Approaches to Selection, Access, and Collection Development in the Web World: A Case Study with Fugitive Literature

Karen Schmidt, Illinois Wesleyan University
Wendy Allen Shelburne, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
David Vess, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Article comments

This is a pre-print copy of an article accepted for publication in LRTS, to be published with accompanying end-notes and figures in the vol. 52, no. 3 issue, 2008

Abstract

Academic and research libraries are well-versed in collecting material from the print world. The present and future collections that are being produced on the Web require urgent attention to acquire, preserve, and provide access to them for future research. Many of the skills that librarians have honed through years of collecting in the print-based world are applicable to digital collection development, but will require ramping up technical skills and actively embracing digital content in current and future collection development work. This paper reports an exploratory project that aims to apply existing skills and knowledge to collect materials from the Internet and lay the groundwork for collection development in the future.