Role of conspectus in collection management and resource sharing
ROLE OF CONSPECTUS IN COLLECTION MANAGEMENT AND RESOURCE SHARING* M. S. SRIDHAR ABSTRACT:
Conspectus
assessment
methodology and a consortial
which
enable
is
an
instrument,
providing optimum
an
database
patron
specific
access model for resource sharing among libraries. It helps making more informed decisions acquisitions,
collection
allocations,
budget
preservation.
regarding
development,
requests,
A systematic
fund
grants
and
'conspectus' provides
many indirect benefits like i) filling-in gaps the
collection,
ii) justifying use
of
plans; identifying subject areas where
in
approval
curricular
changes
dictate that the library starts or
stops
buying
materials,
grant
application
or
preservation defining
iii)
budget
or
justifying
increase
collection
subject
for
programs,
or
state
iv)
cooperative
regional libraries in
areas of mutual interest,
institutional
training,
development,
possibilities for increased
acquisitions among local or
a
v)
fulfilling
mandated
assessment
vi) providing 'objective evidence'
for
accreditation and professional association reports, vii)
defining collection development
policies, goals.
procedures
The
and short
paper provides a
conspectus methodology, development, sharing
its
and
long
role in
collection evaluation
resource
as well as some problems and pitfalls conspectus
concludes
by emphasising the need for
conspectus
methodology.
methodology
tools
rather
than
in
Lastly, awareness
among
professionals and some sincere attempts to access
of
collection
and
of
such
range
birds-eye-view
adoption
about
objectives,
local create
satisfied
with
acronyms of library networks. ------------------------------------------------------*
Library Science with a slant to Documentation and Information Studies, 34 (2) June 1997, 91 – 99.
M S Sridhar
1
Role of conspectus in collection management and resource sharing Keywords: Resource sharing; RLG conspectus; conspectus methodology; collection development; collection management; library networks
1.
INTRODUCTION
In
a
Un-bridged resource
recent
gap
between
sharing
barriers to
paper
(Sridhar,
idealistic
1995),
theoretical
and their implementation
library cooperation,
the
inherent
wide
slogans
together
of
with
limitations
of
resource sharing philosophy, ways of overcoming barriers
and
limitations
and
library
and
tips
cooperation
for effective
are discussed.
resource Resource
sharing sharing
cooperation among libraries assumes that accurate,
and
reliable,
exhaustive and up-to-date bibliographic information about the holdings of member libraries as well as who has what in terms of specific subject purpose
fields are known.
of a conspectus.
This is
The overall goal of conspectus
festering collection interdependencies. clearly do
exactly
collect
it?
Despite
so
is
The tool which tells
and reliably who collects what, and how
they
the
much
intensively
discussion
about
cooperation and resource sharing the concept of conspectus is almost unheard in the country.
The
discuss
the
methodology and modus operandi of `conspectus' in detail
nor
to
purpose
highlight
of
this
paper
is
successes and failures
not
of
to
RLG
Conspectus,
but to create awareness among Indian Library and professionals methodology
in
about
the
resource
possible
sharing
as
role well
Information
of
conspectus
as
collection
management.
2.
THE CONSPECTUS
Genesis: and
`Conspectus'
was
developed during late 70s
for
by RLG, used since 1983 for collection assessment by ARL
in its NCIP (National Collections Inventory Project). ARL has created
a
national
conspectus the
of
the
participants'
decisions. The conspectus methodology is used
Alaska
Reference
online database
Statewide Inventory
and
Research
project,
Library
The
Agency (New
by
metropolitan York),
the
Illinois statewide Collection Development Project and Library
M S Sridhar
2
Role of conspectus in collection management and resource sharing and
Information
modified
RLG
Research
for
conspectus for
the
Northwest
non-research
(LIRN
level
libraries
since mid 80's). Endorsed by ALA, over 200 academic, and
special
adopted
libraries in the pacific
and
Northwest
are using RLG conspectus process.
used
public
have
also
During
late
80's even Canadian, British and other universities in
Europe
have began using `Conspectus'.
