collection development at andhra pradesh open university libraries

Library Acquisitions: Practice & Theory, Vol. 12, pp. 281-2%, 1988 03644408188 $3.00 + .OO Printed in the USA. All rights reserved. Copyright 0 1989 Pergamon Press plc

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT AT ANDHRA PRADESH OPEN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES*

NEELA JAGANNATHAN

Deputy Librarian

Indira Gandhi National Open University Library

C-4117, Safdarjung Development Area

New Delhi 110 016, India

Abstract - This paper examines the development of Andhra Pradesh Open Uni- versity (APOU), its aims and objectives, structure, and courses and student enrollments. It then considers the collection development, selection, and acquisitions policies of the APOU Library for both Central and Study Centre libraries. Brief attention is paid to resource sharing, weeding, and collection evaluation -aspects which have not been very relevant to the relatively new APOU Library. This article concludes by indicating the special challenges facing the APOU Library.

The distance education system on which Andhra Pradesh Open University (APOU) is based is new to India, and the provision of adequate and effective library resources for it poses unprecedented problems. The APOU Library cannot be modeled on any conventional university library because it has to meet different demands since its principal users are “lone learners” bereft of the support available to their counterparts in a conventional university through classroom instruction. Furthermore, it has to provide a variety of materials needed by academic staff for preparing course material, keeping in view the study problems faced by distant learners, Hence, the APOU Library has to function both as an academic library and as a special library. This dual character increases the complexity of Library policies, including collection development.

*This paper is based on information cokcted in August 1986, while the author was Assistant Librarian of the Andhra Pradesh Open University Library, Hyderabad.

281

282 N. JAGANNATHAN

ANDHRA PRADESH OPEN UNIVERSITY: GENESIS AND DEVELOPMENT

The national development of a vast multi-lingual and multi-cultural country like India presents a tremendous challenge to its planners and administrators. Education has been a major concern of the government which has since independence appointed various commis- sions and committees to make recommendations for the reorganization of the Indian education system, a legacy of British rule. The recent enactment by the Indian Parliament of the education bill is the latest and the most radical governmental move to revamp the entire education system. Considered against this background, the establishment of the APOU by an Act of the State Legislature in August 1982 represents a significant and unprecedented step on the part of a state government to tackle some of the basic issues confronting the education system. The phenomenal expansion of education resulting in the proliferation of educational institutions in recent times has still been inadequate to meet the ever-growing demand, especially for higher education.

The APOU, one of the first of its kind in the country, is intended to provide educational opportunities to large sections of the population, including employees and housewives, prisoners and pensioners, to pursue their studies within the pattern of their own lifestyles and in accordance with their specific needs, which can be met by the flexibility of the APOU. Although the idea of starting an Open University was mooted in the early 1970s at the national level, it was the Andhra Pradesh State Government which volunteered to implement it. In order to reduce the pressure on existing universities in Andhra Pradesh and to offer expanded educational opportunities without much additional expenditure, the APOU was established with the following objectives:

1. to realize the equality of educational opportunity for higher education; 2. to adopt a flexible approach to enrollment, age of entry, choice of courses, methods of

learning, examinations, etc.; 3. to offer educational programmes complementary to those of the existing universities of

the state; 4. to maintain the highest standards possible; and 5. to make provision for research and dissemination of knowledge.

The APOU differs from conventional universities since its system of education is non- formal and off-campus and calculated to offer a second opportunity to those who for one reason or another have discontinued their studies. It makes use of a multi-media educational package designed especially for distant learners engaged in independent study. It seeks to bring higher education to the doorstep of the student by establishing Study Centres through- out the state. The APOU functions through a network of Study Centres in which enrolled students are admitted. The Study Centres are located in existing colleges in order to utilize their infrastructural facilities. These Study Centres function on Sundays, holidays and week- day evenings for the convenience of those employed or otherwise engaged. Thus they make use of institutional facilities which might otherwise remain idle. Admission to these Study Centres is generally on the basis of the student’s preference, guided by such considerations as proximity and availability of the requisite educational facilities. Each of these Study Centres has its own staff consisting of a full-time coordinator, administrative staff and counselors who are experienced teachers employed by the APOU on a part-time basis to teach APOU classes for various subjects. It is equipped with a library and audio-video equipment (a VCR and tape recorder). Each Study Centre organizes contact and counseling programmes

Collection Development at Andhra Pradesh 283

for its students. The contact programmes are meant for discussion of study materials supplied to the students by APOU, showing of video films and playing of audio tapes based on the lessons. Counseling classes enable students to seek guidance from the counselors and are intended to solve their study problems in the absence of face-to-face instruction. Arrange- ments are also made for transferring the radio and audio lessons onto the students’ own tapes, if requested. The students submit their assignments to the counselors for comments and guidance which should prove helpful in the assessment of their progress. The Study Centre represents the University’s principal point of contact with the students and is responsible for the execution of the University’s educational programmes.

