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 by Mary Bushing
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| Collection development is an integral aspect of library operations and can serve as a basis for long-range planning and as a unifying factor for the allocation of resources. Collection development or collection management as it is sometimes called, is not a single operation or activity, but rather it is an umbrella or framework within which to place a number of specific processes and aspects of library operations. Because it is together that these diverse activities constitute collection development, collection development provides a holistic way of thinking about many of the operations, decisions and activities that we do each day in our libraries. Some of these activities are one-time projects, some are policy decisions, some are single title decisions, and some are part of general library management operations. All of these aspects of collection development contribute to the quality of the collections we manage and the resources we make available through access and/or ownership. Recognizing that these activities and decisions are part of collection development is one of the ways to bring a greater sense of unity and consistency to our work. Such recognition also enables us to reduce the stress that develops in small libraries and schools where we are sometimes frustrated, rather than energized, by the diversity of our work. This chapter will address the theoretical issues involved in collection development as well as explain the various practical steps and operations necessary to practice collection development in a responsible manner. At the conclusion of the chapter, a bibliography of some of the best sources on key topics provides direction for further investigation or clarification. The following key elements in the collection development process will be discussed here:
-Assessment of the collection -Evaluation and selection processes -Acquisitions, processing and cataloging [Editor's note: For this topic see the chapter on Acquisitions and Organization ] -Collection maintenance - inventory, withdrawal, preservation [Editor's note: For more on weeding see the withdrawal section in the chapter on Acquisitions and Organization ] -Cooperative Collection Development and Access Each of these aspects of collection development are necessary for appropriate, accurate and useable collections and resources. The order in which they are listed is not the order in which they occur in practice since collection development is a series of integrated and related activities and concepts rather than a single process. However, for purposes of organization, the aspects of collection development will be addressed in this order. Before addressing the specific aspects of the collection development operation, one ought to note that many people may be involved in more or less active ways. Collection development, while primarily the responsibility of the librarian, includes the following people directly or indirectly:
-Faculty and staff -Students and parents -Administrators and school board members -Publishers and vendors/suppliers -Evaluators (reviewers, editors, contributors to standard source guides) These people and their organizations have an influence upon the practice and theory of collection development within the context of an individual school and community. Much of their influence will be felt in indirect ways related to local culture and values, school politics, classroom culture, and personalities, but there are other more direct ways in which these individuals or organizations may influence or impact collection development. Their role and effect upon the actual practice of collection development in a particular local situation should be recognized. Although there are few right or wrong answers in the daily practice of collection development, it is essential that decisions are congruent with the mission of a specific library media center and school district and that the decisions and procedures of collection development help to achieve the goals and objectives of the library and the school. Collection development consists of integrating the best theory with the reality of your situation and the resources available to you. Collection development can provide a framework within which to manage the daily operations of the library and it is that aspect of professional practice which provides the opportunity to put into practice one's philosophical beliefs about the purposes of a particular library/media collection. Since collection development practice reflects the specific mission and practical situation in a library, it is important to be clear about the purpose of the collections and services in order to prioritize the use of resources. To have a clear mission or vision and goals to achieve that ideal, an understanding of the community to be served and the political, economic and educational environment is crucial. Questions to be addressed before a clear mission statement can be articulated and before any collection decisions can be made include the following:
-What is the nature/culture of the school district and/or your building? What grades? How many students? How many faculty? Are enrollments growing or declining and why? What is the curriculum? What curriculum areas are strong? Weak? Are the teachers experienced? Are there any special programs, initiatives or other unique circumstances? What are the stated mission, vision and goals for the district itself? Is the library program reflected in these organizational planning documents? -How does the library fit into the total picture? How has the library been perceived in the past? Is there need for change? How do the collections influence these perceptions? Where is the support for the library--financial and political? Who are the supporters/users of the library? Who are not interested? -What other information resources are available? Are there other libraries in the community? Nearby? What are the nature of