The conspectus is a heuristic device. considered franca
to be de facto national and
for
describing
and
RLG conspectus is
international lingua
assessing
collections.
The
conspectus is an instrument, an assessment methodology and consortial existing
database which enable recording the
a
strength
of
collections and of current collecting practices
by
subject terms in a stanadardised and quantified form.
Development
process:
The
process
worksheets for
recording collection
subject fields
(and
conspectus).
Worksheets listing
LC
classification
for
recording
decision level,
each broad
about
(ii)
ranges (about
depth
subject
7000
Current
on a predetermined six scale
or codes (0 to
in number) are
Collecting Intensity(CCI)
collection
a
and used
assessment (ECS) and
reflects
assessment decisions are
and
broad
or
(iii)
Acquisitions Commitment
point/interval collection 5)
using
descriptions
collection
or Collection Goal which is optional and The
values by
Existing Collection Strength
Desired Collecting Intensity(DCI) or
policy.
of
field is called
subject
individual library (i)
consists
library's recorded intensity
three sub-codes for code 3 as
noted below:
0
Out of scope
1
Minimum level
2
Basic information
3
Institutional support level Sub-codes: 3a Basic 3b Intermediate 3c Advanced
4
Research collection
5
Comprehensive collection
For example, an item in a single library worksheet
M S Sridhar
with
3
Role of conspectus in collection management and resource sharing descriptor
`Antennas' having value 1 for ECS and 4
for
CCI
would appear as Antennas
In at
(Scope/comments)
1/4
case of a multi-library conspectus, `Antennas' appear
the
top and name of the libraries appear
in
the
first
column.
The
above
values are decided by
librarians
based
bibliographic records, shelf list contents, best part of collections, etc. percentage
of
abstracts,
etc.
values
Guidelines have been developed to
holdings
from
standard
lists,
It may be noted that in this
on the
provide indexes/
process
ECS
reflect what is on the shelves and in circulation
estimating
the
volume
and
diversity
of
a
by
collection's
holdings and CCI values reflect which is actually being added to
the
collection each year
(not
collection
development
policy). CCI provide a glimpse of the collection's the
institution's
management
total
policies
resource pie.
and
budgetary
collection relative to all others. with
DCI
priority
It
informs
commitment
of
both
towards
CCI values may not
values unless sufficient budget is is given to the subject.
slice
match
available
DCI forces the
a
and
evaluator
to estimate at what level collecting intensity will
plateau.
The
existing
differences between CCI and DCI suggests
that
budgetary allocations and acquisitions practices. DCI represent
both
the means (resources) necessary to
values
reach
a
desired goal as well as the end (collecting level) itself.
Worksheet notes wherein was
strong
archives,
provides
a column
for
approval plans, time period
or weak due to budgetary or
un-catalogued catalogue,
also
material,
government
when
other
documents,
or
collection constraints,
not listed on shelf list or microfiche
special collection, etc. are noted.
area studies, format
comments
online
collections, In
addition,
collection/media (eg. microfilm),
form
collection (e.g. standards) and corporate agencies would also be indicated on worksheet.
The
conspectus
Responsibilities primary
M S Sridhar
(PCR)
collectors
also to
assigns
Primary
participating
Collecting
libraries.
(with ECS value of 4 or 5
for
The
research
4
Role of conspectus in collection management and resource sharing libraries
and
3
for
non
research
libraries)
have
an
obligation, budget permitting, to acquire and preserve a copy of
everything in print at the DCI for a particular
form
of
material,
or
geographic
area.
They
subject, are
also
expected to maintain and complete their files of serials runs in
that
area.
Responsibilities
Along
(PPR)
PCR,
have also
Primary been
Preservation
considered.
These
conspectus is a stratified, subject-based description
of
an
area of intellectual inquiry.
Collection of
assessment and assignment of codes:
codes are
collect
cumulative
in
nature
at level 4 or 3c also
a
point
along
1
a continuum from no
the
levels. Codes or
little
material to, at the opposite extreme,
collect
exhaustively. Zero code does
any
books
desire
to
the need
to
mean
addition, conspectus also uses certain codes to indicate
the
collection in English and
assigning
codes
it is
foreign
important
to
maintain
cooperative institutions
and a test collection of interest to each
evaluated.
languages.
and avoid bias in coding among member libraries.
