Main description:

Health Sciences Collection Management for the Twenty-First Century is intended for those with any level of experience in health sciences collection management. This book from the authoritative Medical Library Association starts with the context of health sciences publishing and covers the foundations of selection, budgeting, and management. It won't tell new librarians what to buy but will give them background and criteria that should go into their selections. However, the focus of this book is not only on best practices but also on the big picture and the deeper changes in the field that affect decision making. Subjects not always covered in many collection development textbooks such marketing or accessibility are included because they are part of the larger collections landscape.

Chapter contributors bring their own perspectives to the topics. Stories of different libraries' experiences bring interesting topics to the forefront in practical, specific, and timely detail. While whole books have been written that go into some of these topics more in depth on their own, the treatment of each topic here focuses on the unique perspective and concerns of the collection manager.

Contents:

Chapter 1: The Health Sciences Publishing Environment - T. Scott Plutchak
One Library's Story: Putting Together a Collection to Support a New Medical School - Elizabeth R. Lorbeer and Joseph A. Costello
Chapter 2: Managing a health sciences collection - Susan E. Swogger
One Library's Story: Duke University Medical Center Librarians Learn to Embrace Weeding Projects - Emma Cryer Heet
Chapter 3: Managing a Collections Budget - Steven W. Sowards and Joseph J. Harzbecker, Jr.
One Library's Story: Creating and Sustaining a Hospital Library Consortium for Purchasing Online Journals - Kathleen Strube
Chapter 4: User-Oriented Collection Assessment - Linda A. Van Keuren
One Library's Story: All or Nothing: The University of California Walks Away from ClinicalKey - Sarah McClung, Rikke Sarah Ogawa, and Bruce Abbott
Chapter 5: Collaborative collection management - Esther E. Carrigan, Nancy G. Buford, and Ana G. Ugaz
One Library's Story: Building a Texas-Sized Shared Print Repository - Esther E. Carrigan, Nancy G. Burford and Ana G. Ugaz
Chapter 6: Discovery of the Health Sciences Collection - Susan K. Kendall
One Library's Story: Supporting a Reimagined Medical School Curriculum with Targeted Library Collections and Licenses - Iris Kovar-Gough
Chapter 7: Usability and Accessibility for Health Sciences Collections - Jessica Shira Sender and Heidi M. Schroeder
One Library's Story: Developing Accessibility Procedures for Purchasing Materials at the Michigan State University Libraries - Heidi M. Schroeder
Chapter 8: Data Considerations for Collection Development Policy and Practice - Lisa Federer
Chapter 9: The Hunt of the Unicorn: Collection Development for Special Collections in Health Sciences Libraries - Stephen J. Greenberg
Chapter 10: The Future of Health Sciences Collection Management - Susan K. Kendall