19/07/2023
Subject Area: Library Policies
Format: Online Webinar
Length: 1 Hour
Audience: Practicing Librarians, ALIA members, library students
Organisers: ALIA
Presenters: Julie Barkman & Catherine Barnes
As part of their short lunchtime information series, ALIA hosted a webinar which explained and decoded collection development policies (CDPs) across several different libraries within the information society. The webinar looked at the CDP’s from both school and public libraries as two of the most requested policies from ALIA members, using the experience of their guest speakers to breakdown their current policies and offer advice as to what they would like to see included in future policies, whether with their organisation or in general. Throughout the webinar it was emphasised that there was a need to re-evaluate the position of the library when looking and devising a comprehensive CDP, especially when dealing with some of the challenges likely to be faced when there are challenges to certain book titles in the collection.
Even at only an hour long, the webinar was insightful and offered helpful hints on what could be included in a CDP from information professionals who are working on and with current CDPs. These hints included relevant advice like offering a complaint form through the CDP so it is clear how to make decisions on book challenges, having a detailed selection criteria, and also a non-selection criteria (e.g. which may exclude….). Assimilating some of the advice from this webinar helped guide me where to start searching when I was looking for current CDPs that formed the basis for a couple of collection assessments that I completed. I used the advice on standards and guidelines placements mentioned in the webinar to asses the CDPs I had found which allowed me to analyse and decide if they were comprehensive, standard, or below average, and suggest what informed changes I would make to ensure the policies were comprehensive and tailored for the organisation.
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