planning for a university library policy on collection development

Znt. Libr. Rev. (1977) 9,209-224

Planning for a University Library Policy on Collection Development C. B. OSBURN*

A university library collection development policy is a document of great potential usefulness in the university. For this potential to be realized, however, it must be defined clearly and incorporated fully into the expressed purpose behind the policy. A collection development policy is subject by nature to diverse interpretation, and can be effectual only to the extent to which its purpose and philosophy are understood by those who create it, by those who implement it, and by those whose daily work and long-range planning influence or are influenced by it. Since the drafting of a comprehensive policy on collection development is a most complex undertaking, it is useful to plan the concerted effort with considerable care. From the beginning, the policy should be understood both within the library and within the academic community in terms of expectations for its function, special qualities relevant to its utility, anticipated physical properties of the finished document, its authorship, and a scheduled work plan for its production. What follows is a summary of suggested considerations for the design of a comprehensive, yet detailed, collection development policy.

WHAT A COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY SHOULD Do

Shaping the collection

The single most important function of the policy is to serve as a guideline to relate the nature and scope of the developing collections to the instructional and research needs of the university in question. There is a dynamism of the university library’s total academic enterprise that results from the intluence of changing research and instructional activities on the growth of collections. This dynamism should be reflected in the policy for collection development as its fundamental rationale. The policy serves as a guideline for the selection of library materials in all formats and refers to acquisition through purchase, through gift

* Charles B. Osbum, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill. 60201, U.S.A.

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receipts, through blanket order and approval plans. In the case of the latter methods of acquisitions, the collection development policy can obviously provide the sound basis for designing a library’s profile for use by vendors. Similarly, the policy can also be useful in determining which materials should be removed from the main collections, either for discard or for transfer to storage.

In summary, the collection development policy is the guideline for decisions on the selection and retention of materials in specific subjects, to specific levelsofcollection depth and breadth, definedinanumber ofways. It is also, therefore, the planned determiner on questions of the location of materials within a library system and the duplication of materials.

Training the selectors The collection development policy functions as a training tool for

selectors, whether they are new to the university or new to the collection development process entirely. While there are principles of selection that may be universal, there are also principles that vary from subject to subject and from university to university. For example, historically- oriented collections will require a systematic program of the acquisition of old, out-of-print materials just as it will of current materials. This is not the case, however, in subjects like electrical engineering, where current material is far and away the major concern. Similarly, the history and the goals of the parent university set the context in which any principles of collection building must be established and implemented. The passing on of selection principles from an experienced selector to a novice is the traditional, but not always the best method of training, for it includes passing along the biases and prejudices of a generally subjective or impressionistic policy designed in one mind. A far worse method of initiating the selector, however, is to leave him to his own devices. Although this method is in common use, it has a great guarantee of failure which may not, unfortunately, become evident for many years, for the results of errors in selection easily are obscured in the midst of a large research collection, and errors ofjudgment are not immediately identifiable. However, with a carefully-planned collection development policy in hand, and with the guidance of a more experienced selector, a librarian with relevant subject training can take up selection responsibilities and learn with experience while rendering positive service to the university.

Planning in th library and in the universi4y It has become evident over the past five years that one of the major

causes behind the difficulties confronted by universities generally and

LIBRARY POLICY ON COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT 211

by university libraries specifically has been the lack of adequate planning. Although any assumption that planning can now reverse these difficulties may be naive, it is important to bear in mind that there is an inherent dependence of collection development upon the capability to plan. The selection of one book and the rejection of ten others within the confines of a budget clearly implies a plan. Similarly, the selection of certain materials of little current value, but in the gamble that it will be quite valuable in the future, also implies a plan. The more carefully it is worked-out, the better. More generally, since the operations of a university library flow from the effort to bring together library materials and the academic community in the most significant way possible, policy for collection development is basic to planning for a broad range of library operations and should be used accordingly.

The implications of planning for collection development are not con- fined to the library, for they are to be found as well in university academic planning. The successful mounting of a new academic program depends heavily on the resources, including library resources, that are available and that can be planned to be available to support it. Simi- larly, plans to strengthen, de-emphasize, or cancel academic programs must include consideration of the library resources on hand or obtain- able, if those plans are to be implemented in the most effective and efficient way, just as, once adopted, the academic plan must be reflected in the collection development policy. Whereas the collection of the future is relatively flexible and can be moulded to meet anticipated academic needs, the collection of the present represents a massive investment of money, thought, and energy, and of years of commit- ment to an established intellectual direction. This should not be ignored when the future of academic programs is planned.