For this purpose a committee of formed
very
a
absence
In
consistency
does
an
collection have double the books of a level 2 collection.
While
Nor
suggest
4
of
periodicals.
that
level
intensity
or
not
which
material
acquire
of
levels
that libraries
acquire
support 3b and 3c as well as 2 and
The
This forum also provides
member
cooperative
is is
training,
promotes frank discussion, centralised administration, etc.
Some important techniques of collection assessment
used
by the conspectus are (i) shelf list analysis (by experts for qualitative with
impressions), (ii) list checking (for
standard
(faculty
on
statistical circulation, online
or
other
available
consultant)opinion, analysis
of
reference,
lists),
(iv)
activities ILL,
comparing
(iii)
customer
and
centered
services
cataloguing,
analysis
by
using
products
like
like
acquisitions,
and CD-ROM database searches, etc., and (v)
assisted
expert
computer
OCLC/AMIGOS'
Collection Analysis System.
To
avoid conflicting assessments (since 1984) conspectus
divisions the
M S Sridhar
LC
were limited to logical, single letter
classification.
ranges
However, dynamic creation
of
of
area
5
Role of conspectus in collection management and resource sharing studies
by
assembling
conspectus
subject
lines from
a
variety of disciplines is allowed from 1985.
3.
ROLE OF CONSPECTUS IN COLLECTION MANAGEMENT AND
RESOURCE
SHARING
Collection management: landmark
collection
twentieth
century.
The conspectus is considered to be
management A
development
comprehensive
of
the
collection
a
late-
management
program is an organic process with the logical progression of phases like knowing user requirements, assessment, collection development, collection development policy statement, funding &
budgeting,
resource
selection and de-selection,
sharing.
collection collective
The
management. ability
conspectus
In
other
preservation
helps
words,
coordinated
it
to coordinate collection
and
results
in
management
of
groups of libraries and enable each library to build and plan its
own collections more independently and responsibly.
By
way of assigning Primary Collecting Responsibilities (PCR) to member
libraries, it acts like an insurance
reduced
budget
of
libraries.
The
policy
conspectus
against
helps
identify collections historical strength and also to them
to
enhance
in under-represented fields and to strengthen them.
It
also enable everyone to know the strength of existing/current collection practices and trends. In the process of developing conspectus nationally. collection
of
libraries collection gaps can
It
not
only creates a
be
consistent
identified basis
development policies but also serves as
a
for basis
for librarians taking on collecting responsibilities. In fact the
collection
conspectus the
work in RLG.
method of
libraries. profiles
development
for
is
an
outgrowth
Conspectus is expected to serve
communicating
Worksheets
policy
policy decision among
can be used to fill in
approval plans and
emphasise
of as
member
gaps,
define
or de-emphasise
acquisitions areas.
Conspectus standardisation evaluation. in
provide and
a
measure
respect to the
of
process
objectivity, of
collection
But, it should be noted that it does not
an online union list of every book owned multi-faceted,
by
consortial
multipurpose
collection
members.
Being
centered
assessment process, conspectus provides a
M S Sridhar
a
result
sort
of
6
Role of conspectus in collection management and resource sharing survey of a library's collection.
Resource
sharing:
cooperation excellent
are
As far as resource sharing
concerned,
proposition.
collection
depth
Conspectus
Being
indicators
collecting patterns arranged helps
to
material,
a
by
avoid unnecessary
appears
matrix
and
of
online
broad
library
to
the
subject
an
member's of
division,
of little
expensive
used
material
and promotes planned coordinated interdependence. It national
be
inventory
duplication
promotes joint acquisition of
and
assures
coverage and helps in directing scholars to
strong
collections. Conspectus can serve as a surrogate to the fully converted national it
does
owned
union catalogue.
But, as noted
not result in an online union list
by
consortial
assessments
members.
