Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Library of Babel: Making Sense of Collection Management in A Postmodern World
The Library of Babel: Making Sense of Collection Management in A Postmodern World
The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Volume 31, Number 2, pages 143–150 March 2005 143
materials are also ephemeral, and they deaccess themselves graduate and graduate programs in nursing, education, busi-
without warning. As well, we have no control over what ness and nonprofit management, music, and community
journals remain in full-text on electronic databases, or which development. North Park University is owned and operated
will suddenly appear. We have no control over all of the by the Evangelical Covenant Church, and an integral part of
journals included in a database for which we are paying: we the university is the denomination’s graduate seminary. Based
subscribe to a database for 10 journals in particular and pay for on anecdotal evidence, small liberal arts college libraries
another 50 we do not need. We no longer have a physical generally have more of a haphazard than methodical way of
collection over which we control what we purchase, what we building collections. The collections may be very strong in
lend and to whom, and how we preserve it. some disciplines and scant in others, even with a collection
A second characteristic of postmodernism is nonlinear management policy in place. The historical guiding principle
thinking. The Western world has traditionally thought in a for these libraries has been to build a collection that supports
linear fashion, hence our emphasis on logical thinking and the the curriculum. Over time, though, the curriculum changes,
importance of narrative. The online environment is nonlinear, and with some frequency so do the courses. Consequently, a
or even amorphous, with links that lead in unexpected collection built to support one or a series of courses or majors
directions, find unanticipated ideas, discover unimagined may become an isolated collection as the courses are dropped.
patterns, and like Borges’ man looking for his own book, Further, some faculty are heavy library users, and their
one sometimes comes up with zero. Hypertext depends on disciplines tend to be strongly represented in the collection
nonlinear thinking, and unlike the categorical thinking of while other faculty never use the library. In the latter case,
classification systems, enables one to search, think, and librarians struggle with a limited budget yet acknowledge that
understand in an interdisciplinary manner. Marlene Manoff at least a core collection needs to be developed and
argues that no longer is the text fixed; rather it is fluid, finding maintained for the future when new faculty may come with
patterns of connection. She also calls for a reconceptualization high expectations for their discipline. Faculty come and go,
of collection development and bibliographic access.’’4 and it seems that collections in liberal arts libraries are
In addition to diminishing hierarchy and control and sometimes a reflection of the history of the faculty and
nonlinear thinking, postmodernism is characterized by the courses offered over the years. Librarians, too, have their
blurring of boundaries. This blurring of boundaries is areas of interest and expertise, hence the observation that the
expressed in interdisciplinary texts and in the morphing of collections are sometimes haphazard and unbalanced. To add
categories and formats in an electronic environment, making it to the dilemma, small colleges tend not to have subject
difficult to distinguish among e-journals, full-text databases, bibliographers or even one particular librarian responsible for
indexes, catalogs, Web sites, and multimedia. We move collection management. All of the librarians are responsible in
seamlessly among documents without knowing if we are some way, whatever the organization in each library, and
navigating within or between documents, one database or faculty practice varying degrees of involvement. Because
several, scholarly journals, or popular magazines. Manoff everyone is responsible, it appears sometimes that no one is
relates this reality to the Web and the building of collections: responsible.
‘‘Selectors creating subject Web pages are not so much The question is, how can liberal arts college libraries build
building collections as creating paths out of their collections stronger collections to meet the expectations of users,
to resources provided elsewhere. This is a new way to think particularly students, in a postmodern electronic world? This
about collection development.’’5 It is the blurring of boundaries paper will address this question, and attempt to answer it by
that will frame the conversation of this paper. exploring the following three general areas:
! Is the guiding principle of collection management still
SOME COMPARISONS OF COLLECTION support of the curriculum and its discrete courses, or is the
MANAGEMENT IN RESEARCH AND IN LIBERAL ARTS postmodern library also to be more intentionally centered
COLLEGE LIBRARIES on the learning outcomes of the student experience? In
Research and comprehensive universities have relatively what way do learning outcomes influence the collections
clearly defined, workable collection management policies. we develop and the access we provide, and what sort of
These libraries have bibliographers, frequently holding PhD’s, physical collection and electronic access are reasonable for
who are themselves scholars in the discipline for which they a liberal arts college library?
are responsible. Collections are comprehensive in scope; ! How can we effectively assess our collections for each
while some selection may be necessary, it is primarily a major or discipline to guide further collection initiatives?
challenge of acquiring as much as possible to support the
research needs of scholars, whether faculty or students.6 ! How do we reasonably allocate funds, and how would a
These research libraries appear to have enormously large holistic budget more meaningfully reflect our physical
budgets, at least compared to liberal arts college libraries. collection, electronic access, and ‘‘things’’ to come?
Research libraries also appear to develop collections in a
thoughtful, thorough, and methodical manner; the reality may
CURRICULUM SUPPORT OR LEARNING OUTCOMES
be that some haphazard collecting goes on in these libraries
also. How do the current (and future) emphasis in American higher
The authors of this article are librarians at North Park education on learning outcomes and the emphasis in libraries
University, a liberal arts college located in Chicago, with an on information literacy shape collection management policies?
enrollment of about 2500 full-time students. We have a strong We are moving from a tradition of developing a collection that
liberal arts undergraduate program and professional under- is curriculum centered to managing a collection that meets the