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Purpose - The literature on collection development largely discusses all kinds of managerial and practical issues. There appears to be a noteworthy gap in LIS literature regarding the philosophical and conceptual underpinning of the subject. The paper aims to attempt to explore the developments in the theoretical foundations of collection management practices in libraries. Design/methodology/approach - An extensive review of the available literature was made to synthesise the study. It illustrates the impacts of the developments in civilization, from ancient times to modern, on the collection management services of libraries. Findings - It was found that the philosophy underlying collection management work has expanded through the ages due to various factors. Originality/value - The paper provides an overview of social and technological changes on the philosophy of managing collections through the ages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to show the importance of the Master’s degree in the library and information sciences in learning the essential values of library and information science culture.Design/methodology/approach The paper is a discussion based upon the author’s decades of experience as a librarian and library science professor.Findings Cultural values help unify the diverse profession of librarianship. Librarians working in different types and sizes are able to cooperate because of these shared values.Research limitations/implications The paper does not build upon any research studies.Practical implications The paper provides ways in which library and information science schools can help students learn the important elements of library culture.Social implications Library culture helps librarians bond together and work toward common goals to benefit the profession.Originality/value The value of library culture as a unifying factor has not often been systematically investigated. This paper also integrates current trends in librarianship including the increased focus on information technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to investigate the language of "weeding" (library deselection) within public library collection development policies in order to examine whether such policies and practices can be usefully connected to library and information science (LIS) theory, specifically to "Deweyan pragmatic adaptation" as suggested by Buschman (2017) in the pages of this journal. Design/methodology/approach: This is a policy analysis of collection deselection policies from the 50 public libraries serving US state capitals, using Bacchi's policy problem representation technique. Findings: "Weeding" as described by these public library collection deselection policies is clearly pragmatic and oriented to increasing circulation to patrons, but the "Deweyan pragmatic adaptation" as reflected by many of those reviewed might better be defined as the pragmatism of Melvil Dewey rather than that of John Dewey. Research limitations/implications: Although this work reviewed policies from a very small sample of US public libraries, collection, selection and deselection language as shown in the policies studied appear to be consistent with neoliberal priorities and values in terms of prioritizing "circulation" and "customers," which may have additional implications for the current transition from print to electronic materials in public libraries Originality/value: John Dewey's political philosophy and Carol Bacchi's policy problem representation technique have not been widely used in policy analysis by LIS researchers, and this paper offers a number of suggestions for similar public library policy investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Proposes encouraging librarians to be more informed about the value of collection evaluations. Design/methodology/approach - Three examples of collection evaluation methods (user-centered evaluation, physical assessment and specific subject support) are explored. Findings - Many strategies are available for evaluating collections, regardless of the kind of library or size of the collection. Evaluation allows librarians a more thorough knowledge of what already exists, what may be needed, and whether collection development goals are being achieved. Practical implications - Methods of meaningful collection evaluation are shared so that librarians may create an evaluation that will provide useful information to them in their library setting. Implications for successful future collection management, financial resource management and effective format selection are discussed. Originality/value - Discussion that includes the "assessment of specific subject support" and "assessing and building specific subject collections" encourages librarians to recognize their major and minor collections, creatively assess those collection areas, and involve techniques or individuals who might guide them to specific subject materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study investigates an approach to book metrics for research evaluation that takes into account the complexity of scholarly monographs. This approach is based on work sets – unique scholarly works and their within-work related bibliographic entities – for scholarly monographs in national databases for research output. Design/methodology/approach: This study examines bibliographic records on scholarly monographs acquired from four European databases (VABB in Flanders, Belgium; CROSBI in Croatia; CRISTIN in Norway; COBISS in Slovenia). Following a data enrichment process using metadata from OCLC WorldCat and Amazon Goodreads, the authors identify work sets and the corresponding ISBNs. Next, on the basis of the number of ISBNs per work set and the presence in WorldCat, they design a typology of scholarly monographs: Globally visible single-expression works, Globally visible multi-expression works, Miscellaneous and