ABSTRACT
Electronic resources are becoming an increasingly common and pervasive presence and influence in libraries of all types, but they have become especially so in academic libraries. Many scientific, technical, medical, and other academic journals are also being released in electronic editions, in addition to the paper versions, as well as the many free and for-fee full-text and bibliographic databases that are now available. This has made making well-informed collection development decisions based on the evaluation of technical issues involved, in addition to their selection, purchase and mounting, an indispensable function in the library. This function now requires very close cooperation between collection development personnel, including the subject bibliographers, the information technology (or systems) department, and the electronic resources coordinator, if one is available. Relationships between the information technology and collection development departments in modern academic libraries are complex and evolving, and will probably continue to be so for the foreseeable future. This relationship can be characterized as involving two organizations that speak somewhat different languages, and which are likely to have somewhat different priorities, but that must nonetheless struggle and persevere to reach a mutual understanding of each other, and of their common goals, so as to best serve the end-users in the university community—the students, faculty and staff.
