Paper details
Can We Have it All? Do We Want it All? The Evolution of Academic Library Collection Development
Author
Michael Levine-Clark, University of Denver Libraries, United States
Documents to download
Foto přednášejícího / Picture Presentation
Abstract
The library and the collection have always been synonymous, and academic libraries have been valued according to the size and quality of their collections. In the print world, the definition of the collection was pretty well understood, but the nature of collections has changed radically as we’ve entered the digital age. Collection development used to be limited by constraints of both budget and physical space. And tangible materials forced certain decisions about the collection. With digital resources, some of those constraints have been removed, but new ones have moved into place. Most notably, in this information rich world, our patrons expect immediate access to any resource they encounter. To remain relevant, libraries must treat collections more broadly than they have in the past. The collection is what it always was plus a wide range of un-owned digital content, but it’s also a range of services that make the use of information easier.
As libraries continue to evolve, they will focus strongly on special collections while adopting a goal of providing access to as much other content as possible. The collection will be everything that the library can identify that fits local curricular and research needs, and the default means of access will be whatever is cheapest. Libraries will invest more in tools to help the research process. Discovery will be crucial, since a powerful discovery tool will allow the library provide access to this much broader collection.
Author's professional CV
Michael Levine-Clark is the Associate Dean for Scholarly Communication and Collections Services at the University of Denver Libraries. He is the co-editor of the Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences 4th ed. He writes and speaks regularly on strategies for improving academic library collection development practices, including the use of e-books in academic libraries, the development of demand-driven acquisition models, and implications of discovery tool implementation.
