Learning about Collection Development

Here are some questions and hints to guide you as you learn how to do collection development or how to 'be' a Collection Development Librarian. The information here is meant to support, not supplant, any local training for collection development at the four CONSORT libraries. To become effective at collection development, you need to learn:

a. Your library's collection development climate & organization.
b. Your collection development responsibilities.
c. Your library's book selection process.
d. Your collection maintenance responsibilities.
e. The characteristics and nature of your library's existing collections.
f. Your institution and your library's users.
g. Your library's budgeting process.
h. About services supporting collection development.
i. About professional standards and ethics.
j. About consortial relationships and responsibilities.
k. About disciplinary and scholarly communication issues.

A. In order to learn about the library's collection development climate & organization -

Does your library have a mission statement?
Does your library have a collection development policy? Does it have individual policies for disciplines or subject areas? Does it have a culture of creating policies for library services and operations?
Does your library have a collection development committee?

(hints: Read any mission and history information in the college catalog, look at college and library web pages.)

B. In order to learn about your collection development responsibilities -

Are the collection development responsibilities of the librarians clearly articulated?
Is your responsibility for developing the collection limited to print monographs? Who handles collection development for periodicals? For non-book materials? For electronic resources? For gift materials?
What roles to librarians play in CD? What role to faculty play?
What are ways you can evaluate titles under consideration?

(hints: look at Penn State University Libraries' Evaluating Electronic Resources.)

C. In order to learn your library's book selection process -

What are procedures for submitting orders?
Do some or all need to be approved by someone else before they are actually ordered?
What are Appropriate Selection Resources?
What is best way to manage my time to fit within the conditions in my library?
What is the role of approval plans?
What is the role of continuations and/or standing orders?
What are policies and procedures for obtaining out-of-print items?

D. In order to learn about your collection maintenance responsibilities -

Does your library conduct regular inventories of the collections?
Does your library evaluate or assess the collection in any way?
Who has responsibility for selecting materials for CONStor? For weeding?
What is your role in relationship to any preservation and disaster planning activities?

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E. In order to learn your library's collection -

What is the existing collection like in terms of size, currency, emphasis?
How much is existing collection used?

(hints: Walk through the book and periodical stack areas, especially in those subject areas you might be working with - look at what is on the shelf; pull random volumes off the shelf & note how much things have circulated, dust levels, etc. Look at list comparison results for specific parts of the collection (available from your library's collection development coordinator))

F. In order to learn about your institution and your library's users -

What are your institutions' mission and goals?
What are characteristics of its educational program?
Have any surveys or use studies been conducted recently in your library?

(hints: Meet faculty in your subject areas. Look at Penn State University Libraries' Building Bridges with Faculty and Academic Departments. Read some of the material at their Readings for Collaborative Collection Development: Building Bridges. Look at their Knowledge of the University pages. Look at your library's results of the LibQual+ survey or other locally conducted surveys of user satisfaction)

G. In order to learn about your library's budgeting process -

How are funds for library materials allocated?
Are there separate funds by department or subject area?
Who controls the spending of these funds? The faculty? Librarians? A combination of both?
Are there separate endowed funds?
What is the budget timeline for your institution?
How are higher cost items and continuing commitments (e.g. periodical subscriptions or standing orders) handled?

H. In order to learn about collection development support services -

What is the acquisitions process at your library?
How are gifts acquired and processed?
What order information is available in CONSORT?
What vendors does the library use for purchasing materials?
What is the library's relationship with the campus Development office?
What preservation is performed in-house and what is outsourced?
What cataloging is performed in-house and what is outsourced?

(hints: Learn the meanings of the codes in CONSORT order records. Complete the online tutorials for YBP's GOBI2 system.)

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I. In order to learn about collection development standards and ethical considerations -

Do your college and your library have mission statements?
Does your library have a written code of conduct or ethics?

(hints: Consult the Guidelines for Liaison Work in Managing Collections and Services. Consult the American Library Association's Code of Ethics and Intellectual Freedom Principles.)

J. In order to learn about consortial relationships & responsibilities -

What is the role of CONSORT relationships in collection development?
What is role of OhioLINK relationship in collection development?

(hints: Consult CONSORT CD web pages. Look at OhioLINK staff pages, particularly those of CIRM Committee. Get login & password from your CD coordinator or lead implementer.)

K. In order to learn about disciplines & scholarly communication issues -

How do I learn about a discipline that I've never taken a course in?
What information-related concerns do the faculty have?

(hints. Sit in on an introductory level course in a discipline. Ask a faculty member to provide you with a few key words about their research or teaching.)

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