Designing and Managing Library Collections

 Rodriguez, Ariana

Wong, M. A. (2018). Designing and managing library collections. In K. Haycock & M.-J. Romaniuk (Eds.), The portable MLIS: Insights from the experts (2nd ed., pp. 137–151). Libraries Unlimited. 

Summary: 

Melissa A. Wong's chapter in The Portable MLIS: Insights from the Experts discusses the designing and maintaining of library collection and the principles and practices that drive them.  This includes the selection and deselection of materials, the evaluation of materials, and maintenance.

Evaluation: 

This chapter is a smart, brief introduction to the world of collection management. Wong goes into depth about acquiring materials with purpose and with guidance from the organization's set of policies. Each item must be of value to the collection and isn't collected for collecting's sake. I appreciate the sentiment about consistent ongoing evaluation of materials, both physical and digital. Physical items require routine maintenance for wear including taping and covering. Digital materials over time are subject to digital decay and irrelevance. It makes me think of how the floppy disk is now a relic and printing out physical directions on MapQuest is a thing of the recent past. Digital materials and resources need to be carefully considered for acquisition as their cost per use could be more in the long run. It runs the risk of outdated or broken links. Digital materials also have the potential to reach more patrons that may not be able to physically access the library. Remote patrons must be taken into consideration. Wong's points on the deselection process opened my eyes to why weeding is essential to collection management. Nobody is removing books without good reason and sometimes that reason is that the information inside is no longer accurate or relevant to a subject. All in all, collection management is an ongoing process.