Discussion of collection assessment focuses on academic library experiences. Topics addressed include library accountability; funding shortages; barriers to collection assessment; strategies to aid in assessment, including adequate training and performance incentives; and implications of collection assessment for library budgets, including…

Discusses acquisitions budgets, price increases, and their effect on academic library collections, based on the broader economic situation. Topics addressed include changes in the publishing industry; the increasing numbers of publications; the role of technology; ineffective responses of libraries; and the need for libraries to change their…

Discussion of the decline in the purchasing power of academic libraries' acquisitions budgets focuses on why and how the acquisitions budget should be integrated into the broader library and institutional budgeting and planning process to help manage the costs of scholarly communication. Highlights include collection development and remodeling the…

Describes the role of automation in library acquisitions and serials departments in support of collection development. Highlights include workstations and expert systems; links to external databases; vendor services, including serials services and online review and selection of approval books; and automated access to collection development…

Describes strategies that academic libraries can use to stretch the collection budget in the face of increasing costs. Collection management measures are discussed, including cancellations, coordinated buying, and cooperative databases; budgetary strategies are described; and political factors are considered, including faculty support,…

This theme issue contains eight papers that were originally presented at a conference sponsored by the University of Oklahoma Libraries on library acquisitions. Highlights include budgeting problems in academic libraries; maintaining research library collections; monograph collections in scientific libraries; vendors' perspectives; electronic…

Describes problems facing academic libraries today concerning the amount of literature and information available, costs, copyright issues affecting ownership, and technological changes. Strategies for dealing with diminishing funds and increasing information resources are suggested, and activities at the Association of Research Libraries (ARL)…

Describes measures of cost effectiveness that are useful for academic library collections, based on experiences at the Louisiana State University libraries. Highlights include circulation analysis of newly cataloged books; current periodical use compared to cost; faculty ranking of journals; and circulation patterns (i.e., use versus cost and…

Discusses library collection evaluation and its relationship to the acquisitions budget. Topics addressed include the publishing industry; library services that are more user centered; acquisition of versus access to sources of information and knowledge; the concept of value; library accountability; objectives and setting priorities; and levels of…

Discusses changes that are occurring in academic libraries as they try to keep up with the growth in sources of information. Topics discussed include acquisitions; interlibrary loan; new technologies in libraries; library expenditures; library staff; collection development; and the need to redefine the library's role to that of an information…

Discusses how archives and library administrators' perceptions of each other's operations and administration may lead to conflicts, and how better understanding of the distinctiveness of an archive as opposed to a library may improve relations. (CLB)

Considers trends and influences that affect the relationship between libraries and vendors. Topics discussed include information in electronic formats; selection criteria; economic factors and library budgets; resource sharing and cooperative collection development; sociological changes; preservation activities; and the evaluation of dealers. (six…

Examines trends in academic research libraries and their role in the management of scholarly communication. Part 1 traces research library development from the early 20th century to the 1990s, with a focus on collections, expenditures, and acquisitions. Part 2 discusses the impact of technology and electronic information resources on the…

Discussion of the future of research libraries and changes in international scholarship focuses on the acquisition and distribution of foreign-language and area-studies materials. Experiences at the University of Pittsburgh are highlighted, including planning principles. (LRW)