From: June Schmidt <JSchmidt_at_library.msstate.edu>
Collection Development Librarians of Academic Libraries Discussion Group
Topic 4: Building a Great Collection Development Web Site
Facilitator and Reporter: Andy Corrigan, Tulane University
Institutions represented were Tulane, Utah State, Emory, Bridgewater
College, California at Riverside and McHenry County College
Although elaborate collection management web pages have now become very
common, especially among large libraries, discussion of the functions of
such pages is largely absent in the professional literature. The broad
array of collection development and/or management policies available on the
Web documents current thinking in the field and provides librarians with
useful samples for comparison or emulation. For these reasons, collection
development websites seem to have replaced library literature as the
primary source of information about developing collection policies and
procedures today. The proliferation of and similarities among collection
development web sites seem to substantiate this conclusion. Even though
most bibliographers' manuals are site-specific, they can be very helpful to
bibliographers at other institutions. The group agreed that a move to
restrict such information to campus network access only is unfortunate
since such restriction limits the value of the site
to the profession at large.
Collection development web sites often serve other useful functions
too. Tulane's serves as a central work space for bibliographers as the
library's policies and procedures evolve over time. Individual
bibliographers/selectors are responsible for updating and managing these
collection documents. That process can be as valuable as the information
the documents provide.
After viewing examples of collection policies, collection procedures, and
bibliographers' manuals from the web, participants discussed the practical
aspects of managing these sites. Should/could web pages be managed by
bibliographers or must they be managed by the department responsible for
the library's web site? The group agreed that a hands-on approach seemed
to have the most advantages. Some libraries have created web-based forms to
facilitate the hands-on approach. What information not present on the
websites viewed would be helpful to collection development
librarians? More information about budgets and fund structures would be
helpful since that subject is not well covered in the literature.
The discussants concurred that more articles on collection development
websites are needed in the library literature.
Sample Collection Policies for ARL Libraries Accessible on the Web
Brown
http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/University_Library/collections/colldev/general.html
Columbia http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/services/colldev/index.html
Cornell http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/cdhome1.html
Dartmouth http://www.dartmouth.edu/~libacq/documentation/documentation.shtml
Georgetown
http://www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/collect/policy/policy_index.htm
New York University http://library.nyu.edu/collections/policies/policy.html
Rice http://www.rice.edu/fondren/colldev/cdpolicy.html
Tulane http://library.tulane.edu/about_the_library/departments/collections.php
University of Pennsylvania
http://www.library.upenn.edu/collections/policies/list.html
Sample Bibliographer's Manuals Accessible on the Web
Cornell http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/cdmanualcontents.html
Dartmouth http://www.dartmouth.edu/~cmdc/bibman/
University of Colorado
http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/collectiondevelopment/bmanual/index.htm
Rice http://sparta.rice.edu/~keckker/Manual/cdmanual.html
Some Further Reading
Jim Vickery. Making a statement; reviewing the case for written collection
development policies. Library Management, (2004) Volume: 25, Issue 8/9, p.
337-342.
Nancy F. Carter. Bibliographer's manual: a new life, a new process.
Collection Management, (2004) Volume: 29, Issue 1, p. 31-41
Paul Metz. Integrating philosophy and practice in the management of
collection development. Library Philosophy and Practice, (1998) Volume: 1,
Issue 1, p. 1-6
Report edited and abridged by June Schmidt, Chair.
June Schmidt
Associate Dean for Technical Services
Mitchell Memorial Library
P.O. Box 5408
Mississippi State, MS 39762
662-325-7672
Received on Sun Jul 30 2006 - 01:35:25 EDT