Introduction

Welcome to this introductory pathfinder to anime and manga collection development for librarians. While this site will no doubt be useful for anyone interested in anime or manga, it is designed primarily for a librarian unfamiliar with anime or manga materials yet interested in adding such materials to their library. Over the course of this site you will find resources designed to facilitate the education of such a librarian.

Readers should begin with the the Anime 101 page. There one will find a brief introduction to the concepts of Anime and Manga as well as a list of resources aimed at furthering the reader's understanding of the Anime and Manga formats, their general history, and the evolution of their popularity in America.

Readers unfamiliar with anime or manga are especially encouraged to view the glossary of useful anime and manga related terms.

The collection development section is arguable the most useful section of this pathfinder. Annotated resources in this section cover the selection of anime and manga material for the library and rationale behind its addition. Pay particular attention to the best seller lists.

The addition of anime and manga to the library is only the first step toward incorporating it into the library. The next steps section provides suggestion for the next steps a librarian can take to incorporate anime and manga into their library.

The list of resources provided in this pathfinder is by no means complete, the browsing guide provides a list of call numbers (both Dewey Decimal and Library of Congress) and subject headings the reader can use to find additional titles in the library of their choice.

Finally a comprehensive list of this pathfinder's references is provided, divided by material type.

Core Works

There are three sources which we will repeatedly turn to in this pathfinder. They each provide basic and advanced information about anime and manga, and serve as an incredible resource during the collection development process.