Collection development practice in Indian Institute of Technology libraries of Eastern India: a study
| Date | 01 April 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/CC-08-2018-0015 |
| Published date | 01 April 2019 |
| Pages | 25-31 |
| Author | Gulnaz,Nishat Fatima |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Collection building & management |
Collection development practice in Indian
Institute of Technology libraries of Eastern
India: a study
Gulnaz and Nishat Fatima
Department of Library and Information Science, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to present the situation of collection development and management of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)
Guwahati and IIT Patna libraries. This research includes other areas of collection development, i.e. collection development policy, acquisition of
resources, selection of resources and budget allocation. The collection management includes accessibility, stock verificati on, shelf arrangement,
weeding out and library security of IIT Guwahati and IIT Patna Central Libraries.
Design/methodology/approach –A structured questionnaire was sent to the librarians via e-mail, which includes 20 questions with 103
preferences.
Findings –Present research has found that there is a difference in newly established IIT Patna library and old IIT Guwahati library in some aspects
of collection development. In the library of IIT Patna, library committee is responsible for collection development policy as well as recommender of
resource selection, whereas in IIT Guwahati library advisory committee is responsible for collection deve lopment policy and selection of resourceson
the recommendation of faculty members. The IIT Patna library is not facing any problem, while IIT Guwahati library facing many problems i.e., lack
of funds, information explosion and literature scattered. The RFID is used in IIT Patna library, while in IIT Guwahati library it is under process.
Research limitations/implications –The study is limited to the collection development policies undertaken in IIT Patna and IIT Guwahati in
eastern India. The research questions are limited to the theme only. Therefore, the findings of the study are not valid for an in-depth study.
Practical implications –The study has great importance for librarians of IITs which have recently established in India. The findings and suggestio ns
can serve as groundwork and could help to solve some common problems that had been faced by them.
Originality/value –This is a comparative study of IIT Guwahati and IIT Patna libraries in eastern India. The collection development aspects, i.e.
selection, acquisition, finance and collection management, play a vital role in the collection development to serve their users. The study can serve as
a base for future studies in other academic and special libraries.
Keywords Collection management, Acquisition, Collection development, Budget, Indian Institutes of Technology, Selection of resources
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Library is a place where the librarian and his associated staff
members of different divisions select, acquire, organize and
disseminate the collection of the library. The collection
includes all types of formats, whether the collection is available
in the library itself or through loan or purchase. The main
priority of library is to disseminatethe information and to meet
the needs of its users. In 1995, the American Library
Associationdefined collection development as:
A term which encompasses a number of activities related to the
development of the library collection, including the determination and
coordination of selection policy, assessment of potential user needs and,
collection use studies, collection evaluation, identification of collection
needs, selection of materials, planning for resource sharing, collection
maintenance and weeding (Tyagi, 2017).
However, this definition has given an overview of collection
development. It includes many processes which are usually
conducted by librarians and their associated staff members, for
instance, selection, acquisition, collection evaluation, resource
sharing, collection maintenance and weeding of library
collection.
The five laws of library science given by S. R. Ranganathan
also play a vital role in the collection development process.The
first law emphasizes the use of book and includes
the preservation of collection; the second law depicts the
concerned library staff who should have first-hand knowledge
of collection and correspondingusers to be served; the third law
means that even if a small anthropologist might take to read
desired library collection, he/she should be located in a proper
place; the fourth law recognizesthat library collection should be
centrally located for easy accessibility of resources to consider
users; and the fifth law states that library organizations must
accommodate growthin staff, the physical collection and users’
use. However, the collection development process is not only
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on
Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/2514-9326.htm
Collection and Curation
38/2 (2019) 25–31
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 2514-9326]
[DOI 10.1108/CC-08-2018-0015]
Received 6 August 2018
Revised 12 October 2018
Accepted 13 November 2018
25
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