TEACHING NOTES FOR:
Budd, John M. The academic library: its context, its purpose, and its operation. Libraries Unlimited, 1998.  (Library and Information Science Text Series). Ch. 9: The collection; pp. 217 - 245.

TAKE TO CLASS TO SHOW TO STUDENTS:

CHOICE

T.L.S. Times Literary Supplement
(Main Library - Periodicals; at beginning of sequence for letter T)

THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS:

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW:

CHOICE
 

MONOGRAPHS:

BOOKS COMPARED WITH COMPUTERS:
easy / comfortable to use
less eyestrain than computer screens
familiar objects / can be cheap
use anywhere / no electricity required
small / easy to store, transport
immediately available
random access / can flip pages
relatively durable (more than than magnetic media)
don't crash / often function well even when damaged
recyclable or resalable
easy to annotate, highlight, mark pages
can include index
high resolution
produced using either low or high technology
can be artistically designed and aesthetically pleasing
while remaining attainable and collectable
already functioning in multiple scripts
vertical orientation
(rather than cinema orientation of computer screen)

Is this a valid analysis?
If the book had been invented after the laptop,
would it have been hailed as a major advance?
 

Book: still major medium, especially for humanities:

BOOK SELECTION
critical activity in academic libraries:
Faculty input - almost always accepted
Subject bibliographers / Area bibliographers
May also have cataloging responsabilities in specialized area

WRITTEN POLICIES
guarantee continuity, consistency;
Can be supplied to approval plan dealers / foreign suppliers
also aid in weeding, budget allocation
Policies: carefully drawn-up
approved at high level

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICIES
based on examination / knowledge of:
Enrollment
Faculty size / load
Courses offered
Majors
Masters courses
Doctoral programs
Faculty research / publishing
(Determine teaching / research priorities;
community service role litte relevance here)
Circulation
Number of books / non-traditional sources:
        available for area / listed in Choice
Strengths and weaknesses of internal collection
Alternative resources available to students / professors
Interlibrary loans
Average cost per volume
Library strengths / weaknesses
 

Has anybody seen / used / helped draw up
an academic library collection development policy?
 

Formal research / survey:
probably less necessary for collection development
than in public libraries:
University community small, closely-knit
quick to communicate needs
 

BASIC DIVISIONS OF
COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY:

INFORMATIONAL ENVIRONMENT:
Institutional objectives
Teaching / research programs
Current collection strength
Other institutions / cooperation

BASIC CRITERIA:
Quality / Authoritativeness /
Lasting value / Reliable information
Reputation of author / publisher / institution
Cited in recognized bibliographies, indexes, reviews
Value for money / (Up to date)

SUBJECT RELEVANCE:
Academic libraries normally define subjects by LC;
specify major areas; determine priorities etc. in sub-areas.
Indicate priorities (e.g.) by short scale of numbers: RLG etc.:

0: Out of scope (do not collect)
1: Minimal collecting (major reference books; classic items only)
2: Basic coverage (important works only)
3: Instructional level (sufficient to support teaching:
    usually subdivided into: Advanced / Basic teaching
4: Research level (to support research)
5: Comprehensive (everything relevant)

(Multiple collection levels:
current collection strength;
current collecting intensity;
desired collection intensity):
http://www.library.upenn.edu/services/collections/policies/levels.html

(RLG Conspectus system: no longer maintained:
detailed, codified subject coverage approach)

http://ftp.auckland.ac.nz/lbr/acquis/coldev.htm#contentsco

http://www.is.bham.ac.uk/cm/colldevt/cd_defin.htm
 

FORMATS (Traditional, a/v media):

MONOGRAPHS
Books:
Quality books from major publishers;
University presses, research institutions
Academic libraries: normally:
specify Hardbound / Acid-free)

BOOK STATISTICS
http://www.publishers.org/home/stats/prelim.htm

RECOMMENDED BOOK LISTS
Association of College and Research Libraries. Books for college libraries :
a core collection of 50,000 titles.  3rd ed. Chicago,
American Library Association, 1988. 6 v.

