Dear Collection Development Colleagues:
Would you help us examine the models that libraries are using for
collection development?
The ALCTS/CMDS Committee on Administration of Collection Development is
doing focus groups during ALA Midwinter to discuss various models of
collection development and to list the pros and cons of each model. The
results of the discussion will be written up as a qualitative study of
the varieties of models that are used to organize collection
development, and we hope, some indication of the changes and trends that
are happening in collection development organization and staffing.
We will be having three focus groups by type of model.
Saturday, January 25, 11:30-12:30 a.m., Philadelphia Marriot, Franklin
Hall A, Table 1, Functional Models
Monday, January 27, 9:00-10:00 a.m., Philadelphia Marriot, Franklin
Hall A, Table 1, Hybrid Models
Monday, January 27, 10:00-11:00 a.m., Philadelphia Marriot, Franklin
Hall A, Table 1, Geographic Models
You are free to self-identify and attend that focus group which most
closely mirrors your own. For the sake of our research, we ask that
only one person from each library attend a focus group. If you would
like to come, please reply to mmunroe_at_niu.edu and tell me which group
you are interested in attending.
Functional Models:
· Description. In the functional model, staff members with similar
responsibilities are organized into one or more units. These units may
be called departments, teams, divisions, etc. Collection development
librarians are grouped in an overarching organizational unit without
regard to responsibility for discipline, language, or geographic region
or to their particular physical location or user community. Depending
on the size of the library, this larger function-based unit may be
subdivided into smaller units according to discipline (i.e., librarians
responsible for the social sciences) or to the location of their
collections or offices. Librarians may or may not have reference
responsibilities.
· Examples.
· Single Unit: All selectors work in a collection development
department with staff providing support functions. Their duties are
entirely or predominately collection development-related, including
selection, collection management, and liaison activities. They are
responsible for building and managing collections in one or more subject
areas. They may perform other functions, such as reference service or
digital data management, on a limited basis. They report to the
collection development officer. This model may be found more frequently
in libraries with a small collection development staff.
· Multiple units: Collection development forms one of the
library's divisions or focus groups. Selectors work in one of several
departments or teams organized by disciplinary areas (humanities, social
sciences, sciences, etc.). While some departments or teams are located
in branch libraries, support functions are performed in a centralized
unit. Selectors' duties are centered on collection development
activities, but they may perform other tasks. They report directly to a
department head or team leader, who in turn reports to the collection
development officer. This model is most often found in large libraries
with intensive collection development programs.
Geographic or Client-Based Models:
· Description. In the geographic or client-based model, collection
development librarians are part of a unit that consists of staff members
with various responsibilities in addition to collection development.
The primary feature that unites this group is the client or user
community they serve or the common geographic location of the members of
the group. As with functional units, a larger library may subdivide a
geographic or client-based unit into smaller units. In this
environment, the subdivisions will be based on functional
responsibilities. Thus, all librarians with collections
responsibilities will constitute a subunit within the larger unit
defined by location in one library building.
· Examples. At a large university with a decentralized library
operation, the business library is located in the business school
building. The library's staff provides reference, circulation, reserve,
and collection development services for its clientele in the school.
Technical services for its collection are performed elsewhere on campus.
Three librarians are responsible for collection development in addition
to their public service duties. One of them is appointed collection
development coordinator. They all report to the head of the business
library and are not responsible to the university library's collection
development officer.
In a suburban public library system, collection development is the
responsibility of each branch library. Each branch controls its own
materials budget. Though no branch employs a full-time bibliographer,
librarians at each branch select materials independently based on local
needs.
Hybrid:
· Description. In practice, many libraries combine functional and
geographic and client-based models. This is especially true in larger
libraries. An institution may have a functional unit of bibliographers
under an upper level administrator and a client-based unit under an
administrator at the same organizational level.
One common model is inclusion of a separate medical library within a
larger academic library organization. Another is a functional unit
consisting of librarians whose only responsibilities are in collection
development and client-based units in which librarians have several
responsibilities, typically both selection and reference. In a large
public library system, the central library may have a division of
collection development librarians with system-wide responsibilities and
each branch library, organized under a branch librarian, will also
include staff members with some collection management responsibilities.
· Examples. At a university's main library, collection
development is organized functionally. A corps of subject
bibliographers reports to the Associate University Librarian for
Collection Development. At the university's medical library, collection
development is client-based. Several medical librarians perform
collection development on a part-time basis and report to the Associate
University Librarian for Biomedical Resources and Services.
At a large urban public library system, the main library hosts a
division composed of full-time bibliographers who select core materials
to be acquired in multiple copies and housed in both the main and branch
libraries. A collection development officer heads the division. This
functional model contrasts with a geographic model practiced at the
branches. In these small units, all librarians are chiefly responsible
for public service. They also select specialized materials appropriate
for the neighborhood and clientele of each branch.
We hope to see you there!
Best Regards,
Mary Munroe
Mary H. Munroe
Associate Dean,
Collections and Technical Services
University Libraries
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, IL 60115
mmunroe_at_niu.edu
(815)753-9805
Fax (815) 753-9803
Received on Sun Nov 24 2002 - 05:22:59 EST