Rationalizing the acquisitions budget It is primarily through the allocation and expenditure of the acquisi-

tions budget that the collection development policy is implemented. This may appear too seUlevident to warrant mention, but the order of things-the chain of considerations--’ 1s critical in the development of quality collections. It is important that the collections result directly from planned policy and only indirectly from the fluctuations of purchasing power; this is to say, for example, that reductions in the acquisitions program should be effected on the basis of price alone. In the absence of a comprehensive and detailed policy, the reverse order tends to prevail, so that collections result directly from the fluctuations of purchasing power and indirectly from a series of discrete, ad hoc policies established in a desperate attempt to adapt to the changing situation.

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When this is the case, policies are, in fact, defensive measures with a negative connotation rather than initiative measures with a positive connotation; as such, they are not likely to be advantageous to the university in the long term. This holds true for the reverse situation as well, of course, wherein large infusions of money into the acquisitions budget are simply spent, but not necessarily wisely or to the greatest benefit of the university. A comprehensive policy anticipates changing situations beyond the control of the library and provides a rational set of plans for adapting to those situations. In this way, collection development can proceed with maximum possible continuity and stability, in the assurance that considerable, concerted thought has gone into what- ever policy guides that activity. A comprehensive policy on collection development, therefore, is a fundamental consideration in the decisions regarding allocation of the acquisitions budget.

Interpreting needs and operations Second only to salaries and wages, the largest category in the uni-

versity library’s operating budget is acquisitions, constituting approximately one-fourth to one-third or more of the budget. At the same time, acquisitions is also the most questionable or least understood part of the library’s expenditure, both from the point of view at various levels of funding agencies and from the point of view of library users in the university. A comprehensive collection development policy provides not only a most convenient medium through which to communicate the fact that collection development follows a systematic, rational plan to meet specific needs, but also a clear interpretation of that major academic activity.

A comprehensive collection development policy also serves as the basis for any consideration of resource sharing and the sharing of selection responsibilities with other libraries in the region. In that connection, it is important that such agreements then be incorporated into the policy on collection development, for the policy can provide a sound basis for the interpretation of activities and the communication of rather complex information among institutions.

WHAT KIND OF DOCUMENT CAN YIELD THESE RESULTS: SPECIAL QUALITIES

The attributes required by a policy designed to function according to the expectations set forth above may be fairly evident, but some of them are worthy of emphasis.


Universal i?hmpectives If the primary aim of the policy is to ensure that a systematic selection

of the world’s recorded knowledge is being effected according to a rationale that flows from the academic enterprise of the university, then the perspective of the policy must be on the whole range of human knowledge as it relates to total university needs. It is, therefore, a library system-wide approach to policy on collection development which, with some modification, will accommodate the primary goal of the policy in a coherent fashion, and still serve more specific needs. The approach should set into relief the total policy of collection development in subjects that are given attention for a variety of purposes by summariz- ing those purposes and their influence on policy. At the same time, it should be possible to prescribe locations of specific sections of a total collection related to a given classification of knowledge.

Flexibility to adapt If the policy which guides collection development activity is to be

responsive to the academic dynamics of the university, then it must be easily adaptable to changing needs; it must have a built-in flexibility conducive to constant and relatively facile revision. There are many kinds of changes that should influence the policy: changes in instructional programs and research programs (new, strengthened, weakened, phased out); changes in co-operative agreements with other libraries; changes in publication trends; new developments in instructional or research methodology; needs of a new or changing clientele. Specifi- cally, the policy should be capable of expansion and contraction both in terms of subject interests and of depth and breadth within subjects. Moreover, if the fluctuations of purchasing power are to be accom- modated to the greatest advantage or to the least disadvantage to the university, it is important that the policy lend itself to the assignment of priorities among its many elements.

Directional stability Beyond the flexibility to adapt to specific changes from year to year,

the policy on collection development should have a pervading quality that expresses stability in the general directions of current and planned development of the university as well as in the particular strengths established in the library’s collections. Some collections, often qualified as “special”, emerge historically either by accident of a large, restricted gift or as the result of some influential bibliophile’s bias as resources of unusual value, because of their subject or because of their depth. They become important to the university as a result of the quality of programs

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they can support and simply due to the prestige they may draw to the university. They are important also to the geographic region and to the academic community at large because they are rich and rare resources upon which is placed great dependence. Such collections lend a mark of distinction to a university independent of their immediate demand within the institution. Therefore, the collection development policy should, over a period of years, imply assurance of the continuity of direction given to special strengths in the library’s holdings; for this continuity of direction fulfils a research library mission which transcends the vagaries of daily supply and demand.