these collections? Are they used by students and faculty? What types of services and resources do these libraries have -- print, media, electronic, Internet and/or other? All of these should be explored and understood in order to "do" collection development, although obviously not all of the answers need to be recorded in writing! Do not just rely upon your own perceptions. Consult district planning documents and county census information if necessary as well as the perceptions of other teachers. If a mission or vision statement has not been prepared for the library program, now is the time to write one. It is difficult, if not impossible to wisely expend resources such as space, time and money for collections if there is not a clear understanding of the purpose and the ultimate goal. Then there is the collection itself. What do you already know about it? Has an inventory been done recently that can provide some basic information about the type/format of materials and the number of items in each format? If so, then you at least can write a general description of the collections, but in order to develop the collections, it is necessary to know more specific information about the collections. Collection analysis or collection assessment is an important step in the collection development process for libraries no matter what their size or function. Collection assessment is a process by which one is able to describe the subject segments of a library collection in order to measure effectiveness and to plan for future collection development activities. Typically the measures used provide information about the extent of subject materials, their age, condition, and importance or quality. These measures then enable the librarian to justify funding and daily collection activities whether selection or weeding. There are a number of models available for doing collection assessment including one called collection mapping which used to be used most often by schools. Gradually schools libraries have also switched to collection assessment models that are more congruent with methods used by other types of libraries so that information about the collections can be presented in ways similar to other libraries and thus facilitate cooperative efforts and consistency in data gathering. Whatever model you decide to use, the good news is that the smaller the collection, the more quickly such an analysis can be completed and useful management information provided to help set goals and to determine priorities for the allocation of resources, including your time as well as you budget. Collection analysis consists of examining and describing the existing collections so as to understand what now exists and how it is used. The basic information and the methods by which this information is gathered are the same for all collection assessment models. The information can be used to make decisions to improve or enhance the collections. Collection analysis and evaluation is typically organized by subject so that one examines and describes manageable subject segments of the collections. Easily defined and manageable subject segments might be defined in terms of curriculum areas (typical for collection mapping models) such as "social sciences" and "science" or more specifically in terms of subdivisions of these areas such as "United States History" or even "Western Expansion" depending upon the amount of detail desired and the intention to act upon the information to change the collections. Instead of the curriculum program, the Dewey Decimal Classification scheme can be used as a guide in organizing collection information. One can simply use each one hundred division (000's, 100's, 200's, etc.) or divide the collection into smaller segments for classification ranges where the broad division is not specific enough. Such areas might include the 900's where one may wish to be able to understand and describe the collection support for geography and travel, Native Americans, and the history of each continent as separate subjects. What one wishes to accomplish is the most practical level of detail that will provide useful information to inform decisions about needed new materials, withdrawal of outdated or not needed information or other collection or access decisions. Whatever size segments or subject divisions you select to use to gather collection assessment information, there are a number of standard types of information you will want to acquire about each of these segments. The first and most obvious is to determine how much you have in support of this subject or curriculum area and in what formats. How many books? How many videos or other media? Magazines? Electronic resources? Other items? This is usually accomplished in small collections by counting the items or using the shelf list (if you have one) to determine the number of each type of media for the subject. If your non-book materials are not classed by Dewey, then you must scan these materials to identify items in support of each curriculum or subject area. The second bit of information which you will want to gather is the median age of this material. This is easy to do and students or parent volunteers can do this for you. A sample worksheet is located at the end of this chapter. For each item, one simply tallies on a worksheet the copyright date or date of production of the original information. Then determine the median point--the point at which half of the items are older and half younger. In budget requests or as a justification for weeding one can say that "half of the information in science (or the 500's) is more than a quarter of a century old (or twenty-five years old) because it was published prior to 1970 or 1971" depending, of course, upon the year of the assessment. This is very powerful information and not easily ignored. In the social sciences, humanities, short story collections and fiction the median age is often even worse despite the fact that the information, the literature, our understandings and our presentations have all changed for