Collection Development and Management in

Selected Libraries of Lucknow

A dissertation Submitted towards the partial fulfillment of the requirement
for the Award of the degree of Master of Library and Information Science

Submitted by
Sarita Singh

Under the supervision of

Dr.Babita Jaiswal
(Associate Professor & Head, DLIS, Lucknow University)

Department of Library and Information Science

University of Lucknow,
Lucknow, 226007, UP, India

Introduction
Library
According to Encyclopedia Britannica (2016) library, traditionally, collection of
books used for reading, study, building & room in which such a collection is kept. From
there historical beggings as place to keep the business, legal, historical, and religious
record of a civilization, libraries have emerged since the middle of the 20th century as a
far reaching body of information resources and services that do not even require a
building. Rapid development in computers, telecommunications, & others technology
have made it possible to store& retrieve information in many different forms & form any
place with a computer& a telephone connection.
The terms digital library & virtual library have begun to be used to refer to the vast
collection of information in which people gain access over the internet, cable, television,
or some other type of remote electronic
Connection. (Foskett, 2015)

Special Library
A special library is a library that provides specialized information resources on a
particular subject, serves a specialized limited clientele, and delivers specialized to that
clientele. Special libraries include corporates libraries, govt. libraries, law libraries,
museum libraries, news libraries and Nan profit libraries. Special libraries also exist
within academic institutions, including law school libraries and medical school libraries.
These libraries are included as special libraries because they are often funded separately
from the rest of the universities they serve a target group user (Shumaker, 2009)
While all librarians today are expected to provide excellence services to their user, the
nature of service to provision in special library differs from public, school or academic

libraries. Special librarians are expected to be immersed in activities & goals of the
sponsoring, or parent organization: thus they may take on assignment that other
libraries would not, such as conducting research, writing reports or helping a top
executive draft a speech. A librarian in a school or academic setting would never be
expected to do research & write the reports of a student. (Mount & Massouds, 1999)

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT & MANAGEMENT

Collection development and management is the systematic creation and ongoing
enhancement of a collection of resources to meet library user needs and address the
library's mission.
Collection development and management is a process accomplished through strategic
planning, assessing needs, analyzing collections, establishing collection policies and
procedures, budgeting, selecting and deselecting resources, and acquisitions, cooperating
with other libraries and organizations, and evaluation.
ODLIS defines collection development as
"the process of planning and building a useful and balanced collection of library materials
over a period of years, based on an ongoing assessment of the information needs of the
library's clientele, analysis of usage statistics, and demographic projections, normally
constrained by budgetary limitations. Collection development includes the formulation of
selection criteria, planning for resource sharing, and replacement of lost and damaged
items, as well as routine selection and de-selection decisions.

Large libraries and library systems may use an approval plan or blanket order plan to
develop their collections. In small- and medium-sized libraries, collection development
responsibilities are normally shared by all the librarians, based on their interests and
subject specializations, usually under the overall guidance of a written collection
development policy."

ODLIS defines collection management as

"The application of quantitative techniques, such as statistical and cost-benefit analysis,
to the process of collection development, usually limited to large libraries and library
systems. In a more general sense, the activity of planning and supervising the growth and
preservation of a library's collections based on an assessment of existing strengths and
weaknesses and an estimate of future needs."
Library collection development is the process of meeting the information needs of the
people (a service population) in a timely and economical manner using information
resources locally held, as well as from other organizations.[1]
According

to

the

International

Federation

of

Library

Associations

and

Institutions (IFLA), acquisition and collection development focuses on methodological

and topical themes pertaining to acquisition of print and other analogue library materials
(by purchase, exchange, gift, legal deposit), and the licensing and purchase of electronic
information resources.[2]

HISTORY
Introduction to Collection Management and Development with an introduction to terms
and concepts, followed by a capsule history of the practice of collection development,
focusing on the United States. A brief look at the history of collection work and the
libraries in which collections were developed is useful because contemporary practice
builds on that of the past. Selectors work with library collections that have been created
over time in accordance with past understandings and conventions. Collection
development came into wide use in the late 1960s to replace selection as a more
encompassing term reflecting the thoughtful process of developing a library collection in
response to institutional priorities and community or user needs and interests. Collection
development was understood to cover several activities related to the development of
library collections, including selection, the determination and coordination of selection

