COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT IN DIGITAL LIBRARIES

There are various definitions of digital libraries. They are referred to virtual and
electronic library systems or libraries without walls. According to another definition by
Digital Library Federation, digital libraries are organizations that provide the resources which
includes the specialized staffs in doing activities such as to select, structure, offer intellectual
access to, interpret, distribute, preserve the integrity of, and ensure the persistence over time
of collections of digital works so that they are readily and economically available for use by a
defined community or set of communities (Digital Library Federation, 1988). For simple
understanding, digital library is a library where collections are stored in digital formats and
can be accessed through computers, smartphones or even tablets. Digital libraries are at a
focal point of many different areas of research and what initiate its development differs
depending upon the communities of research that is describing it (Nurnberg, et al, 1995)

Besides, digital libraries can be seen in different aspects. For information retrievers, it
is considered as a large database that stores a large amount of information mainly the library
materials. However, for those who work on hypertext technology, digital library is an
application of hypertext methods. Digital libraries are also viewed as an application of the
Web by those working in wide-area information delivery and considered as the continuing
automation of traditional libraries for those who work in the library science area. In fact, all
aspects are accurate for the development of digital libraries (Cleveland, 1998). Digital
libraries also have various functions. The first function is it can access to many information
to users wherever they are and whenever they need it. Digital libraries can also access to
primary sources of information, can support multimedia contents and texts, provide network
accessibility on Intranet and Internet and lastly have a user-friendly interface.

All the elements that have been stated are the major factors for the collection
development for digital libraries. The latter is the process of evaluating what is published and
making purchasing recommendations based on those evaluations. Librarians may identify the
best resources for their systems according to their organization’s mission and users’ needs.
Traditionally, library materials are based on printed items but since the revolution of digital
library, the process of getting the materials has evolved to modern takes such as audio, video
and digital items.
 Other than that, there are also few things that need to be considered by a library
organization before implementing digital collections. Libraries need to have core values that
comprises the equity of access of intellectual freedom, trustworthiness and open access.
Communication issues with scholars should not happen because it will cause some
difficulties in subscribing to their academic works as special purposes like reference of a
research. This also relates to author rites and copyright issues. Other things that need to be
reconsidered are acquisition and developing tools of the digital materials respectively.
Without these considerations, the plan for any libraries to work towards the collection
development of digital libraries might be at risk.

According to International Journal of Digital Library Services, collection

development is a systematic insight and vital process of building a library collection to fulfil
the teaching, learning and research needs of its target users. The process includes acquisition,
selection, evaluation and preservation of resources according the requirement of users. It also
carries the advantage as the selection of library materials keeping in view users’ current needs
and future requirements. Collection development involves developing the use of the
collection, its preservation, its organization and making it accessible to users (Kaur, et al,
2017). There are several ways to redefine the collection development especially in the
networked area. Libraries must focus on what is sustainable, consider what a collection does
rather than what a collection truly is. Strategic decisions about the formats that are being
supported by the multi-format universe should be paid attention to. Other ways like changing
the current practices will add value for patrons, seeking the right balance between
competition ad collaboration, searching for creative partnerships with publishers and vendors,
the need to utilize new understanding of the collection to the best abilities and expansion of
skills among collection librarians play important roles in the future of any collection
development in digital libraries (Kawa, 2013).

Furthermore, concepts of collection development do not change regardless of resource

format. However, there are special considerations when applying these principles to any
digital library collections. In the digital library collection development, librarians are
working towards the digitization recommendations instead of purchasing recommendations.
They are not evaluating published materials, but rather what within their collection is most
beneficial and unique to users. By doing so, librarians must be aware of the digital resources
produced by other organizations. With the implementation of the Open Archival Initiative’s
Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH), all resources in digital libraries can be shared
easily between organizations (Newsom, 2012).