these areas as well. The textbooks being used often reflect a far more contemporary view while the library collection is at odds with these class texts and may be perceived as out-of-date and irrelevant. Establishing the median age for the various segments of your collection does take some time, but it is well worth it and others can help you gather the needed data. While it is true that not everything old will be a candidate for weeding, the median age often provides both motivation and justification for selective weeding and replacement. There are four other types of information that are particularly useful in the assessment process. The first is to determine the percentage of the total collection that each curriculum or subject area represents. If, for example, the social science materials total 400 items and the total collection is approximately 2,000 titles, then the social science materials are 20% of the collection. By figuring the percentage of the whole for each segment, one can prepare a bar graph or other visual representation that quickly summarizes the collection and the curriculum or subject areas that are supported by the library. By adding the median age to this information for each subject, the nature of the collection can quickly be understood. The next two other pieces of information that are worth gathering during the collection assessment are the relative use each segment or subject has had in the past five years or so. This does not have to be done statistically. Simply notice the recent use patterns as one handles the materials or do a random sample to see if this area has been used. The use patterns can be expressed based upon a simple scale such as: heavy use, moderate use, little use, no use. At the same time, notice the condition of the material. Again, this information can be expressed in relative terms such as: excellent, good, worn, poor. The final information one wishes to gather while conducting an assessment is to identify the "holes" in the collection. These are areas where you would not have materials to support the curriculum or interests. The identification of such holes will occur as you work in the collection so keep a running list of topics you, students and teachers do not find. Use suggestions from teachers and students to help identify these holes as well. Lists of "best" or "recommended" titles, especially those arranged by subject or Dewey classification such as the Wilson catalogs (see titles in the bibliography) can also help you to identify areas as well as specific titles that are lacking in your collection. The identification of holes in the collection, along with information about what needs to be updated, gives you your shopping list for the coming year! Together, these pieces of information for each curriculum area, subject segment or Dewey classification section will enable you to present a graphic or verbal description to characterize the collection. You will be able to tell how many items are in each area, what percent of the whole this area is, how old it is in terms of median age, what formats are available, what condition the material is in, and what type of use it has received. These descriptions will highlight areas that need immediate attention, ones that need updating or replacement, areas that are inadequate to meet the curricular demands, or ones that are not used or perhaps no longer necessary. The time spent gathering the assessment information will lay the groundwork for planning, goal setting and the allocation of resources for the next few years. Further, these descriptions can become an important part of your collection development policy statement. Once the mission of the library has been determined and the existing collection materials have been understood through assessment, it is possible to actually begin to make decisions about what needs to be added to the collection. The assessment will help you to identify subject areas that need updated materials and subject or curriculum areas that are not currently supported in the library collection at all. In order to decide what to buy, one needs to know what one already has, what is needed and than what is appropriate in terms of level, quality of presentation and quality of physical product. How do we learn about material that might be appropriate for our collections? There are a number of ways by which to identify the best titles for your collection from among the fifty-thousand-plus works published or produced in the United Sates each year. There are various methods and tools to assist you and these may be used in any combination to meet your specific library needs. Some tools are geared towards specific formats such as videos, magazines or reference materials. Others are useful to identify core or recommended basic titles or award winning materials. Still others can only help you identify newly published or produced items. The bibliography at the end of this chapter lists some tools that might aid you with specific formats and core titles. These tools are often expensive to purchase so it is recommended that you attempt to borrow them on interlibrary loan or use them at a larger library whenever possible rather than purchasing them. These tools can help you identify some of the best books, videos, magazines or other items on a particular subject. If you find that you need books on the Civil War or the Civil Rights Movement, or whatever topic, these core lists of recommended titles can assist you in identifying appropriate items. Award winning titles in whatever format can also serve to point out possible titles for purchase although each title must still be evaluated based on its appropriateness and likely usefulness in your particular collection. Identifying good material is only half of the selection. Each collection will be different. Award winning or "the best of the year" books, reference titles, videos and even CD-ROMs are listed in School Library Journal and Booklist. Some of the most well known book awards include: Caldecott Medal, Newbery