Toward a Structural Approach to Collection Development

Abstract

A method for developing acquisition priorities based upon scholarly need is discussed, using some of the newer techniques in the area of information science. The structuralist approach requires a method interpreted through the study of behavior and properties of subject literatures. Behavior refers to temporal con-ditions while properties relate to the organizing principles of class and order. Subject literature behavior and properties are described in this paper through the techniques of citation count-ing, Bradford's law, and Coffman's indirect method. · 0 NE OF THE MOST SERIOUS PROBLEMS that -exists today in the library is collec-tion development. During the past several decades while money flowed rela-tively freely, librarians concentrated on building larger facilities, acquiring ma-terials at an exponential rate, and ex-panding staffs to control the informa-tion explosion. The 1960s stand as a testimonial to this approach. During this period, the prevailing slogan "the bigger, the better" led one to believe that excellence relates directly to the quantity of volumes that a library holds. Ironically, this slogan has forged the librarian's action into the kiva of materials administration rather than meaningful collection