Shaping the Librarian’s Library: Collecting to Support LIS Education and Practice

Library and Information Science (LIS) is primarily a graduate program of study which prepares students for careers in librarianship and other information professions. However, faculty and students are not the only users of LIS collections in campus libraries; academic librarians also need LIS information to support their research and practice. Effective collection development for LIS is grounded in a wellthought- out policy statement and employs time-proven strategies including title-by-title ordering, approval plans, standing orders, and judicious acceptance of gifts. A well-rounded and responsive collection spans several publication formats and includes works from publishers that specialize in LIS content as well as non-commercial grey literature. The challenges that LIS selectors face include the proliferation of distance education programs, the interdisciplinarity of the field, the shifting landscape of electronic publishing, serial price increases, the drive for assessment, negative perceptions of the quality of the literature, and the need to promote collection use. Because there has been little written about LIS collection development practices, there are many opportunities for further research.