Similarly, but at a lower level, while trends in specific academic priorities may shift over the decades, more general areas of excellence will very likely stabilize. These broader areas of relatively stabilized excellence are responsible for the university’s recognized distinctive character. In its pervasive expression of the continuity of direction in collection development, the policy should both reflect and offer some degree of guarantee for maintained excellence in those general areas.

Facility of we A fundamental intention for the policy on collection development is

its use by many people for a great variety of purposes. The range of potential use extends from those whose daily work is guided closely by the policy to a level of administration remote from library activities of any kind. If the policy is to be comprehensible to this range of consumers, and if it is to be manageable in practical terms, the policy should possess some of the qualities of a good reference tool. Above all, the policy must be clear and concise in its expression. To meet this criterion, it is important that the total document be organized in such a way that its logic is fairly evident. The sub-sections of its larger parts should be presented uniformly. Generally, the policy on collection development will be more useful and usable the less it is dependent upon other documents or external explanation for its interpretation.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

Thus far, the university library collection development policy has been defined in terms of suggestions for what it is expected to do and in terms of the major pervasive qualities that will tend toward meeting those expectations. The identification of expectations and pervasive qualities sets the guideline for the substance of the policy, for the organization of its substantive parts, and for the special features designed to facilitate interpretation throughout the document.


Introduction This part of the document is not policy; rather, it is the context in

which policy is to be understood and interpreted. It is a place for definitions and explanations. Accordingly, the process of collection development should be defined with reference to at least the basic operations which it incorporates : collection evaluation, selection of materials, weeding, replacement, transfer to storage, consultation. Particular attention should be given to the selection of materials. Expressed in terms consistent with overall university and library goals, the introductory matter should also include an elucidation of the philosophy behind collection development as a systematic academic effort generally and as it applies specifically to the university. In this connection, a description of the organization of collection development and the assignment of responsibilities would be useful. Bearing in mind the nature of the university, perhaps also its geographic location and its relations with other institutions, the introductory matter should also describe the library’s clientele.

With a definition of collection development and its parameters set forth, the way is clear to define the meaning of policy as applied to collection development. The definition should include an indication of the uses to which the document is to be put, the consumer or audience for whom it is established, the need for such a policy, and some of its special attributes.

Subject statements : the core of the policy Each subject statement applies criteria for the selection of materials

to specific segments of knowledge, classified in some generally accepted scheme. This scheme might be a library classification, the U.S.O.E. classification, or some other. Subject statements also include other kinds of information related to policy that are useful for purposes of clarifica- tion. A basic assumption is that the subject statements, which constitute the central part of the document, are not repeated, although reference of various kinds might be made to other statements. It is important that a generally accepted classification of knowledge be used as the rationale for these statements for several reasons: it is an objective framework whose segments are defined solely by the nature of the materials which comprise them; its definition is not dependent upon the interpretation of use patterns; it will lend itself more readily than any scheme devised locally to accurate communication and useful interpretation within the broad range of its potential consumers. Of particular interest in this regard is the statements’ comparability with those of other universities.

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Practical concerns, as well as a concern to make these statements as meaningfully descriptive as possible, will require that segments of the classification be modified appropriately, either through elaboration of the specific segment or through abridgement. Coverage of subjects should follow the classification scheme with rigor, but the treatment of those subjects should be flexible to useful alterations directed by sound professional judgment.

Each subject statement should be identified descriptively, so that, if a numerical or alphabetical code is used in the classification, it should be accompanied by a brief descriptor. In order to avoid ambiguity, it is important that each segment of the classification be defined in the policy according to the nature of materials assigned to it. However, practical concerns both of selectors and of patrons require that the location (the specific library) of materials included in each segment be designated. Locations should be cited not only for the primary holdings in the subject but for secondary holdings that are substantial and maintained systematically, as well. In this regard, it is useful to refer to the academic programs or units that are served by the given classification segment, those which constitute both the primary clientele and the secondary clientele, if use patterns are regular or indicate a possible trend. Co- operative collection development agreements within the university library system and elsewhere in the region or nation belong in the subject statements.

