Editorial

Citation

Cassell, K.A. (2007), "Editorial", Collection Building, Vol. 26 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/cb.2007.17126daa.001

Editorial

Collection development seems to have gotten a new lease on life if you can judge by programs at library conferences. Renewed interest in collections has developed on several fronts. The Benedetto Beals and Gilmour article in this issue highlights one area of interest that is assessing collections. The authors describe two means of assessing collections – the brief test method, based on the RLG Conspectus, and OCLC’s WorldCat Collection Analysis. The ability to use technology to do the assessment has made this process less staff intensive. Libraries want to assess their collections and be able to have data to use in deciding which parts of a collection should be targeted for additional expenditures. These assessments also provide the libraries with a more accurate means to report to their administrations on the status of their collection and even to an accreditation body.

Another area of great interest for libraries is the area of e-books and digitized monographs. This is an area recently being developed by libraries. This category includes both reference resources available online and e-books. It is a challenging area of collection development since libraries are still trying to figure out how much use will be made of e-monographs. It appears that the non-fiction area holds the most promise since only the desperate will read a novel online. But how to develop this collection and what are the long-term implications for an e-monograph collection that must be weeded and added to on a regular basis. What are the economics of this collection? And lastly how will users view the e-books? Will there be new handheld devices that will encourage use?

The third area of discussion for libraries is resource sharing. Once in vogue it is now of great interest again. From OCLC to more local and regional networks, libraries are sharing collections in order to make a wider variety of books available to their users. OCLC is now available through Google so that user can more easily find a copy of a particular title in their area. Many libraries have merged their catalogs or display catalogs of other libraries on their home page. This enables users to find the books they need and often to request them directly from the other library. There is no doubt that resource sharing is our future. Some library consortia can document that when several collections are available, materials get better use following the “long tail” theory. So sharing can be good customer service and as well as economical when libraries do not have to buy so widely and can depend on others.

This journal will have more to say in the future about all of these issues.

Kay Ann Cassell