Globally invisible works. Findings: The findings show that the concept "work set" and the proposed typology can aid the identification of influential scholarly monographs in the social sciences and humanities (i.e. the Globally visible multi-expression works). Practical implications: In light of the findings, the authors outline requirements for the bibliographic control of scholarly monographs in national databases for research output that facilitate the use of the approach proposed here. Originality/value: The authors use insights from library and information science (LIS) to construct complexity-sensitive book metrics. In doing so, the authors, on the one hand, propose a solution to a problem in research evaluation and, on the other hand, bring to attention the need for a dialogue between LIS and neighbouring communities that work with bibliographic data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how archaeological document collections are layered entities and, thus, consist of documents that may be in discordance with one another. Implications of this scenario for scientific study are discussed. Tensions arise between archaeological and Information and Library Science practices. Curators become primary agents in reconstructing the appropriate representational continuity of these documents. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is an in-depth examination of documentation in the Glenn Black Laboratory of Archaeology. It assesses how representations between documents are maintained as part of the collection management process. A document archaeological analysis of the Angel Mounds Collection shows how discordant data between documents is reconciled. Findings: The study shows how documentary institutions are central to maintaining the chain of reference necessary to maintain the veracity of scientific data. Documents are embedded within a professional network of classification control that has implications for the conceptualization of documents. The study can help scholars gain a more nuanced view of the role of documents in scientific knowledge creation. Social implications: Curatorial intervention plays a central role in maintaining the veracity of scientific data. In this way, the narrative shows how social and professional scientific discourses are impacted by curatorial intervention and that this process is inextricable from how we understand "knowledge" broadly construed. Originality/value: This study examines how documents are embedded within a broader collection context and further studies should acknowledge this. It shows how documents within the domain of archaeology pose specific issues of concern for document curators and scholars, especially in relation to the documentation of spatial data, which is central to this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Library work is increasingly being explored from the perspective of design. Still, little work has actively explored specific aspects of design as they relate to library cataloging. The purpose of this paper is to dive deeper into the relationship between library cataloging and design by exploring a specific aspect of design – the concept of repertoire, or the use of previous experiences and bodies of knowledge during current work. Design/methodology/approach: To examine catalogers' use of repertoire, this paper employed a juxtaposition of field observations of professional library catalogers' work processes with elements of "think-aloud" protocols. Findings: The researchers identified three major types of repertory knowledge that were demonstrated by catalogers: internally embedded repertory knowledge; externally embedded repertory knowledge; and seeking out new knowledge using other sources. Additionally, certain trends were noted concerning which repertory knowledge was utilized for which particular task. Determining subject and genre headings were noted for relying quite extensively on internal repertoire such as personal knowledge and institutional knowledge, along with external sources, such as personal notes and local examples. Originality/value: This paper adds to a growing body of work calling for design approaches in libraries and related information settings, and breaks ground by applying the previously unexplored concept of repertoire to librarianship, specifically library cataloging, which offers a new perspective on cataloger's judgement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to review the current library and information science (LIS) literature for document supply, resource sharing and other issues such as open access (OA) that have an impact on the service.Design/methodology/approach The approach is based on the scanning of about 150 journals, reports, websites and blogs.Findings Of the 13 articles and reports reviewed, 12 are freely available, continuing the trend of increasing OA. As always, these days, much is happening on the OA front. Big Deals, demand-driven acquisition and discovery tools are reviewed.Originality/value The only regular literature review that focuses on interlending, document supply and related issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This article aims to introduces generalist librarians who have music among their subject responsibilities to jazz fake-books as a library resource. Design/methodology/approach – The article begins with a review of jazz as a subject in the professional literature of both librarianship and music education. The second section discusses the origin and history of fake-books, while the third offers suggested selection criteria. This is followed by a bibliography of recommended fake-books, all of which were in print at the time of writing, along with information to facilitate the acquisition process. Findings – Although fake-books in electronic form have become available in recent years, they require an investment in both hardware and software on the purchaser's part. They also carry end-user licensing agreements