policy, assessment of the needs of users and potential users, collection use studies,
collection analysis, budget management, identification of collection needs, community
and user outreach and liaison, and planning for resource sharing. In the 1980s, the term
collection management was proposed as an umbrella term under which collection
development was to be subsumed. In this construct, collection management includes
collection development and an expanded suite of decisions about weeding, canceling
serials, storage, and preservation. Also of concern in collection management are the
organization and assignment of responsibilities for its practice. Collection management
and collection development now often are used synonymously or in tandem. The
Reference and User Services Associations section is called the Collection Development
and Evaluation Section, more commonly referred to as CODES. The tasks, functions, and
responsibilities now understood to be the portfolio of collection development librarians
include selection of materials in all formats, collection TO Introduction to Collection
Management and Development policies, collection maintenance (selection for weeding
and storage, preservation, and serials cancellation), budget and finance, assessment of
needs of users and potential users, liaison and outreach activities related to the collection
and its users, collection assessment and evaluation, and planning for cooperation and
resource sharing. A literature sampling provides a clearer understanding of how collection
development and management are understood by practitioners: Simply put, collection
management is the systemic, efficient and economic stewardship of library resources. The
goal of any collection development organization must be to provide the library with a
collection that meets the appropriate needs of its client population within the limits of its
fiscal and personnel resources. To reach this goal, each segment of the collection must be
developed with an application of resources consistent with its relative importance to the
mission of the library and the needs of its patrons. Collection management is defined as a
process of information gathering, communication, coordination, policy formulation,
evaluation, and planning. These processes, in turn, influence decisions about the
acquisition, retention, and provision of access to information sources in support of the
intellectual needs of a given library community. Collection development is the part of
collection management that primarily deals with decisions about the acquisition of
materials. Collection development is a term representing the process of systematically

building library collections to serve study, teaching, research, recreational, and other
needs of library users. The process includes selection and deselect ion of current and
retrospective materials, planning of coherent strategies for continuing acquisition, and
evaluation of collections to ascertain how well they serve user needs. Those who practice
collection management are called variously selectors, bibliographers, collections
librarians, subject specialists, subject liaisons, collection development librarians,
collection managers, and collection developers Libraries served primarily as storehouses
rather than as instruments for the dissemination of knowledge or a source for recreational
reading. Comprehensiveness, completeness, and preservation have continued as library
goals through the growth of commerce, the Renaissance, invention of movable type,
expanding lay literacy, the Enlightenment, the public library movement, and the
proliferation of electronic resources. Size continues today to be a common, though only
one, measure of a librarys greatness. Systematic philosophies of selection were rare until
the end of the nineteenth century, though a few early librarians gave written attention to
selection. Gabriel Nude, hired by Cardinal Mazarin to manage his personal library in the
early 1600s, addressed selection in the first modern treatise on the management of
libraries. He stated, It may be laid down as a maxim that there is no book whatsoever, be
it never so bad or disparaged, but may in time be sought for by someone.6 Completeness
as a goal has been balanced by a desire to select the 4 Introduction to Collection
Management and Development best and most appropriate materials. In 1780, JeanBaptiste Cotton des Houssay stated that libraries should consist only of books of
genuine merit and of well-approved utility, with new additions guided by enlightened
economy.

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Decide objectives of collection development.
Create a collection development process in written.
Make a selection committee.
Select reading materials according to different criteria and features.

 Take a sanction of selected reading materials from library authority.

Select distributor or vendor and commit to ordering, delivery and
receiving proceed.
Coordinate selected reading materials with available budget.
Make a list and ordering of selected reading materials.
Receive and check ordered material.
Replace damage reading material.
Reminder to distributor or vendor.
Physical process of reading materials.
Shelving of reading materials.
CREW(Continuous Review, Evolution and weeding)

Collection development policy

The development and implementation of a collection development policy is a best
practices for libraries and archives, and addresses issues such as:

material selection and acquisition

replacement of worn or lost materials

removal (weeding) of materials no longer needed in the collection

planning for new collections or collection areas

institutional mission

cooperative decision-making with other libraries or within library consortia

Weeding is an important but difficult aspect of collection development in a library. A

librarian may withdraw materials based on the condition, age, relevancy, or lack of space
for an item. A professional may decide to replace such items or leave the absence in the
collection. The significant act is not without opposition. Historically, both patrons and

other librarians criticize weeding books. Some believe libraries should keep all materials
in circulation no matter the condition or need for room in the facility for newer material.[3]
According to the IFLA there are four primary reasons for a written collection
development policy: selection, planning, public relations, and the wider context. A
written selection guidelines provide staff with the tools to access and evaluate potential
additional collection materials as well as basis for denying the acceptance of materials.
Beyond the addition of new materials this section can also define the parameters for
weeding materials, storage standards, and preservation of unstable collection objects.
Secondly, planning aides in make decisions for future improvement in library
infrastructure and proper distribution of funds for the institution. Thirdly, in the current
environment of limited funding and competition between departments and agencies a
written collection policy aids in the public relation of the library. This document can be a
tool to exhibit for potential donors or grant applications the future needs of the library
including assets and services. Lastly, in terms of the wider context the document can aid
in collaboration with other institutions in an effort to fulfill the needs of their patrons and
community. Each institution will have a better understand of the plans for each and how
they can assist each other in the collection development policy should be a document that
is constantly in use. Gregory (2011) states that collection development policies should
provide staff and users with the following information

