The sum of various types of literature collected by the library
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Library collection refers to the sum of various types of literature collected by the library, referred to as library collection or book collection.It is the material basis for the existence of the library and the fundamental guarantee to meet the needs of readers.Library collection is closely related to the production and use of literature in a certain period.The literature materials collected by modern libraries include books, periodicals, government publications, pamphlets, dissertations, reports, photos, films, slides, records, audio tapes, art worksMicrofilm, computer-readable materials, etc.
In these materials, although the number of books is the largest, due to the development of science and technology in the 20th century, the proportion of journals and other forms of non book materials is also increasing.Various types of literature materials record the knowledge information accumulated and created by human beings in different ways and carriers. Each library selects, collects and accumulates literature materials to meet its readers' needs for specific knowledge or to achieve specific goals. Therefore, a library's collection is not a random accumulation of various types of materials,It is a knowledge system with specific functions that has been carefully selected and organized.
The history of literature collection in libraries can be traced back to a very long time.In Chinese history, official and private collections laid the foundation for modern library collection.The early collections of western modern libraries are also the result of generous donations from individuals and groups.The ways for modern libraries to increase their collections include purchasing, accepting gifts, exchanging, copying, accepting submitted copies, collecting, etc.Since the 20th century, due to the accelerated growth of literature and the growth of readers' demand for literature, library collections have also grown at an unprecedented rate.The annual collection of literature and the total collection of contemporary libraries are unmatched by historical libraries.
The rapid growth of library collections makes it difficult for the library to achieve "large and complete", "small and complete" and "self-sufficiency" in terms of facilities, funds, personnel, technology, etc.So the library pays more attention to the research on the objectives, functions, structure and planning of the collection;Select and collect documents according to the plan;Evaluate the existing collections;Degrade or eliminate obsolete and low utilization data or transfer them to the storage library;In the inter library or in a certain region, even in the national or international scope, it is necessary to share collections, cooperate in the development of library resources sharing, and build a certain document resources security system.The library has gradually developed from focusing on book selection and procurement in the past to including research planning, selection and procurement, review and elimination, collection evaluation, coordination and cooperation, and from collecting and accumulating documents based on experience to building and developing collections in a more scientific way (see Collection Construction and Document Resources Construction).
Library collection is a whole with specific functions composed of different disciplines, different document types, different languages, different depths (completeness) and a certain number of documents. This whole is called the library collection system, and its composition is called the collection structure (seeCollection System and Collection Structure)。
The part of the library collection that can achieve the main objectives of the library is called the core collection, also known as the core collection.The core collection can represent the information demand tendency of the main readers of the library. It is usually based on whether the literature will have a higher demand as the basis for selection and collection, and is preserved for frequent use.The initial collections established by some libraries according to the standard collection catalogue (see Collection Evaluation) or other bibliographic guidelines are also called core collections.Libraries often need to establish special collections (also called special collections) to collect, preserve and use certain forms of literature (such as microfilm data, audio-visual data, thread bound ancient books, patent literature, dissertations, etc.), literature in a specific field (such as East Asia data), literature in a certain era (such as publications in the Republic of China period), literature in a certain region (local literature)Documents about a person (such as Lu Xun's research materials), precious documents (such as rare books), easily damaged documents, documents of some value, etc., which are specially established (see the collection organization).
The library community usually uses the ratio of the number of contributions to the number of readers, that is, the literature guarantee rate, to express the potential ability of a library or several libraries in a region to meet the needs of readers. Some countries, such as the United States, also stipulate the minimum size of public libraries and school libraries according to the number of residents or students.However, the ability of a library to support research and other businesses is not only determined by the number of collections, but also depends on the completeness of literature collection in different disciplines and the coordination, cooperative collection and utilization of libraries within a certain range.Through shared procurement, collaborative collection and other activities among libraries, the independent collections of a single library become more complete and effective resources for people to share. The functions it achieves are no longer the simple addition of collections of all libraries.
The library circle often divides the types of libraries according to the number of collections, such as large libraries, medium-sized libraries and small libraries. The number limits vary from country to country. For example, some Chinese people call a library with a collection of less than 200000 books (pieces) a small library;A library with 200000 to 500000 volumes (pieces) is called a medium-sized library;Libraries with more than 500000 volumes (pieces) are called large-scale libraries.Since books account for the vast majority of documents collected by traditional libraries, "volume" can generally be used as the statistical measurement unit. The collection of various non book materials in modern libraries has increased significantly, and libraries in some developed countries have now changed to "piece" or "document unit" as the measurement unit.
The collections of different types of libraries have different characteristics.Most collections of public libraries highlight comprehensiveness and versatility, and pay attention to the collection of basic disciplines and marginal disciplines. In addition, they often show certain local characteristics, and are relatively complete in collecting local publications and relevant local documents.The characteristics of university library collections lie in their clear educational, professional and academic nature.The collection of special libraries is determined by the special needs of their affiliated institutions. Most of them are professional and research-oriented. They collect multilingual and multi type data in a certain field. Some focus on collecting the latest data (such as the Science and Technology Library), while others also collect retrospective data (data published before a certain time).
In order to understand the collection level and provide a basis for formulating the collection development plan, libraries need to regularly carry out collection quality assessment activities (see Collection Assessment).
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R. K. Gardner, Library Collections,McGraw-Hill, N.Y.,1981.
