HOW TO USE A COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT
POLICY
David Farrell, in his essay, "Policy and Planning," notes that the library
literature offers little coverage of policies after they've been issued,
and presumably, used. This is surprising given the fact that "utility is
a primary measure of the success of a policy statement" (Osburn and Atkinson,
Collection Management, pp. 57-58). He indicates that this shortage
of published information should not be taken to mean policies are not used.
Rather, this situation underscores the need to pay greater attention to
monitoring and reporting on use after the policy has been implemented as
well as to recognize the fact that policy types, purposes, and uses are
still evolving (Osburn and Atkinson, p. 58).
Farrell argues that the following concerns should be considered regarding
policy use:
Who will use the policy
statement?
Will the statement be a resource
for training and evaluating collection specialists, for developing collection
assessment projects and funding proposals, for preparaing accreditation
reports, etc.?
Can the policy easily by updated,
uploaded and downloaded, manipulated?
Will the policy be accessible
in a machine-readable format?
Will the policy be coordinated
with (and accessible to) librarians in institutions with which cooperative
agreements exist? (Osburn and Atkinson, p. 58)
He adds that after the policy has been in place for a reasonable time span,
its utility should be assessed. Evaluative criteria might include:
Has the policy been incorporated
into processes for training and evaluating collection specialists? Are
new collection specialists introduced to the policy?
Does the policy offer specific
guidance for budget allocations, for grant and other funding proposals,
and for collection evaluation projects?
Is the policy reviewed and
revised on a scheduled basis and, in any case, when programs, personnel,
and budget changes are scheduled?
Are collection specialists
reminded of policy and routinely involved in reviewing and revisig it?
Is the policy statement referred
to specifically by working groups inside and outside the library, and in
appropriate documents such as strategic plans?
Does the policy reflect collection
budget, cataloging, preservation, retrospective conversion, and other priorities?
Do members of the faculty
know the existence of the policy? Do they refer to it in relevant written
documents and in oral communications? (Osburn and Atkinson, pp. 58-59)
Farrell advises that the policy can be maintained as a vital component
of the collection development process in cases where key staff continually
ask "What are collection management guidelines" in relation to
Library-wide priority-setting;
Budget requests and allocation
decisions;
Preparation of proposals for
fund raising and grant proposals addressed to public and private agencies;
Anticipated changes in the
direction of research, instructional, and service programs of the parent
institution; and
Allocation of new academic
positions and/or recruitment of new faculty and librarians. (Osburn and
Atkinson, p. 59)
