[WEB4LIB] Re: FW: Important Article -II

[Dan Lester]

At 03:06 PM 3/28/99 -0800, David Merchant wrote:
>>This approach to collection development hurts our patrons in two ways.
>>First, we waste their money buying books they don't use,
>>just in case they might want them.
>
>Hmm, I've seen that it is often the buying of outrageously priced serials
>that most hurt our abilities to buy books.

Well, this is just another manifestation of the same thing.  It is buying 
something that someone may want to use, or may not.  Yes, a serial 
generally costs more than a book, but so what?

> If we have this great and glorious
>global catalog, the books still have to exist and sit somewhere, in some
>library, to be loaned out.  If every library goes "book Y is used only once
>a year, so lets not keep it"

The problem you state is easily handled by "cooperative collection 
development" or what is set up in some states or consortia as "last copy 
storage".  NO ONE discards their copy if it is the last in the system, or 
the last copy is sent to a central repository.

>highly technical books) and thus the publisher very quickly stops
>publishing it

Again, answers exist.  "On demand publishing" (which one major publisher 
has apparently done well on) and electronic publishing.  Why do you keep 
thinking in terms of traditional books now that there are electronic 
options?  Perhaps last copies should be scanned for "central storage", or 
distributed storage.

Consider that multitude of alternatives out there.....let's think outside 
of our traditional library boxes.

cheers

dan

--
Good, Fast, and Cheap: Which two of the three would you like?
Dan Lester, 3577 East Pecan, Boise, ID 83716 USA 208-383-0165
dan at 84.com   http://www.84.com/  http://www.idaholibraries.org/
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