Conspectus
of
earlier,
every
online
book
contains 80
RLG
Library),
10
NCIPs (North American Collection Inventory Projects) and
one
members,
land
in over 8000 subject lines by more than
one foreign collection (The British
grant
Information this
from other
online
throughout
conspectus.
(Kansas
State
Agriculture).
libraries are likely to be added
Since
1988,
have entered
projects
preservation
information
(about
150
in
to
librarians
about
number)
local
and
into
the
RLIN of RLG provides online access to conspectus
information.
products
file.
RLG
grant-funded
conspectus
institution
WLN
has
introduced
microcomputer
software for local and consortial use.
are
based
Software
also believed to be developed by both RLG
and
ARL.
Completed decision for
worksheets are reference tools
for
informed
making not only in collection development but
ILL, cooperative
preservation.
acquisition,
Conspectus
can
resource
stimulate
also
sharing
interest
and
in
and
support for cooperative programs.
Other
benefits:
conspectus. collecting
The
are other
subject
areas
incidental identified
intensities may incidentally
retrospective preservation. understandable accreditation
M S Sridhar
There
be
information and
can and
curriculum
with
of
high
targeted
for
cataloguing
and
provide
useful
and
`objective
evidence'
for
conversion, acquisitions, Conspectus
benefits
reports
for
academic
7
Role of conspectus in collection management and resource sharing institutions.
Conspectus helps to create a consistent basis for written policies user
of
libraries, monitoring
needs,
training
communicating
librarians,
to
bringing
expenditure,
faculty
and
rationality
reflecting
researchers,
to acquisitions
and de=selection of materials. Conspectus can also serve as a link
between
preservation
collecting
policies
and
processing
and
policies. It can also serve as a possible
fund
raising tool.
Above
all,
librarians
and
professional
it
is
reported
library
growth,
that
staff
increased
the
participating
experience
interaction
significant
and
improved
communication while dealing with RLG Conspectus.
In about
nutshell,
collection
conspectus is claimed to be landscape
coordinated
and
collection
evaluation
for
individual
cooperative
mutually agreed upon,
and
a
road
map
libraries
for
collection
resource
development, by
recording
subject-specific statements
and then
mentioning
collecting
priorities,
preservation
selection,
selector
sharing
space
allocation,
training,
materials
allocation, faculty-library communication, etc,.
4.
SOME PROBLEMS AND PITFALLS OF CONSPECTUS
Cost-efficiency: totally
Conspectus
is
free from drawbacks.
pitfalls.
The
time-consuming documentation
in
the
form
that
rosy
The process has quite
major criticism of consultative
not all
conspectus
efforts of
is
including
worksheets,
a
on
and few its
extensive
supplemental
guidelines, bibliographies and verification studies
together
with
educated
subjective and
guesses
in
the assessment of
cost-efficiency questioned
interpretative judgments
by
and some.
empirical
It
and
Basically
its
validity
are
precision and
In other words,
effort put in to assess a reliable
collections.
and
subject
whether
across
the
the
great
libraries is
provide commensuration benefits in the
is alleged that the enormous effort itself is
doubt.
militating
against the confidence in the conspectus values.
M S Sridhar
8
Role of conspectus in collection management and resource sharing Collection assessment methodology: collection the
assessment
assessment
bibliographers
is
The
are also questioned. qualitative
and
methods
and
By
and
only
subject experts can
qualitative impressions.
adopted for large,
experienced
provide
reliable
For list checking method,
if there
are not enough comprehensive and up-to-date bibliographies to cover *have
the subject area adequately the to
make
preparing
the
most
reasonable
bibliographies afresh
is
collection guessing
costly.
possible as
The
of list checking is time consuming unless resort methods. items
volumes.
Regarding
expert
opinion
to identify and hire faculty or
expertise
to sampling
matching
LC
classification
as
many
available
in spending substantial part of budget
difficult
process
method also may lead to frustration
are no more available for buying and if
results old
The
managers
for
it
buying
method,
it
consultant ranges.
is
with
Getting
complete cooperation of expert is not an easy task.
