Argues that the internal organization of collection development and the nature of science and scholarship lead to inevitable gaps in collection development. The structural and intellectual causes of collection development gaps are analyzed, and a number of areas whose literatures are especially vulnerable to being ignored or overlooked by…

Rampant inflation in serials' pricing is forcing many academic libraries to initiate serials cancellation projects. If libraries plan carefully and involve faculty throughout the process, serials can be canceled without excessive damage to the collection or to the library's relationship with the rest of the college. (six references) (LAE)

This manual is intended to simplify the job of collection development and to give bibliographers access to the information they need to do their jobs. It emphasizes the procedures used for initiating orders in the libraries of Virginia Polytechnic University, and highlights sources of information that bibliographers can access in ordering. It is…

Availability in electronic format of scholarly and scientific literatures and other forms of information has altered challenges faced by library collection managers. Drawing on ideas of the multi-library consortia, which have grown up partly in response to the advent of electronic resources, librarians have devised new criteria and means of…

Discussion of library purchasing decisions regarding serials focuses on efforts at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University to compile numerous measures into a comprehensive database for decision support. Discusses a faculty survey of serials needs and future implications. (Author/LRW)