Medal, Coretta Scott King Award, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Kate Greenway Medal (United Kingdom). Runners-up titles in most of these categories as well as lists prepared by the American Library Association and School Library Journal can be helpful suggestions of items to purchase. The Pacific Northwest Library Association also sponsors the Young Readers Choice Awards based upon the participation and evaluation of readers in schools and public libraries across the region. Information about these awards are announced in both the Montana Library Association newsletter and the Montana State Library newsletter which is mailed to all schools. The primary means by which to identify current materials is through reviews and current award winners. In the past, it was typical for the school district to state in a selection policy that only titles receiving at least two positive reviews would be purchased. This practice is not in keeping with the present situation for a number of reasons. One problem is that it is sometimes hard to determine what constitutes a positive view. Further, the cost of subscribing to multiple reviewing sources is prohibitive for small districts. With a few exceptions, those writing reviews of new materials are librarians, often in large metropolitan districts or public libraries whose clientele and collections are far different in quantity, emphasis and values from those of rural Montana communities. In addition, only about 85% of the books published in the United States each year actually get reviewed and less that 10% get more than one review. All of these factors combine to make it difficult if not impossible to do selection based upon two positive reviews for each title. A more realistic approach to selection for the small school library is a combination of review sources, the use of recommended titles and award winners along with core lists, and the good judgment of the librarian based upon existing collections and needs, the collection development policy, and the reputation and past performance of publishers/producers. What is important is to provide flexibility in the selection process so that it is possible to acquire the best possible materials in the most cost effective manner. The small district cannot usually afford to subscribe to more than one or two reviewing sources and you will not have time to read more than that! These sources can be selected based upon the level of materials needed (primary, middle, high school) and the extent of media to be considered. Booklist, School Library Journal and possibly Horn Book are the titles that will provide the most reviews for the money. Each publication has specific features that change as demands and interests change so the CD-ROM reviews might now be included while filmstrips may no longer have a column or a section. General collection development texts such as Van Orden (1995) and Morris (1992) will provide detailed information about these journals. Try to examine issues of a title before investing in a subscription. The public library or another school district may have copies which they would lend you for your evaluation and decision process. In addition to reviews, advertisements will arrive by the ton! These ads have been written, like any other consumer advertisement, to convince you that this product is worth buying. Read these with a degree of cynicism. If essential information, such as the date of publication, is not included, beware! This information was not overlooked by the copywriters. It was deliberately left out to sell older material to an unsuspecting librarian. While buying from ads is not the best way to acquire good items for your collection, this method cannot be completely ignored. Sometimes notice of good bargains and sales arrive in your junk mail. It is often worth while to take advantage of these offerings IF the publisher or producer is a company that you know from experience produces good quality materials. It is invaluable to pay attention to the publishers or companies that are responsible for the best things in your collection while also creating your own mental black list of those companies who produce inaccurate, poor quality or otherwise inappropriate materials. Some publishers of children's materials do most of their marketing through direct mail pieces to schools and this may be the best way for you to learn about a new series or reference set that might be useful. But, remember to be a smart consumer. How many things do you buy from direct mail ads to your home? Be as selective in what you buy this way for the library, as well. Two other sources that are sometimes useful in selection are book stores and other libraries and librarians. Periodic visits to a book store, including an occasional visit to a college or university book store can be invaluable in the identification and evaluation of possible purchases. For example, when one needs a new or additional field guide to wild flowers, the best method of selecting one is to look at the various guides and identify the one that will best meet the needs of your users. Browsing in a book store will help you to see what is "hot" and can sometimes enable you to see new topics before they actually get to the review sources. Other librarians and libraries can also serve as excellent sources of information about appropriate materials. A librarian in a similar school might be able to provide you with information about the actual usefulness of a title or set when you have reservations about purchasing it despite the reviews. It is a good idea to prepare a list of general criteria that can be used in the selection and evaluation process. These criteria should serve as guides and not as rules. The following list is one that can apply to all types of materials: -Relevant to mission, programs, curriculum, users -Aesthetic, literary, of other social value -Appropriate format, vocabulary, images for, age, grade, population -Authority -- competent, reliable author, publisher, source -Realistically represents pluralistic