MLS Information Resources & Collection Management 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which collection assessment method uses standardized lists of core titles in a discipline to evaluate a library's holdings?
- Circulation analysis
- Patron survey
- Checklist method (Correct answer)
- Interlibrary loan gap analysis
Correct answer: Checklist method
The checklist method compares a library's holdings against authoritative bibliographies or recommended title lists to identify gaps.
Question 2: A public library serves a community with a growing Spanish-speaking population. According to collection development best practices, what should be the library's response?
- Maintain the existing collection and offer translation services
- Develop a Spanish-language collection that reflects community needs and interests (Correct answer)
- Partner with a Spanish-language bookstore to refer patrons
- Limit Spanish materials to the children's section only
Correct answer: Develop a Spanish-language collection that reflects community needs and interests
Collection development best practices require libraries to build collections that reflect and serve the actual demographics and interests of their communities.
Question 3: What is the primary purpose of a 'materials budget allocation formula' in academic libraries?
- To determine staff salaries for acquisitions
- To distribute the acquisitions budget across departments based on objective criteria (Correct answer)
- To set subscription renewal prices with vendors
- To calculate interlibrary loan costs
Correct answer: To distribute the acquisitions budget across departments based on objective criteria
Budget allocation formulas use data such as enrollment, credit hours, and collection use to distribute acquisitions funds equitably across academic departments.
Question 4: Which element distinguishes a 'standing order' from a standard one-time purchase in library acquisitions?
- Standing orders require board approval each year
- Standing orders automatically supply each new volume or edition as it is published (Correct answer)
- Standing orders are limited to periodical subscriptions
- Standing orders must be placed through a jobber, not directly with a publisher
Correct answer: Standing orders automatically supply each new volume or edition as it is published
A standing order is an arrangement to automatically receive and pay for each new issue or edition of a serial or continuation as it is published.
Question 5: When a library deselects materials using the MUSTIE criteria, what does the letter 'U' represent?
- Unaffordable replacement cost
- Ugly or physically damaged beyond repair
- Unworthy of retention due to poor quality (Correct answer)
- Unsatisfactory in meeting current demand
Correct answer: Unworthy of retention due to poor quality
In the MUSTIE model, 'U' stands for 'Unworthy' — material that is trivial, of no discernible literary or scientific merit, or otherwise not suitable for the collection.
Question 6: A library is negotiating a Big Deal journal package. What is the primary criticism of Big Deal agreements from a collection development perspective?
- They require libraries to catalog each title individually
- They reduce local selection control and lock libraries into bundled titles they may not need (Correct answer)
- They eliminate the need for interlibrary loan services
- They are typically only available to public libraries
Correct answer: They reduce local selection control and lock libraries into bundled titles they may not need
Big Deal packages bundle hundreds or thousands of journals together, forcing libraries to pay for many titles with low or no usage and reducing their ability to select individually.
Question 7: In collection management, what is meant by the 'last copy' problem in cooperative collection development?
- The difficulty of binding the final issue of a discontinued serial
- The challenge of ensuring that at least one library in a region retains a unique or rare item before it is discarded (Correct answer)
- The problem of receiving a damaged final copy from a vendor
- The cataloging challenge when only one copy of a title exists in a system
Correct answer: The challenge of ensuring that at least one library in a region retains a unique or rare item before it is discarded
The 'last copy' problem arises when multiple libraries simultaneously consider withdrawing the same title, risking permanent loss of access to that work.
MLS Information Resources & Collection Management 3
Which collection assessment method uses standardized lists of core titles in a discipline to evaluate a library's holdings?