01 Introduction

1.1 Aims of the Collection Development Policy
1.2 The scope of the policy
1.3 Definition of collection
1.4 Responsibility for the policy
1.5 Document audience
1.6 Links with other documents

 

1.1 Aims of the Collection Development Policy

The objectives of the Auckland City Libraries Tamaki Pataka Korero (ACL/TPK) Collection Development Policy are:

1. To manage and develop the collection in order to improve its quality, its relevance to current and future customer needs, to minimize waste in current and long-term collection purchase, and to strengthen the collection for posterity.
2. To maximize use of collection management information as the basis for effectively matching collection purchase to demand, thereby making the collection more relevant to customer needs.

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1.2 The scope of the policy

The scope of the ACL/TPK Collection Development Policy is:

1. To determine the development of the ACL/TPK collection including the selection, purchase, retention, management, promotion, delivery, preservation and disposal of the collection.
2. To evaluate the needs of users and potential users, allocating resources to address these needs and determining the subject specialization, depth, formats and languages to be included in the ACL/TPK collection. (NB: ‘resources’ excludes staffing).
3. To assist customers’ understanding of the basic philosophy that guides the provision of the ACL/TPK collection.
4. To provide a guide for the use and management of the libraries’ collections to meet the needs of the community.

The Collection Development Policy will be reviewed every five years, following the LIANZA guideline that it: needs to be assessed on a regular basis in-line with changes in the community profile, changing levels of use, demands for new services, and developments in technology.ⁱ

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1.3 Definition of collection

The term "Collection" includes all books, newspapers, serials, maps, printed music, videos, DVDs, CD-ROMs, music and spoken word sound recordings, electronic resources and any other print or non-print format which can be made available as a source of education, information or recreation for library users.  Resources in the collection may be part of a working collection, a back catalogue collection, or heritage collection.  The collection includes resources in many languages.

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1.4 Responsibility for the policy

Responsibility for developing, managing and reviewing the policy rests with the Collections Manager (supported by the Collections Development Team) who reports to the Information Resources Manager.  The Community Services Committee of Auckland City Council endorses this policy.

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1.5 Document audience

The intended audience for this document is:

• Library staff involved in selection and collection management
• Other Auckland City Libraries staff
• Auckland City Libraries customers

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1.6 Links with other documents

This policy is applied in conjunction with the following documents.

• Guideline documents addressing collection lifecycle, promotion and exploitation, access and delivery, condition and presentation, preservation and resource description
• Individual Collection management policies for each collection
• Collection Asset Plan: describing the proposed change in financial management of the collection so as to maximise funding available
• 3-year Collection Development Plan: describing the proposed changes and development of the collection over a three-year period.

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Last reviewed: 22 July 2008