The University’s student enrollment rose from 6400 in 1983 to 33,330 in 1985-86 and about 53,000 in 1986-87 (see Table 1). The number of Study Centres has grown in relation to the increase in student enrollment. Starting with twenty-six Study Centres in 1983-84 and thirty in 1984-85, the APOU now has fifty-seven Study Centres, which testifies to the growing popularity of the University’s courses of study (see Table 2 and Figures 1 and 2).

As more than 50% of students enrolled are from the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secun- derabad, fourteen Study Centres have been established to accommodate them. Twenty-two new Study Centres at the districts were identified in 1985-86 following the heavy demand from students who could not attend contact classes due to the distance between their resi- dences and the Study Centres (see Table 3).

The principal aim of the APOU is to broaden access to university education. It imposes no restriction on admission to its undergraduate courses in arts and commerce other than the applicants’ being required to pass the eligibility test. But for undergraduate courses in science, admission is open only to those who have passed intermediate or an equivalent examination with science subjects as options. Flexibility characterizes the University’s administration of its academic programme. The student can choose any combination of subjects included in various faculties but is required to choose at least two subjects from the discipline in which he desires to acquire his degree. A distinctive feature of these courses of study is their social rel- evance and vocational orientation. The University offers undergraduate courses in arts, commerce and science (see Table 4), a Bachelor’s degree course in library and information science, besides postgraduate diploma courses in public accountancy and public relations, each of which is the first of its kind to be offered by any university in the country (see Figure 3). It has also introduced MPhil and PhD courses and proposes to start postgraduate degree courses in arts, science, commerce and business administration and postgraduate diploma professional courses.

TABLE 1 GROWTH IN STUDENT ENROLLMENTS AND

ESTABLISHMENT OF STUDY CENTRES

Year Number of

students Number of Study

Centres

1984-84 6,400 26 1984-85 11,300 30 1985-86 15,600 31 1986-87 20,ooo 57

Note: This is an approximate number as admissions are not yet complete.

284 N. JAGANNATHAN

TABLE 2 ANDHRA PRADESH OPEN UNIVERSITY STUDY CENTRES

ESTABLISHED IN 1983-84 AND 1985-86, BY DISTRICT

Andhra Pradesh Study Centres Districts 1983-84

Study Centres 1985-86

1 Adilabad 2 Anantapur 3 Cuddapah 4 West Godavari 5 Guntur 6 Karimnagar

7 Khammam

8 Kurnool 9 Mahabubnagar

10 Nalgonda 11 Nellore 12 Nizamabad 13 Prakasham 14 East Godavari

15 Medak 16 Srikakulam 17 Chittoor

1 Adilabad 2 Anantapur 3 Cuddapah 4 Eluru 5 Guntur 6 Karimnagar

7 Khammam

8 Kurnool

1 Sripur Kagaz Nagar 2 Hindupur

-

3 Polavaram -

4 Pedapalli 20 Godavarikhani

5 Kothagudem 22 Khammam (Ladies)

- 9 Mehabubnagar 6 Shadnagar

10 Nalgonda 7 Alair 11 Nellore 8 Kavali 12 Nizamabad 9 Banswada 13 Ongole 21 Martur 14 Rajahmundry 10 Pithapuram

11 Kakinada 15 Siddipet 12 Sangareddy 16 Strikakulam -

17 Tirupati 13 Chittoor 14 Kuppam 15 Satyavedu

18 Vijayawada 16 Machilipatnam 19 Visakhapatnam 17 Yelamanchili 20 Vizianagaram -

21 Warangal 18 Mulugu - 19 Vikarabad

18 Krishna 19 Visakhapatnam 20 Vizianagaram 21 Warangal 22 Rangareddy

Note: See Figures 1 and 2 for geographical distribution of Study Centres. Numbers in this table are keyed to the Figure 1 and 2 maps.

