Organizing Library Collections: Theory and Practice

by Gretchen L. Hoffman

Libraries organize their collections to help library users find what they need. Organizing library collections may seem like a straightforward and streamlined process, but it can be quite complex, and there is a large body of theory and practice that shape and support this work. Learning about the organization of library collections can be challenging. Libraries have a long history of organizing their collections, there are many principles, models, standards, and tools used to organize collections, and theory and practice are changing constantly.



Written for beginning library science students, Organizing Library Collections: Theory and Practice introduces the theory and practice of organizing library collections in a clear, straightforward, and understandable way. It explains why and how libraries organize their collections, and how theory and practice work together to help library users. It introduces basic cataloging and metadata theory, describes and evaluates the major cataloging and metadata standards and tools used to organize library collections, and explains, in general, how all libraries organize their collections in practice. Yet, this book not only introduces theory and practice in general, it introduces students to a wide range of topics involved in organizing library collections. This book explores how academic, public, school, and special libraries typically organize their collections and why. It also discusses standardization and explains how cataloging and metadata standards and policies are developed. Ethical issues also are explored and ethical decision-making is addressed. In addition, several discussion questions and class activities reinforce concepts introduced in each chapter. Students should walk away from this book understanding why and how libraries organize their collections.

Genres: Nonfiction

394 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 5, 2019

Reviews

[Chanda Ferguson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really difficult textbook to find a copy of for purchase, but I was able to rent an ebook version that I found really helpful with one of my MLIS courses. A lot of the assignments were directly aligned with the textbook, which made me enjoy using this textbook more than I would have otherwise. I did really appreciate Hoffman's approaches and articulation of concepts at times, and I liked that it was a good overview of a lot of information without being too overwhelming, disorganized, or confusing. It felt really informational without being heavy, and I found myself learning quite a bit more than I expected.

[Rhiannon]

unfortunately I lost too much of my summer to this textbook for it to not count toward my goal part 2 <3

[Rusty del Norte · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good overview of cataloging materials. Doesn't go very deep and can seem repetitive at times.

[Taylor Worsham]

For MLS Organization of Information course - Spring 2022

[Trevor]

UK MLIS Fall '22. The way she editorializes about Google and other current trends is really funny and kind of alien to me in a textbook of this kind, but I guess that's what specialization gets you.

[Cynthia Parkhill]

I'm enrolled for Spring 2024 in a Library Cataloging class. This is one of the course textbooks.

[Sheri Vance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Textbook

[Brook]

MLIS Fall 2025