Citation
O’Beirne, R. (2002), "Collection Management and Development Guides Series. Number 9. Guide to the Management of the Information Resources Budget", Library Review, Vol. 51 No. 6, pp. 321-322. https://doi.org/10.1108/lr.2002.51.6.321.15
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
These three slim guides are designed to assist the librarian with a range of management tasks related to the area of collection management and development.
In a concise fashion they outline the key principles involved and illustrate these with concrete examples within the context of the modern library environment. Essentially of a practical nature, with the inclusion of methodologies and examples, there is a strong instructional tone to the texts. The authors often weigh up the advantages against the disadvantages of particular strategies. This leads to, but never quite arrives at, a full‐blown discussion of collection management. The effect of this is to add a sense of focus and purpose that perhaps would be missing in a more academic approach. Indeed, the overall series editor, on the evidence of these three publications, has maintained a tight rein on style and tone. It is difficult to detect that ten authors collaborated on the three volumes.
Much of the content will be familiar to those working in the area yet the strength of these books lies in their up‐to‐date descriptions of current practices. Guide number 9 represents a revision of the “Guide to budget allocation for information resources” edited by Edward Shreeves, American Library Association 1991. As such, much of the focus remains on the process of allocation.
One small criticism might be that there is little or no mention of how technology might impact on some of the processes mentioned, particularly as a tool for improvement. Examples could have been given for the use of spreadsheets in the allocation and monitoring of budgets and also for the use of databases when conducting user‐needs assessment surveys. A useful feature of guides 9 and 11 is that they include glossaries.
This is a joint review with Number 10. Guide to Collection Development and Management Administration, Organization, and Staffing and Number 11. Guide to Library User Needs Assessment of Integrated Information Resource Management and Collection Development