This document provides guidelines for developing an e-resource collection development policy. It defines e-resources and discusses different types. Key components of an e-resource selection criteria are described, including subject and content, functionality, vendors support, technical feasibility, license considerations, and review processes. The document stresses that e-resources require separate policies to address issues of access, interfaces, support and licensing that are different than print materials.

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COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY
FOR E-RESOURCES/ DIGITAL
RESOURCES
BY
ALONGBAR BASUMATARY
&
ADITI BHANDARKAR

2. 2
TABLE OF CONTENT
● Introduction
● E-Resources / Digital Resources
● Collection Development
● Collection Development Policy (CDP)
● E-Resource Collection Development Policy (CDP)
● General Selection criteria
● Components in Selection Criteria of E-Resources
● Conclusion
● References

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INTRODUCTION
 One of the major concerns of a library would be the building of useful collection which would be essential to
the various users and to provide its timely access to the users.
 The goal of the Libraries is to provide an effective combination of print, non-print and electronic resources,
and the integration of the use of these resources in support of teaching, learning and research at the
University or institutions
 A library has three major jobs or priorities to perform first would be to acquire the right documents needed for
your library collection, second would be preserving the document for future use and the third would be
providing access to it to the users.
 Electronic resources, however, pose challenges not encountered with the acquisitions of traditional library
materials, such as access, interface, technical support and licensing. The Libraries therefore need to
formulate a separate Electronic Resources Collection Development Policy to address these issues. The
purpose of this policy is to provide guidelines in choosing appropriate electronic resources and to establish
consistency and priorities in managing this important part of the Libraries' collection.

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E-RESOURCES/ DIGITAL RESOURCES
● A digital collection is any set of documents or multimedia pieces (e.g. images, audio files, videos and
so on) gathered and presented online for the purpose for exchanging resources and ideas.
-(Kristin, 2010).
● Digital collection as the gathering of digital contents represented in different formats that are selected,
evaluated and organized to be part of the information of a digital library.
- (Barbara, 2006).
● The collection of information which can be accessed only by the use of electronic gadget are said to
be electronic collection. Hence, in simple words a digital collection can be formed by different objects,
information being originally produced in an electronic format or digitized starting from a printed
original.
● There are two types of digital resources A.) BORN DIGITAL B.) DIGITIZED

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TYPES OF
DIGITAL
RESOURCES
BORN DIGITAL
RESOURCES
● They are objects/ resources
originally created in the
digital form .
● For example: Digitized Photographs,
Digital documents, Harvested Web
content, Digital manuscripts,
Digital art, Digital media publication
and so on
DIGITIZED RESOURCES
● They are objects/ resources
that were created from
non-digital form of resources.
● For example: Optically scanning of
a paper book, scanning of analog
sources (such as printed photos
or taped videos) into computers
for editing.

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COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT
● “A collection development process is that which permits the library to develop collection of
materials as per information needs and service requirement of the users.”
-(Khan, 2010)
● It has been defined “as a process that allows for the identification of the strength and
weakness of the material collection of a library in terms of the needs of the users and the
resources of the community. “
● “It is a universal process in the library world in which the library professional assembles a
variety of materials in order to satisfy the demands of the users. This dynamic and constant
cycle brings together six elements: user studies, policies, selection, acquisitions, weeding and
evaluation.”
-(Evans, 2004).

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COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY
● A policy is a set of rules or a framework which needs to be abided and followed by any institution or
any organization in a timely manner. As the library grows the collection also grows. It then becomes
difficult to manage the new collections and discard the old and present collections in a library. Hence,
in order to take sufficient steps the Collection Development Policy (CDP) is adopted.
● “The collection development policies are documents which define the scope of a library’s existing
collections, plan for the continuing development of resources, identify collection strength and outline
the relationship between selection philosophy and the institutions goals, general selection criteria and
intellectual freedom.”
-(ALA, 1987)
● These policies not only help in the selection of documents for the library collections but also help in
other tasks like setting the budget, act as a channel between the library and the suppliers, prevent
censorship, intellectual copyrights assistance, help in managing of acitivites, selection of gifts and so
on.

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Pre requisites for a structured CDP
A.) What format the document should be collection? Eg: print or non-print?
B.) What field or subject should the collection be more inclined towards?
C.) Which level of material to be choose? Eg: scholarly, specialized
or something else?
D.) Who will select the material for the collection?
E.) Who will plan the budget distribution for the collection
development?