that make them impractical as library purchases. Print fake-books remain a worthwhile area of study for collection development librarians. Originality/value – In preparing this article the author discovered that jazz as printed music has been largely ignored in library literature, and has been treated only occasionally in scholarly literature in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which explored the relationship between library/information science (LIS) and education. The study made use of different sources, which include blog entries, academic journal papers, and books. Results suggested that there are means in which the duties and functions of information professionals and teachers coincide. The study also revealed the contrasts associated with and perceptions of information literacy, as well as the differences in the relative positions of information professionals and teachers within schools.

Purpose – This paper seeks to deal with the "image problem" in the library and information science (LIS) profession from the cultural studies viewpoint. It aims to explore representations of LIS in LIS itself and to research the representation practices of LIS in the social and cultural environment. Design/methodology/approach – After identifying some main features of professional discourse on the LIS image, the empirical part of the research particularly explored two questions: how LIS is constituted and how it is embedded in broader social practices. More than 300 articles were collected from the Slovenian daily newspaper with the largest circulation. The sample was analyzed quantitatively and two-fold qualitatively. Findings – The results of quantitative analysis outline the formation of LIS's community nature. The results of qualitative analysis mostly show the signifying practices in differentiating between the "old" and the "modern" and representing practices in creating "zealous" librarians and "suspicious" users. The results also point to librarians as "organic intellectuals". Research limitations/implications – The study is exploratory and at this point the thesis on "organic intellectuals" cannot be confirmed; in addition to the limits in the analysis methods, the theoretical background needs to be further explored. The findings cannot be generalized due to social and cultural differences. Practical implications – The methodology can be applied to other research subjects. The results may be helpful for library managers and library public relations work. Originality/value – There are only a few studies of such theoretical and methodological design that have researched the role of the LIS in society. The paper also analyzes the "image problem" in the daily newspapers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to report an investigation into the types of knowledge organisation systems (KOSs) utilised in North American digital library collections. Design/methodology/approach - The paper identifies, analyses and deep scans online North American hosted digital libraries. It reviews the literature related to the application of KOSs on the web, identifies widely used KOSs and tools and reviews the literature related to collaborative collections on the web. Findings - A total of 269 North American digital library collections were examined. The Library of Congress Subject Headings is the most widely used subject representation tool, followed by domain-specific thesauri, 113 digital library collections make use of locally developed taxonomies. A few collections use the Dewy Decimal Classification and alphabetical indexes. Research limitations/implications - This research was limited to North American digital library collections. Practical implications - The findings show the popular KOSs used in digital library collections. It also shows the organisational contexts of the examined digital library collections. Originality/value - This research contributes to the areas of digital libraries and to the application of KOSs and services for subject representation and access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to discover university librarians' perceptions regarding importance of various elements of CM, and self- assessment about the status of CM in university libraries of Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach -- To achieve the objectives of the study, the survey method was used with self-completion questionnaires to collect data from throughout Pakistan. The questionnaire was sent to central libraries of 40 major accredited universities of Pakistan and 30 responses were obtained. Findings -- It was found that the university librarians are still not fully conversant with the changing scenario of CM in both theoretical and practical terms. It also appeared that the university librarians were not satisfied with the overall status of managing a collection in the majority of cases. Originality/value -- The paper is the first study on the overall status of collection management in Pakistan. It will invoke among professionals the need to learn and apply modern practices of collection management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- Many bibliographies of books about C.S. Lewis' works and life have been compiled in the past, but a bibliography of recent literary criticism addressing Lewis and his work is hard to come by. The purpose of this paper is to provide a bibliography of the best works recently published about C.S. Lewis and his writings. Design/methodology/approach -- Many different sources were used to find current popular works about C.S. Lewis and his writings. The author searched several databases, read several book reviews, and looked through the source itself when available in order to compile an annotated list of current works, which are viewed to be important additions to the literature about C.S. Lewis and his works. Practical implications -- The resulting bibliography is not a complete list of everything written about