Meghan O’Keefe

LIS 748 99

Professor Berendt

September 29, 2017

Collection Development Policy Assignment

Each of these Collection Development Policies showcase a unique approach to

the collection development for their collections. This is beneficial as it allows each library

to develop and assess their collections in the way that best works for their library. As

covered in the Narrative Statement of the Conspectus Model document, “Each

institution, including its community and other constituents, is unique. Therefore, its

policy statements will be unique. The policy statements should reflect this particular

library and the community it serves” (IFLA, 2001). This is especially true when dealing

with libraries of such a wide variety as this selected group. So, while some seem to be

better than others from an outside perspective, it is likely that each policy best serves the

needs of its individual organization and might not work as well for the organization if

adapting the suggestions from the Conspectus Model. Each policy is hopefully effective

for its collection’s needs and seems to be a good overall fit for the organization it is

representing.

Looking at each Collection Policy individually highlights the specific positives and

negatives that stand out under review. The A.R. Dykes Library of the University of

Kansas Medical Center seems to be one of the strongest policies of the group. Their

Collection Management page has a helpful introduction and policy statement. It is

succinct, clear, and helpful for new users of the library. Those interested in further detail

can then access the full Collection Management Policy. The actual policy is divided into

clear sections that make it easy for the reader to navigate. Those in the beginning

briefly cover the policy purpose, audience, institution description, and mission statement.

The next sections delve further into various policies, such as Intellectual Freedom,

Copyright, and Licensing. These are extremely helpful for protecting the library’s

collection and helping users understand complicated issues they might not be familiar

with as various copyright and licensing rules can be rather complex. This section also

covers the basic principles of the library and the cooperative agreements it is a part of,

which also assist user understanding and library protection. The end sections of rather

specific in explaining how the library and staff make decisions regarding the collection.

These sections include selection tools, evaluation criteria, guidelines by material type,

and details surrounding issues like weeding or donations. There is also a ranking of

each subject area and subcategories within the subject of the collection. While it has

clearly been adapted to work for this library, it appears to be modeled off of the

Conspectus Collection Depth Indicators. This would be especially helpful for those

looking to do research within a subject and for library staff to understand where the

collections might need updating going forward. This policy overall is detailed, easily

understood, and well organized. It seems to be the best Collection Policy of those

presented by these organizations.

The National Library of Australia’s Collection Development Policy is extremely

different. It is rather lengthy and vague in regards to any specific collection decisions.
However, this makes sense as this is a very different style library. A national library

would likely have a vast collection. Its collection development policy would not be able to

accurately present definitive rules or metrics that would apply across the entire library.

This policy appears to be intended to provide an overview of the library’s mission and

approaches to various collections. In this regard, it has achieved its goal. However, for

a reader, the policy is not clearly organized as well as the others and does not seem to

provide as much assistance to staff overseeing these collections.

The Collection Development Policy of the Morton Grove Public Library is again

very different from the previous policies. As this is a different library type than the last

two, it makes sense that it would be unlike the others. This policy is much shorter than

the others. It provides less of the specific metrics than the academic medical library, but

was more clearly defined than the national library. It began with purpose and

responsibility sections that highlighted the community as well as giving an overall goal of

the library’s collection. It then listed particular guidelines for selection criteria and tools,

material replacement, weeding, multiple copies, and formats. There is also a separate

section covering guidelines for gifts. These are clear and helpful guidelines for patrons

and staff that also serve the purpose of protecting the library and its collections. Lastly,

this collection features a Reconsideration section. This provides clear rules for patron

requests to have materials removed from the collection as well as protections for the

library should they deem those requests impossible for the library to grant. This is vital

for public libraries especially as it allows patrons a formal process for materials they

challenge that does not impede freedom to read or intellectual freedom library values
and goals. This collection development policy seems very well suited for its library type

even though it is brief and includes less data.

The NASA HQ Library again seemed to incorporate Conspectus Collection Policy

suggestions. It included the breakdown coverage mentioned there of mission

statements, clientele, scope, and cooperative agreements. It also included some fixed

determinations for collection scope by subject breakdowns. However, these breakdowns

were organized differently than the Conspectus Model to better suit the needs of this

library, so instead listed what years or number of copies must be maintained by section

or might be determined by library staff. The policy also listed goals related to programs

connected to these collections. Overall, this policy seemed to be a nice mix of

institutional goals and specific metrics that would help staff shape the collection properly

and help users understand and access the library. As a special library, it also makes

sense that it would be apply standards and models in an adapted way to fit their unique

needs.

The Newberry Library Collection Development Policy is most similar to the

national library policy and is again rather vague. It outlines the main goals of collection

development for the library briefly to start. It then lists the collecting emphases by

subject (either regionally or topically differentiated), but each is again a short and

somewhat vague description of approximately one paragraph. As this library collects

such varied materials and is also rather large, it makes sense that it would have such a

similar approach to a national library. However, it differs from that library by listing the

appropriate staff who would be able to discuss or determine further collection

development decisions and their contact information. This is helpful for those intending

to donate or looking to understand more detailed explanations for each collection area.

This seems like a useful approach for a library of this kind to take.

Each policy seems to match the needs, restrictions, and unique traits of the library

it represents, so all of these Collection Development policies appear to be strong overall.

Some are more easily navigated and understood, some provide more finite rules,

descriptions, and assessments of the collections, and some list overall goals of the

organization and collections without limiting the collection materials too distinctly. Each

also seemed to be modeled off of policies from libraries similar to their own, while still

making adaptations for the individual organization and community it serves. It seems

there are certain basic fundamentals that should be applied to all Collection

Development Policies and that basing a policy off of models like the Conspectus Model

can be hugely beneficial, but it is vital to keep the unique library this policy is serving in

mind during policy creation or updating.