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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to encourage and assist collection of adult-level, graphic novels and book-length comics by women, and to demonstrate the breadth and depth of such work. Design/methodology/approach – This paper provides a brief history of women and independent comics, tracing the medium's development from the 1970s underground comix movement to the present day. Individual creators and their works are discussed. Findings – In the early years of independent comics, many of the women creating them were consciously reacting to an overwhelmingly male-dominated profession. There was a high degree of shock value in these early works. As time went on the comics still tended towards the autobiographical, but storytelling gained importance. Most of the women creating comics today are still doing so from a woman's point of view, but their target audience seems more universal. Originality/value – Graphic novels are in increasing demand, both for scholarly and leisure reading. Guides to collecting graphic novels exist; however, the vast majority of the artists included in these guides are men. This paper fills a gap by introducing librarians to several women graphic novelists who have been overlooked thus far. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a case study about how academic librarians can contribute to the interdisciplinary research endeavors of professors and students, especially doctoral candidates, through an intellectualized approach to collection development. Design/methodology/approach – In the wake of protest movements such as the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street, colleges and universities have begun to develop courses about these events, and it is anticipated that there will be much research conducted about their respective histories. Academic librarians can participate in those research efforts by developing interdisciplinary collections about protest movements and by referring researchers to those collections. Findings – Through a case-study approach, this paper provides a narrative bibliography about Southern Agrarianism that can help professors and students interested in the Tea Party or Occupy Wall Street movements to see their research endeavors from a new interdisciplinary perspective. Originality/value – The value of this paper lies in presenting a concrete example of the way in which academic librarians can become active research partners through the work of building collections and recommending sources in areas that professors and students may not have previously considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Library resources evolve daily with ongoing expansion of electronic offerings by publishers and vendors. Collection development policies have long been employed to guide decision making and inform stakeholders, but how are these policies serving libraries and their users as our collections continue to move online? This paper aims to discuss the role of collection development polices, past and present, and the challenge of collections moving to an electronic format. Design/methodology/approach – The authors performed a content analysis to discover how academic libraries are addressing this change in collection development. Findings – The paper finds that virtually all libraries do an excellent job of addressing the traditional elements of collection development. About half of the libraries mentioned electronic licensing issues in the policy, but most of those were general statements. Originality/value – Although the library profession is well aware of the changes that electronic resources bring to libraries, there is not a lot of research on how collection development policies should guide electronic resource management. As shown in this research, it is often completely left out of the collection development policy process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Poets House, a poetry special collection in New York, hosts an annual exhibit of the preceding year's poetry publications in the USA. This paper aims to offer a selection of recommended titles that reflect the range of poetry titles including single-author works, anthologies, and prose about poetry. Design/methodology/approach – The paper researched and requested donations of 2010-2011 poetry titles from US poetry publishers to assemble and display a comprehensive collection of poetry publications, from which a selection of 50 titles was made. The selections should appeal to a range of poetry readers, from novices and students to poets looking to access the latest work from their peers. Findings – Over 2,500 poetry titles were published and/or available to readers in the USA between June 2010 and June 2011. These titles range from mainstream publishers to independent presses to artists' collectives publishing works from established poets as well as emerging and international poets. Research limitations/implications – Without a budget for collection development, the exhibit and resulting titles represent those which publishers have opted to donate to the library. Every effort is made to be all-inclusive, with the understanding that publishers may send only a selection of their list. The selected titles herein are based on the titles received for the exhibition. Practical implications – For 19 years Poets House's annual Showcase has been the main collection-development tool. Publishers donate copies of their titles, which are arranged by publisher for a month-long exhibition. This approach enriches the poetry special collection, a unique poetry library built on community participation. The all-inclusive collection-development approach results in a full representation of poetry publishing. Originality/value – A selection made from a comprehensive collection of the year's poetry titles offers a sample of poetry publishing from large to small presses and the self-published in the USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this study was to find out ways in which collection development practices in private university libraries in Kenya could be enhanced by