society -Stimulates creativity or is thought provoking -Technical quality with adequate documentation when appropriate -Representative of differing viewpoints, offers balance -Presents accurate information in text images -Timely, current, accurate -Cost, value, special features that make it appropriate These criteria provide general points of comparison and evaluation. Some materials purchased will meet many of these criteria; some items will be purchased because of only one or two. These criteria, along with a combination of the various tools and selection methods discussed, provide a sound basis for evaluating and selecting appropriate materials in many formats. Collection maintenance encompasses a number of operations intended to take care of the materials in the collection. One of these is the inventory process intended not only to account for missing and lost items but also to enable you to keep accurate records that reflect what is in the collection. An inventory also helps you to restore items to their correct order. The inventory process consists of simply comparing the shelf list (a library's inventory control device for all of its materials) against the actual items themselves to verify that they are there in the library. At the conclusion of the inventory process, items determined to be lost can be reflected in the collection statistics, items lost can be replaced with new copies or with something else on the subject, and bibliographic records for lost items can be withdrawn so as not to mislead users. In addition, during the inventory process, items needing repair can be noted and later pulled for attention. The inventory process does not have to be done by you alone. This is the type of project that can easily be organized to be accomplished by student helpers or volunteers. While you may need to adjust the final statistics, make replacement decisions, and possibly remove bibliographic records, the actual comparison of shelf list to items can be done by others. Public, academic and special libraries almost never do inventories except as part of an automation or moving project. Schools, on the other hand, usually conduct at least a partial inventory every year. Repair and preservation was mentioned as one result of inventory, however, throughout the year, materials will come to your attention that may need some attention if they are to be preserved for further use. There are numerous books and videos that describe book, video and other repair and preservation. With the short life of information these days and the cost of rebinding, few schools send books to a commercial bindery for rebinding. However, the purchase of library binding rather than trade and the use of Permabound, Bound-To-Stay-Bound and other similar companies that put more permanent or reinforced bindings on books prior to purchase is one way to extend the budget dollars and the life of the materials, especially paperback editions. In determining the amount of effort (time and materials) that is appropriate to expend on repair and maintenance, consider the accuracy and value to the collection of the item itself, the cost of your time and the repair materials and the "marketing" value of the repaired item. In other words, can the repairs be accomplished in such a manner that the book or other items is still likely to be used? Each repair or mending project requires a value judgement to determine whether withdrawal and/or replacement is preferable to the investment in the existing item. It may be somewhat obvious that the information in the school library ought to be current, accurate and up-to-date, but it needs to be stated so that there is justification for procedures regarding weeding (withdrawal and disposal of out-of-date and inaccurate material) and replacement when necessary. Although the collection ought to present information on the history and pre-history of many topics, it is not appropriate to have materials actually published or produced in historical times! The missions of university and research collections encompass historical materials, but such things are generally inappropriate for the school library. [Editor's note: For more specifics on weeding see the Acquisitions and Organization chapter. ] The question of determining appropriate formats is partly driven by such practical considerations as available, functioning and affordable equipment. If your collection has film loops but no projector that works to show them, then the format in the collection is useless and should be considered for withdrawal as an obsolete technology. Teachers often become attached to an obsolete format just because they have used it for years. It will sometimes be your responsibility to find a more up-to-date replacement in a more current format so as to wean the teacher from the format and item you wish to withdraw. It is not necessary to acquire every format that is available. Rather you must evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each and determine which are appropriate for your collection. In any case, a collection development policy should specifically state any major formats that you do not collect, what formats you do collect, and leave the possibility open for the future with a statement about the evaluation of "emerging technologies" as appropriate. There is nothing sacred about any format. Even the book, although sanctified by our society, is still just a product of technology. Granted, it is an enduring product with many positive attributes (portability, low cost, flexibility, etc.) but it is still just a container for information and communication as are CD-ROMS, videos, magazines, floppy disks and the World Wide Web! Although not exactly a format question, the reference collection requires some specific guidelines. Reference materials generally remain in the library rather than circulating to users. A reference collection should be one that contains materials that are used frequently enough (at least once a week?) to justify their status as non-circulating, generally contain