Library Collection Management

In earlier times, many libraries gained a book stock by purchasing a good private collection or obtaining a valuable donation, today’s libraries utilise a variety of methods, computer assisted and manual, to develop an inventory of materials – books, periodicals, films, sound and video recordings, microforms, maps, music etc. – that will meet the anticipated needs of their clientele. The present work is the collection of different articles and papers written by some of the best librarians, many of whom have vast experience in both libraries and writing. It represents an attempt to forecast the increasingly complex and dynamic interplay between the evolving system of scholarly communication and the collection management function of libraries.