the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based on research that was carried out on the application of ICTs in collection development in selected private universities in Kenya. The study was done using a survey method. Three universities and a total of 72 respondents were purposively selected for the study. The respondents included librarians, faculty deans and postgraduate students from the three universities. Findings – The findings indicated that ICTs were available in all the three selected universities but their application in collection development was not adequate in ensuring efficiency and in making sure that the library collections are effective in meeting the needs of the users. Originality/value – With the changing information environment and users' information needs, libraries are being compelled to adopt ICTs in order to remain relevant and increase their value and meet the changing needs of the users. The paper recommends different ways of applying ICTs in all the processes of collection development to make the process more efficient and effective in meeting the needs of the users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to determine the adequacy of the public library system with respect to the total population as well as the viable population of different regions of Tehran city, the capital of Iran, especially pertaining to book collections in accordance with the IFLA/UNESCO Guidelines. Design/methodology/approach – A survey was conducted through a questionnaire distributed to librarians of the public libraries under study. The other resources of data used for this study are annual reports and official records of the libraries at the provincial and national level. Findings – The findings reveal the ratio of book collections with respect to the viable population of different regions of Tehran. Only one of 22 regions has a book collection as per IFLA/UNESCO Guidelines. Originality/value – This paper highlights how public libraries in Tehran are providing access to information resources and whether the book collections of the libraries are adequate as per international standards. It also suggests certain improvements for the existing system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate if collection developers in American academic libraries have added predominantly "yellowface" movies to their collections, or have actively sought out movies created and acted by Asian and Asian Americans, to balance out their libraries' collections. Design/methodology/approach – In total, ten acknowledged "yellowface" movies and ten critically acclaimed Asian and Asian American movies were chosen. The collections of 157 academic libraries throughout the entire USA were then surveyed, including geographical areas that have had very few Asians or Asian Americans in their populations throughout their histories. Findings – The results show that neither "yellowface" movies nor Asian and Asian American movies are overtly dominant in the collections of American academic librarians, and one can conclude that the collection developers actively sought to find a balance between movies in both categories, no matter the geographical locations of their libraries. Social implications – No matter how unsavory is our racist past, representations of past bigotry and discrimination should be available for scholars of history, cultural studies, and sociology. However, interpretations of Asians defined with this jaundiced eye must be balanced with movies of Asians and Asian Americans defining themselves. Originality/value – The area of Asian and Asian American movies is rather small and arcane, yet the results of this survey show that there are no academic areas too small or narrow that do not demand the attention of a knowledgeable collection developer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to explore how the publishing world is responding to library collection development challenges posed by the growth of interdisciplinary studies programs. Design/methodology/approach – The first step in this study was a survey of the websites of selected ARL and all Oberlin Group university and college websites to determine those institutions that have a clearly identified Interdisciplinary program or majors. The authors then investigated the status of interdisciplinary collection development practices at these institutions. Finally the websites of reviewers, publishers, and vendors were surveyed to explore what tools are available to help librarians identify new interdisciplinary monographs. Findings – Rather than supplying formal interdisciplinary collection development support, most librarians rely on external resources to help identify interdisciplinary materials. As technology evolves publisher/vendor websites can provide librarians with the tools needed to conduct in-depth searches of their catalogs, thus aiding in the identification of interdisciplinary monographs for purchase. Originality/value – Building on previous scholarship about the growth of interdisciplinary studies and libraries, this paper extends the research by examining the tools available to help librarians bridge the gap created by new disciplinary formations and offers suggestions for publishers to enhance interdisciplinary selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper seeks to provide evidence that patron-driven acquisition is a successful collection development tool. Design/methodology/approach – The study used cost, usage, and cost per use as measurements to compare patron-driven acquired print and electronic books with traditionally acquired print and electronic books to determine the success of five different patron-driven methods. Findings – The study found that usage is much higher and the cost and cost per use is lower for patron-driven acquisition methods than for traditional collection development methods. Originality/value – Collection development and acquisitions librarians can benefit from this research comparing traditional collection development methods with multiple patron-driven acquisitions methods to better manage their resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]