Duplication in Library Collections: What We Know and What We Need to Know

The great majority of academic libraries find themselves in a vast and often unmarked territory between two polar sets of goals and aspirations. These two poles could be represented by the model of the great research library, on the one hand, and the discount store, on the other. In choosing the first ideal, the library decides to acquire as broad a selection of research materials as possible, including infrequently used primary materials (census records, publications from limited editions, personal manuscripts, and unpublished pamphlets) in order that researchers may, at least in theory, find the collection all‐ or nearly all‐sufficient. Holders of this view point with pride to the contents of the catalog. At the other pole, the library sets out to be as responsive to demand as possible, to provide more and more of the materials which “move off the shelves” and, like the discount store, to discontinue stock items which are less popular than something more attractive which might replace them. Advocates of this view point with pride to the swarming circulation desk.