Although the British Open University has served as a model, the APOU has modified it to suit Indian conditions and needs. Furthermore, it is not possible for the APOU to follow in the footsteps of the British Open University in fashioning its own educational package, since it cannot hope to have in the near future thirty-five hours of television and twenty-four hours of radio broadcasts a week as the UK Open University has, nor can it realize the kind of cooperative partnership that exists between the British Open University and the BBC. The APOU has to depend upon the AIR and Doordarshan owned by the Government of India which cannot be expected to allot viewing and listening times to small specialist audiences. Furthermore, it is unrealistic to expect the APOU to provide in the near future telephone tui- tion or teletext services. The APOU, therefore, has opted for the audio and video recording of lessons which are made available to students at the Study Centres. These are supplemented by radio lessons broadcast over All-India Radio from the local station of Hyderabad. At present, the University has to rely upon print media and audio-video and radio media to provide the study materials or instruction needed by the students.

The work involved in the preparation of these multi-media materials demands increasing


Figure 1. Andhra Pradesh Open University District Study Centres. Note: The numbers plotted on the map refer to the numbers of the Study Centres (1983-84)

listed in Table 2.

use of the library which has thus assumed added academic importance in the University. The package offered to APOU students includes not only multi-media course materials but also interpersonal contact programmes at the Study Centres through contact and counseling classes (see Figure 4).

The APOU Library has to meet academic needs which cannot even be anticipated. The Uni- versity is experimenting with new strategies to cope with the demands of the new education system, and the Library has to develop its resources to match the emerging needs of the University.

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT

Collection development is one of the most challenging tasks for Library staff since its very meaning has been enlarged with increasing specialization in library management. Collection

N. JAGANNATHAN

Figure 2. Andhra Pradesh Open University District Study Centres. Note: The numbers plotted on the map refer to the numbers of the Study Centres (1985-86)

listed in Table 2.

development policy, selection policy and acquisitions policy are by no means synonymous. They represent a hierarchy in which collection development, being a planning function, is placed at the highest level. Selection is the second level of decision-making and acquisitions, the third level, is the process of acquiring various forms of materials, implementing selection decisions and collection development plans [l]. Hence selection and acquisitions policies, though distinct from the collection development policy, constitute its content. Here collection development is discussed as a cluster of functions which together shape the holdings of the APOU Library (see Figure 5).

Clientele at APOU Central and Study Centre Libraries The first step in collection deveIopment is user analysis, when the various categories of

clientele who use the APOU Central Library and its network libraries at the Study Centres


TABLE 3 STUDY CENTRES IN TWIN CITIES OF HYDERABAD AND

SECUNDERABAD

Hyderabad

Government City College Near High Court Hyderabad

Pragati College Hanumantekdi Hyderabad 500 001

A.V. College Gagenmahal Hyderabad

Government Degree College for Women Begumpet Hyderabad

New Government College Khairathabad Hyderabad 500 004

Government Junior College Kachiguda Hyderabad 500 027

Central Prison Chanchalguda Hyderabad

Government Junior College Bazarghat, Nampally Hyderabad

Government Junior College Aliya Hyderabad 500 001

Government Junior College Malakpet Hyderabad

Secunderabad

S.P. College Padmaraonagar Secunderabad

Railway Degree College Lalaguda Hyderabad 500 017

D.B.P.M. Women’s College Keys High School Secunderabad

Government Junior College S.P. Road Secunderabad

are discussed. The Central Library is a unit of the academic branch and caters to the needs of academic and administrative staff of all sections of the University. As the success of the distance teaching University depends mainly upon three important factors of course design- course creation, production and distribution-the human resources involved in effective and efficient organization of these processes can be members of the Central Library. Furthermore in order to produce study materials for both print and audio-visual media, qualitatively rich in content and technique, the University sets up course teams comprising subject experts from existing institutions of higher education in the state, educational technologists and special- ists from Doordarshan (Television) and All-India Radio. These course editors, writers, and experts, appointed on a part-time basis for the preparation of course materials, are entitled to become members of the Central Library.

Andhra Pradesh Open University functions through the network of Study Centres located

288 N. JAGANNATHAN

TABLE 4 SUBJECTS TAUGHT FOR APOU UNDERGRADUATE COURSES

Faculty of Arts Faculty of Commerce

(BA) (B Corn.)

