Collection Development Plan

Course

Collection Development, MLIS 7400

Competence

The competence for this assignment is administration and management.

Learning Outcome (1)

This assignment addresses designing and conducting community analysis, needs assessment, and/or outcome evaluations.

Learning Outcome (2)

This assignment promotes the role of information services in facilitating diversity and global awareness.

Learning Outcome (3)

This assignment develops appropriate content for funding proposals.

Purpose

The purpose of this assignment was to evaluate materials on a particular topic or section of a collection and propose a plan to improve that part of the collection. My collection was in the African American Art & Archives Collection. I focused on this collection because it was a small collection, and it had not been weeded or reviewed in years. There were also other and newer books that needed to be added to the improvement of the collection. This falls under the competence of designing and conducting community analysis, needs assessment, and/or outcome evaluations.

Once I reviewed, analyzed, and updated the chosen university’s collection policy and mission statement, I then formulated the collection proposal. The proposal focused on the goal of the collection, which was to bolster the Black, namely African American diaspora, which simultaneously lends itself to the diversity aims the library wants to hit in supporting the community. I also noted the collection could also be developed to better serve students’ access to this historical topic by providing access to more historical videos on Black art, bolstering that part of the collection, and offering more print and eBooks for those interested in this subject. This work demonstrates the role of information services in facilitating diversity and global awareness research.

I also created a flye as a marketing tool for the collection as if it were to be displayed in the library to draw attention to this underdeveloped collection and spread awareness of it to patrons.

Analysis

For this assignment, I was interested in what I would find – if anything – regarding the small collection I chose. We were tasked with proposing a plan for the collection, so I had to review the collection as it was and research items that fit into the collection per subject and if it was newer information. We were tasked with choosing 20 items that had to include at least three types of formats and two free websites. It was also suggested that we include circulating books (physical books, eBooks, audiobooks and eAudio books can be considered separate formats), reference works, a database, periodicals. We had to explain if we didn’t include these formats (if they weren’t available and why). This was easier than expected as the collection had a few items that needed to be removed or replaced.

The one-paragraph justification we needed to provide for every item we chose to add or remove to and from the collection was the hardest part of this assignment as it was used to describe the content/features/appeal or authority of the selection and identify at least one source where I had to locate a favorable review of that selection. The review had to be sourced from the Selection Aids Toolkit we were provided in the Assignment Resources section of our class, or it had to be an authoritative source a collection manager would recognize. This was another way of verifying the source and book chosen to justify its addition to the collection. I found this part interesting as it forced me to understand why I was choosing this book and how it would add to the collection.

With the Acquisition and Purchasing section, we had to make a table and list the items proposed for purchase (we were not allowed to list free items on the table). We were to include the cost per item and an approximate total of all items in a table as a presentation to the library director and further justification for the items chosen. To check pricing, we were to use BooksInPrint for books and Ulrichsweb for periodicals as well as a Database Price List to estimate the prices of databases chosen. This assignment helped me understand the cost of choosing books or items for collections and how these choices affect the budget of the library. It falls under the developing appropriate content for funding proposals learning outcome.

The next two sections concluded the assignment. Management and Maintenance dealt with summarizing the issues related to managing and maintaining items in the collection over the next year in terms of access issues, preservation considerations, and sustainability in terms of renewal costs or licensing negotiations. This assisted with helping me understand the costs, the life cycle of the items, and how budgeting for collections to be updated periodically is important to the library’s finances.

The Appendix was a list of the selection criteria used and a listed review of the sources chosen. I described why I chose to rely on them, compared the different sources I used for print and non-print media, and for items to be purchased or leased, and evaluated how well the sources met my needs. This section assisted with my understanding of all the work that came before, and helped me in understanding the need for good, reputable sources.

Reflection  

This assignment has given me a good understanding of the correct way to develop collections and ensure they are being maintained periodically within the library’s budget. With this knowledge I feel more empowered to review collections, determine the library’s collection needs and their community’s needs, and weed and adjust the collections as needed in the future for a position as needed in a library.

This report was for the Collection Development section, Fall 2022 Semester.