Collection Development and Information Access
What Collection Development and Information Access covers
This domain tests how you build, organize, maintain, and provide access to a collection that supports the curriculum and voluntary reading. It includes selection policy, acquisitions, cataloging, classification, weeding, resource sharing, licensing, and equitable access.
Core rules and concepts
- Selection: follow board policy and written criteria-curriculum fit, accuracy, authority, currency, literary quality, bias, reading level, student interest, format, cost, and reviews (Booklist, School Library Journal, Kirkus). Include student and teacher requests.
- Acquisitions: use approved vendors and purchase orders; evaluate licenses for ebooks and databases (simultaneous use, MARC records, accessibility, privacy). Donations must meet the same criteria; you may decline.
- Organization: Dewey Decimal Classification for most school nonfiction; Sears List of Subject Headings; MARC 21 records; RDA cataloging; authority control; OPAC configuration. Genrefication can improve browsing but must not break catalog access.
- Access: flexible hours, clear circulation rules, privacy (library records are confidential under Georgia law and FERPA), and equitable access to databases and devices. GALILEO provides statewide K-12 databases.
- Weeding: use CREW/MUSTIE-Misleading, Ugly, Superseded, Trivial, Irrelevant, Elsewhere-plus circulation, condition, and curriculum need. Weed before inventory; replace worn classics deliberately.
- Evaluation: collection mapping, diversity audits, age and per-pupil statistics, usage data, and curriculum alignment.
Worked example
A donor offers 200 outdated encyclopedias. Reasoning: thank the donor, but apply the selection policy. Check copyright, accuracy, curriculum need, shelf space, and processing cost. Because the set is superseded and available in current databases, decline or redirect the donation. Document the decision. The same logic applies to a free app: free is not a selection criterion.
Traps that cost marks
- Weeding by copyright date alone; a classic may still circulate.
- Accepting donations without applying policy.
- Ignoring license terms for ebooks or database MARC records.
- Labeling every book by reading level, which can limit access.
- Assuming a popular database is accessible; check WCAG and single sign-on.