Considers 10 areas of internal operations in which the Research Libraries Group/North American Collection Inventory Project (RLF/NCIP) Conspectus can be used as a management aid: collection priorities, collection management, space utilization, preservation programs, staffing allocations, material fund requests, accreditation, materials selection,…

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 new ways of selecting information for digital libraries. Topics include increasing the quantity of information acquired versus item by item selection that is more costly than the value it adds; library-publisher relationships; netLibrary; electronic journals; and the SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition)…

Examines the role of commercial document delivery. Discusses interlibrary loan (ILL); access versus ownership decision making; degree of use and patron use of commercial document delivery; and use of library materials funds. Concludes that document delivery will not totally replace ownership or ILL, but that it is becoming more important because…

Describes the Research Libraries Group (RLG) conspectus for collection evaluation and how it is being used to foster cooperation among North American libraries. Discussion of the internal benefits includes library planning, collection policy formation, staffing allocation and training, funding allocation and requests, accreditation, faculty…