Best practice
Collection management current best practice in Queensland, Australia and overseas. Use as a reference for creating your own policies and tools.
Queensland
Best Practice Collection Management [new window 
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Powerpoint presentation by Sharon Robertson, Brisbane City Council Library Service (BCC) for the Collections Forums conducted in Brisbane and Mackay November 2007.
Strategic Procurement of Library Collections [new window] Paper presented to the ALIA Click06 Conference, Perth September 2006 by Sharon Robertson, BCC.
New South Wales
The NSW Public Library Network Research Committee [new window] has produced a report which analysed the costs and benefits of outsourcing acquisitions, cataloguing and processing in the NSW public library network. The report provides an evidence based framework and a practical tool which will assist public libraries and local councils to make informed choices about the most effective use of available resources.
International
Better stock, better libraries: transforming library stock procurement [new window] Museums, Libraries & Archives Council U.K. (August 2006).
Floating Collections: How to increase, save money on couriers and refresh your collections [new window] Auckland (November 2005)
Supply Specification - Best Practice for Public Libraries [new window] Report by the National Acquisitions Group in the UK provides best practice guidance to two important elements in the effective management, selection and supply of a hard-working, best value, customer-focused stock. These being the supply specification and the stock management framework which underpins it.
Community profiling
Check the latest population figures for your area on the Australian Bureau of Statistics [new window] website.
Collection assessment
Collection assessment: tools and references [new window]: This site from the National Library of Australia provides a list of tools and references useful for undertaking an assessment of your library's collection.
This stockplan template [new window 93 kb] is useful to formally assess your collection. Record high usage areas and areas of the collection underused to guide your purchasing.
Last updated: 31st October 2011
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