Acquisitions is the operational process of obtaining resources; collection development is the strategic discipline that decides what should be obtained, retained and removed over time. Together they ensure the collection remains relevant, balanced and affordable. Good collection development is policy-driven, not ad hoc: it is governed by a written Collection Development Policy (CDP) that defines scope, subject strengths, formats, languages, and the community the collection serves.

In a hybrid environment the discipline has widened well beyond purchasing print. It now spans licensing electronic resources, negotiating consortial deals, managing open-access content, and making evidence-based retention and deselection decisions.

The collection development cycle

  • Community analysis - understand user needs, demographics and research priorities.
  • Policy - a CDP setting scope, depth (often graded on the Conspectus model), and selection criteria.
  • Selection - choosing titles against the policy, using reviews, approval plans and usage data.
  • Acquisition - ordering, licensing, receiving and paying, via vendors, agents or direct.
  • Evaluation & deselection - assessing use and weeding (the CREW/MUSTIE method is widely applied).

Acquisition methods and models

Resources arrive by purchase, subscription, licence, exchange, legal deposit, donation or open access. Modern e-resource acquisition uses demand-driven acquisition (DDA/PDA), evidence-based acquisition (EBA), and Big Deal or title-by-title subscriptions. Practitioners should track cost-per-use, licence terms (including perpetual access and post-cancellation rights), and preservation guarantees such as participation in LOCKSS, CLOCKSS or Portico. Transformative and read-and-publish agreements are reshaping how research libraries fund access alongside open-access publishing.

In practice. Before renewing any subscription, calculate cost-per-use from your usage statistics (COUNTER reports make this comparable across vendors). A high cost-per-use title is a renewal conversation; a licence with no perpetual-access clause is a preservation risk regardless of price.

Key takeaways

  • A written Collection Development Policy turns acquisition from ad hoc buying into strategic, defensible decisions.
  • The cycle runs from community analysis through selection and acquisition to evaluation and deselection - weeding is part of development, not its opposite.
  • E-resource acquisition demands attention to licence terms, cost-per-use and long-term preservation, not just sticker price.

Check your understanding

Last modified: Saturday, 1 August 2026, 10:37 AM