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E-Resource Collection Development Policy (CDP)
The CDP should include:
● General statement
● Scope of the policy
● E-Resource that needs to be collected
● Selection criteria for fee-based E-Resources
● Selection responsibilities
● Acquisition process
● Procedure for evaluation
● Licensing

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General selection criteria
● Selection criteria need to be consistent with the libraries' plans for establishing an electronic information environment.
● All electronic materials should be relevant and appropriate to a significant segment of the Libraries' user community and reflect current
academic needs and the University's mission. Special attention should be given to electronic resources that provide coverage of high-
priority subject areas.
● In the selection of electronic materials, the availability of appropriate hardware and software should be considered. For CD-ROM
products, consideration also needs to be given as to whether the product is networkable. If additional software needs to be acquired to
run the product, this factor should be noted.
●
If the electronic resource duplicates another resource already available in the Libraries, the proposed electronic resource should offer
some value-added enhancement; for example, wider access or greater flexibility in searching.
●
In addition to the cost of the product, if any, the following hidden costs need to be considered: licensing fees, hardware, software, staff
training and continuing education, cataloging, duplicating support materials, updates, maintenance, and any other costs.
● The product should be user-friendly, that is, provide ease of use and guidance for the user via appropriate menus, help screens, or
tutorials.
●

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COMPONENTS IN SELECTION
CRITERIA OF E-RESOURCES

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COMPONENTS IN
SELECTION CRITERIA
OF E-RESOURCES
SUBJECT AND
CONTENT
FUNCTIONALITY
AND
SYSTEM
RELIABILITY
VENDORS
SUPPORT
TECHNICAL
FEASIBILITY
REVIEW
AND
RENEWAL
PROCESS
LICENSE
CONSIDERATION

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SUBJECT AND CONTENT
● Subject and content supports concerns for curriculum and research needs in the library.
● It helps in assigning subject/discipline experts and recieve their feedbacks.
● The collected e-resource will help in adding depth to the existing collection.
● Except for archiving material the information must be current and should be updated regularly.
● The updated information must be determined to an extent and the content of the information should come from
an authorative author and publisher on the particular subject.
● Accuracy, relevancy and precise comparision in print as well as electronic format needs to be checked.

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TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY
● Technical feasibility concerns with the checking of availability of remote access/ hosting.
● It helps in checking of aunthentication of the IP address.
● It assists in storage and mainteinance.
● It is a platform which assists and facilitates access to e-resources.
FUNCTIONALITY & SYSTEM RELIABILITY
● It concerns with the search and retrieval functions such as truncation search, proximity
search and boolean operators.
● It helps in exporting and downloading of reliable content.
● It assists in sorting and ranking ability for database results.

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VENDORS SUPPORT
● Vendors support concerns with the approach of user training and support.
● It assists in trail and product demonstration.
● Helps in checking and identifying of the renewal considerations.
● Technical support and system notification process is provided.
● Coustomization and branding feature is also provided.
● It has provision of providing bibligraphic data.
● It displays purchase model, supply model, pricing model, mainteinance fees and cancellation rights.

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LICENSE CONSIDERATION
● Licensing considerations are concerned with the governing laws and organizational bylaws.
● The organization law must meet the vendors.
● The liability is provided on unauthorized authors where access is provided to end users.
● It approaches fair use provision as well as working in educationa enviornment.
● It facilitates termination of rights and refund option is provided according to terms and conditions.
● There is compliance provided with the governing laws and consortia or Document Delivery System
(DDS)

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REVIEW AND RENEWAL PRACTICE
● Review and renewal practise can be conducted if the resources continue to be relevant to
the library users.
● It showcases the usage trends in specific discipline areas.
● It helps in comparing one resource to another resource based on usage.
● It delivers the value for money and time.
● It checks the users appropriate level content.
● It helps in conducting effective use of research in library in conducting survey.

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CONCLUSION
Digital resources are affecting collection management policies and they are changing the libraries to meet the new searching habits of users of the Internet. With more and more resources available in the digital format, the collection development has included electronic resources, thus making them easily accessible to the
users. The policy should include these resources enabling their selection, acquisition, preservation and distribution.
Library is a service organization and accountable to citizens, it does not work in air tight compartment hence its policies should be very clear. The collection development policy should be clearly stated as it helps in justifying the nature of collection both in thought content and format of the document. The librarians acting
according to the drafted policy will always remain in safe side no one will be able to question against the collection development.

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REFERENCES
●
Davis, R. (2016). E-Resources Collection Development Strategies. www.nlj.gov.jm. Retrieved 20 February 2016, from
https://www.nlj.gov.jm/files/u8/E-Resources%20Collection%20Development%20Strategies.pdf
●
Lib.uchicago.edu,. (2016). Types of Electronic Resources. Retrieved 20 February 2016, from http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/net/types.html
●
Lib.umd.edu,. (2016). Collection Development Policy Statement: Electronic Resources - Collections | UMD Libraries. Retrieved 20 February
2016, from http://www.lib.umd.edu/collections/policies/electronic-resources
●
Libraries, T. (2016). Collection Development. Lib.hku.hk. Retrieved 20 February 2016, from https://lib.hku.hk/cd/policies/erp.html
●
paniit.iitd.ac.in,. (2016). Collection Development in Electronic Environment & Intellectual Property Rights: Challenges. Retrieved 20 February
2016, from http://paniit.iitd.ac.in/indest/archives/workshop/2010/Collection%20Development%20of%20Electronic%20Resources%20and
%20Intellectual%20Property%20-%20Dr.%20V.D.Shrivastava.pdf
●
www.ifla.org,. (2016). GUIDELINES FOR A COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY USING THE CONSPECTUS MODEL. Retrieved 20
February 2016, from http://www.ifla.org/files/assets/acquisition-collection-development/publications/gcdp-en.pdf