Course Links
Course Outline
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GREENSHEET
Important: Students must sign
up immediately on the Blackboard course
site!
The first class meeting (WHICH
IS REQUIRED!!!) will be on Blackboard in the Virtual Classroom on 1/22
at 7pm PST.
Course Description:
Study of collection management in all types of libraries and information
centers. Includes analysis of information needs, criteria for selection,
collection use evaluation, and resources for collection development.
Course Objectives:
At the conclusion of the course, students will be able to:
- describe the contemporary concept of collection management in libraries
and information agencies.
- identify possible evolving futures of the collection.
- develop a rationale for planning the management of a library or information
agency collection and its growth and development.
- identify the challenges of collection management facing information
professionals in various types of library and information agencies.
- evaluate issues surrounding ownership and access to information and
materials.
- identify cultural issues related to collection management.
- create and evaluate collection policies.
The course supports the following SLIS objectives:
Teaching students the major theories, important principles, and current
practice in 1) information transfer and 2) information management, including
the selection, organization, storage, retrieval, dissemination and utilization
of information resources;
Textbook (Required)
Evans, G. Edward. Developing Library and Information Center Collections.
4th ed. Englewood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, 2000.
Class Schedule
This class will meet in the virtual classroom for lecture and class discussion
every week on Wednesdays, 7-9pmPT. Attendance is required.
I will be holding office hours for one hour before class each week, and
anyone is invited to drop by with comments or questions. I will answer
email on a daily basis or as quickly as I can. If you need to speak to
me by phone, I will do all I can to be available to you, but we will need
to schedule that call in advance to make it convenient for both of us.
Class content
Each class will begin with a Q&A period, to clear up any confusion
about previous classes. There will be a brief lecture, highlighting the
chapter(s) of the textbook to be covered in that chapter. I will have
several questions to ask you as a class, and discussion of those questions
will follow the lecture. The final part of the class will be discussion
of materials that you have found interesting and included in your logs
(see assignment 2), and any other questions you might have about the section
of your policy manual that you will be working on during the following
week.
Class Requirements
1. Read text and participate in class discussions.
2. There are many print and online sources on collection development
outside the textbook. You will need to explore those items in order to
get information that will help you put together your policy manual, and
to examine the current and evolving collection development theory. We
are moving from a print society to one that will be partially or completely
digitized in the future. In the text and in lectures, we will be examining
the role of the librarian in collection development now. In addition to
finding materials that will help with your policy manual, use this assignment
to seek out and examine information on what may happen in this area in
the future, and how it will impact your career as an information professional.
Besides the required textbook, you should read the equivalent of 350
pages of professional reading, including:
- chapters in books about collection development in the specific type
of library you are using for your policy manual.
- professional articles about collection development from current journals
in the field.
- web sites that are particularly useful in the collection development
process. (Estimate time spent as pages read.)
Keep a log of your readings and web work, including for each item, the bibliographic
citation and a summary/evaluation, including what you did or didn’t find
useful about it. At the end of the course, write a synthesis of your interpretation
of the current state of collection development theory and your projection
of how it might develop in the future, based on the materials in your log
and in your textbook. 3. Working in groups of 2-4, based on the
type of library you are interested in, or individually if you prefer,
develop a comprehensive collection management policy, including the following
sections:
- Description of the Library Building and its Collection, including
the size of both and the number and kinds of employees currently on
staff
- Community Assessment Methods and Survey Results, including a survey
of your community, the methods you used to get information, and what
the results of the survey were.
- Collection Development Statement and Rationale, stating briefly the
library’s overall policy and philosophy, including the national guidelines
and statements it supports.
- Types of Materials Available, describing the different kinds of materials
available in each department, what percentage they are of the whole
collection, and why this figure is appropriate.
- Review Sources, including a comprehensive annotated list of sources
you will use to select materials for all parts of your collection. The
annotations should be brief, yet clearly indicate why you chose this
source.
- Budget, including amounts for different departments and rationales
for your allotments.
- Selection Procedures, with specific policies for various departments
and types of materials. Include rationales for each part of the policy
and a list (not annotated) of the review sources used to select materials.
- Acquisition Procedures, describing the process of ordering, receiving
and processing all types of materials.
- Evaluation and Weeding Procedures, based on age, format, relevancy,
usage, and space available.
- Reconsideration Policy and Procedures, with detailed information on
steps to be taken from the first complaint about an item to the final
resolution of the matter.
Appropriate forms and documents will be attached for each section. These
can be ones developed by the group or ones from actual libraries. This
assignment can be done using an actual physical library or one that the
group creates. Either way, precise information about the library, its
policies, staff, and collections will be required. Be aware that including
tables, graphs and charts will help you convey information more concisely
and in formats that can be more easily understood than straight text.
Each section will contain a bibliography citing the various sources, print
and online, that you used while writing that section. When the completed
manual is turned in as a whole at the end of the semester, these chapter
bibliographies will be as the end of the manual, rather than at the end
of each chapter. (I.e., a bibliography section, with items from Chapter
1, Chapter 2, and so on.)
The completed manual will be detailed enough that an actual library could
use it to define, create, and implement collection development and management
policies. It will be a demonstration of the depth of your knowledge of
the subject, and should be added to your portfolio documenting your accomplishments
as a library school student.
You will turn in each section above. Each section is due two weeks after
it has been discussed in class. They will be evaluated, and returned to
you. At the end of the class, you will be able to turn in (if you or your
group chooses to do so) a corrected final version of your entire project.
This does not mean that every section will need to be rewritten, since
only those that receive less than satisfactory grades (in the your or
the group’s opinion) will need to be rewritten. Other sections can be
turned in as is. However, the entire project will need to be reformatted
to eliminate comments attached to the individual sections. While this
is not required, it will allow you to raise the grade received for the
project. (See grading standards below.) All members of a group will receive
the same grade. Groups will be organized the first night of class. If
you prefer to work individually, you may do so.
Each section of your policy manual will be submitted in .PDF format.
When you are ready to submit a chapter, use the following procedure:
- Convert your chapter to pdf.
- Then go to the Blackboard Dropbox.
- In the subject line write: Chapter __ followed by your group or individual
name.
- In the text/message box, place a log sheet showing what chapters have
been read and approved and any other information I should know
- Then, attach the chapter(s) in pdf format you wish submit to the email
message.
If minor corrections are recommended, I don’t need to see the chapter
again, until the corrections are made and the material is resubmitted
at the end of the semester, as described above.
If you submit your chapters properly on Blackboard, you will have an
archive record of your chapters just in case your home computer crashes.
More info on submitting work via the dropbox:
Here are some rules:
1. You may use only Microsoft Word or ClarisWorks (AppleWorks) either
mac or pc versions.
2. Your graphics should be integrated into the word processed chapter.
3. Learn how to convert your chapters into pdf format.
4. Do a test attachment in pdf format to me the first week so that you
know exactly what format and how to send attachments. This attachment
should have samples of all the different texts, graphics, and formats
that your final project could contain. For the test, use the Blackboard
dropbox and put in the subject line - test chapter. I will respond to
you by email telling you that I can read your attachment. Keep trying
until I can read your work.
Grading Standards
15%
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Reading text and other materials and participating in class discussions |
25%
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Reading and web work log and synthesis |
50%
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Individual project parts, averaged together |
| 10% |
Final revised project (This will allow you to maximize your chances
of an A.) Individuals or groups who do not choose to revise their
project will receive the grade already assigned above for this section. |
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