One of the main 'draws' of the information organization is the collection. The collection of physical and digital items is what makes users 'use' the library. In my work experience, I have had a hand in assisting with the collection development and management in my library. Disher summarizes the topic of collection management as being a "complex process that involves strategic planning, innovation, change management, and community analysis (2018, p. 288). Based on my work experience thus far, I definitely agree with that statement. Collection management takes time, skill, patience, communication and hard work. Working in a library with three branches and over 50,000 physical and digital items in the collection, it takes a lot of planning to keep up with user's information needs, change in budgets, change in technology and change in strategic planning. Over the past two years, we have gone through weeding initiatives to make space for an extensive remodel of our facilities at the main library, migrated to a new integrated library system, and completed an extensive inventory project. I have experienced how the basic principles of collection management are applied in the library setting.
For me, selection and evaluation of physical and digital items go hand-in-hand. If an item is being selected for inclusion in the collection, its assumed that it has already gone through an evaluation process of some kind. And if an item is going through an evaluation process, it has in some way been selected. The collection management roles of selection and evaluation in a library are huge undertakings and are usually tied to the strategic plan of the overall organization. Disher discusses the role of collection management within the strategic planning process of an information organization (2018). Specifically, Disher notes that libraries need to pay attention to external trends and emerging technologies as current trends show a large interest in access to e-resources (Disher, 2018). The strategic plan and collection development policy of a library must focus on the preparation for a possible "post-print world" (Disher, 2018).
For either print or digital resources, the basic criteria of collection development and management should be adhered to when selecting and evaluating collection items. In general, selecting and evaluating items usually means looking at suitability for intended audience, connection to the scope of collection, relevance to community's needs, price, authoritative reputation, licensing/copyright issues, and many other factors (Gregory, 2011). In the area of law librarianship, we have several resources we can reference when selecting and evaluating information items. Once such document is the County Public Law Library Standards from the Association of American Law Libraries (AALL). This document provides public law libraries with a guiding framework to plan their collections. The document provides a comprehensive list of legal resources that should be considered when selecting and evaluating a law library collection. The document makes note that a proper mix of print and digital resources should be considered "driven foremost by user needs and preferences" (AALL, 2015).
I go over in detail the organization of information items in competency G, but I will touch on some more points. Organization of information items is typically dependent on the classification scheme used by the organization. The most commonly used schemes is the Dewey Decimal Classification (DCC) and the Library of Congress Classification (LCC) system. In law libraries, the LCC system is widely used as this system is considered best for research and academic libraries. In public and school libraries, the classification system mainly used is the DCC. Both classification systems have been around for quite a while, facing praise and criticisms from librarians and users alike.
Another newer model of information organization is the BISAC (Book Industry Standards And Communications) model. This model organizes items by topic, rather than using numerals or abbreviations (e.g., Fantasy/Paranormal, Mindfulness/Mediation, History/United States/Civil War, etc.) (a2books.org, n.d.). The model has been said to be loved by readers of fiction who can easily locate sub-genres of fiction simply by browsing the shelves (a2books.org, n.d.). The type of classification system used in a library ultimately depends on the type of the user using the collection. The main consideration of the topic of organization for collection items is to save time for the user by making items in the collection easily discoverable (Disher, 2018).
For the most of my work experience, I haven't been too involved with preservation efforts. This could be due to the fact that we are in the process of weeding a large portion of our older print collection. What I do know from my work experience is that a well-developed disaster plan is a necessity. The collection development head should take an active role in the development of a documented disaster plan in the event of a natural disaster or emergency (Gregory, 2011). The disaster plan should address how to handle any collection salvage of print, digital, and audiovisual resources (Gregory, 2011). A number of important key details to include in a disaster plan should be a priority list of collection items to save first, contact information of vendors who can help in resupplying collection items, and the advance creation of backups for digital items including possible off-site storage in case the library is too badly damaged to enter for a long period of time (Gregory, 2011).
Other preservation efforts I have come to experience is through my time as an intern for the National Park Service's Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Working as park archives and records intern, I'm learning a considerable amount of preservation efforts in regards to archival collection items. As of this writing, I have had experience with leaning about the NPS's methods of archival processing including the creation of finding aids, cataloging archival items, transcribing handwritten letters, and transcribing oral histories. All of the tasks I perform contribute to the overall preservation efforts of the park and the stories of those from the area.
This first piece of evidence demonstrates my understanding of the collection management principles of selection and evaluation for physical and digital items. For this project, we were tasked with having to select and evaluate a real-world information content provider (i.e., vendor), examine a variety of factors of the vendor, and determine if the vendor's content is suitable for purchase for our target audience. Using the target audience of pre-law school students, I evaluated the vendor Thomson Reuters against several factors including: type of content provided, means of access, licensing needs, negotiation points, and generally what is needed from a information vendor for students and stakeholders. Completing this project helped me better understand the selection and evaluation processes in regards to working with information content vendors.
This next piece of evidence demonstrates my understanding and application to select, evaluate, and organize information content. For this final project we were tasked with having to create a government information resource guide in the form of a LibGuide. We had to select a topic and compile a government information resource guide. I choose the topic of Native American/Indigenous Peoples. Working within the parameters of government information, I had to select and evaluate numerous government websites, webpages, documents, files, and other items for inclusion in my LibGuide tailored to Native American and Indigenous Peoples. Furthermore, I had to organize all the selected resources into an easily discoverable guide. As you will see in the guide, I opted to organize the items by topic such as housing, voting, environment, data/statistics, etc. Our course was organized in this fashion, so it seemed the most appropriate way to do so; to allow users to easily find government information based on topic. Completing this assignment helped me get more familiar with the organization, selection, and evaluation of information items and creating a helpful resource guide. I also got the opportunity to create this guide as part of the ALA's Government Documents Roundtable (GODORT) LibGuides webpage.
This last piece of evidence for this competency demonstrates my knowledge and understanding of the collection management principles of evaluation and preservation. As of this writing, I'm currently in an internship with the National Park Service's Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Specifically, I'm working with the Park Archives and Records Center for the park as an archival intern. In the internship, I'm learning about many preservation methods including collection housing, space planning, pest control, inventorying, cataloging, and transcribing archival items. I'm also evaluating archival items against the park's scope of collections statement. Even though I'm a virtual intern, I still get to contribute to preserving physical and digital items while making the GGNRA's collection accessible to future generations. The specific piece of evidence I'm tying to this artifact is my graded status reports 1 and 2 in which I go into further detail on my specific tasks.
Knowledge of the basic principles of selection, evaluation, organization, and preservation of physical and digital items is important for any information professional to understand. I consider myself lucky to have experience with a library and an archive collection. Looking ahead in my career, I know that I will be able to continue to learn more about the principles of collection management no matter which type of collection I may end working with.
a2books.org (n.d.). BISAC: The book organizing system even the library supports. https://www.a2books.org/bisac-the-book-organizing-system-even-the-library-supports-html/#:~:text=Probably%20the%20most%20famous%20library,in%20the%20921s%2C%20for%20example.
American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) (2015). County public law library standards. https://www.aallnet.org/gllsis/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2018/08/GLL-CountyPublicLawLibraryStandards.pdf
Disher, W. T. (2018). Managing collections. In Hirsh, S. (Ed.), Information services today: An introduction. (pp. 288-297). Rowman & Littlefield.
Gregory, V. L. (2011). Collection development and management for the 21st century library collections: An introduction. American Library Association.
Photo credit: Sequoia National Park, CA by: Michael Van Aken