Uses national guidelines, collection development texts, and the intellectual freedom literature to assess the practical value of the Library Bill of Rights in school library settings. Discussion focuses on invoking the statement as support when dealing with challenges to the collection. Appendixes include the Library Bill of Rights itself and…

Even though endorsements of written collection development policies abound in the professional literature, many academic libraries do not have them in place. Interviews with several Louisiana librarians reveal possible reasons for that disparity. Instead of spending time devising policies that quickly become inflexible and outdated, bibliographers…

Selection policies, library handbooks, and other documents issued by American bible college libraries were examined to see what commitments they have or have not made to intellectual freedom. Many of the libraries were found to have directly addressed censorship matters. Some libraries took strong stands in support of the freedom to read, but…

The university and its library are signs of advancement, yet they can also project an alien, elitist, and forbidden goal to minorities. Libraries should insure that collection policies reflect minority presence. Increasing staff diversity and developing the potential for minorities to excel within this key traditional symbol of the university…

Addresses the process of journal deselection from the point of view of justice and argues that when journal cuts are necessary, libraries should first, reduce all departments to core holdings; second, ask departments with expensive journals for permission to implement an efficiency principle; third, if refused permission, implement an equal…

Examines ways of evaluating school library media collections: size; checking the collection against recognized standard bibliographies; and calculating average collection age. Suggests frequency of curriculum revisions, average age of materials in standard bibliographies, and weeding guidelines as possible measures for comparison to collection…

The Collection Analysis Project (CAP) was undertaken in response to one of the major recommendations of the University at Stony Brook Libraries' strategic plan. It is the first step in promoting the necessary change to bring collection management and development into conformity with accepted professional practice, and make it more responsive to…

As electronic objects challenge categorical distinctions central to library organization, efforts are being made to integrate these hybrids and new forms into traditional library systems and to recreate the stability of the print environment. Explores conceptual and theoretical issues raised by the proliferation of electronic objects and suggests…

How do academic libraries set about creating a body of knowledge and begin to convert traditional print collections to a digital format in order to satisfy what today's researchers want? This article examines previous methods of selection and collection building, and applies those supporting principles to today's collection-building efforts for…

Library literature from the late 19th century to the present offers numerous guides to materials selection. Yet, collection development policies and lists of selection criteria are inadequate for humanities electronic texts. Libraries, humanities disciplines, and electronic texts are too complex for any rigid approach to acquisition. To meet goals…

The Foreign Studies Discussion Group of Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University perceived the necessity for an evaluation of the foreign language collections in the library that would include an examination of collection acquisition policies, size, and processing and would provide descriptive and analytical data in order to support…

Provides a description and assessment of the merger of the government publications division and the maps division at the San Diego State University (California) library that was necessitated by budgetary constraints. The impact on patrons is discussed, including reference assistance, arrangement of materials, reference and circulation policies,…

This publication was created to provide guidance to public service librarians, administrators and library directors on how to improve service to African Americans throughout California, promoting literacy, and providing materials by and about African Americans for the entire library community. One of the first issues the task force identified was…

Examines the impact of electronic technology on libraries and scholarship. Focuses on some of the challenges of using electronic resources in research libraries, which include cost of acquiring electronic formats and the effect such expenditures have on other library services and collection development practices. Explores how electronic resources…

Over 60 members of the State University of New York at Stony Brook faculty and staff worked for almost a year to develop a comprehensive strategic plan for the University Libraries, the first phase of which is presented here. The process, which began in the spring of 1991, consisted of three phases: (1) Organization--meeting of the planning team…