Crash Course in Collection Development, 3rd ed

What titles go into a library and why? How and why should decisions about acquisition and removal be made? This latest work from retired public library director and past president of the California Library Association Disher (library and information science, San Jose State Univ.; Crash Course in Public Library Administration) addresses these questions at the heart of collection development and management. Disher offers a thorough overview of the process of building and maintaining a collection, examining methods of evaluating community needs and gathering statistics, the output of the publishing industry, collection development policies, budget management, material selection, item acquisition, collection maintenance, handling complaints about the collection, and finally, selecting in the digital age. While the work is more focused on public library methodology and, to a lesser extent, K–12 school libraries, academic and special librarians will also find this resource useful and informative. There is a brief description of patron-driven acquisitions, also known as demand-driven acquisitions, but no mention of evidence-based acquisitions, a powerful new collection development tool for electronic resources.