Economics

History

Political Science

Public Administration

Sociology

English Literature

Hindi Literature

Urdu Literature

Group I (a) Business Organization and Management (b) Accounting

Group 2 (a) Business Statistics (b) Business Laws

Group 3 (a) Principles of Economics (b) Money and Banking (Theory and Practice)

Faculty of Science (B SC.)

Botany

Chemistry

Geology

Mathematics

Physics

Zoology

GENERAL PROFETSSIONAL

lJnder&ndlute POStgrdU8tC

cwrru COlUScS

19S3-19S4 1984 1985

BadIda BrhclCf of

Am SCLX

DiplOIlM DiplOma

P%,c in

Public

9 subj%xs 6 Subjear Acumnling RClpiOllS

Figure 3. Academic Courses Taught at Andhra Pradesh Open University.

in all districts of the state. Every Study Centre has a coordinator who serves as a link between the Student Services Branch of the University at Hyderabad and the students admitted to the Study Centres. He assists students in getting the printed course materials, makes available radio, audio and video cassettes, arranges contact and counseling programmes, summer schools, laboratory practicals and provides library services with the help of supporting administrative staff. Each Centre has a library for its students and part-time counselors to guide students in the subjects taught at the Study Centre. The clientele of the Study Centre library includes students, counselors, the coordinator and the administrative staff. Collection development policies are devised to suit the different categories of readers.


l.carCeMS l.R&iOeodfur

2LabamayMmulc 2.hdiocumza

3. Assigmmu Soltianu 3.viic!nnllW

STUDY FACUl’ES

LIBRARY FACILITIES

lNlER-_NAL CONTACTS

I 1

l.Rd-Rooks 1.ChlSdiirdcanvdprogmmec

2 Tcxtbmks 2. S-Scbodr

3. Maps. chmu. @bc md mod& 3. Lhratmy hcdcah nd Wortrhopc

Figure 4. Study Materials and Study Facilities Provided to APOU Students.

APOU LIBRARY SELECTION POLICIES

Taking into consideration the dual duty of the libraries to build up the collections of the Central Library and Study Centre libraries, Andhra Pradesh Open University has constituted a Library Committee under the chairmanship of the Vice-Chancellor with the Deans, Direc- tors and Heads of Departments as members and the Librarian as convener. The Library Com- mittee meets from time to time to discuss the rules and regulations for the smooth running of the library, plans for new user services, the budget and the need for additional equipment and library staff. The Committee has formulated simple and effective policies for the selection and acquisition of library materials for the Central and Study Centres’ libraries.

Every subject, whether undergraduate or postgraduate, of the five major academic departments of the University (Science, Social Sciences, Commerce, English, Modem Indian Lan- guages) is represented by one Assistant Professor who is responsible for the selection of books in his subject. The Librarian selects the general and reference books. The Heads of the various units in different branches who help in the design and production of course materials (Artists’ Unit, Audio-Visual Section and Computer Section) can also recommend books useful to their sections.

At the APOU the selection of library materials is the joint responsibility of the Librarian and the academic staff. Faculty members, being subject experts, select books in their respec- tive fields by visiting the major bookshops of the Twin Cities or from those submitted to them

290 N. JAGANNATHAN

Library Staff

1 3. Acquisitions

MaIlagellXllt

1 tFc 4. Resource

Shake

I 6. Collection

Evaluation

Figure 5. Functions of Collection Development.

by booksellers and publishers on approval. The approved books are sent to the Library after marking them in the approval memos. The lists of publications they have come across while visiting other libraries or referring to bibliographies in books or journals are sent to the Library for placing orders. The Librarian sends the publishers’ latest announcements, pre- publication review jackets, publishers’ and booksellers’ catalogues to faculty members to facilitate book selection. The Librarian compiles bibliographies for new subjects introduced at the University by referring to book selection tools, such as national bibliographies, trade bibliographies, book-trade periodicals and book reviews in various journals. Faculty members and the Librarian visit book fairs and exhibitions and select books for the Central Library. The selecting staff have to see that selected books cover the important aspects men- tioned in the selection policy statement. These are:

1. 2. 3.

chronological coverage - current and retrospective publications; subject coverage-topics covered in the syllabus; books of different levels-higher secondary school, intermediate, undergraduate, postgraduate and research;

4. geographical coverage-local, regional, national, international, Third World; 5. languages-books in English and in Indian languages such as Telugu, Hindi and Urdu; 6. formats-books, cassettes, films, maps and globes, charts and models, etc.

