Chapter 25 – Selection Tools

25.1 Basic Texts in Selection and Acquisition of Library Materials

There are many sources that provide assistance for librarians to select materials for acquisitions. Some of
these selection tools provide evaluative information and are selective in nature, while other tools are more
comprehensive lists of titles available for purchase.
The following is a list of basic texts that can be consulted in selecting and acquiring library materials.
 Theory of Book selection for Public Libraries (1925) by Lionel R. McColvin
 Book Selection (1930) by Francis Drury
 A Manual of Practical Book Selection for Public Libraries (1939) by Harold V. Bonny
 Library Book Selection (1952) by S. R. Ranganathan
 Building Library Collection (6th ed., 1985 by Mary D. Carter, et. al.
 Selecting Materials for Libraries (2nd ed., 1981) by Robert Broadus
 Living With Books (1950) by Helen Haines
25.2 Selection Tools for Books
Selection tools for books may either be selective or comprehensive.
1. Selective resources only list s fraction of the available titles based on some criteria. They provide
critical evaluation for the books. They are especially helpful in making title selection decisions.
Included in this category are:
a. Book reviews
These resources provide descriptive and evaluative information that can be used instead of
physically examining the actual book. They make comparisons to similar works to help the
librarian determine whether the book being reviewed should be added to the library
collection. Examples of titles of some of these printed book reviews include:
o School Library Journal
o Library Journal
o Booklist
o Choice
o American Reference Books Annual
Book reviews are also available from the internet. Some of the web sites that contain book
reviews include:
o http://www.ala.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Products_and_Publications/
Periodicals/Booklist/Booklist.html
o Bookwire at
http://www.bookwire.com/bookwire
o New York Times Book Reviews at http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/index.html
o AcqWeb’s Directory of Book Reviews on the Web at
http://www.acqweb.library.vanderbilt.edu/acqweb/bookrev.html
b. “Best of” books and recommended lists
These materials are intended for non-current reviews. They can be used as checklists to see to
it that no good book has been missed. If the selectors know that the library community’s
reading choices are influenced by recommendations, they may want to consider recommended
lists in the book selection process. Examples of web sites that contain such lists are
o Literary Lists at
http://www.stat.wharton.upenn.edu/~seller/litlists.html
o Oprah’s Recommended Books at
http://www.2think.org/oprah/oprah.shtml
c. Subject lists
2. Comprehensive resources include such listings as all of the books published in the United States, in a
bookstore inventory, by a particular publisher, and so on. They can be useful for verifying the
bibliographic and purchasing information for a book, for identifying new book publications, for
facilitating the purchasing and ordering process, and for keeping up with publishing trends. Included in
the category are:
a. Publisher sources
 These resources include catalog, flyers, and announcements to libraries from publishers to
publicize their publications. They may also be web sites of publishers that contain the most
current information about their publication. Examples of these web links are:
o AcqWeb’s Directory of Publishers and Vendors at
http://www.acqweb.library.vanderbilt.edu/acqweb/pubr.html
o Publishers’ Catalogues Home Page at
http://www.lights.com/publisher
o Bookwire at
http://www.bookwire.com/bookwire
b. Online bookstores
Online bookstores allow the selector to search and purchase print books over the internet.
They can provide a quick and easy way to find publication information for a wide range of
books. Online bookstores facilitate a convenient method for purchasing books urgently
needed. Example are:
o Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com, the largest online bookstore in the world.
It is a full-service online bookstore providing lists of book sellers, award-winners,
and excerpts from review sources.
o Barnes and Noble at http://www.barnesandnoble.com, which offers over one million
books that can be searched for and purchased over the internet.
o Alt.bookstore at http://www.altbookstore.com, which claims two million books in its
inventory and allows searching of books by title.
c. Directories of in-print and out-of-print books
These are resources for finding bibliographic and purchasing information of books that are
available for purchase, are about to be published, or are no longer being printed. Examples of
titles included in this category are
o Forthcoming Books
o Weekly Records
o Books in Print
d. National bibliographies
National bibliographies can be useful for checking what library owns a particular work in a
particular country. Such resources are usually published by national libraries or state libraries.
Examples of titles in this category include
o British National Bibliography
o National Union Catalog
o Bibloiographie Nationale Française
o Deutsche Nationalbibliographie
25.2 Selection Tools for Audiovisual Materials
Audiovisual materials fall under the genre of non-book library materials. It may be further broken down
into two narrower categories – audio and video materials. The term audiovisual relates to sound and vision,
especially when combined, for example in a presentation using both film and sound recordings.
In aid the librarian in selecting audio materials, there are printed publications that contain reviews of audio
materials which may help. Some of these titles include
 Publisher’s Weekly
 AudioFile
 Wilson Library Bulletin
 Library Journal
 Audiobook Review
 Parent’s Choice
The internet is also a good source of audio reviews. Examples are
 Book Aloud from Simon and Schuster at
http://www.simonsays.com/subs/index.cfm?areaid=45
 The Best Book Review Audio at
http://www.bookwire.com/bookwire/
 There are numerous printed and online sources that offer reviews of videos. Amazon.com is the most
popular among the online sources. Printed materials that can help in selecting video materials include:
 Choice
 Library Journal
 Video Librarian
 Video Review
 Video Source Book
 Film and Video Finder

