Selection for Libraries

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Selection is the branch of collection management concerned with deciding which items will be added to the library collection and made available to the library’s users (Kennedy, 2006, p.33). Librarians have the difficult task of trying to balance their collections by identifying, evaluating and selecting items in different formats which caters for the needs and wants of the current and future interests of their users. Exploring the traditional selection process of library materials, this essay will discuss the impact and demands that the increasing availability of electronic and digital materials are placing upon librarians today to maintain a well balanced collection. Twenty years ago, the most common item in a library of any kind would have been printed copies of a book or journal. Librarians would have used different selection aids in acquiring these items for the collection; such aids would have been from publishers catalogues, from visiting bookshops and book warehouses and most commonly via approval orders and standing orders. Over time as information has been stored and retrieved by computers, information has become readily available online due to the internet and the emergence of new technologies. The internet has changed the way people communicate and access information. This has also effected and changed the selection of media types that is the best material to buy for library collections, and consequently which will be the most cost effective and beneficial for future use. Libraries are continually dealing with the difficulties to adjust and maintain collections with varying materials and to deliver them to their users in a timely fashion. An example of this is that the internet now holds texts of standard r... ... middle of paper ... ...st. Interlibrary loans and document delivery Apart of every library’s approach to collection development is the factors that affect them during the selection process. Works Cited Hardy, G., & Davies, T. (2007). Letting the patrons choose: using EBL as a method for unmediated acquisition of ebook materials. Paper presented at the Information Online 2007 : 13th Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) Exhibition and Conference. Retrieved 24th December 2009, from http://www.information-online.com.au/index.php?pagename=Conference%20Planner Lewis, D. W. (2007). A Strategy for Academic Libraries in the First Quarter of the 21st Century. College and Research Libraires, 2007(September), 418-434. Miller, R. H. (2000). Electronic Resources and Academic Libraries, 1980-2000 : A Historical Perspective Library Trends, 48(4), 645-670.

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