As recurring expenditure is involved in subscriptions for journals, requests in this regard are sent through the head of the department for the Vice-Chancellor’s approval. Subscriptions are renewed every year after approval by the head of the department concerned.


Non-book materials such as films, audio-video cassettes, microfilms, microfiche, maps, charts, models, globes are recommended by the subject staff after receiving the approval of the head of the department. Selection of media collections (audio-visual materials) has to be considered carefully as in most cases the purchase of software has to match the hardware or equipment (projectors, cassette players, display units, etc.) available <at the University. This sophisticated equipment requires careful operation and maintenance. The APOU has an Audio-Video Section headed by an experienced, technically qualified person to help in the selection of software. It produces audio-video cassettes in multiple copies relating to the course material in each subject and despatches these to each Study Centre as supplements to printed course material.

The selection of books and non-book materials to be sent to Study Centre libraries is done carefully, since it involves a large outlay. Every year academic staff are requested to submit lists of books in their subjects to be acquired for the Study Centre libraries, keeping in view the clientele (students and counselors). As far as possible, all the books listed in the “Sug- gested Readings” at the end of each lesson in the printed course materials are acquired for the students. The books recommended are reference books such as a set or two of popular, general and subject encyclopedias, yearbooks, monolingual and bilingual dictionaries, general knowledge books and textbooks. Audio-video cassettes, maps, globes, charts and models are also sent to the Study Centres. As considerable expenditure is involved in the purchase of multiple copies of these materials, the lists of suggested books routed through the head of the department concerned are sent for the Vice-Chancellor’s approval through the Academic Director.

ACQUISITIONS MANAGEMENT AT THE APOU LIBRARY

The success of implementing the selection and acquisitions policies depends mainly upon two major factors-budget and staffing. At APOU acquisitions management is a centralized process. Books and non-book materials for both the Central and Study Centre libraries are selected, acquired, prepared and processed at the Central Library.

Budget The Assistant Librarian prepares two separate budgets for the Central and the Study Centre

libraries. They have to be approved by the Library Committee and Finance Committee of the University and put before the Executive Council for final sanction. Once the copy of the approved budget is sent to the Library, expenditure can be incurred for the acquisition of books, journals, non-book materials in various subjects as specified in the budget. Though no rigid formula is applied to the acquisition of books, the budget allocation keeps in view the following criteria:

1. number of departments and undergraduate subjects taught; 2. number of postgraduate courses introduced; 3. number of Study Centres; 4. number of students enrolled at each Study Centre and for each subject; 5. variation in the prices of books in different subject areas.

292 N. JAGANNATHAN

In respect of accounting according to subject variations in price trends, the budget alloca- tions are fixed in the ratio of

4 3 2 I

Science Social Science: Commerce Library Science Public Accounting and Public Relations

English Modern Indian Languages

Apart from preparing a budget for these subjects, a separate budget is prepared for reference and general books, and books pertaining to education, philosophy, psychology, religion, arts, computer science, audio-video technology, etc.

The Central Library budget is divided into two main parts: recurrent and non-recurrent. Recurrent items are staff salaries, building maintenance, postage, books, current journals, and binding. Non-recurrent items include non-book materials like films, audio-video cassettes, microfilms, microfiche, maps, charts, models and back volumes of journals, furniture and equipment. Provision for new courses and new Study Centres is also made.

Purchases are monitored to ensure that the expenditure incurred during the current finan- cial year on each subject is in accordance with the budget allocation. In order to keep the academic staff responsible for selection informed of expenditure incurred and the balance remaining, the Assistant Librarian sends a “Quarterly Expenditure Statement” to subject staff concerned. This information gives staff an opportunity to streamline the selection of materials by spreading it over the whole year instead of hurrying over it at the end of the year and purchasing whatever is offered by booksellers and publishers lest the budget should lapse.

The onerous tasks of selection and acquisitions management for both the Central and Study Centre libraries have been carried on by only three professionally trained staff, one Assistant Librarian and two Library Assistants, since April 1984. As a result the organizational work of preparing and processing the backlog of books acquired before 1984 is increasing daily. The books are arranged in two separate files, processed and unprocessed. This makes it difficult and time-consuming for library staff to help users in locating books.

