Reviews time-saving approaches that can help academic librarians (or small libraries lacking collection development librarians) to maintain collections. A sidebar provides information on locating subject publication lists and appendices offer guidelines for collection weeding and sampling. (JMV)

Discusses the economics and value of information and describes a study that compared an objective measure, the estimated direct costs to a library to purchase materials or provide services used by specific users, with a subjective measure, exchange values those users would pay for the information. (LRW)

Discusses collection coordination and development in academic libraries and describes collection development activities in the area of psychology at the University of Florida. Barriers to efficient collection development are addressed, including physical, organizational, and discipline-related problems; duplication studies are described; and…

Special section includes two articles on academic library collection management: "Current Awareness: Acquisitions to Endusers" (Michael Lonardo and Dianne Taylor-Harding) describes methods for announcing recent library acquisitions to faculty; and "Book Acquisitions: A Purchasing System" (Ting Zheng and Joyce Huang) explains a…

Describes a study that measures and analyzes the map collections of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) using data from 1984 and 1988. Size of collections and growth rate are examined, and a composite index is used to rank the map collections to determine whether maps receive the same attention as other materials. (14 references) (LRW)

Discusses collection development in research libraries and the need for collaboration. Topics include quantity versus quality; a future vision of libraries; the Center for Research Libraries (CRL) as an example of cooperative collection development; users' information needs; and the use of telecommunications. (LRW)

This study conducted at the State University of New York at Albany compares methods of providing access to diverse points of view as represented by journals indexed in "Alternative Press Index." Examines local subscriptions, resource-sharing consortia that include expedited interlibrary loan systems, and four electronic full-text…

Presents a summary of the ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries) New England Chapter Serials Interest Group's Fall 1996 program on electronic serials. The program's four principal speakers each dealt with a major aspect of electronic serial management: collection development, public services, cataloging, and systems. This report…

An investigation of books reviewed (1989-95) in Choice Reviews, the CD-ROM version of Choice, determined all titles mentioned (n44,950) were received or purchased by California State University Dominguez Hills and other academic libraries in the Online Union Catalog (OLUC). Findings were further tested to see how they could be incorporated into an…

A selection of academic libraries was studied to examine ownership of best-sellers from 1940 to 1990. The trend is to keep a higher percentage of older best-sellers in fiction than newer ones. Nonfiction appears to be more sporadic but still follows this trend. Findings indicate new collection development policies may be needed to protect…

Defines electronic text centers as tools for digital collection development in the humanities and describes experiences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in developing an electronic text center. Considers staffing, standards for encoding and describing electronic texts, hardware and software selection, and partnerships with the University of…

Examines the growing body of literature dealing with interdisciplinary academic research and discusses challenges that the erosion of subject-area boundaries presents to those selecting library materials. Reports on a case study that ascertained patterns of interdisciplinary research at Rutgers University's School of Communication, Information,…

Faculty at Western Illinois University were asked to share in the library's journal deselection responsibility by ranking the library's journals by importance. These rankings were then compared to student use of the same journals. Results indicate that journals that were frequently cited or retrieved by students were highly ranked by the faculty.…

The experience of Rutgers University Libraries illustrates the extensive planning, work effort, possibilities, and investment required to develop the digital library. Examines these key areas: organizational structure; staff development needs; facilities and the new digital infrastructure; metadata standards/interoperability; digital collection…

This issue covers the broad topic of electronic scholarly publication. Some 25 professionals in 20 libraries, consortia, and publishing enterprises were interviewed for this issue. A section on issues and trends for managers discusses the proliferation of roles and models; assembling the critical mass; licensing, copyright and interlibrary loan;…