This article reports a librarian's collection development efforts to support her institution's first independent doctoral degree (Ed.D., Educational Leadership) via a citation analysis comparing information usage by education doctorate dissertation authors from six peer institutions nationally. This analysis is part of a long-term examination of library collection use among California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) doctoral students. Key findings include the relative young age among the information resources in educational leadership, which resource formats were cited, what serial titles were cited the most, and where they are available electronically. The ultimate aim is the creation of an essential collection in the subject discipline. (Contains 2 figures, 13 tables and 2 notes.)