The Practice, Power, and Promise of Archival Collections Assessment

Abstract

In the ongoing transition from institution-centered collections to a user-centered world of networked information, the role of the research library has changed dramatically. “Rather than focusing on acquiring the products of scholarship,” a recent ARL issue brief noted, “the library is now an engaged agent supporting and embedded within the processes of scholarship.”¹ Successful collection management in this new environment has become a juggling act requiring careful consideration of a number of factors including the proliferation of shared print repositories, the shift to patron-driven acquisitions, the role of digital surrogates in discovery and use, and the importance of redirecting effort . . .