Urquhart's Law: Probability and the Management of Scientific and Technical Journal Collections Part 2. Probability in the Development and Management of a Central Document Delivery Collection.

Part 1 of this three-part paper discussed the genesis of the law formulated by Donald J. Urquhart on the use of scientific and technical (sci/tech) journals through interlibrary loan and central document delivery. It concentrated on the study of such use conducted by Urquhart in preparation for the establishment of the National Lending Library for Science and Technology (NLL), which became the central document delivery library of Britain. The focus of Part 1 was on the statistical and probabilistic bases of this law. In Part 2 the emphasis shifts to how Urquhart utilized probability to develop and manage the NIL's sci/tech journal collection. Urquhart based his collection development and management policies on a high-loan core of journals, causing the stability of sci/tech journal use over time to become the main theoretical issue. Part 2 analyzes the controversy over this issue between Urquhart and his successor, Maurice B. Line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]