Electronic Resources Collection Development Policy : Need and Challenges

 The library performs three major works i.e. acquiring the right document, preserving it and providing access to it.  The market is flooded with publications and a library is supposed to acquire only those which are best suited for their clienteles.  Smooth functioning of library services achieved when the concerned authority has clear cut picture of what their clienteles need and based upon it the library must have a collection development policy.

 Dr. S. R. Rangnathan’s fifth law stated that the library is a growing organism, clarifies that collection of library grows continuously, hence we realize that collection development is a continuous process.  A collection development process is that which permits the library to develop collection of material as per information needs and service requirement of the users.  collection development process that allows for the identification of the strength and weakness of the material collection of a library in terms of the needs of the users and the resources of the community.  It is a universal process in the library world in which the library professionals assembles a variety of materials in order to satisfy the demands of the users

 A policy statement is a kind of framework and set parameters within which staff and users work.  Collection development policies are document which define the scope of a library’s existing collections, plan for the continuing development of resources, identify collection strength and outline the relationship between selection philosophy and the institutions goals, general selection criteria and intellectual freedom. A collection development policy should clearly define:  In which format the collection should be acquired either in print or electronic or both.  Which level of material will be preferred, scholarly, specialized or popular one?  What subject fields are to be emphasized?  Who will select the material and  Who will decide the distribution of fund for each discipline?

The collection of information which can be accessed only by the use of electronic gadget are said to be electronic collection Types of electronic resources as follows – 1. E-Books: These are the books whose content are in digital format and can be downloaded. E-books are often available on CD-ROMs and can be acceded on line. 2. E-Journals: are the publications issued at regular intervals and available electronically(licensed users). Access varies from journals to journal as some provide full text access of journal while some of them partial text including abstract, indexes and some part of text.

 3. E-Reference books: Several electronic reference books are available either on internet or on CDs.  4. Digitized documents : Several documents which are not born digital are digitized for use. These are also important part of electronic collection of any library. Electronic collection requires no physical space as it is virtually present, one can access it anywhere any time with provided required facilities, the updating is easier than print version, can be copied easily, can be accessed by more than one user at the same time which is not possible in print collection, the font of the content can be adjusted according to the test of user, maintenance and technical processing of document costs comparatively nil to the print one and many more reasons which can prove that electronic collections is better than print one.

 Lack of collection development policy leads to haphazard, unfocused grouping of recourses that may or may not support the mission of the library. Therefore there is need to establish the written statement for the management guidelines for the continuing growth and maintenance of library collection. By articulating collection goals and polices, we ensure that the collections support the needs and interest of community.  The purpose of this policy is to state clearly the principles and guidelines which govern the selection, acquisition, and licensing of library resources such a policy encourages consistency among those responsible for developing and maintains a balanced collection and communicates these principles to faculty, staff, students and community patrons.

 Selection criteria for e-resources: - Cost must be reasonable - Updating must be timely - User friendliness - Available from reliable vendor - Offers features as key word searching, download facility and full text access. - Hardware and software requirements should be taken into consideration. - Availability in a multiplicity of formats(e.g. ASCII, PDF, HTML, SGML etc)

 Pricing and models for e-resources: - Mostly following criteria’s are use for pricing of e- resources - Per article – unlimited access by individual users to specific articles purchased at a fixed price - Subscription – unlimited access by individuals and institutional to articles that relate to printed titles. - Generalized subscription – unlimited access by institutions to bundles of 120 articles used subsequently by users. - Value of functionality, Number of users, Frequency of use these are three pricing models use by Elsevier.

 License agreements Issues for e-resources: E-resources providers are employing licenses as a legal means of controlling the use of their products. Librarians need to be aware that licensing agreements may restrict their legal rights and those of their users. License agreement contain the issues relating to authorized users, Fair use, Access, Usage, Intellectual property and network etc.

TRADITIONAL ENVIRONMENTELECTRONIC ENVIRONMENT  Reading  Writing  Card Catalogue  Document delivery  Interlibrary Loan  Literature Search  Resource Sharing  Classification  Cataloguing  Indexing System  Browsing  Web Publishing  OPAC  E-prints, attachment, Scanned images  Consortia  CD-Rom and Internet Search  Networking  Subject Directories, Subject Gateways  Meta Data  Search Strategies.

Impact of information technology on library services and operations librarians faces following challenges -  The information professional needs specific training to understand the implications of the new working conditions.  Librarians require becoming knowledge manager rather than the collection managers in order to manage electronic information system with the skills of collection planning, selection, analysis and co-operation.  Mindset of the librarian has to change in order to handle revised professional methods, techniques and tools.  Librarians should focus on the capabilities enabled by the networked environment rather than the complexities

 Library is a service organization and accountable to citizens. In today’s electronic environment, Librarian must act as a knowledge manager and information intermediaries.  Librarians need to apply the skills right from collection planning, selection, analysis and cooperation in order to manage the intersection of both print and e-resources and also think about the availability and accessibility of multiple electronic formats in order to deliver the best information to all users in the least possible time.  Librarians must not only identify and facilitates access to electronic information resources, but also educate library users about how to access them and when to use them.  Collection development policy for E-resources must be clearly stated as it helps in justifying the nature of collection both in thought content and format of the document. The librarians acting according to the drafted policy will always remain in safe side no one will be able to question against the collection development; hence librarian should go for it.