Collection Development in the Digital Age

Ina Fourie (University of Pretoria, South Africa)

The Electronic Library

ISSN: 0264-0473

Article publication date: 28 September 2012

269

Citation

Fourie, I. (2012), "Collection Development in the Digital Age", The Electronic Library, Vol. 30 No. 5, pp. 749-750. https://doi.org/10.1108/02640471211275774

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2012, Emerald Group Publishing Limited


In‐spite of numerous titles that have appeared over the years on collection development, libraries always seem to face new challenges. At present collection development is shaped by the evolving market place, increased expectations from users, and technological changes. In practice librarians need to decide on their role in collection management, they need to learn from the experiences of others, they need to consider what might happen in the near future, and they need to design strategies to shape practices in their institutions. A theoretical framework, however, is also essential. Against this background, expert library practitioners and academics contributed to Collection Development in the Digital Age.

The book has 15 chapters, divided into four parts: a conceptual framework including literature reviews, trends in electronic resources, trends in library supply, and ways to make and keep a digital collection effective. From an academic perspective the first two chapters stand out. In the first chapter Sheila Corrall aptly offers a solid introduction to the concept of collection development in the digital environment. She concludes with an excellent list of references and questions for reflection that challenges librarians to consider their future role and strategies. Fieldhouse follows with a chapter on the process of collection development (a logical choice). She concludes again with an excellent list of references and questions to stimulate readers to consider the challenges faced. Chapters in the other three parts appear to have a more practical focus and include some case studies. These chapters address an overview of e‐resources in the United Kingdom (UK) further and higher education sectors, the supporting role of online journals in a university collection, electronic books in academic libraries, and a public library perspective on electronic book collection development. In addition there are chapters on stewardship and curation in digital contexts, managing suppliers for digital collection development (from a UK perspective), outsourcing of digital collection development in public libraries, open access, institutional repositories, policies for collection development, information literacy for the academic librarian with regard to digital collections, the support that can be offered to users in effectively using digital collections and lastly, how to engage with the user community to make the collection and its use more effective.

Although strongly UK based (only three contributors are from outside the UK, i.e. the United States), Collection Development in the Digital Age offers much in terms of practical guidelines to practitioners, as well as stimulation for thought on the numerous issues to address. It concludes with a good 11‐page index.

Collection Development in the Digital Age is recommended to practitioners from all libraries. It can also serve as recommended reading for undergraduate students considering the spectrum of topics covered, the ease of writing style, and the excellent lists of references. When reading Collection Development in the Digital Age, it might be worth bearing in mind the words of Liz Chapman in the Foreword: “It may sometimes seem like a thankless task but future generations will thank us” (p. vii).

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