The heart of the subject statement is the set of guidelines that describe the breadth and depth of collection activity. These specific elements, considered uniformly as appropriate throughout the whole classification, are limitations in the sense that they imply the kinds of materials not collected. But the policy is explicit about the kinds of materials which are to be collected. To the extent possible, these elements should be ranked in priority, with a ranking noted also in their expandable dimensions. The elements to be considered in describing the collecting policy on each subject are: language of the material, date of its creation, format, level of subject treatment or presentation, chronological coverage, geographic coverage. A composite of these elements, or a characterization of the intentions behind them, can be provided in a ranking of collection development level. This level refers to the degree of support the collection is intended to give to academic needs, whether those needs are formalized or not. An effort should be made to reach agreement on the definition of these levels not only within the university library system, but also within affiliated consortia and with any other co-operating library, since this is a key element in interpreting collection development policy for the purpose of comparison. A sample


format for a subject statement based on LC classification is provided below :

Ckzssijication Desmi$tor

BD240-BD241 Methodology (Philosophy) Definition Locations (Primary and other) Departments and Programs served (Primary and other) Parameters

Language Date Chronological coverage Geographic coverage Format Treatment

Collecting Levels Co-operative Agreements

University Library System Elsewhere

Aggregate collections Although the subject statements cover the full range of knowledge

and, therefore, meet most needs of selectors and administrators, there remains a clientele need for the rearrangement or refinement of some of that information so that special qualities of the collections and their development can be highlighted. Areas requiring special treatment are special collections and area studies, unclassified collections and archives, government documents, maps, newspapers and, perhaps, materials not in the codex format. Separate policy and description can be applied to each of these categories of collections.

The intention here is to focus on parts of the university library collections which are given special attention for a variety of reasons and whose control requires separate treatment. These are areas that span several segments of the classification scheme, yet have a generally acknowledged common feature. It is necessary to supplement policy applied to the full classification of knowledge with descriptions of these aggregate collections and the special policies applied to them, so that the total collection policy gives sensitive direction to selection activity.

Technical policies Some policies which often are considered in conjunction with col-

lection development in the university library are not related directly to the breadth and depth of subject coverage in the collections. They evolve in order to facilitate or guide specific operations carried on within

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various departments of the library or in order to respond to specific administrative needs. Separate from policy on subject coverage, technical policies should be included, for the sake of convenience, in the collection development policy document. Functions appropriate to the establishment of special policy are gift and exchange, duplication, reserve, purchase from university faculty or staff.

Appendix This section applies the unit library or physical-facility perspective to

collection development within the library system. Although the content duplicates what has already been set forth in a uniform, systematic fashion to the main body of the policy, in this section that information is elaborated and modified, without the detail. This summary of collection development policy is a clientele convenience that adds useful material not available elsewhere in the policy. In this section, the collection development program of each separate library unit can be described in terms of subjects collected, clientele served, and history and description of the collection, with reference to special collections and goals. Any restatement of policy should be generalized and would agree with policy stated elsewhere in the document.

Reference apparatus The complete collection development policy contains a great deal of

information useful to a wide ranging audience for a variety of purposes. Some of the information is generalized, a great deal is detailed, and a number of perspectives are brought to bear on the whole. It is axiomatic that the greater facility one has in gaining access to that information, the greater the likelihood that its potential value will be realized. Through the use of features common among good reference tools, any bit of information contained in the document can be located randomly and correlated with other information, as necessary. These features include : a table of contents consisting of broad categories within the classification scheme used in the subject statements, along with descriptive headings of the other major divisions of the document; syndetic structure of cross reference throughout the document; index by subjects used in the subject statements, by academic department names, and by any other key word. In order that the document can be revised as easily as possible, it should be in loose-leaf form, with a minimum, logical cluster of information on each page.

Definitions are needed for the collection levels, which could number anywhere from four to seven, based upon the experience of most university libraries. The Collection Development Committee of the


Resources Section, Resources and Technical Services Division of the American Library Association is in the process of drafting recommended definitions. It may be useful to add to these the definitions of other terms used in the document which might be unknown to non-librarians or whose interpretation by librarians might vary.

