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£24.95 Amazon.co.uk |
Details: |
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ISBN: 185604422X
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Published by Facet Publishing
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Written by Stuart D. Lee
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Book published February 2002
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Other opinions: |
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Review and customer comments at amazon.co.uk
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Title:
Building an Electronic Resource Collection - A Practical Guide
Review:
This book advertises itself as a step-by-step guide for those new to
the field of e-collection development, and a useful source of best
practice for the more experienced professional. It fulfils both of
these criteria in a surprisingly small number of pages (125pp for the
body, 147pp including glossary and index).
In only five chapters the author covers: a brief history of electronic
publishing; key differences between electronic and traditional
collection building; an overview of what resources are on offer;
specific advice on e-books and e-journals; and detailed step by step
advice on assessing, acquiring and finally delivering the dataset
(one thing to get used to when reading this book is the author's use
of the word 'dataset' instead of 'electronic resource').
This is very much a book that can be read sequentially, although it
falls naturally into two parts - background to be aware of before you
start the process, then a detailed guide through the process,
including clear flowcharts to summarise key points.
It covers its subject thoroughly and when an aspect is not dealt with
the reader is normally referred to another publication where they
will find information on it if required. The style of the book is
no-nonsense and practical just as the title suggests. The layout
is clear and spacious.
Particular features which I found helpful were: flowcharts explaining
key stages of the processl; an overall summary of the steps to take in
the process, which strangely does not form a chapter in its own right;
a glossary of terms; and a rich bibliography including organisations
and mailing lists as well as articles and books, with most items on
the list including web addresses. Interestingly, however, bearing in
mind the subject matter, the book does not appear to have an
accompanying website of its own.
My favourite section was some common-sense advice on licence
agreements and what you should expect them to state clearly. Amongst
other aspects this included usage statistics that will be provided,
user support available and guarantees of long-term access to the
material. This is probably one of the first sections I would refer
to if buying a new electronic resource, along with its excellent
evaluation checklist, which the author acknowledges is composed of
work collated from other institutions.
There is, perhaps a slight bias in the book towards academic
institutions, but this is only really noticeable in the references and
examples given and does not limit the usefulness of the book. I have
no hesitation in recommending this book both as a quick read to get an
overview of the subject and also as something to keep as a handy
reference tool to refer to when required.
Free Pint Reviewer:
Veronica Bezear is an Information Officer working for Surrey County Council's Adults and Community Care service. She writes here in a personal capacity.
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