First, know your collection. If you don't know what you have, how can you have an idea of what you need.
Second, know your needs. what curriculums are in place? Are you ready for each of them?
Next, what presentation would be the most appropriate for the new data you are aquiring? If it is material that is fast changing (such as medical) you may want to stick with journals and/or databases. Each has advantages and disadvantages. I don't think it is necessary to go into that here- you understand what I am talking about.
Next, you assess your choices. Some places use a form for this. My college only uses a form to evaluate for weeding. Do several people need to ok it?
Then, of course, what does your budget say you can do?
Is it possible you can share any data to expand your collection?
These are my overview observations of a collecting system.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
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2 comments:
I agree that the most important thing in collection development is knowing your collection. I was recently transferred from a regioanl AV department to a branch Reference department. Within the first month I was being asked to weed the 600's and 800's in the library and create a list of subject gaps. I spent the first couple weeks "weeding" not by pulling items and checking for condition, but rather seeign what materials we had, what was being taken out and returned, and what I thought was overpopulated or underrepresented. First knowing your collection is vital in creating and maintaining a well-rounded collection.
Oh, my goodness, I completely agree with number 1. I've known some professionals who had no clue what was in the collection they were in charge of. How can you even order books if you don't know what you already HAVE? Used to drive me nuts. I still think there's no better way to get in touch with your collection than by doing the actual shelving of returned books. It's a shame there's professionals out there that think shelving is beneath them.
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