LIS 02: Collection Management of

Information Sources

SELECTION OF
INFORMATION SOURCES

Rachelle D. Lumboy, RL, LPT

SELECTION CRITERIA
(Print Resources)
 How to select?

Criteria for Evaluating Print Materials

1. Purpose, subject, scope and audience are the major
considerations that modify other objective guidelines
2. Difficulty of reading level
3. Authority, honesty and credibility of author and publisher
4. Comparison with other works in collection
5. Timeliness
6. Format
7. Price and availability
8. Demand
 Purpose, subject, scope and audience

 Is the work interesting and worthwhile for

audience served?

 For academic and school libraries, what is the

importance, relevance of the subject matter to the
collection?

 Will it support the curriculum?

 Is this a title my readers are likely to request?

 Difficulty of reading level

How to measure difficulty of reading level

 Knowledge of author or with subject matter

 Publisher’s specialty

 Title of book if clear

 Read reviews or examine book itself

Authority, honesty and credibility of
author and publisher

 Subject experts for scholarly works

 Publishers specialty
Comparison with other works in collection

 How does work compare with other works

in collection?

 Is it a substantial addition to collection or

rarely a duplication?
 Timeliness

 Permanence
 Recency
 Currency
 Format

 Legibility of type; paper

 Illustrations: good, accurate and

clear

 Special features: maps, bibliography,

appendix, glossary, footnotes
 Price and availability

Is the price worth the material?

Is the material constantly out of print

or not available?
 Demand

Is there really a need for the title?

Is the title requested?

 How to select?

Types of titles automatically accepted by libraries

 Reprints and new editions of classics that are already part

of the library

 Books from series the library has long considered

important to the collection

 Picture books for adults where the emphasis is on the

photographs, drawings and diagrams

 Certain basic research or reference titles that can be

ordered safely without actually seeing the books
SELECTION CRITERIA
(Collection Type)
 FICTION

 Style? Realistic portrayal of characters?

 Is it true to life? Sensational? Exaggerated?
 Insight into human nature?
 Is the plot original? Probable? Simple?
 Does it stimulate? Provoke thought? Satisfy?
Inspire? Amuse?
 Narrative
 Clear
 NON-FICTION

Author’s qualifications on the subject

field
Scope and authority of subject matter
Quality of writing
Physical features
Price
 Editions

Qualifications of good edition

 Presence of introduction, notes, illustrations

 Changes in the text is a revised edition

 Good design and typography

 Translations

Considerations
 Qualifications of the translator.
 Types of materials to be translated
 Potential readers of the translation
 Serials

Importance of serials
 sources of current information
 sources of new theories, discoveries, trends
and viewpoints that do not immediately
appear in books
 good ephemeral information, how to do it
article, personality sketches, food in
magazines, etc.
 How to select?

 Indexed or abstracted
 Subject matter
 Cost
 Inclusion in special bibliographies
and lists
 How to select?

 Scarcity of material in the subject

 Demand
 Availability of the periodical or
interlibrary loan
 Back issues files
 Journals

Common selection methods:

• A journal-use study
• Circulation statistics
• Citation studies
• Comparative techniques
• Interlibrary loan data
• Questionnaires
• Recommendations
• Circulation
 Periodicals

Selection Guidelines:
• Purpose, scope and audience for the periodical.
• accuracy and relative objectivity of the content within the stated
purpose and scope.
• Reputation of the publisher and the writers
• Quality of the writing and its suitability for the intended audience.
• Subject matter and its relevance for the intended audience.
• Reference or research value
• Local interest.
• Standard format items should be checked
• All points of view should be presented.
 How to select?

Aids in selection of serials

 Sample issues
 Reviews of current journals
 Abstracted and indexed journals
 Guides to periodicals