Describe the library's user community, defining the institutional mission of the
library, and identifying its users' likely needs

Provide selection criteria and guidelines for the use of those charged with
selecting library materials

Identify those selection tools and processes that are most appropriate for the
particular library

Define the process for identifying materials for weeding, cancellation, storage,
and replacement of materials

Facilitate consistency and communication among the collection development

librarians

Establish who is responsible for various aspects of the collection process and
management activities

Create a plan for the future of the collection and the budgeting of resultant library
expenditures

Serve as a training document for new collection librarians and those charged with
management of the library as a whole

Provide guidelines for dealing with gift materials

Provide guidelines for dealing with complaints about materials or services thought
by patrons or administrators to be inappropriate

Provide a framework and context for decisions concerning library access, space
allocation, budgeting, and fund-raising priorities

Support cooperative collection development activities by documenting what the

library has done in the past and what the library is currently doing with collecting
levels by discipline

Identify both the strengths and the relative weaknesses of the library's current
collections

Aid in preparing grant proposals and planning development initiatives through its
supporting documentation

Serve as a communication vehicle with the library's staff, administration, and various
constituencies achieving these goals.

Collection Development Goals

The Allegheny County Library Association promotes the growth and continued
development of individual library collections by encouraging the county libraries to:

Build strong, accessible, decentralized collections in a variety of formats that

reflect the needs and interests of the local communities.

Provide a wide range of materials of interest to customers of all socio-economic

backgrounds and of all ages and educational needs.

Develop collections that reflect the cultural, linguistic, and ethnic diversity of
Allegheny County.

Offer a balance of viewpoints in collections that include both current materials

and those that provide historical perspective.

Maintain and develop specialized collections that enhance the depth and quality
of the overall collection.

Offer information resources in a variety of current and emerging technologies.

In order to enhance customer access to the collection, the Allegheny county
library association encourages:

Strengthening the overall collection through networking and resource sharing

among libraries.

Ensuring efficient and timely access to materials and information to meet

customers needs.

Evaluating and incorporating emerging technologies that enhance and expand

resources available to the staff and the public.

Providing support for staff to develop collection expertise.

Maintaining an on-going program of collection management through regular

maintenance of the collection and preservation of materials.

Collection Management System

A Collection management system sometime called a collection information system, is
software used by the collection institution- primarily museum making s and archives, and
to a lesser degree, libraries and galleries-to organize, control, and manage collection
objects by tracking all information related to and about those objects.
(1) A collection management system is used by collections staff such as registrars,
collection managers, and curators, to record information such as object location,
provenance, curatorial information, conservation reports, and exhibition histories,
but that information is also accessed and used by other museum departments, such
as education, membership, accounting, and administration.

(2) Though early collection management system were cataloging databases,

essentially digital versions of card catalogs, more recent and advanced system are
being used to improve communication between museum staff and to automate and
manage collections- based task and workflows.

(3) They are also used to provide access to information about their collection and
objects to researchers and the public increasingly through online methods.
(4) Some institutions, particularly smaller museums, have customized existing
database management system and relational database software such as filmmaker
pro and Microsoft access to create homegrown collection management systems.

(5) Although every collection management system program is unique, there are
several features that are considered standard:

Cataloging: This feature includes fields for object identification purpose

such as permanent identification number, object name, artist or creator
name, object description, dimensions, object components and materials,
condition, provenance, exhibition and preservation history, current
location, and an image of the object.

Acquisitions: This feature includes fields relevant to the donor and

purchase history for the object such as date of acquisition,donor,or seller
name and contact information, the assigned accession number, purchase
price, condition assessment at time of arrival, and seller or donor
restrictions, if applicable.

Deaccessions; this feature addresses the removal of an object from a

collection and includes information such as the date of accessioning,
method of disposal used, and reason for removal.

Loans: This feature is used for tracking information about incoming and
outgoing loans to include lender name and contact information, special
requirements, shipping instructions, associated insurance policies, and
loan history.

Security: This feature allows the database administrator to restrict access

to the database by giving only specific individuals access to view and/or
edit records.

Copyright: The copyright feature allows the institution to input relevant

intellectual property restrictions for the objects in order to prevent illegal
distribution or reproduction of object.

Multimedia: The multimedia feature is a function that allows digital

materials such as image, video, and audio content associated with an
object to be attached to the object record. This feature typically allows
the input of associated metadata.

