Resource Development

1. Resource Development Sajjad ur Rehman

2. Collection Development Policy • Policy is a plan • Master plan for building and marinating resources • Reflection and relating to other plans; long-range and strategic • Correcting weaknesses, maintaining strengths • Written statement of plan; guiding library staff consistently in resource development; continuous development

3. Why Policy? • Changes in libraries and communities • Changes in staff • Electronic resources creating new challenges • Funding issues • Threats from community: censorship, etc. • Awareness about strengths and weakness; working in collaboration with other institutions in the community • Contd

4. Why policy? • Informing everyone about the nature and scope of collection • Informing everyone about priorities • Rationalization about organizational priorities • Committing to meeting organizational goals • Standards for inclusion and exclusion • Controlling selector bias • Training and orientation tool contd.

5. Why policy? • Handling complaints • Aid in weeding • Rationalizing budget allocations • Public relations document • Means of assessment of resources • Accountability tool for outsiders

6. Policy Elements—General • Description of community of users • Identification of service clientele • Collection parameters • Supporting what programs and needs • Role in cooperative resource development Variation in types of libraries

7. Policy Elements: Specifics • Subject areas • Types of patrons • Formats • Use of conspectus for cooperative development • Assigning numeric value to each subject area

8. Policy Elements: Specifics • Selection • Who responsible (p. 80) • Procedures of selection: role of committees, engagement of stakeholders • Listing guidelines: Do’s and don’t’s (p. 81)

9. Policy Elements: Specifics • Gifts • Exchange • Deselection • Discarding • Storage • Evaluation • Censorship

10. Selection Principles • Drury (1930) • Standards for judging books • Applying criteria intelligently for determining content of resources • Adding mediocre titles that will be read instead of superior title that might not be read • Get classics, standards, bestsellers • Avoid prejudice, partiality, censorship • Contd.

11. --- Contd. • Haines (1950) • Determine community character and interests • Provide materials for actual and potential users • Select resources of permanent value regardless of their potential use • Provide for the needs of specialists • Show promptness and regularity in maintaining resources—good and popular • Contd.

12. --- Contd. • Ranganathan (1952) • Books are for users • Every reader his/her book • Every book its reader • Save the reader’s time • A library is a growing organism • Broadus (1981) • Consider past use transactions; past use best predictor for prospective use

13. Selection Process • Determine collection needs in terms of subjects and types of materials • Apply policy • Determine the availability of resources • Allocate to subjects and types of materials • Identify potentially useful resources • Check suitability against need and price • Make selection decisions

14. Selection Modes • Till Forbidden • Normally used for jurnal titles • Standing Order • Normally used for series • Blanket Order • Normally used for subject areas • Approval Plans • Decisions depend on physical assessment of the content of resources: high rate of selection expected by booksellers and jobbers

15. Selection Aids • Current sources for in-print materials • Catalogs, flyers, announcements, etc. • Current reviews • National bibliographies • Online databases • Bestsellers/Core collections: benchmarking • Subject bibliographies

16. Academic Libraries • Variation: community colleges/junior colleges or vocational institutions, degree awarding colleges/small universities, research universities • Focus on academic programs, complementing textual needs • Needs of adult education or continuing education programs Contd.

17. --- Contd. • Learning center need specialized multimedia resources • Common university requirements have a core for which a basic collection is needed • Specialized college standards: qualitative and quantitative; standard lists for English language books • Pertinent reviewing journal: Choice • Contd.

18. --- Contd. • Research universities require large resource base to support graduate studies and research • Special emphasis on areas in which graduate education is imparted • Role of faculty selection committees • Departmental/branch libraries require redundant resources • Problems of financial resources

19. Public Libraries • Diversity in user community; unrelated constituencies • Need for speed and coordination in large public library system with centralized resource development activity • Reflecting public interest in resources: selection committees • Reviewing sources: Booklist, LJ, PW • Contd.

20. --- Contd. • Emphasis on children resources • Needs of young adults: different age groups • Interests of housewives • Strong fiction collections • Self-education of citizens • Local history emphasis

21. School Library Media Centers • Supporting school curriculum: a core collection, complementary resources • Diversity of media and resources • Electronic and multimedia resources • Funding and staffing problems • Centralized selections in Kuwait • Teachers serve on selection committees • Contd.

22. --- Contd. • Classrooms connected with Internet and other electronic resources • Parental concerns about media and resources • Most closely monitored • Reviews: booklist, LJ, Wilson’ specialized catalogs for school libraries, School Library Journal, WLB • Competencies for media specialists

23. Special Libraries/Information Centers • Diversity of settings: medical and law libraries mostly in academic settings, corporate information centers in for-profit enterprises; each requires different policies for resource development • Space constraints; virtual access; small in-house collections; focus on access • Focus on individual needs • Project orientation • Contd.

24. --- Contd. • Emphasis on currency • Need for specialized materials in a variety of media: serials, report literature, databases, standards, patents • Resources about competitive information; restricted information sources • Immediate needs and not future needs