Search

The collection development role of the academic librarian in the research university library is increasingly subject to significant change as opportunities to build new types of library collections proliferate, particularly with respect to research data. A Purdue Libraries task force was charged with building faculty-produced collections for a data repository prototype. One purpose of the project was to inventory and characterize the resources and skills required of the libraries and its data-collecting librarians. This paper examines the librarian roles and activities that were identified during the project and suggests ways the experience of the task force can inform the roles and activities of librarians who are similarly charged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Books are traditionally set aside at the request of teachers from the main, normal loan collection to be put on reserve temporarily for checking out for a much shorter loan period to ensure that, at the expense of convenient, long-term loans for other users, all the students enrolled in a course have an opportunity to use them. Many studies have found that reserve usages are not high enough to justify the time and effort involved in making the arrangement. This article reveals that the accessibility and availability of materials to students, the idle status of reserve items on the shelf, and the usage of the collection may be improved if the access to books on reserve and on normal loan matches and fits the instructional choices of teachers and the study modes of students. As long as books in print format continue to play a role in the library collection, librarians have to manage their access to the best benefit of the users. Further studies on how the access to library materials can be managed and arranged concertedly to make the usage surpass the 80/20 rule are desired. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large number of the libraries'' selection of research papers are based on the quality and quantity of the papers selected. Most recently, a new mode for this type of selection appeared in the field of scientometrics. The Hirsch index provides new viewpoints to meet the criteria regarding the quality of journals. An understanding and use of the Hirsch index provides assistance to those librarians who wish to expand their libraries'' selection, find it important to maintain a higher quality, and want to develop the standards of their library. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The paper assessed the library collection, staffing, management and supervision, building space, seating capacity, acquisition, and processing of library materials of the Federal Science and Technical Colleges in Nigeria. Nineteen copies of a questionnaire were mailed to all the nineteen Federal Science and Technical Colleges in Nigeria. Only eleven of the Schools returned their questionnaires, which were used for the study. Result showed that the school libraries were adequately staffed. Their collections were above 2000 textbooks, the minimum standard. However, the library buildings were not only not well located, they also lacked adequate seating spaces. Also, there is no uniform policy on which classification scheme to use in processing the library materials. Suggestions that could enhance the development and growth of the school libraries were provided. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Collection storage and access in libraries with large and complex collections require high level planning and support at the senior management level. A key issue is positioning the collection storage program appropriately within the scope of library wide management to ensure effective support and budgeting. A review of a library''s current collection storage and access situation is a good starting point for the development of a long-term storage plan. The review should consider factors such as collection development policy; statutory responsibilities, for example, Legal Deposit; historical arrangements and cataloguing practices; access and preservation requirements of different categories of the collection; and especially, the range of formats to be stored. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The author reflects on the special issue of the publication "Collection Management" on the changes in library collection management. She claims that the articles published within the issue focuses on the changes in the processes of collection management. The author recalls her background in collections that influenced her own perspectives to collections work. She claims that the article within the issue highlights the attempt of libraries to adapt to changes in user needs.

This article presents an introduction to this issue of the journal "Collection Management." The article explains that the manuscripts in this issue focus on collection development and collection management librarians. Articles discussed include "From Clutter to Cash: Online Book Sales at the University of Maryland's Engineering and Physical Sciences Library," by Bob Kackley, and "Stacking Up: A How-To Guide to Condition Surveys," by Tori R. Gregory, and "Changing the Access from Subscription to Article in the Academic Library: Using Infotrieve As One of the Solutions to the Journal Problem," by Jennifer Carroll and Judith Brink.