LIBRARY ORIENTED REVIEWS:
(brief reviews, objective, evaluative, signed,
with full, correct bibliographic data)

CHOICE: current reviews for academic libraries;
brief reviews; periodical format
reviews also available on cards to subscribers;
cards often distributed to faculty of small colleges;
also now covers web sites;
published by Association of College and Research Libraries
(ACRL), part of ALA; monthly;
note special issues: Jan.: outstanding titles;
Mar.: Sci./Tech; Oct.: Business/Econ.;
Nov.: Forthcoming ref.; Dec.: Philos./Religion
http://www.ala.org/acrl/choice/home.html

Online version (password protected)
http://www.choicereviews.org/

LIBRARY JOURNAL
general source with many reviews relevant to academic libraries
two issues each month
http://libraryjournal.com/

SPECIALIZED AND SCHOLARLY REVIEWS
Scholarly journals:
Generally too late to be of value for selection; lengthy, in-depth

H-Net Reviews: Online scholarly reviews of books
in the Humanities and Social Sciences:
http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/
 

REVIEWS FOR GENERAL (EDUCATED) PUBLIC:

T.L.S. Times Literary Supplement: British;
lengthy, quality reviews; now signed
(several years ago TLS reviews were unsigned); weekly
http://the-tls.sup.newsint.co.uk/index.html

THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS:
lengthy, quality reviews; bi-weekly
http://www.nybooks.com/nyrev/index.html

Do not confuse with:
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW:
comes with the NYT every Sunday
http://www.nytimes.com/books/yr/mo/day/home/contents.html

THE BOWKER ANNUAL: Library and Book Trade Almanac:
publishes an annual list of (book) media review sources,
with number of items reviewed in each publication

Have you used any of these sources?
 

ACADEMIC BOOK PUBLISHING
Association of American University Presses:
http://aaup.uchicago.edu/
110 members (99 US; 6 Canada; 5 overseas)
Note browse by press option

Shrinking markets / print runs
University Presses may convert to digital publishing
Not acceptable to request subsidies for book publishing
(sometimes serials have page charges)
High price of books
Budgets shrunk by increase in periodical prices

(PERIODICALS:
discussed separately below)

GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS
GPO Depository library program
US materials by deposit in major libraries
Separate division in medium / large library
Printed and electronic publications
from various US government agencies:
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/index.html
comprehensive range of Government publications:
for free use of the public in 1,350 libraries throughout the USA.
53 Regional libraries (most states) receive all materials
Other libraries (in congressional districts)
select core:
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/coll-dev/#core
then according to needs
Public, Academic, Legal libraries receive publications
Federal Depository Libraries by state or area code:
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/tools/ldirect.html
Iowa: Regional Depository: U. Iowa
19 Selective Depositories

GODORT: Government Documents Round Table (Division of ALA)
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/GODORT/
Government Documents Librarianship site (U. Michigan):
http://www.lib.umich.edu/libhome/Documents.center/doclibs.html
Note: Electronic Depository Libraries

OTHER FORMATS
Maps / Musical scores
Audiovisual resources:
Videos / (DVDs)  / Audio discs:
special purposes / collections

Restricted interest:
Pamphlets (generally avoided)
(Ephemeral and popular materials - research / comprehensive only)
(Spiral bound / loose leaf / mimeographed materials)
(Microforms: future uncertain;
newspapers; backup for digital libraries?)

Does anybody have experience with special materials?
 

Sample College and University Library collection development criteria:

University of Iowa:
http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/collections/select.html

University of Texas:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/cird/Policies/policies.html

Central Piedmont Community College, Charlotte, North Carolina:
http://www.cpcc.cc.nc.us/library/general/policy/cd.htm

Bowling Green State University:
http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/library/infosrv/cdpolicy/cdpolicy.htm

Notre Dame:
http://www.nd.edu/~cdc/policy/cdpgen.htm

University of Pennsylvania:
http://www.library.upenn.edu/services/collections/collections.html

Oberlin College, Ohio:
http://www.oberlin.edu/%7Elibrary/colldev/policies/Default.html

Old Dominion University, Virginia:
http://www.lib.odu.edu/aboutlib/coldev/policies/cdintro.shtml

Middlebury College, Vermont: Music Library
http://www.middlebury.edu/~lib/musiclib/about/muslibcolldevpol.html

