Collection Development as a TEAM

Tracy, Anna

INFO 266, Fall 2016

This article looks at the evolution of collection development theories in academic libraries, the centralized selection model, its relevance to today’s practices, the streamlining of electronic resources and the electronic resource librarian.

There is a continuing dilemma in collection development of whether or not to add selection to someone’s existing roles or hiring a person specifically for that role. This article went into detail on what the Head of Collection Development at UW had to do in order to get devoted staff to selection rather than dividing up the tasks among many people as an afterthought to their workflow.

I do believe that selection should be accepted as ‘a regular part of the days work… not an added burden’, though there is a difference in budgets from library to library and especially spanning from academic to rural public libraries. I find it an incredibly rewarding part of my job, though it often gets put on the back burner for other tasks which is a shame. I have implemented a similar model, on a smaller scale within my department, similar to how UW achieved their team for the whole library, by defining policies very clearly, working in close proximity to the selection team, and consistent updates on budget and availability of funds.

Barstow, S., Macaulay, D., & Tharp, S. (2016). How to Build a High-Quality Library Collection in a Multi-Format Environment: Centralized Selection at University of Wyoming Libraries. Journal Of Library Administration, 56(7), 790-809. doi:10.1080/01930826.2015.1116336

Format Follows Function

Peet, L. (2015, September). Format Follows Function. Library Journal, 140(14), 34-37. Retrieved December 3, 2015, from Academic Search Premier.

Summary:

In this article, that author describes the complex nature of selecting the correct format to meet the needs of library patrons in public libraries. As the choices of format for library materials grow the and the demand for various formats increase libraries are left with the increasingly difficult decision of selecting formats. This article describes the difficulties in deciding which format to purchase for which items. There is increasing popularity in audiobooks as the preferred format for part of the challenges in choosing formats for libraries in predicting trends in formats. The author describes how costs, availability, and users demand all have to be consider in acquire the correct formats to meet the demands of a particular community.

Evaluation:

This article reveals the issues created by an increasingly complicated digital world. The availability of multiple formats causes confusion in the acquisition process. This article is a relevant explanation of the struggles in acquiring the proper formats to meet users needs in an expand and ever changing digital culture.

Game as Book: Selecting Video Games for Academic Libraries Based on Discipline Knowledge.

Bailey, Rachel

Thomas, C. M. & Clyde, J. (2013). Game as book: Selecting video games for academic libraries based on discipline knowledge. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 39, 522-527.

Summary: This article discusses the use of video games for scholarly content. Choosing four historical video games, librarians studied the games to see how well the games conveyed discipline specific knowledge. Although none of the games were considered to be scholarly, two of them were considered to have good historical content.  From here, the authors talk about the process one should go through in determining if a game conveys discipline knowledge.

Evaluation: I think it’s great that academic librarians are beginning to study the use of video games for discipline specific knowledge. The evaluation and selection process they used was also invaluable.