edited by Maggie Fieldhouse and Audrey Marshall
London: Facet Publishing, 2012
ISBN 978-1-85604-746-3
This volume of essays is designed to address the substantial changes that electronic and digital
resources have had on the traditional methods libraries have used to develop and manage their
library collections. From the introduction
“At the core of this book is a desire to confront the changes we are experiencing in a very explicit
way and to question whether or not the rational strategic approaches to developing and managing
collections, which have been at the heart of librarianship for years, are still relevant.”
The main themes from the book are that the digital age has reduced the role of librarians in
collection development, and has also challenged the role of librarians . In the academic sector in
particular, aggregated e-journal collections (the so-called 'Big Deals') and open access journals, plus
the strong contribution of JISC in negotiation with suppliers, along with the different mind-set of
students in assuming everything is on the net, has meant that librarians will need to market their
skills if they are not to be bypassed.
For both academic and public libraries, the balance with e-resources has shifted to the publisher to
some extent; where a purchase of a journal or encyclopedia in print meant it was the library's to
retain, now a substantial subscription to a title does not confer any long-term ownership.
The book contains cases from UK public libraries about outsourcing collection development to
library suppliers, and about e-books (Essex, as a very early adopter of Overdrive), which indicates
this strongly, without the recent developments in the withdrawal of permissions to lend e-books
from various publishers.
For all sectors, the need now is to decide whether a collection development policy is relevant, and
to address the need to become 'stewards' of existing resources, which could include digitisation,
conversion from obsolete formats, and cooperative outhousing and storage of residual print
collections.
Contributions are primarily British and are from both the academic and public library sectors, with
a good mix of theoretical and practical. There are some useful case studies of how information
literacy can be developed to support use of the collections, and some practical guidance on how to
put together a collection policy, and even how to tender for outsourced library supply.
This is an interesting book that addresses a key area for all libraries. It is evident that the academic
sector is much further ahead on cooperation than public libraries are; a chapter on Reference
Online, the best cooperation we have seen so far, might well have fit well within the volume.
Gary Archer
Information Services Librarian
Solihull Libraries and ISG Committee