statistical information to adequately assess large research collections.

Describes a course‐centered approach to the evaluation of university library collections for instructional program reviews. Summarizes the author’s experience with preparing library reports for systematic program reviews in the agricultural sciences at the University of Saskatchewan. The method is based on the assessment of collections supporting individual courses by comparing the numbers of monographs and journal articles available directly to the library clientele with the numbers of items in the major bibliographic databases. Describes the new elements of the method. The method provides a practical tool for further selection of materials, applicable in similar situations, as well as a background for collaborating with faculty members.

The National Library of Australia has a small but interesting collection of rare books and manuscripts. These collections are the legacy of a remarkable period of growth in the Library’s history. Strengths are greatest in UK and European materials, particularly from the eighteenth century. The present collecting activities of the library are concentrated on Australian and Asian materials. While very early imprints are now less likely to be collected, the library has a number of collections of scarce and unusual works relating to Asia and the Pacific.

In order to better understand how collections are used, this study aims to present a large‐scale analysis of usage patterns for non‐core monographs in the collections of fourteen general academic libraries of varying sizes.

Using Spectra Dimension, a collection analysis tool, this study compares use data from multiple academic libraries.

It appears that general academic libraries are overinvesting in legal materials and perhaps underinvesting in medical materials.

This study suggests that analysis of use data from multiple libraries may help individual libraries better understand their own collecting needs. Local issues may, however, override the broad patterns identified here.

In lean budgetary times, understanding collection use is key to making informed decisions about resource allocation for collection development. Libraries may be able to use these data to better manage their own materials budgets and collecting practices.

Though there have been a number of large‐scale analyses of collections, most have relied on sampling or have compared small portions of collections, and few have compared use across libraries. This study analyzes collection use across many institutions at a level of detail not possible before the introduction of multi‐library collection analysis tools.

This paper aims to elucidate the value of opening up digital collections for end‐user development of mash‐ups and to evaluate the suitability of libraries' infrastructure for this purpose.

The author surveyed ARL members' digital collection platforms to assess the terms of use statements and options for programmatic access.

The findings show that 17 per cent of the institutions surveyed offer some means for mashing up digital collections, and that, while more than half the collections surveyed have some form of terms of use or rights statements, they were not written to support this type of use case.

Results of the research suggest that a mashable digital collection service is feasible for most libraries.

This paper will be of interest to librarians who are considering providing application programming interface (API) access to their digital collections.

The main purpose of the study is to identify the current status of collection development organizational patterns and to make a comparative analysis of collection development organizational patterns of the four central university libraries of Uttar Pradesh (UP) i.e. Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Allahabad University (ALU) and Baba Bhim Rao Ambedkar University (BBRAU).

A well structured questionnaire was administered to the librarians and acquisitions librarians of the four central university libraries under study.

It has been found that there is a conspicuous difference between the two categories and that the newly centralized universities are lagging far behind the old centralized universities in collection development organizational patterns.

The present study consists only of collection development organizational patterns in central university libraries of UP. The scope of the study can be extended to some more centrally funded universities.

There are a number of studies on collection development organizational patterns in the world, but this is the first of its kind within Indian central universities.

The intent of this article is to illustrate outcomes and results of a collection analysis done by a smaller academic library.

The collection was evaluated using an online analysis tool combined with a physical inventory of the collection.

Peer group comparisons revealed some of the problems with this particular collection were also widespread among the comparison libraries. The value of the e‐book collection to patrons was clear: not only did e‐books provide resources to remote students; they help compensate for shortfalls in the print collection.

The catalog more accurately reflects what is on the shelf and also what is reported to OCLC. Access to the collection has been improved and enhanced. Steps were taken to refocus the library's collection development procedures and management. The changes made have led to increased faculty involvement in selection and a more balanced, more comprehensive collection management plan.

For any library considering whether they can or should do an analysis, the article illustrates that the benefits are well worth the time and expense. The analysis had a positive impact on collection development and management.

Highlights the role of the reserve collection in Moi University Library. Identifies the major problems as poor management of the reserve collection, lack of a collection development policy, and lack of support from academic staff. Attempts to offer solutions to the prevailing problems in formulation of a collection development policy and automation of the reserve collection.

Each special collection starts out as a core assemblage of books. As the collection's size increases, its quality (it is assumed) does as well. If a library is lucky, it will have a bibliographer in charge of such a collection: someone knowledgeable of the ins and outs of his or her discipline; someone who keeps “current with a discipline's investigations and monitor[s] its evolutions.” In reality, however, the person in charge of developing a particular collection often may not have a good scholarly foundation in the subject, particularly in a public library, where there is less of a tradition of hiring subject specialists as bibliographers than there is in academic libraries. Once a collection has grown considerably in size and scope, and has benefitted from the tastes and choices of a number of bibliographers of varying backgrounds and qualifications, it becomes necessary to assess the quality of the collection. One practical way to evaluate and build a collection, which can be used by those who do not possess a thorough scholarly foundation in the subject in which they collect, is outlined below.