Collection management has never been more important. When everyone is shouting “It’s all on the Net. We don’t need books?”, we have here a well‐structured and well‐informed guide of why, and how, we should manage our resources, books included. Clayton and Gorman have both written widely and deeply on the subject before, and they do so here, though it was reassuring to see a fair number of new Web sites and current publications peppering the text (though is not clear that British Book News, mentioned on page 106, ceased several years ago).
Chapter 1 sets the scene and the context for the book: the role of electronic resources is considered and the need for a balance to be established with traditional print sources. Collection development must be part of the general community‐wide service and not just of the library itself. In Chapter 2 collection management and development policies are considered; why we should have them, what should be in them, and how they should be created. The role and future for “conspectus” is the subject of Chapter 3, while the range of co‐operative collection development and access ventures is the subject of Chapter 4. Chapters 5 and 6 address issues of selection. Starting with the distinction between what users say they want and what librarians believe libraries should provide, it goes on to the issues of censorship and intellectual freedom, and the place of selection in different types of library. After considering a range of selection strategies and criteria for different types of material, the resources used for selection such as reviews and online services are described. Acquisition is the subject of Chapter 7, and why most libraries use outside vendors to obtain material. The acquisition of serials, electronic resources, gifts and out‐of‐print material is also discussed. Chapter 8 focuses on budget management: planning, control, allocation of funds, auditing and stocktaking. Collection evaluation, both user‐centred and collection‐centred, is the subject of Chapter 9, and in Chapter 10 preservation and weeding are covered.
The volume ends with an annotated bibliography of the literature of collection management. As well as augmenting each of the further reading suggestions appended to each chapter, the bibliography covers related subjects such as theft and disaster planning, not otherwise covered in detail. This specially compiled, 50‐page, bibliography is worth further consideration in its own right as a significant contribution to the literature.
Every chapter features “focus questions” which indicate the principal issues to be covered and prompt readers to consider the subjects to be covered. At the end of the chapter, following a review of the subject, there is a “Where to now?” section in which readers are invited to return to the focus questions, and then asked further questions which are designed to relate the subject matter to the reader’s existing knowledge and work experience. Each chapter concludes by suggesting further reading on the topics covered. Case studies are featured to illustrate the topics covered in the chapters. (I particularly liked the one “Out to lunch?” in which the library supplier gives presents and lunches out to the librarian, and the commentator asks if this is ethical.) The text is well structured and easy to follow, with a good supply of headings and diagrams. Theory and practice are up‐to‐date and well selected, though the practical barriers to realization could have been featured a bit more. It all seems so easy! I would have welcomed a stronger UK element, too – Library Standards, Best Value and the ARLIS Stock Weeding guidelines, etc. Clearly this is a book for the student and for staff coming new to the subject, and not a retrospective “How I tried and failed!”
One reservation I have about the book is the stress on current use. Of course, present‐day use and users must be in the forefront of our management policies and practices, but what about the medium and long‐term? What of those serried ranks of Victoria County Histories, the shelves of red and green Loeb Classics, the sets of Oxford and Cambridge histories, and the decaying runs of nineteenth century journals? These resources, bought by our forebears for our use today (and tomorrow), are, perhaps, little‐used judged by today’s orthodoxy, but the stories I hear, in confidence, of yesterday’s treasures being trashed to make way for today’s socially inclusive cyber cafes worry me, and more than just a mite. Forgive the hobby‐horse but I would like to have seen an archival viewpoint, and some appreciation of the “cultural warehouse” scenario. Maybe I am wanting too much; the border between policy making and policy implementation has never been my strong point, but the relationship of Chapter 3’s conspectus and Chapter 9’s collection evaluation, for example, is not clear, and the ideals of co‐operation often conflict practical politics.
As the latest word on the ideals of collection management, this is an excellently crafted book, physically as well as intellectually. It will remain on my desk.