Following the response to the many contrast digital collections which are produced in
the 1990’s as some experimental proving ground, the Institute for Museum and Library
Services (IMLS) supported development of The Framework of Guidance for Building Good
Collections. It was made to encourage organizations to plan their strategies well for their
digitization projects and digital library collections so that organizations would create
collections that are practical for the long-term and can be merged with existing and current
digital collections. The Framework covers principles to guide the development of four
aspects of digital projects which consist of collections, objects, metadata and projects. The
collections’ section is specifically useful to librarians in order to make digital library
collection development’s decisions a success.

In addition, The Framework of Guidance for Building Good Collections have

provided a few numbers of questions which intends to address the main aspects of concern
when making collection development decisions for a digital library collection. If the items in
the checklists are the same with the requirement of your digital collections, then they can be
considered as good ones. The development principles focuses on considering whether the
collection supports the mission of the organization, identifying the target audience, defining
the target audience’s characters, the collection’s usefulness to the target group, the
availability of the scope of documented collection, having written and explicit collection
development policy, availability of the format of documented objects, registration of
collection with established catalogues and registries, plan for collection maintenance and
having digital preservation policy.

Moreover, the revolution in ICT has changed the former role of libraries as well as
traditional process of collection development. In today’s digital era, libraries are
reconsidering their collection policies due to low cost and all-day access of electronic
resources and fast, accessible for multidimensional needs of modern users. Resources for
digital libraries can be found in the forms of e-books, e-journals, images, audio and videos.
Digitization has also affected the preservation and resources achievement. The reasons that
contribute for the changing scenario of collections process are evolution and expand of
information technology, increased popularity of internet and electronic technology in every
sphere of knowledge, changes in publishing trend, information explosion, financial
constraints on the part of all types of libraries and tremendous rise of online information
products.

The transformation of ICT also led to the weeding of digital collection due to the
implementation of digital libraries. The most significant example is e-books. It should be
treated just as same as physical collections by following the guidelines for retention based on
use, accuracy of information and relevance to the patron. The number of e-books should be
known, have standards, need to be manually isolated when they have become irrelevant and
outdated due to the decrease of demand and making sure that they are not merged with the
integrated library system. There are also some consideration when isolating the collections
such as creating a plan to use the information as it becomes available, driven in going after
outdated materials, checking the holdings to look for titles to weed as well as looking at the
other titles by that author when purchasing new ones in popular subjects (Kawa,2013).

Thus, today’s libraries are acquiring digital collection to meet the user’s requirements
but collection development in digital environment is more complex if compared to printed
resources. It is not an easy step to choose available resources, but some selectors have been
given following parameters to evaluate the e-resources such as organizational needs,
authenticity, appropriateness, scope, access, quality, format, flexibility, selection aid and cost.
However digital collection still has its pros and cons. It can be good in remote access,
provide many search options, reduce the cost of printing and postage, does not require
physical processing and can merge easily with altering device. In contrast, digital collection
might require high infrastructure as well as installation cost. It also need only special
equipment to access, not compatible enough among different publishers, hardware and
software’s compatibility issues between publishers and users, difficulties related to large
amount of on-screen data and could cause some concerns about copyright.
 REFERENCES

1) Anonymous. (n.d). Integration of Digital Libraries in E-Learning. Retrieved from

https://www.tlu.ee/~sirvir/Information%20and%20Knowledge
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2) Cleveland, Gary. (1998). Digital Libraries: Definitions, Issues and Challenges.

Universal Dataflow and Telecommunications Core Program Occasional Paper. No 8.
Available at: http://www.ifla.org/udt/op/

3) Kaur, R & Gaur, R. (2017). Collection Development in Academic Libraries with

Special Reference to Digital Era. International Journal of Digital Library Services,
7(2), 1-8. Retrieved from http://ijodls.in/uploads/3/6/0/3/3603729/12ijodls217.pdf

4) Kawa, Agnes. (2013). Collection Development in Digital Libraries. Retrieved from

https://www.slideshare.net/kawaagneK/collection-development-in-digital-libraries

5) Newsom, Carrie. (2012). Collection Development for Digital Libraries. Retrieved

from
https://www.webjunction.org/documents/webjunction/Collection_Development_for_
Digital_Libraries.html