The centered
collection
assessment
statistical
analysis'
analysis' have Variety
of
been found to
techniques
methods and
`computer
developed to
analyse
statistics
service,
ILL, cataloguing, acquisitions, online
database
searches
assisted
analysis,
Analysis
Systems (on CD or
in
easy-to-use,
inexpensive,
comparing
library's
library can
a
to
assisted
method.
like
nearly
and
In the
claimed
instant
collection
Collection to
Libraries'
(3
tapes
against
against
the
provide
assessment
also be done simultaneously for matching MARC
CD-ROM
computer
peer
collections using OCLC member MARC tapes.
library's
and
reference
OCLC/AMGOS'
tape) were
methods.
gather
circulation,
the former
products
`client
be easier than other
have been
relating
like
an
`Books
ed.) and overlap information
group
Analysis academic
for
for
by
College
customised
reports.
The numerical indicate
the
codes of ECS and language
diversity of foreign language
codes
material
require
users to possess a considerable degree of
of
range of foreign language material
the
used to
knowledge
available
subject.
The DCI values may very well envelop in-house
politic
in
as
much as a selector may
think
his
in
or
collection merits a current intensity level higher than
M S Sridhar
often
a
real her what
9
Role of conspectus in collection management and resource sharing administrators
are willing to allocate.
ECS is central
to
the determination of the more policy-oriented values for
CCI
and
measure
ECS
checking
and
DCI.
become
Scrutinising the instrument used
crucial.
Conventional
to
bibliographic
comparing with library holdings to an external standard is
inexpensive
quantitative application
and
`hits' indicate
assessment of
of
the method
the
in
both
qualitative
collection.
choice of
list
But
and
loose
bibliography
and
measurement without justifiable interpretative frame work can lead
to
having
errors
same
of comparing
level
of collections.
ranked
collections
overlap
or
yield
the
wildly
Verification problem.
the
it
collections
Further, two
considerable
collections which
studies
`conspectus' opinion
may contain
different
Thus
very unlike
amount
scores
assessment.
may
a
common
test.
are of some help
to
overcome
this
are
has
of
on
not data,
state
but
that
a `soft'
approach
the
expressions
and despite standardisation of evaluative
conspectus
unevenly
are ranked the same
becomes inevitable to
values
but
towards
of
criteria, collection
Thus comparison of collections of two
libraries
depends largely on how evaluators share the same perceptions.
Qualitative some
sort
quality
assessment
of collection involves
of `more or less' categories of
itself
quantitative
use
variables.
is conceptualised as a composite
measures like the number of volumes
of
of The
purely
added
per
year, shelf list counts, the relative strength and use of the books and
and the periodical collection and an analysis circulation
patterns.
approximates quality. items sort
within of
before
Collection
meaning
value
others,
that
which is
certain
not
always
the
quantity
special,
Two
changes
scaled
incorporating
`Desired
Collecting
Collecting
to
some
items
are
practiced.
revealed
that and
bibliographies
is
For example, each
general
suggested
the
qualitative
bibliography may be marked a
essential,
Cooperative
Using
both
solution to this problem.
respectively.
M S Sridhar
so
incorporate
indicators.
proposed as one
ILL
Collection level codes imply that
of
should
quantitative
in
words,
assessment through conspectus has
assessment
item
other
each level must be ordered according
hierarchy
collected
In
of
score and
to
4
to
1
peripheral
conspectus
are
(DCG)
and
Goals'
Responsibility (CCR).
10
Role of conspectus in collection management and resource sharing
LC Classification scheme: using
the
level
of
depended
Some have expressed difficulty
classification scheme in
the
Conspectus.
in
What
details of LC classification schedule to
be
used
on
of
the
Yet the problems like total collection
not
goals,
institutions. represented
policies
and
programmes
by the classification numbers, overlapping
and
interdisciplinary areas required to be tackled with notes comments column and developing inter disciplinary
in
conspectus
worksheets remain un-tackled.
