This document reports the work and conclusions of a task force appointed to plan for the reorganization of collection development at Steely Library, a primarily undergraduate library with 13 professional librarians on its staff located at Northern Kentucky University (NKU). Task force activities included a thorough review of the relevant…

Analyzes employment statistics of Association of Research Libraries members, relates data to patterns of library collection growth and decline during those years, and speculates on future staffing. Variables used to measure personnel are the number of professionals, nonprofessionals, full time staff, and ratio of professionals to full time staff.…

Discussion of the role of subject bibliographers in collection development activities focuses on an approach developed at Virginia Polytechnic and State Institute to provide a formula for estimating the collection development workload of subject bibliographers. Workload standards and matrix models of organizational structures are discussed, and…

Formulas from the "Standards for College Libraries" were used to compare the recommended collection size and number of professional librarians with the actual size of the collections and number of librarians for a random sample of Baccalaureate I and II colleges. Results revealed that significant numbers are not meeting the "Standards" in these…

This second in a two-part series on resources in major university music libraries contains: "The Eda Kuhn Loeb Music Library at Harvard University" (John B. Howard) and "The Research Collections of the Sibley Music Library of the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester" (Mary Wallace Davidson). (Contains 73…

Identifies the types of individuals engaged in financial activities with whom an acquisitions librarian at a university library may need to interact. Discusses why financial relationships with these individuals are important to acquisitions librarians and how these relationships can be established and enhanced. (JMV)

Discusses the Internet's impact on library resources and the academic curriculum, highlighting collection development and the library's role in integrating the Internet into the curriculum. Suggests that librarians should promote the use of the Internet in the academic community and should integrate Internet resources with other library materials…

Virginia Commonwealth University reduced its ready reference collection by integrating the majority into the general reference collection. The project was a success and advantages for staff included more time and focus on users; expanded knowledge of collection; and reduced stress. (JMV)

This annotated selective bibliography of 21 journal articles is concerned with collaboration between librarians and faculty in collection development in academic libraries. These articles examine the collaborative process and provide effective strategies to assist in developing a strong library liaison relationship between librarians and faculty.…

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)

Arguing that Africana librarianship developed in response to changes in the traditional image of Africa and that it influenced that image in turn, this paper focuses on the individuals who shaped Africana librarianship in the United States. The topics discussed include the earliest American examples of Africana librarianship as witnessed in the…

This examination of the past and present states of collection development in the research library covers background information, theories, and associated problems. A historical review of methods that have been and are currently being used for collection development includes discussions of the changes imposed by World War II on the practice of…

A study at the Emory University School of Business Administration library compared the effectiveness of faculty members and librarians as book selectors. Effectiveness was measured by comparing selected titles with the Baker list published by the Harvard Business School and with business periodical reviews, and by examining circulation records.…

The purpose of this research was to investigate who should be responsible in the selection of library materials, and to compare the primary responsibility by country and type of library. A content analysis was used to examine 70 articles relating to selection responsibility. The articles cover the period 1950 to 1998, with a wide range of…

Investigates the effects of electronic information sources on collection development in 15 academic libraries. Areas studied included: the materials budget, collection development policies, and licenses; identifying, evaluating, selecting, and developing the electronic sources collection; training subject specialists to use electronic resource…