Frank Gibbons: Adjunct Professor
Class Time: Monday through Friday 7:00 - 8:34 AM
Modern Languages Room 301

 Course Description
This course examines the methods used in libraries and information centers of all types to ensure that users of these services are provided with the information they need. It reviews the means by which information needs are assessed, the identification of appropriate information resources and the management of the processes by which information is disseminated.

 Course Objectives
Students should become aware of the methodologies used in finding the information needs of library and information center users and in the study of information searching strategies of various client groups. Students should gain a knowledge of the literature of user studies and its application in information resource development. Students should acquire a knowledge of the principles and practices used in the production and dissemination of information in various areas of knowledge. Students should become familiar with management theory and practice in relation to information resource development and the processes of resource selection and evaluation.

 Course Requirements
Students are expected to be familiar with the basics of acquiring information by means of information technology and will be encouraged to evaluate computer based information resources in specific subject fields. Class discussions will be encouraged and a number of sessions have been timetabled to allow for the exchange of ideas on specific topics covered in the required readings. TWO papers are required, as specified below, plus a final Test.

 Paper 1.
Discuss the ideas presented in Chapter 10 of the set text in relation to information resource development in a library of specified type (e.g. public, university, school, industrial).

 Paper 2.
Assume you have a specified number of dollars to spend on the acquisition of information resources in a named subject field for a library of specified type( e.g. public,university etc). Explain the principles and procedures you would follow in selecting those information resources. List your choices and justify each of them.

 Test.
This will consist of SIX questions and students will be required to answer THREE questions in 90 minutes

 Grading and submission of work

Paper 1( due at the end of Week 2)	30%
Paper 2( due at the beginning of Week 4)	30%
Test ( last Week of course)	40%

Course Outline

 Week 1
Introduction
Information needs assessment 1
Information needs assessment 2
Collection development policies 1
Collection development policies 2

 Week 2 Selection theory
Selection practice
Publishing
Serials
DISCUSSION

 Week 3
AV materials: Government documents
Acquisitions
Fiscal management 1
Fiscal management 2
DISCUSSION

 Week 4
Deselection
Evaluation 1
Evaluation 2
Co-operation: protection of collections
DISCUSSION

 Week 5
Legal considerations: censorship
DISCUSSION
TEST
Overview

 Set Text:
Evans, G. Edward Developing Library and Information Center Collections 3rd. ed. Libraries Unlimited Inc. 1995.

Required Readings:

Old forms, new forms: the challenge of...
Ross Atkinson College and Research Libraries, September 1989, pp. 507-519

 Management of information
Miriam Drake. College and Research Libraries, September 1989, pp. 521-531

 The RLG Prospectus, its uses and benefits
Anthony W. Ferguson et al. College and Research Libraries, May 1988, pp. 197-206.

 The selection decision: defining criteria and...
John Routledge and Luke Swindler. College and Research Libraries, March 1987, pp. 123-131.

 Access v ownership: do we have to make a choice?
Laura Townsend Kane. College and Research Libraries, January 1997, pp. 59-67.

 Access v ownership? How real an alternative is it?
Maurice B.Line. IFLA Journal, January 1996, pp. 35-41

 Collection development and scholarly communication,
Bart Harloe and John Budd. Journal of Academic Librarianship, September 1994, pp. 207-212.

 Collection development: evaluation.
Dennis P. Carrigan. Journal of Academic Librarianship, July, 1996, pp. 273-278.

 Resource sharing in the electronic era.
Guy N. Dannelly. Library Trends, Spring 1995, pp. 663-678.

 Is there a future for co-operative collection development in the digital age?
Edward Shreeves, Library Trends, Winter 1997, pp. 373-396.

 Evolution of selection activities for electronic rersources.
Trisha L. Davis. Library Trends, Winter