Other
problems:
time
consuming,
money its
Some of the criticisms that imprecise,
subjective,
requires
and manpower and its benefits do not
costs
conspectus
guidelines
ensure consistency between and among libraries in evaluation cannot be easily brushed aside.
enormous
commensurate
as well as lack of bench marks or
is
to to
collection
Even when gaps in
the collections are identified, if no funds are available the whole
exercise
It support
become
academic
and
futile.
is also fact that conspectus level 3
(instructional
level) is most difficult to understand and
can
ambiguous
with regard to what kind of instruction is
Similarly
comparing
the
supplemental
guidelines
be
meant.
can
be
confusing to the user. As each discipline is unique comparing supplemental guidelines to each other may be inappropriate.
Lastly, conspectus is developed for and
research
libraries
attempt to force it to other types of libraries
can
be
development
of
frustrating.
The
above problems and pitfalls in the
conspectus
instrument
through
the
collection
assessment
process have clear implications on collection management
and
resource sharing among member libraries.
Some solutions to problems: There has been continuous efforts to
solve
some of the problems.
Two
overcome some of the problems (at least inadequacy utility subject,
M S Sridhar
of
quantitative
are
(i)
guidance
verification
developed
to
partly) including the
measures
or excellence and lack of etc.,
tools
of
collection
for
studies
specific
and
(ii)
11
Role of conspectus in collection management and resource sharing supplemental
guidelines.
These
studies
and
guidelines
purport to increase the reliability of collection
assessment
data.
Verification
studies
consist
of
lists
of
titles
constructed to `test' certain aspects of a collection and `verify'
the
reliability
institutions comparative
have
of
the
reported.
collection
expert bibliographers.
conspectus
In
values
verification
analysis planned by small
studies teams
years of experience in verification studies are useful
studies
(ii)
stratified
that
Four basic models developed over
for `collection evaluation'.
to
of ten
tools
They are: (i) expertly selected
Randomly drawn studies
(iii) Randomly
drawn
studies and (iv) `mixed' studies. Discussion
on
these models of collection assessment is beyond the scope
of
this
paper.
Supplemental
guides
are
meant
to
prospective assistance and establish some objective in
the
setting
provide
of conspectus values.
thorough
testing procedures that
guidelines
accurately
example,
a
reflect
supplemental
relationship
It
for
is
offer
guidance
suppose
ensure that
collecting realities.
guide
instructional
helps
and
to
to the For
establish
research
a
collections
between the number of journals held locally and appearing the
list
of 1000 most frequently cited
journals.
guide provides evaluative assistance for minimal
Another
(level
and basic informational level (level 2) collections. provides
help
for
expansions and /or
on
extensions
1)
It also to
the
conspectus in collaboration with other organistions.
With the notion of
hierarchy
of
collecting
collections are expected to experience changes in quality
as
well as increase in total holdings
The conspectus is something proposal
collection
over
years.
suppose to show how collection quality
more than a function of volume. to
levels
introduce
scaling
technique
There is for
also
is a
testing
instruments like bibliographies.
5.
CONCLUSION
Conspectus
is
`patron
specific
access'
model
which
enables libraries to provide access to what the patron wishes without
M S Sridhar
spending budget and owning the material.
The
model
12
Role of conspectus in collection management and resource sharing allows libraries to collect materials in specific areas to
compare
their
libraries. up
collecting
levels
with
that
of
and other
In the process, libraries need not have to
collecting
materials
to
meet
the
goals
give
of
the
parent institutions.
Conspectus is considered as a standardised tool for evaluation
of
assessment
library
method
collections.
that
maps
It
is
subject
a
the
collection
strengths
and
weaknesses using standardised criteria and description. purpose
of
this standardisation is to provide
picture
of
collection
intensities.
strengths
and
a
current
composite collecting
Conspectus has arrived at a time when there
seemingly endless search by libraries for methods that greater hungry
objectivity for
to the assessment
standardisation
evaluation.
