| Collection development is a planned, continuous, and cost effective acquisition of quality, relevant material to meet
the needs of users and the objective of the library. Collection Development is not only growth in volumes and titles but in the
quality of acquired material in enhancing effective information delivery. It is only from this perspective that the word
“development “could be meaningful in relation to collection development. Collection development policy is the process of
building and improving a collection of library material. This process includes the formulation of guidelines, management of
funds, needs assessment, selection, collection maintenance and evaluation. The Library is committed to responsible
collection development, which makes the most effective use of budget resources for the greatest number of users according to
the established guidelines.
The focus of this paper will be on five specific areas including purpose, prerequisites,implementation, guide lining
principles and advantages of Collection Development Policy. Collection development generally is described in terms of
physical or electronic collection. Practically speaking, collection development is no longer just about creating the physical
collection. More important is the notion of providing access to information. The end result of the collection development
process is providing access to information regardless of format or location. |