Pellissippi State Technical Community College
http://pstcc7.pstcc.cc.tn.us/library/libserve/acquis/coldev.htm
 
 

CLASSIC NUMERIC MONOGRAPH COLLECTION CRITERIA

ACRL Standards, 1995:
Minimum basic collection (85,000 vols.) plus:
Titles / volumes per:
FTE faculty member (100)
FTE student (15)
Undergraduate majors (350)
Master's etc. courses (3,000 - 6,000)
Doctoral program (25,000)

(Headcounting;
now substituted by peer group comparisons;
see chap. 08 Money)

(originally Clapp & Jordan, 1965:
calculated on similar lines,
but were lower: 35,000 vols. basic,
15,000 per Doctoral program)
 

TYPICAL ALLOCATION BY FORMAT:
MATERIALS: ACADEMIC LIBRARY:

30% books
53% journals
7% online resources
4% electronic serials
4% CD-ROMs
2% other electronic resources

(Martin, Murray and Wolf, Milton. Budgeting for information access: resource management for connected libraries. 2nd ed. Chicago, IL: American Library Association; 1998. pp. 141.)
 
 

FORMULAE TO DETERMINE ALLOCATION BY SUBJECT ETC.

Specify unit for determination of criteria
e.g. broad subject; college or faculty; branch or divisional library;
Select major criteria:
    FTE students / faculty;
    Circulation / ILL;
    Number, cost of books
(easier with limited number of criteria)
Weight criteria
Convert criteria to ranks or percentages
Compare results for different subjects, colleges, faculties
Use results to allocate funds

Examples:

.33 number of courses (in subject area, faculty, college)
.33 number of majors (in subject area, faculty, college)
.33 average cost of books, periodicals (in subject area, faculty, college)
(this formula gives highest funding to areas with most courses,
most students and the most expensive materials,
but does not consider demand or faculty)
 

.333 circulation (in subject area, faculty, college)
.167 student credit hours (in subject area, faculty, college)
.167 FTE faculty (in subject area, faculty, college)
.333 cost of materials (in subject area, faculty, college)
(gives considerable weight to demand as expressed by circulation,
and some allowance for faculty)
 

.4 circulation
.2 declared majors
.2 FTE enrollment
.2 average cost of books
(gives considerable weight to demand, as expressed in circulation;
faculty are not considered)
 

.2 number of courses
.2 FTE students
.27 FTE faculty
.08 ILL
.25 estimated cost of materials
(considerable weight to faculty;
demand only recognized through ILL)
 

.1 100/200 level enrollment
.2 300/400 level enrollment
.15 FTE faculty
.15 credits per course
.40 cost of materials
(graduate enrollment attracts additional funding;
areas with numerous single credit courses attract less funding
than areas with courses of three or more credits;
cost of materials considered most significant)
 

.15 circulation
.1 ILL
.1 all FTE registrants
.1 proportion of FTE registrants at 300/400 course level
.05 FTE faculty
.5 cost of books, journals

(Samples from: Young, Ian R. A quantitative comparison of acquisitions budget allocation formulas using a single institutional setting. Library Acquisitions: Practice and Theory. 1992; 16:229-242)

Can involve complex formulae, calculations
Test and negotiate in each university
Examine results before final application
Difficult to transport to different university.
 

CENSORSHIP
not major problem in academic libraries:
Research materials / open atmosphere
Adult users / closed areas common
Possible / potential problem areas:
Denial of the Holocaust
Library displays
Margaret Sanger poster
Note that Z39.50 systems
permit location of specific books
in a variety of libraries

Has anybody had experience of / know of
censorship incidents in academic libraries?
 