25.3 Selection Tools for Graphic Materials

Maps, globes, photographs, illustrations, and some kinds of games fall under the graphic materials genre.
Reviews of graphic materials can be found in professional sources such as the Cartography and Geographic
Information Systems (formerly American Cartographer).
The following web sites also provide reviews of graphic materials.
 Cartographic Journal at
http://info.abdn.ac.uk/~geo181/journal.htm
 US Geological Association at
http://www.usgs.gov
 Maps and References at
http://www.nlc.state.ne.us/nsf/maps.html

25.5 Selection Tools for Microforms

Microform selection will also be more effective if reviews on these materials are considered. Published
printed guides to microform selection include
 Guide to Microforms in Print
 National Register of Microform Masters
 Microform Review
Several publishing companies offer microform versions of their publications. They also provide some
useful information in microform selection in their web sites. Examples are
 UMI at
www.umi.com
 Chadwyck-Healey at
http://www.chadwyck.co.uk
 Norman Ross at
http://www.nross.com/Welcome.html

25.6 Selection Tools for Serials

For information that6 will aid the librarian in selecting serials, some library magazines and journals that
provide reviews on periodical titles. Examples are
 Library Journal
 New Magazine Review
If the main concern is the addition of established serial titles (instead of new ones) to the serials collection,
Magazines for Libraries by6 William Katz is a nice tool. It selectively lists and annotates approximately 7,000 ‘best’
magazines for libraries. It can be used to build periodicals subscriptions in a particular subject area. This is
published in an interval of several years, so it is not a useful tool for new periodicals or for everyday collection
development.
Directories of periodicals and newspapers are standard reference sources useful in finding subscription
information. They provide brief descriptions of periodicals and newspapers. These sources aim at being
comprehensive rather than selective and are published on an annual basis. Popular titles of these sources are
 Ulrich’s International Periodicals Directory by R. R. Bowker
 Serial’s Directory by EBSCO
 The International Directory of Little Magazines and Small Presses
 Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media
 Another group of sources of information useful in the selection of serials are serials lists. Here are some
titles.
 Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature by H. W. Wilson
(This selection is not meant to be a selection tool but many libraries rely on it on the basis of whether a
periodical is indexed in this source. Because it indexes general periodicals, it is used in many public
libraries.)
 New Serials Titles
(This publication indicates which libraries subscribe to the periodical titles listed. This information can
be useful if the selector if the basis for selection of serials is comparison with other libraries’ serial
collections with similar size and scope in order to identify possible gaps in the collection.)