Rethinking Collection Development and Management

I recently took a collection development and management course for a Master of Library Science degree program. We were assigned the usual sort of textbook that gives a broad overview and history of the field and defines all the necessary terms and concepts. As a secondary text, we were assigned Rethinking Collection Development and Management, the 2014 collection edited by Becky Albitz, Christine Avery, and Diane Zabel. Over the course of the semester, this text proved far more valuable than the primary text. Freed from the responsibility of having to explain every concept from square one, the authors of the chapters in the Albitz, Avery, and Zabel book are able to offer more detail about specific areas of collection development and management and offer insights from their personal experiences as librarians. For example, while a typical course textbook may give general guidelines of things to consider when negotiating a contract with an e-book vendor, Chapter 16 of this book, “eBooks in Academic Libraries” by Michael Levine-Clark, gives information about specific e-book vendors, what services they offer, and what sorts of decisions one will have to make when choosing between them. In general, all the chapters in the book exhibit the same level of specificity, detail, and practical orientation. It doesn’t just talk theoretically about librarianship, but illustrates to students like me what the job of a librarian actually entails.Since different chapters focus on public libraries, academic libraries, and special collections, each student in the class can read the chapters that pertain to his or her preferred area of specialty. (There’s isn’t much here on school libraries.) I read all the academic and special collections chapters and many of the public library chapters. With very few exceptions, I found the text very informative and well-written, in a matter that’s accessible to but not dumbed-down for the novice. Besides e-books, topics include serials, book leasing, streaming video, floating collections, scholarly communication, weeding, and preservation and disaster planning. It proved to be a very educational resource for the course I took, and after I graduate I can see myself using this text as a reference in years to come.