ACQUISITIONS DIVISION
relatively small, low-profile division within academic library:
Few professionals, many clerical staff
Outsiders consider: routine, little intellectual input
little direct public service impact
Labor-intensive: single-copy purchases
But efficient acquisitions division
essential for library
 

VERIFICATION OF BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA
BOOKS IN PRINT: Bowker:
http://www.bowker.com/
still heavily used, on paper or in electronic form
http://www.booksinprint.com
Also available via OCLC FirstSearch

(Books in Print under threat from catalogs of Internet booksellers:
Amazon.com / Barnes and Noble
but these are not suitable for academic library checking)
 

OCLC
OCLC Selection: Streamlining Acquisitions
with Systems You Already Know
http://www.oclc.org/oclc/promo/9255sel/9255.htm
 

WEB CATALOGS:
Library of Congress:
http://catalog.loc.gov

New York Public Library:
http://catnyp.nypl.org

University of Texas:
http://dpweb1.dp.utexas.edu/lib/utnetcat

Univ. of New Mexico Libros:
http://library.unm.edu/
 

STANDING ORDER
for monographs,
normally for specialized series
that the library knows will be relevant
be careful to avoid duplicates:
receive one copy from series order;
one copy ordered under author
(perhaps from description / review which omits series)
Selection policy may prohibit spending more than
e.g. 50% of budget on standing orders
 

ACADEMIC LIBRARY SUPPLIERS

Blackwell's: originally Oxford 1879-
Approval plans / Announcements:
Half million items / year;
NTO: New Titles Online: database
Two million items, growing half million / year
15,000 libraries, primarily academic,
in 120 countries
works with fifty thousand publishers
http://www.blackwell.com/
Recent mergers:
North American / European operations merged
Serials subscriptions merged with Swets
Digtial texts partnership with netLibrary
Sample Blackwell's approval slip:
http://www.blackwell.com/shelf/tools/slide2.jpg

Yankee Book Peddler
http://www.ybp.com/
NH; three hundred staff; two million item database
(from 1999 part of Baker & Taylor, major vendor;
now uses acronym YBP only, no longer spells out name)

Has anybody any experience in libraries which use these
or similar monographic suppliers?
 

SECONDHAND MATERIALS

Formerly: variety of catalogs:
varying from primitive to elaborate
Select and order by mail
Until recently: mailed out paper catalogs
Now: Netbased systems for purchase of secondhand books:
http://www.alibris.com/

Advanced Book Exchange:
http://www.abebooks.com/

http://www.bookfinder.com
Participants offer books: compare prices;
Note: bibliographic descriptions by non-librarians;
Descriptions of condition

Major libraries maintain a Search file / Wants file / Desiderata

Does anybody have experience with these services?
 

RARE BOOK / SPECIAL / LOCAL COLLECTIONS

Common in academic libraries
Controlled access
Donations / endowment / (separate budget)
Major source of institutional pride
Specific collection development policies

Manchester University:
http://rylibweb.man.ac.uk/spcoll/
Early Christian text:
http://rylibweb.man.ac.uk/data1/dg/text/fragment.htm

Oregon State University:
http://osu.orst.edu/Dept/Special_Collections/subpages/ahp/
 
 

SERIALS

Pressure of serial costs on library materials budget
Direct subscription possible
but very labor-intensive
(subscription payments / check-in / claims)
Normal to use subscription agent:

Academic area, European bias / basis:

Swetsblackwell:
http://www.swetsblackwell.com/
Major European subscription agency:
1999 merger of subscription departments of:
Swets & Zeitlinger; Netherlands;
Blackwell's: Oxford, England
Deals with 65,000 publishers
Database has 250,000 titles
E-Media catalogue: 10.500 electronic publications

Major US general subscription agents:

http://www.ebsco.com/home/
Birmingham, AL
Founder sold magazine subscriptions door to door 1930s
4,000 employees; 32 offices; 21 countries; works with 49,000 publishers;
Database: 260,000 titles.

http://www.faxon.com/
Massachusetts, Virginia, Illinois; 1881 -
Claimed annual sales over $500 million for early 90s
Follow Industry resources / Price projections
for price increases
1999 being taken over by RoweCom
business to business e-commerce company
President: Dr. Richard R. Rowe,
formerly President and CEO of the Faxon Company
240,000 magazine titles
Publicly-available online guide:
http://www.faxon.com/guide/default.htm
(scroll down for comprehensive search tips).

Has anybody used a serials agent?
 

SECURITY AND INSURANCE

http://www.museum-security.org/booktheft.html

Association of College and Research Libraries:
Guidelines for the Security of Rare Books, Manuscripts,
and Other Special Collections:
http://www.ala.org/acrl/guides/raresecu.html

Has anybody had experience with security problems in an academic library setting?