Citation
Cassell, K.A. (2009), "Editorial", Collection Building, Vol. 28 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/cb.2009.17128caa.001
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Editorial
Article Type: Editorial From: Collection Building, Volume 28, Issue 3
The articles in this issue of Collection Building reflect some of the trends in collection development being pursued by libraries. Libraries are handling so many more formats and types of material than ever before. In addition to the many e-formats, they are providing access to open source material and to grey literature. Marta Magnuson’s article on grey literature on women in this article is a good example of the large amount of grey literature now available. Collecting this material is not as much a matter of cost but a matter of providing access. Users need to know of their existence and to be able to find and use them. Yet even with all the new formats and materials available we still need to collect medieval manuscripts which have held our interest over the centuries. Amy Slowik’s article on acquiring medieval manuscripts is included in this issue.
Evaluation is another ongoing theme reflected in this issue. This journal has published many articles on evaluation in the last few years. Evaluation is central to the work of librarians in the twenty-first century. We need to understand whether our collections contain key works in a particular field and whether the collection meets the needs of our user group. Kristi Jensen’s article on the use of online survey tools to gather information from the faculty on part of the library’s monograph collection is a recent example. Other recent articles include Culberson and Wilde’s article in Vol. 28 No. 1, on using the WorldCat Collection Analysis tool to analyze the strength of collections supporting doctoral programs and Borin and Yi’s article in Vol. 27 No. 4 that proposes a new model for collection evaluation.
Digital preservation is another theme of interest. In this issue we present an article on the work going on in Botswana. This article shows the challenges of the preservation of digital material on the African continent and points to strategic policy options. Digital preservation is essential to providing future access to these materials.
Kay Ann Cassell