Course Objective:

This course is designed to familiarize students with the theory, practice, and issues of collection development in various types of libraries. Upon completion of the course, students should be able to develop and maintain library collections meeting the needs of various user groups. Specific topics covered include selection and acquisition of materials in various formats, collection development policies, collection evaluation, intellectual freedom, and weeding. Learning will be through lecture, group presentations, evaluation of collection aids, guest speakers, and completion of a final project proposing an opening day or core library collection in some detail. Three credit hours.

Text: Evans, G. Edward. Developing Library and Information Center Collections. 4^th edition. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2000.

Readings: To be assigned in class.

Syllabus:

Information Age/Information Society: Introduction to the course content with overview of assignments. Introduction to terms and definitions related to information resource collection and development.

Assignment: Read Chapter 1 and 2 of your text for next class.

Community Needs Analysis/Information Needs Assessment

Assignment: Read Chapter 5 of your text for next class.

Book Publishing/Book Reviewing

Assignment: Project 1 due for next class.

Selection of Fiction by Genre

Assignment: Project 2 due for next class

Selection of Non-Fiction by Subject

Assignment: Project 3 due for next class

Selection of Children’s print materials

Assignment: Read Chapters 7 and 8 in your text for next class. Project 4 due for October 15 class

Electronic Resources. Guest Lecturer, Susan Varscsak, Collection Development Coordinator, Maricopa County Library District

Assignment: Read Chapters 6 and 9 of your text for next class.

Selection of Non-Book Materials/Government Documents/Serials

Assignment: Read Chapter 10 of your text for next class.

Selection of Non-Print (AV Media) Materials

Assignment: Read Chapter 4 of your text for next class. Project 5 due for next class.

Selection for Various Types of Libraries

Read Chapter 3 of your text for next class.

Collection Development Policies

Assignment: Read Chapters 11, 12, and 13 of your text for next class.

Acquisitions/Distributors and Vendors/Fiscal Management

Assignment: Read Chapters 14 and 15 of your text for next class.

Deselection/Evaluation/Copyright Protection vs. Fair Use

Assignment: Read Chapter 15 of your text for next class.

Intellectual Freedom vs. Censorship

Phoenix Public Tour

Core Collection Assignment discussion

Assignments:

All students are required to:

1. Complete five collection development tool assessments. The purpose of this assignment is to allow you to become familiar with the basic types of tools used in collection development.

Project 1: Evaluating General Periodicals as Collection Development Tools. Due September 17

Project 2: Evaluating Adult Fiction Collection Development Tools. Due September 24

Project 3: Evaluating Adult Nonfiction Collection Development Tools. Due October 1

Project 4: Evaluating Children’s Collection Development Tools. Due October 15

Project 5: Evaluating Nonprint and Audiovisual Materials Colllection Development Tools. Due October 29

For each of the five projects, prepare the following:

Value 40%

2. Collection Development Policy. This is a group project. You will be graded as a group, but will have the opportunity to evaluate each member of the group in terms of participation and collegiality.

Review and critique five different collection development policies from your designated library type. This critique should be a maximum of 5 pages, double spaced, and should be the collective thought of the group.

Write a collection development policy (all parts of it) for your designated library type. This policy is to be a collaborative, consensual endeavor. You may use what is BEST from each of the policy statements reviewed (including legal and intellectual policy statements, etc.), and add suggestions from readings and discussions that you as a group deem appropriate. The policy should be in a form that is friendly and usable. An index to specific areas of the policy should be included. You will present this policy statement to the class as a final part of the assignment, with a copy of the entire work to be given to the instructor at that time. How you present this policy is up to you and your group, but you will be accountable for its presentation and understanding.

Due: November 5

Value 20%

3. Complete an opening day collection assignment. Select, evaluate, organize and present a set of resources on a particular subject area for a particular library environment for an opening day part of a collection.

To learn more about your selected library type and environment, and the particular development issues associated with it, do some background reading on it. Create a bibliography on what you read and review for this part of the assignment.

You must chose a core subject area that you can define and justify based upon the specific type of library/community of information users you have selected. Include this justification as an introduction to your annotated list of resources. Set your criteria and explain it. Include 15 items, print and non-print. Web sites may be included but must meet the criteria of all items, and be a potentially lasting site. They should not be the majority of resources. Include review sources in the annotations for each item.

Prepare a materials budget for the 15 items. This should contain both projected item costs as well as total costs for them in the next five years. Include a plan to sustain them for the next five years. Also define how these items are to be evaluated in terms of viability and retention for the future work of this library. These 15 items should be essential ones that this type of library should contain, and be considered "core" in their value to that library's program and vision.

As a summary to your work, explain the principles and procedures you used. Describe the sources you used for selection and why, as well as any difficulties you encountered along the way. Discuss any general themes or issues that emerge from this work: issues of intellectual freedom, copyright, access, use, currency of materials, sustainability, gaps in this subject area for this user community, etc. A matrix for the 15 resources with the criteria should also be included as part of the paper.

Value 40%

Due December 10

Please note:

Late work will lose one letter grade from the grade it would have gotten had it been turned in on time. However, the final project, the opening day collection, will not be accepted late.

Assignments are due no later than 6:30 pm (the beginning of class) on their assigned due date.

Please include your name at the top of all your assignments.

Grading Criteria:

A=90-100

B=80-89

C=70-79

D=60-69

F=59 and below

Code of Academic Integrity:

Students assume full responsibility for the content and integrity of the academic work they submit. The guiding principle is that all projects and papers must be the student's own work. For further understanding of this code please refer to the University of Arizona "Code of Academic Integrity" found on the University student pages.