statistical, factual or other short answer information, and represent the most current information available. Each situation is different, but it is generally believed that the best reference collections are lean and mean containing core items such as a current encyclopedia (no more than five years old and increasingly in CD-ROM format in addition to print), a current almanac, an unabridged dictionary, a current world atlas, a U.S. road atlas, a biographical dictionary, a magazine index (print or CD-ROM) and whatever else one needs and can afford. Increasingly, Internet access can greatly augment a basic reference collection and allow the small school to put most of its materials budget into items to be circulated and used outside of the library rather than spending funds on expensive reference tools that require frequent updating. The question of multiple copies is one that ought to have an easy answer given the limited resources available for collections. However, the expectations of teachers and administrators, the lingering memories of former classroom collections where multiple copies were the rule, and the relative scarcity of other library collections and bookstores, often combine to put pressure on the librarian to provide multiple copies of high-demand titles. Ideally, the library should supply as much diversity of information as possible while meeting the demand for "hot topics" that have high demand on a recurring basis. It is up to you to find a reasonable middle ground in this debate if it is a local issue. Some schools will supply additional funding to allow for multiple copies of items that might well be considered in the "textbook" category because they are required by all students in a particular class each year (wild flower and/or insect identification books for biology classes, A Tale of Two Cities for English classes, etc.) It is best to recognize what the local practice has been (a quick look at the collections will indicate the extent to which multiple or duplicate copies have been provided by the library) and to raise the issue while it can be discussed and decided on a theoretical basis before a teacher has a specific request for eight copies of one item. Whatever the decision in your situation, write a clear statement of the rationale and include it in the collection development policy. Cooperative collection development consists of both formally and informally recognizing that we are not the only collection in the world. The extent to which we consciously make decisions with this in mind can greatly aid us in developing our collections in the most efficient and cost effective manner. We and our students and teachers have many information resources to draw upon in addition to the local collection; we also have a variety of means by which to draw upon these extended resources. We can participate in interlibrary loan both as borrowers and lenders. We can encourage our users to use the public library or university system when appropriate. Increasingly, we can also tap into resources located elsewhere through the use of the Internet. The information resources available on the Net really impact local collection development. More and more information is available either free or in a more cost effective manner than the purchase of traditional reference sources. You and the district administration must recognize, however, that such access does have a price tag in terms of equipment, maintenance, telecommunication charges, administration/supervision and training. Is the cost for funding such access to be part of the library's budget or is it to be funded in some other manner? Who will be responsible for determining what resources are to be accessed and at what cost? Such practical questions will help to define what is possible and in what way access rather than ownership will impact and influence your other collection development decisions. One form of cooperative collection development that can easily be accomplished is for the local school and public librarians to engage in an informal partnership in their endeavor to provide the best possible access to information and materials for the residents. Such partnerships can consist of simply getting to know one another and visiting the others' library at least once a year while also maintaining open channels of communication. In addition, cooperative collection development can extend to actually discussing expensive reference tools, journal subscriptions or projects and coordinating purchase and activities so that the residents get the best bang for their bucks in terms of library resources. It is up to you to find ways to extend your collection development activities beyond the confines of your library walls. The possibilities are unlimited! Collection development is a rich, ever-challenging aspect of librarianship. It provides the raw material for library services and presents continuous opportunities for enhancing the educational experience. If done well, it has the potential to change the face of the library. The daily practice of collection development will either make the library an exciting, vibrant, meaningful part of educational endeavor or done poorly, collection development can make the library a warehouse of irrelevant formats and information. It is up to you! Mary Bushing is currently the Library Development Librarian at the Montana State University--Bozeman Library. Ms. Bushing also teaches and has served as President of the Montana Library Association. To figure the median age of a segment or sample of the collection, write the subject and class number at the top of a column and tally the year of publication down the column. Count down the marks until you reach 50% of your sample and that is the median age. This shows you the age of the information in the subject. The significance of this information varies with each subject and the mission of the library. To identify the mode, note where the publication dates cluster for a given subject sample.
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