ABSTRACT

This summer Bill Katz asked me for an article for a compilation of reference collection policies.1 In my response to Dr. Katz, my thinking was that elaborate collection development policies for reference (although impressive to display and a nice addition to the many policies which libraries produce) was not really that useful. I thought that the way reference collections typically evolved and were evaluated could be supported as well by only a concise conceptual statement or list (perhaps less than one page) without any damage to the collection. It was decided that I would pursue this concept for the “Evaluation of Reference Services” issue of The Reference Librarian rather than as part of the proposed book.