Competency F

A key concept that should be abundantly clear in the library and information science field is access to information. However, where is that information stored and accessed from? At the heart of any library, museum or archive is a collection. That collection is where the information is accessed from, and the collection is anything but static. The collection evolves and is developed by information professionals based on the needs of the organization and the community it serves. The collection may contain physical and digital items, may have items added or removed, and may continue to have its print and/or digital subscriptions modified. As the collection is modified, it is important that consideration is given to the key principles of collection development and management : selection, evaluation, organization and preservation. These key principles are taught in iSchool courses such as INFO 256: Archives and Manuscripts, INFO 259: Preservation Management and INFO 284: Digitization and Digital Preservation and INFO 284: Tools, Services and Methodologies for Digital Curation, among many others, and have given me foundation on which to build upon.

Selection

The first step in developing a collection is deciding what community the collection will apply to. This is usually identified in the organization's mission statement. For example, Washington University in St. Louis' Collection Development Policy states that their policy defines the "...commitment to support the current research and teaching at the University, as well as supporting new models of research and scholarship" (2020). Because they are supporting research and scholarship, it is unlikely they will add a Young Adult fiction section to the collection.

Once the target community has been identified, an inventory must be conducted of existing materials. This is not meant to be an exhaustive evaluation of all items currently in the collection, as this comes later during the evaluation stage. However, taking stock of what items are already in possession of the institution can help identify what items could still be added and what items could or should be weeded out. A key component is realizing that not everything needs to be preserved. If an item does not have any context within a specific collection, it should not be included. This is not to say that the item has no value and should not be preserved, just that it may be better suited as part of a different collection other than the one being developed.

Evaluation

Once items have been selected, they must be evaluated. The evaluation includes items already part of the collection and those that may potentially be included. This activity is fluid and often takes place during the natural cycle of ongoing evaluation. For example, the University of Portland states that as part of their evaluation of collection materials, their “Strategies include review of Summit borrowing slips, monthly review of databases up for renewal, review of interlibrary and copyright clearance data, annual serials review at renewal, and collection assessment for weeding (2016). This can be done as a standalone operation in anticipation of a new collection or as a cyclical event. Weeding is not a common step to take unless it becomes absolutely necessary, such as items being damaged or a new version of the material becoming available.

Qualitative and quantitative analysis are employed when evaluating the items in a collection. In a survey conducted on sixteen librarians in reference to determining value of current collections, Horava and Levine-Clark highlight that quantitative approaches included, "...usage data, faculty output measures, citation analysis and cost-per use analyses" (2016, p. 100). The qualitative approaches mentioned included "communicating student success stories, developing new services to meet identified university priorities and community engagement" (p. 100). This highlights that evaluation is not one-sided based on what the staff thinks the community wants, but takes approaches to incorporate community feedback into the evaluation of materials.

Organization

Once it has been determined what community the collection will apply to, and what items will be included, added and/or removed, the items must be organized. Specific cataloging standards are preferred by certain institutions, as is highlighted in the cataloging competency in this ePortfolio. Academic libraries tend to prefer the Library of Congress Classification system as it seems better suited for the physical and social sciences. Public libraries and international libraries favor the Dewey Decimal Classification system, as it is better suited for children’s literature and general information, although it is still limiting since there are only 10 broad categories into which materials must be classified. Both systems allow for subject classification and relative indexing, so new materials and entries that are added at a later time to the collections can be easily entered into the existing cataloging architecture.

Preservation

As a collection is built, preservation must be taken into consideration for future access. Analog and physical items have different requirements for proper preservation, and it is crucial that as a collection is developed, preservation strategies are discussed and taken into consideration. Analog collections will require space, temperature control and restoration techniques. Digital collections will require computer equipment, controlled and cooled environments and constant upgrade to prevent against bit-rot or power failures. While most libraries or archives have a collection development policy in place, many do not have one for preservation, analog or digital. If the institution plans to provide for long term preservation of items, particularly digital ones, a digital preservation policy must be created and added to the collection development policy.

One of my pieces of supporting evidence is such a policy. A historical society may have a collection development policy in place, but may lack a preservation policy for a digital collection. As part of my INFO 259: Preservation Management class, I conducted research into how many institutions have policies in place for digital collections, and a surprising majority of institutions, mainly smaller libraries or historical societies, do not have a formal preservation policy established. However, even larger entities, such as the University of Portland, do not have a defined preservation policy in place as they rely on digital journal subscriptions.