Week 2.1: Libraries vs. YouTube – Collection Development

Libraries have things in all kinds of shapes and formats, and generally these things are acquired according to some kind of policy. For ease (as I just finished my course on Collection Management this summer), here’s a definition by Peggy Johnson in “Fundamentals of Collection Development & Management”:

Collection development: Originally denoted activities involved in developing a library collection in response to institutional priorities and user needs and interests— that is, the selection of materials to build a collection. Collection development was understood to cover several activities related to the development of library collections, including selection, determination and coordination of policies, needs assessment, collection use studies, collection analysis, budget management, community and user outreach and liaison, and planning for resource sharing.

Johnson, Peggy.  (2014).  Fundamentals of Collection Development & Management, 3rd edition.  Chicago, IL:  American Library Association.  (Emphases mine)

Continue reading “Week 2.1: Libraries vs. YouTube – Collection Development”

Week 2: Libraries vs. YouTube – Reference Services

Patron saint of librarians Neil Gaiman put it best: “Google can bring you back 100,000 answers, a librarian can bring you back the right one.”
Reference Transactions are information consultations in which library staff recommend, interpret, evaluate, and/or use information resources to help others to meet particular information needs. Reference and User Services Association. (2008). Definitions of Reference.
If anything is a hallmark of the librarian’s identity, it’s putting people into meaningful contact with the information they seek. It’s one of the first things we learn about in grad school, and oftentimes what draws us to the profession in the first place. Continue reading “Week 2: Libraries vs. YouTube – Reference Services”