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Knowing how the library’s collection is being used and how patrons are feeling about its collection are important for the evaluation of the library collection. The former can be measured by conducting library collection use studies and the latter through a user survey method. Another method is to check library holdings against standard bibliographies. The citation analysis technique was chosen to evaluate the collection of the Ministry of Education library, Singapore. Results were counter checked with ILL data analysis results. Books were the most cited (96 per cent) resources followed by journal articles (1.5 per cent) and 69 per cent of the citations were published between 1980‐1994. The library had only 20 per cent of the citations and the rest were supplied through ILL. Results show a need for a change in acquisition policy with more focus on books, reduction in non‐used journals, and development of an efficient ILL.

This paper aims to elucidate the value of opening up digital collections for end‐user development of mash‐ups and to evaluate the suitability of libraries' infrastructure for this purpose.

The author surveyed ARL members' digital collection platforms to assess the terms of use statements and options for programmatic access.

The findings show that 17 per cent of the institutions surveyed offer some means for mashing up digital collections, and that, while more than half the collections surveyed have some form of terms of use or rights statements, they were not written to support this type of use case.

Results of the research suggest that a mashable digital collection service is feasible for most libraries.

This paper will be of interest to librarians who are considering providing application programming interface (API) access to their digital collections.

A prominent field of research in Library Science during the past thirty years has been collection assessment of college and university libraries. No other subject has received the attention in library literature as has the question of how to evaluate a collection to determine whether it adequately supports the goals, curriculum, and needs of the sponsoring organization. Collection assessment has also attracted more interest from scholars outside the library profession than any other aspect of librarianship. Research in this area should be of value to collection development personnel in all college and university libraries.

Among many unflattering characterizations of librarians is the one that accuses us of wishing to keep our collections neat, clean and in proper order on the shelves. That is, not being used. This is a half‐true, if exaggerated, statement. As rational professionals, librarians realize that if a collection is well used it is not always in order and available, or else the collection is not as good as it should be. Control—knowing where an item is, who has it—is the goal librarians strive to achieve, rather than maintaining every item in its place.

The changing demographics of the United States are reflected in the changing faces in universities and colleges across the nation. However, universities and colleges, including academic libraries, are still reacting as opposed to being proactive to these changes in their campuses. Academic libraries especially in the area of library resources are still grappling with the question of “How can we diversify our library collections?” In this chapter, the author examines the idea that one of the ways to reflect demographics on campus is for academic libraries to explore the concept of “belongingness” – the idea that students are seeing themselves on campus. This examination of belongingness hopes to answer the lack of representation of minority students in library collections through identifying gaps in the collection and acquiring diverse books and other resources. For minority students to see themselves in higher education institutions, academic libraries need to be proactive in helping students “belong” on campus.

This paper seeks to discuss the results of a 2010 survey of LIS selectors at ARL institutions/libraries that do not support an ALA‐accredited program to learn how and why LIS materials are collected at these institutions.

Collection development librarians completed a survey that asked them to describe their institution's selection policies, practices, and budgets for LIS materials, along with their roles as LIS selectors/subject specialists.

LIS collections primarily support librarians and staff in their daily work and ongoing professional development. However, most libraries' LIS collections budgets are comparatively small, selectors receive few requests for new materials, and collecting parameters vary by institution, but are limited in terms of subject, publisher, and audience. The majority of LIS selectors are also responsible for collection development in multiple subject areas and most engage in work outside collection development.

This is the first paper to explore collection development of library and information science materials outside dedicated library school libraries.

The purpose of this paper is to explore some major challenges in the area of collection management faced by university libraries in Pakistan.

The methodology includes a literature review and a survey of university libraries in Pakistan in 2004.

The challenges regarding collection management in university libraries in Pakistan are: handling the hybrid character of collections, service to users, training of collection management staff, collection evaluation, resource sharing and preservation.

This paper provides an example of the challenges of university libraries in a developing country which must plan and develop a customized paradigm of library service which combines the traditional and modern services.

The purpose of this paper is to present analysis of collection development in a specialized collection given the demand for electronic or online content.

A review of research in digital collection development was conducted with particular emphasis on veterinary medicine or medical libraries. This article provides a critique of research on digital collection development as it pertains to a specialized collection from the perspective of a veterinary medicine librarian.

As collection development tends toward a preference for electronic formats, many advantages for specialized user groups arise from purchasing electronic books.

As there are many specialized library types, collection development differs according to user groups. As a veterinary medicine librarian, the author presents a profile of collection development for a specialized user group.

Provides a brief historical background on why libraries are relevant to Maori. Discusses some of the factors and issues relating to developing Maori collections. Profiles a selection of libraries with Maori collections.

This paper aims to examine the current state of collecting with emphasis on small, independent and local digital media for the purpose of exploring librarians’ tools to develop unique collections with these types of cultural products included.

This conceptual paper is based on examination of the current state of publishing and digital media, of case profiles of independent digital content providers, of case profiles of public libraries using digital media to expand collections and of collection developers’ tools, including reviewing sources.

With regard to expanding collections from small, independent and local digital content providers, user-generated content (UGC) is offered as a tool for collection developers to use alongside other traditional reviewing sources. UGC allows for embedding collective voices into collection development practices to capture digital cultural products from these providers.

This paper reflects on the current state of digital content creation and publishing, including the limitations and possibilities in place for the future of public library collections from both large publishing companies and smaller media creators. Non-traditional digital media are cultural products produced for consumption and reception; therefore, we consider how these materials fit into contemporary collections, how they are connected to public libraries and subsequently are made available to library users.