AUTHORSHIP OF THE POLICY

The responsibility for the planning and the co-ordination of the collection development policy project rests with the chief collection development officer or whoever functions in that capacity in the university library. However, the authorship of policy belongs directly to those librarians who regularly are engaged in the selection of materials for the library. The establishment of policy for the development of collections requires a knowledge of the subject, familiarity with local needs in that substantive area, an understanding of publication patterns, and a sense of the relationship between budget and collection development. The quality of knowledge, judgment, and experience brought to bear on the establishment of policy will be a major determinant in the quality of the finished document. For this reason, policy should be the product of the thoughtful attention of many librarians and scholars beyond those who are involved in the actual writing. It becomes evident that co-ordination and consultation at all stages of the project are critical to its successful progress. In that connection, it may be useful to consider a work plan.

SUGGESTED WORK PLAN

A great many man hours are demanded by the drafting of policy for collection development, but they need not take the form of linear time. While there are distinct stages in the progress of the project, much of the work on various parts of the document will be going on simultaneously. The linear stages are indicated below, along with a brief description of the activities they encompass.

Stage one : planning In this preliminary stage, the guidelines for the project should be

established throughout the library as to form and content of the document and procedures to be followed : These specific elements of planning are :

(1) identification of goals, philosophy and principles (2) establishment ofdesirable qualities and characteristics

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(3) design of format (4) establishment of a work plan, to incorporate appropriate consultation and

review at all stages (5) assignment of responsibilities for the co-ordination and/or the writing of

policy, depending upon the number of selectors active. (Hereafter, the assumption is made that a relatively large number of librarians are assigned regularly to collection development, so that a co-ordinating committee would be advisable. Where only a few librarians are engaged in collection development, the words ‘Co-ordinating Committee’ should be understood to refer to those principals.)

(6) assignment of a schedule for the work plan (7) establishment ofpriority to be given to the project (8) establishment of a plan for review and adoption of the document as policy

The basis for discussion of most or all of these elements within the library should be a planning document prepared by the chief collection development officer. The first stage begins when this planning document is prepared for discussion in the library and ends when a plan is agreed upon and adopted by those who will be most closely involved in the draft. This should require approximately one month.

The scheduling of subsequent stages of the draft depends upon the priority assigned to the establishment of policy. The following schedule assumes a high priority for the policy.

Stage two : subject statemmts This should be the most complex effort in the project. But it is also an

effort through which a great deal can be learned about collection development policy currently being followed-both the strengths and the weaknesses-and it is the foundation upon which all other parts of the document must be built. Initially in this stage, all special terms will be defined by the Co-ordinating Committee and used accordingly throughout the document. The classification scheme will be selected by the Committee and assigned in broad sections among its membership on the basis of the relevancy of those sections to the collection development activity of the respective library units or divisions. The procedure recommended for the production of subject statements is as follows:

(1) Preliminary draft of each statement based on the experience and knowledge of its author up to that time, including consultation about known areas of overlap within the broad section of classification.

(2) Review of all subject statements within the broad section by the authors of those statements, working as a task force. Overlap, validity, quality of coverage, and uniformity in the form ofstatements are reviewed.

(3) New draft, based on the review cited above. (4) All of these broad subject statements are reviewed by the Co-ordinating

Committee with attention given to overlap, validity, quality of coverage,


uniformity in the form of statements. Agreement is reached on the mod&a- tions to be made, based upon further consultation with the authors of the specific subject statements involved.

(5) New draft ofeach broad subject section.

It should be noted that the Co-ordinating Committee representative is the co-ordinator of policy writing for each broad subject section. Where these sections are unusually broad, the person may choose to delegate co-ordination responsibilities among broad sub-sections. Each author of subject statements is the co-ordinator regarding library and faculty consultation on each specific subject. Appropriate consultation at this stage must be assured, for it constitutes the foundation of validity in the policy. The chief collection development officer co- ordinates the writing of policy where it affects more than one broad subject section.

Throughout this stage of the draft, the chief collection development officer should schedule a series of meetings with each selector, on an individual basis. The purpose of these sessions is to exchange information and views on the quality of specific collections, problems in developing those collections, academic priorities related to the selectors’ areas of responsibilities, and the intentions, philosophy, and various aspects of the total collection development policy. The chief collection development officer should also meet with any subsections for similar purposes especially in an effort to inter-relate academic program priorities and assist in reflecting them in policy. It is critical that each selector work, from the beginning, to identify in some detail the academic priorities in each area by collaborating closely with relevant faculty. In summary, the faculty must indicate these priorities, as well as other related concerns to the selectors who, in turn, are responsible for the appropriate incorporation of those priorities into the draft policy. Members of the Co-ordinating Committee will assist selectors in this effort by initiating and maintaining a priorities-centred dialogue with the heads of larger units (deans). Stage two should require four to six months.

