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 categories used to analyze the selection information. The result is a characterization of the factors that make up the discussion. Factors were grouped in six categories--primary responsibility, type of library, type of academic library, organization of library, country, and publication date. These are the key issues in the selection of library materials. It was found that 38 (54.3%) of the articles mentioned librarians as being primarily responsible for selecting library materials. The chi square analysis revealed a relationship of primary responsibility by country. Appendices include content analysis coding categories, a sample coding sheet, content analysis data, and a list of articles analyzed. Recommendations are offered for the University of the North Library (South Africa). (Contains 14 references.) (Author/MES)