Fenner - Selecting Materials for Library Collections

Haley Tallent

Citation:

Fenner, A. (Ed.). (2004). Selecting Materials for Library Collections. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Information Press.

Summary:

This book is a collection of articles which attempts to walk the reader through the entire process of collection development. The articles are presented in a logical order that tells the story of collection development. The book contains articles pertaining to academic and public libraries. The articles address a wide variety of topics such as music resources, resources for minorities, genealogical resources, specialized collections, and collection development in the 21^st century. The book attempts to provide articles that apply to librarians in many different kinds of libraries and with many different kinds of collection.

Analysis:

Overall I found this book to be an excellent collection of relevant articles that attempts to walk the reader through the collection development process. The book is a bit outdated being written in 2004 and thus the sections on technology are not current but many of the ideas expressed are universal such as the need for libraries to continue innovating. There is really something in this book for everyone which is nice but makes the book seem a bit unfocused until you notice the roots that connect all the essays.