Conspectus
in
is
the
even
of
field
of
believed
to
indicators
of
juxtaposed with projections
Studying helpful
to
development. and
conspectus take
collection have
fit
the
practices
are
of long-term needs.
methodology
disciplined
can
approach
be
extremely
to
collection
for As
use
in
libraries
far as application of
other
than
research
this methodology
situation of
and no need to use every possible
data to determine collection
in
determine
will work in the given circumstances and adopt them
piece have
the
when
other environment is concerned each library has to what
and
The methodology is claimed to have been adopted
modified
libraries.
a
current
is
bring
collections
potential of becoming an internal evaluative tool quantified
The
method
to or
levels.
Libraries
to make their choice looking at the entire
conspectus
worksheet and not piece meal.
Factors like growing literature, automated systems
and
vendor
services,
trend
divisions
for comparable publishing
continued
efforts
of
and
of validation studies
circulation
using
conspectus
related date have
made
and data
gathering and implementation of conspectus theory easier
for
those libraries who have already embraced.
Despite RLG
M S Sridhar
its existence and use for last 15 years
conspectus
is
not
so
conspicuous
in
India.
or
so The
13
Role of conspectus in collection management and resource sharing professionals
discussing
library
cooperation,
resource
sharing and union catalogues have not tried to learn from the experiments
of
RLG
conspectus.
It is true
conspectus
of RLG has to overcome many
that
drawbacks
the
in
its
design and implementation, but it has left behind a rich data and
experience for libraries of LDCs to learn and adopt
methodology
to
suit their
local
conditions.
the
This
is
particularly so as most of libraries in this country have up-to-date and comprehensive written collection
no
development
policies.
Lastly,
it is regretted that there are
no
worth
the
name attempts to build any such access tools like
conspectus
and
collection
standardised
evaluation,
ILL
collection
development,
and resource sharing in the
country.
becomes
all the more paining when we see acronyms are
coined
every
represent
day beginning with
almost all
This being
alphabets
our fantasy-ridden idealistic theoretical library
networks, most of which are yet to become operational. we
find
in this country during last
duplicate
efforts
catalogues
and
arrangement,
utility
informal formed
of
informal
consortium
during
building
of
inter
1990
standing
sources orders,
exceptionally
has
like etc,
priced
fragmented
similar
library
to
union
cooperation
Special Libraries
attempted than
CD-ROM
to
a
from union catalogue of serials and
information
is
What
which is limited. For example,
of Bangalore
late
decade
tools
profile of member libraries rather Apart
to
an
Group
prepare
a
real conspectus. other
databases
the circulation
collective subscribed,
of
items acquired or being
list
of
acquired
by
member libraries did help in its own way to contribute to the objectives of resource sharing willing
participation
collection
development
development wrongly
ellusive
library
Conspectus
does not assure
resource sharing
communicate
libraries
having
the
Cooperative
even
after it
was
tackling
cooperation is different from developing breaking
but allows
their strengths and weaknesses
levels,
M S Sridhar
remained
libraries.
of RLG conspectus for the reasons that
cooperation and map
member
considered as an end rather than means and
barrier to tools.
of
but depended heavily on
at
barriers
for
libraries
to
narrow
this picture to each other
some
problem
together
to
subject
and
bring
work
in
14
Role of conspectus in collection management and resource sharing their
common weaknesses.
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About the Author Dr. M. S. Sridhar is a post graduate in mathematics and business management and a doctorate in library and information science. He is in the profession for last 35 years. Since 1978
he
is
Documentation
heading
the
Library
and
Division of ISRO Satellite
Centre, Bangalore. Earlier he has worked in the libraries of National Aeronautical Laboratory (Bangalore), Indian Institute of Management (Bangalore) and University of Mysore. Dr. Sridhar has published four books (‘User research: a review of information-behaviour studies in science and technology’, ‘Problems of collection development in special libraries’, ‘Information behaviour of scientists and engineers’ and ‘Use and user research with twenty case studies’) and 74 research papers, written 19 course material for BLIS and MLIS, presented over 22 papers in conferences and seminars, and contributed 5 chapters to books. E-mail:
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected] ; Phone: 91-80-25084451; Fax: 91-80-25084475.
M S Sridhar
17