It is not possible to introduce modern services like indexing and abstracting, bibliography and reference with the staff available at present. In spite of planning to utilize the computer available at the Student Services Branch of APOU for such services as ordering, issuing, cataloguing of books and indexing of journal articles, it has not been possible to do so because of lack of qualified staff. In fact, it has become difficult even to manage the rou- tine jobs at the Central Library. It has been proposed to have one Deputy Librarian, one Assistant Librarian and four Professional Assistants to regularize the organizational work and provide improved services to AP Open University staff.

Acquisitions management is a centralized process at the APOU Central Library, and books are selected, acquired, prepared, processed and despatched from the Central Library, keeping in view the specific requirements of students and counselors at Study Centre libraries. To cope with this enormous task, additional qualified staff are needed and this is under active consideration by the University management.


The situation at the Study Centre libraries is no better. The Study Centres are housed in colleges which have not provided enough accommodation for the Library and reading room. Owing to fmancial constraints, the management has decided to have a skeleton staff consisting of the coordinator, junior assistant-cum-typist and an attendant. But since the coordinator looks after all the activities of the Centre he finds it difficult to provide such library facilities as book loans to students attached to the Centre. The books are only kept for reference at the Centre. Owing to lack of qualified and experienced staff, proper user services are not provided by the Study Centre libraries.

The budget provided for Study Centre libraries is not enough to acquire a sufficient number of books for the great number of students admitted to each Study Centre. Circulation of books, including issuing, adjusting loan periods, reservation of books, is not possible, since the contact classes are not compulsory and are not attended regularly by students. Twenty- one new Study Centres in the districts have been established and five to six centres may be identified in the Twin Cities in the near future to bring the Centre as close to the students as possible and to avoid enrollment beyond the capacity of the Centre.

Even then proper library facilities such as the issuing of books cannot be provided without proper user guidance from professionally trained librarians. In order to solve these problems and to provide library facilities there is a move to establish APOU Library corners at the public libraries of each district, city or town where the APOU Study Centres are located. Negotiations are going on with the Director of Public Libraries in this regard. This would enable students to become members of the public libraries and to use their resources with guidance from qualified, experienced librarians who would be paid an honorarium by the APOU.

It is also proposed to start an Extension Library at the APOU Central Library to extend library services to all students enrolled in the Study Centres of the Twin Cities. As the major- ity of students are in-service people the library could be kept open in the evenings and on holidays. This Extension Library could be managed by appointing additional staff to the Central Library to work in shifts in the evenings and on holidays and also to assist in organizing the Central Library and in despatching books to Study Centre libraries.

Acquisitions Policies APOU Library procedures and policies for the acquisition of books and non-book mate-

rials are aimed at effecting economy in respect of expenditure, time and manpower. Stand- ing orders are placed for serials such as directories, yearbooks, handbooks for ready reference so that they will be received as soon as they are published. This saves both time and labor as the Librarian does not have to watch for the announcement of such publications and order them every year.

Duplication of books, unless they are popular textbooks by well-known authors covering most of the topics in the syllabus, is avoided as far as possible at the Central Library. More than one copy of each of the popular textbooks, covering all the topics and included in the “Suggested Readings” lists recommended by the course writers, are sent to the Study Centre libraries to cater to students enrolled there.

Selecting books received on approval is an economical and efficient procedure. There is a substantial saving of effort and time since a bibliographical search need not be undertaken. The Librarian and academic staff do not waste time and money in visiting bookshops but have to be cautious in selecting, verifying prices and receiving discounts on sets or serially published books.

294 N. JAGANNATHAN

As University teaching is in English as well as in Telugu, books are acquired in both languages. The non-availability of Telugu books in all subjects makes it difficult to give equal weight to the acquisition of books in the two languages. Telugu students also have to refer to English books on the subjects for which Telugu publications are not available. Hindi and Urdu books are purchased for those who offer them as options at undergraduate level.

Cooperation between the Librarian and subject experts in the selection of books and non- book materials has helped the APOU Library to build up a substantial collection of 15,000 books and 100 journals at the Central Library and 1500 books at the Study Centre libraries within the short span of three years. Acquisitions are calculated to support reference, in- structional, learning, research and recreational needs of the academic as well as student communities.

The last three functions of collection development-namely, resource sharing, weeding and collection evaluation- do not have much impact on the APOU Library at present as the library has been functioning only for three years. They are included here to indicate likely future trends.