No review of the subject statements, alone, is recommended beyond the Co-ordinating Committee at this stage. The document is most meaningful as an organic whole, and its separate parts may even be mis- leading. Any apparent eccentricities of the separate parts will likely be understood fully only by those who have been involved from beginning to end in their development.

Stage three : additional polig Upon completion of the detailed subject statements, structured by a

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classification scheme, there is sufficient understanding of collection development activities and policy, both generally and specifically, that the way is clear to draft technical policies and policy on aggregate collections.

Just as in the case of subject statements, the writing of policy on aggregate collections, which should be identified by the Co-ordinating Committee, will be performed by those librarians who are chiefly responsible for the regular selection of the materials in question. That policy should then be reviewed by the chief collection development officer, and passed on to the Committee for review.

Technical policies can be established simultaneously. The need for these special policies should be identified by the Co-ordinating Com- mittee, in formal consultation with the technical services staff and other public services groups who may be aware of idiosyncratic problems which could be minimized through establishment of policy. Policy can be drafted and recommended by an appropriate librarian, designated by the Committee. The Committee can advise the policy writer as to the guidelines for goals, content, and format of the policy, and review the policy upon completion.

The third stage is relatively simple, involving much less co-ordination and far fewer people than the second stage. Much of the planning for policy and description in the section can be going on during stage two. One month should be adequate to complete this part of the project.

Stage four : separate library profiles Elements of the subject statements and other policies are pulled to-

gether here to provide the perspective of each physically separate unit library on collection development, including the main library. Each library head is the author of the parts of this section. The descriptions should be reviewed within the respective library, then reviewed by the Co-ordinating Committee. In large units, the principal librarian may choose to delegate the authorship of various parts of the general policy and description of that unit. The goals of these descriptions should be similar throughout the system, but uniformity is not a firm principle.

This stage is not complex, and the most time-consuming part of the effort will be the review process in each library. Four to six weeks ought to be adequate.

Stagejve: integration of theparts It is with this stage that the document becomes an organic whole. It

will be completed with the writing of the introductory material and the


compilation of the reference apparatus. Although the introductory material should be indexed, work can proceed on these two parts of the document at about the same time.

The introductory material will be drafted by the chief collection development officer and reviewed by the Co-ordinating Committee.

The production of the reference apparatus, primarily the index, is a more complex matter. It can be simplified and expedited, however, if compilation is begun with the writing of the first subject statement and continued through to the writing of the final sentence. All authors involved in writing the various parts of the document should have the index in mind so that they can record, while writing, terms and phrases that might be useful in a search, along with their locations and relevant cross references. These should be collated and ordered by a task force, designated by the collection development officer in consultation with the university library’s principal administrators for public and technical services, upon completion of stage four. This part of the project could be accomplished in four to six weeks.

Stage six : final review series The complete draft of the collection development policy is, at this

stage, ready for final review leading to its adoption and implementation. Because the approach recommended in summary here involves the direct participation of all librarians who regularly make selection decisions and the consultative participation of a large number of instructional faculty, at all stages, the policy should be rather well known in the library system by the time the draft is completed. If the university has a faculty committee on library matters, it would be useful in many ways to solicit the advice and assistance of that group throughout the draft and review processes, particularly since faculty participation is given considerable emphasis.

There is no question of adopting policy on collection development as a definitive statement, but rather as the culmination of one particular concerted effort, understood as the first step in an on-going systematic activity. When the draft finally is completed and the policy in effect, it will be useful to compare collection development with the policy that guides it on a regularized, retrospective basis. The purpose is twofold: to measure collection development performance; to assess the current validity of the policy with the aim of making any necessary revisions. The procedure to be followed in fulfilling this twofold purpose should be established by the Co-ordinating Committee and be incorporated in routine annual reporting. It is important that the Committee also devise a long-range plan for general review of the total policy.

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CONCLUSION

There can be no single response to the question: should policy reflect the current relatively low level ofcollection development activity-which generally is the case-or should it reflect the ideal? The policy can be used to serve both needs, and can do so through the priority ordering of its various elements. The common and most evident feature of the policy should be its tendency toward the ideal, tempered by a sense of the real on all occasions. Ultimately, the application of sound professional judgment will be fundamental to the quality of the policy.

planning for a university library policy on collection development

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