C.S. Lewis in the past few years. Instead, the intent is to compile a research guide of the sources considered to be the most useful contributions to the works about C.S. Lewis that already exist. Findings -- Included in this research guide is a list of quality biographies and literary criticism found in reference sources; a sample of book-length resources focusing on Lewis' life, thought, and writings; short descriptions of periodicals that frequently discuss Lewis' work; and examples of popular databases and web resources dedicated to C.S. Lewis. Originality/value -- In addition to being intended for students, faculty, and those of the general public who are interested in reading about or doing research on C.S. Lewis and his works, this guide is designed for librarians who are trying to develop, maintain, or evaluate a collection on the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- Currently there is a need for an updated assessment model that addresses and reflects the ongoing diversity of issues related to collection evaluation in academic libraries. The purpose of this paper is to provide conceptual guidelines and a model to support collection evaluation and assessment in this time of unstable and constantly changing patterns of information. Design/methodology/approach -- The paper provides a literature review of the collection evaluation and assessment. Based on an analytical study of environmental factors and their relationship to, and impact on, the library collection, the authors propose a new model of collection evaluation to address the needs of the current environment. Findings -- The paper identifies environmental factors in collection evaluation, establishes a set of ratios that need to be addressed and finally, provides a set of indicators for collection evaluation and assessment that can be selected from, and adapted to each library's needs. Research limitations/implications -- This paper bridges two different collection evaluation models, collection-based and user-based. It identifies that there is not a single appropriate collection evaluation method. It provides a different perspective to a body of literature that is mostly best practice-based. Practical implications -- With this research a new model is suggested that provides flexibility and adaptability. It offers a multidimensional approach that libraries can use and adapt to their specific situation. Originality/value -- The new model suggested here addresses a current need generated by a changing information environment. It adds a new approach to the body of literature in the area of collection evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — This article sets out to describe the challenges and opportunities created by the presentation of a number of special collections to the library service of Waterford Institute of Technology. It aims to focus on the work done with the collections to date and plans for the future. Design/methodology/approach — This case study reports on the collections presented to WIT Library Service and the approach taken to their conservation and display. It also discusses the ongoing issues involved in special collections management in a modern academic library setting. Findings — The paper concludes that there is a delicate balancing act involved in accepting and managing special collections in contemporary academic libraries. Key factors to consider are expense, staff time and skills, and potential benefits to the library and its users. Research limitations/implications — The project is still in development. The study provides a view on one medium-sized academic library's experience of handling special collections. Practical implications — This account is likely to be useful for organisations in a similar position, faced with similar challenges of comparable scale. Originality/value — The paper offers practical insights for libraries in similar positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategic business partnerships inform business faculty-librarian (BFL) collaboration. This paper seeks to address how the motivations for business partnerships and faculty-librarian collaborations are similar. A conceptual model suggests that the depth of the BFL relationship significantly enhances electronic collection development outcomes. Literature concerning strategic business alliances, faculty-librarian collaborations, and collection development was examined to determine whether principles that ate applied to strategic business alliances can also be applied to BFL collaborations. A case-in-point is included for illustration. Specific principles of strategic business partnerships can be applied to BFL collaborations aimed at improving electronic collection development. In addition, driving forces such as assessment, communication, and technology influence the nature of alliances across the business and academic arenas. The findings are significant because they demonstrate how BFL collaborations can be made more effective through the application of business principles. BFL collaborations can positively influence electronic collection development in a variety of ways. The paper offers a new and unique conceptual model that improves understanding of the nature and depth of BFL collaborations in the context of electronic collection development. This paper will be of interest to business faculty in particular and faculty in general, and librarians working in diverse library settings, especially librarians aligned with management and business departments. Librarians in management positions will likely find this information useful as a means to increase faculty-librarian collaboration across all disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to answer the following questions: what are an open system and its components? How can the open system model be used to describe a library system including its objectives and functions? What is the situation of librarianship in Pakistan in terms of the elements, characteristics and features of an open system model? Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on a review of the literature. The challenges which are faced by librarianship today are presented as a supra-system of a library system. Inputs (people, knowledge, material, energy, capital and finance), processes, outputs and feedback mechanism of Pakistani librarianship are described. Characteristics of an open system such as users, controller, cycle of events, teleology, mission and negative entropy are presented with special reference to libraries in Pakistan. Findings – That the Library system in Pakistan would benefit from the application of an open systems approach, but resource and other constraints prevent this from happening. Research limitations/implications – Attempts to show how open systems theory can be applied to the sphere of a national library system. Practical implications – The barriers to implementing the systems model offered in this paper are essentially practical: resource constraints, political priorities, and related social or governmental factors. Originality/value – The paper is useful not only to understand how a library can be studied using systems theory but also to have a picture of the present state of librarianship in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assessment of library service quality requires both expertise and objectivity. Undergraduate students are neither expert nor objective, and assessment methods that rely heavily on students' perceptions are likely to be inadequate in several respects. Students' needs are not necessarily consistent with their preferences, for example, and the limited experiences of most undergraduates give them only a partial understanding of library collections and services. Although user surveys provide valuable information about patrons' perceptions, that information is no substitute for objective standards based on professional knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For libraries to provide and maintain collections that meet the needs of their diverse community groups, expertise must be developed in sourcing, evaluating, selecting, acquiring, cataloguing and processing in an ever-growing range of languages. A unique partnership in Melbourne, Australia, provides the combined expertise of a bookseller and a cataloguing agency to provide shelf-ready library materials in over 60 languages. Non-English collections can be established, developed and managed to meet the needs of both the library and the communities they serve. Expert selection and acquisition goes beyond language and relies on knowledge and understanding of the relevant social, political, religious and cultural issues. The creation of catalogue records to support the collections requires expert language, transliteration and translation skills. By combining the selection and acquisition skills with the language and cataloguing skills, libraries are now able to provide an equitable service to all client groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selection is the heart of good library collection building. This article reviews a variety of print and online sources of materials in an attempt to acquaint librarians with new selection tools. Traditional print sources, such as publisher's catalogues and monthly magazines, are discussed as part of the larger attempt to locate both core and specialized materials. Private and association online sites are reviewed. In addition, three sites for literature that are freely available in digital format are reviewed for their content. While these sources represent only a sampling from the plethora of those available, the scope of these reviewed sources may encourage new ways of thinking about locating relevant materials efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This keynote paper considers each of the three facets included in the title of the conference: continuity, culture and competition. Each facet, it is argued, challenges the academic community in library and information science (LIS) to retreat from a narrow view of knowledge transfer in society founded on textual documentation as the channel of communication, and libraries as the means of gaining access to such documentation. The case against continuity in the design and teaching of LIS curricula is made by forecasting the likely socioeconomic context of information resource management in 2005. The widening availability of digitally-integrated cultural artefacts signals the need for a convergence of librarianship with professional activity within other forms of memory institution. Competition from the subject discipline of computer science to provide the knowledge and skills deemed most appropriate for the information professional of the future suggests that LIS academics should collaborate, rather than compete within their community, the better to present a strongly unified discipline provision as the basis for a convergence of interests and influence with information system developers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building a Web-based e-library may be the most important thing a library ever does. An important role for librarians in all types of libraries is the planning and/or building of Web-based e-libraries. Offers a practical discussion of developing and implementing a collection plan for building Web-based e-libraries. The starting point for developing any collection plan is an assessment of the function of and need for an information collection and the audience it will serve. Discusses some guidelines and practical strategies on where and how to find, identify, evaluate and select appropriate Web-based information resources. Focuses on Web-based information resources rather than other electronic information resources such as CD-ROM or fee-based databases that have been discussed extensively in recent literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]