Resource Sharing The APOU Library has entered into an inter-library loan arrangement with a few institu-

tions of higher education, research and training at Hyderabad. When academic staff request documents for the preparation of course material, which are available at other libraries but are out of print, the Librarian borrows them under the inter-library loan system for a specific period. On the whole resource sharing is a passive activity. But in a specific situation such as supplying sufficient copies of the Dewey Decimal Classification Schedule, Colon Classi- fication Schedule and Sears Lists of Subject Headings for the practical examination for the Bachelor of Library and Information Science Course, this loan arrangement is extremely useful.

Weeding The weeding out of unwanted documents is to some extent an evaluative activity confined

to the internal operation of the library. The question of weeding books from the APOU collection does not arise at present but the Library has received some donated books and journals from various organizations. Not all of these are useful, and a Committee, consisting of the Librarian and subject staff concerned, has been constituted to scrutinize the collection and suggest which of the documents could be discarded.

Collection Evaluation Before discussing the collection evaluation procedure adopted by the APOU Library, an

account of the resources built up with complimentary copies of books received from various organizations, which forms a valuable part of APOU Central Library holdings, is necessary.

The Telugu Academy prepares and publishes textbooks in the Telugu language in all subjects for the benefit of Telugu-speaking students. It has donated one set of all its publications to the APOU Library. The Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Akademi has donated most of its Telugu publications to the APOU Central Library. The APOU Library has a separate corner for complimentary documents supplied by the Indian Council of Social Science Research. It com-


prises books and journals useful for research. The Library receives free copies of institutional reports and government publications from both the Central Government of India and the Andhra Pradesh State Government.

The American Studies Research Centre has donated about 4000 weeded books and journals from its library to the APOU Library. Many of these form a very useful retrospective collection as they are now out of print. But incomplete runs of journals from 1950 onwards are not worth retaining. Some books, which are not relevant to the courses taught at APOU, have to be weeded in the near future to make way for others at the Central Library.

Besides these collections the Library plans to acquire available literature on higher education in general and distance education in particular. It has already procured more than 150 publications on education and distance education. The APOU Library has developed a special collection of most of the British Open University publications.

The process of assessing the quality of the APOU Library collection every year in each subject is based on the following criteria:

1. amount of money spent; 2. number of books added; 3. number of books borrowed under the inter-library loan scheme from various libraries;

and 4. number of books ordered but not received.

Statistics in this regard should prove helpful in evaluating the strength or weakness of the holdings for each subject. They help in determining current as well as future needs of library users. This brings us back to the first function-user analysis, that is, the composition of the clientele of APOU Central and Study Centre libraries. Thus collection development is a dynamic cycle repeating its functions year after year and involving both library staff and users.

CONCLUSION

To conclude, it is felt that the services provided to staff members and especially to students, keeping in view the philosophy of distance education, are meager. Much has to be done to improve these services so as to match the growing needs of the academic and administrative staff of the Central Library and students and counselors at the Study Centre libraries. But the academic library, which is the heart of the university, has yet to receive due recognition in India. In the case of the APOU an adequate budget provision; the appointment of qualified staff of sufficient strength; cooperation between the Library and the academic staff; and meaningful communication between the Library and the coordinators can only help in ren- dering proper services to staff and students.

Collection development in a library like that of the APOU poses problems which cannot be tackled within the parameters suggested by any previous experience. Apart from having to cater to a special kind of clientele, the APOU Library has to evolve services to match the needs of an expanding educational programme characterized by flexible designs for learning, which will tax the human and material resources of any library. Thus it presents a challenge to library organization and planning-a challenge that is to be met with imagination, hard work and dedication.

296 N. JAGANNATHAN

NOTE

1. Gardner, Richard K. Librav Collections: Their Origins, Sekction and Development. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1981.

REFERENCES

Andhra Pradesh Open University: Annual Reports, 1983-84, 1984-85. Gardner, Richard K. Library Collections: Their Origins, Selection and Development. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1981. Ram Reddy, G. “Indira Gandhi National Open University: Its Role in Higher Education,” Paper presented at Inter-

national Seminar on “Distance Education: Experience of Open Universities.” 20-22 November, 1985, New Delhi: IGNOU, 1985.

Towards an Open Learning System. Report of the Committee on the Establishment of an Open University Hyder- abad, 1982.

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collection development at andhra pradesh open university libraries

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