Collection evaluation methods

Some library evaluation methods include the checklists method, circulation
and interlibrary loan statistics, citation analysis, network usage analysis, vendor-supplied
statistics and faculty opinion.

Selection vs. Censorship

When acquiring new materials for a librarys collection, it can be difficult to differentiate
between selection and censorship. The American Library Association speaks of
collections development as selecting materials that are desired by the community as well
as fulfilling other educational and recreational criteria. The organization comments that a
librarian should not purposely omit the purchase of books or other items due to them
being controversial in nature, the authors religious or political views, or the librarians
personal beliefs. From the ALA website, they continue the argument by stating that,
Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view

on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or

removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
Checklists method
This method of collection evaluation is the practice of checking a library collection
against a list of notable books or materials to see if the collection includes these titles.
This is the oldest method of collection evaluation, and its first recorded use occurs in
1849 by Charles Coffin Jewett at the Smithsonian Institution.

Citation analysis
Citation analysis is the method most used on the college and university level. This
method looks at frequently used citations from bibliographies, indexes, and references to
see if the resources used are included in the learning institute's partner library. [6] The
purpose is to see if the written work produced can be done using only the library located
at the college or university. Citation analysis is a good research method to use in
academic libraries on the university and college level when performing a collections
evaluation. This method is performed by studying bibliographies from many sources such
as student papers, faculty research publications, along with theses and dissertations. This
information is then used to see what percentage of the items cited in the bibliographies
have come from the academic librarys collection. Citation analysis is used to see if the
work produced at the university or college has been written using sources mainly from
the academic library at that learning institution.
Leased Books
Leased books is an option many book vendors offer to libraries for an agreed on period of
time. Leasing books is a form of acquiring books for a library's collection with the benefit
of always staying current with popular materials. A librarian can order leased books while
a title is in demand and then send them back when those needs no longer exist. The
thought process behind leasing books is to provide patrons with many copies of books
while there is a high demand but when the item is no longer popular have room in the
collection for the next most wanted item. Usually a library gets a discounted rate if they
lease a large quantity of books at a time or pay off a lease early.[7]

The collection development and management strategy expressed here guides the work of
the Collections Management Team, operating in collegial collaboration with Library
subject liaisons and University faculty to provide access to information, images, data,
music, etc. It is designed to provide a framework for collection development and
management while remaining flexible and responsive to changing University and Library
priorities.
Through its collections, the Library affirms the Universitys commitment to the
advancement, preservation, and dissemination of knowledge in a facilitative and impartial
environment. Accordingly, the Librarys collection management strategy:

advocates intellectual freedom in support of diverse points of view and

confidential, equitable access to information;
respects intellectual property and author rights in current and emerging methods
of scholarly output;
endorses open access and digital initiatives in scholarly publication and
communication;
seeks to promote discoverability and accessibility, enrich useful Library spaces,
protect physical materials, and provide scholars with thoughtfully curated
collections.

What We Collect
In brief, the Library collects:

resources that support the research and teaching initiatives of the University;
resources in new, developing, and interdisciplinary areas for delivery at the point
of need;
internationally produced resources to support the global mission of the University;
resources produced by University of Virginia faculty, researchers, and students;
University- and Virginia-related data and materials.

Our Approach to Collection Development

The Librarys collection development involves:

analyzing prospective and existing resources with an understanding of University

departmental needs;
balancing support of both expansive and targeted University programs and
initiatives;
obtaining resources to maximize access and minimize user wait;
leveraging appropriate emerging formats and modes of access in anticipation of
user needs;
capitalizing on high quality metadata, whether created in-house or purchased;

maximizing consortia relationships to enhance resource accessibility through

interlibrary loan;
collaborating with peer institutions in consortia to retain materials and build
shared collections;
engaging new methods of scholarly communication;
identifying and protecting rare and unique materials, as well as anticipating and
safeguarding potentially rare materials;
accepting gifts when appropriate for inclusion in the collection;
protecting gift collections (book-plated) when appropriate;
striving for dynamic equilibrium between immediate on-the-shelf access and
rapid response delivery from closed stack areas.

Disposition of Materials
In general, the Library does not discard its resources. However, there are circumstances
that call for tough decisions regarding the disposition of materials, such as:

recognizing the lifecycle of resources and information and removing materials

beyond repair or unadaptable to University programs;
reducing duplicate resources when appropriate and timely.

The Library distributes withdrawn materials to charitable organizations when possible.

Exclusions
The Library also excludes particular uncollected resources such as textbooks, test
preparation workbooks, language instruction audiovisual materials, travel guides, lab
notebooks, and datasets and electronic resources that are restricted to a single user.

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