Collection development and acquisitions in a changing university environment

Fondren Library at Rice University has reorganized and combined the library public services staff with the public services staff of the computer center. This reorganization was the result of several challenges at the university: the increasing use of computing in instruction, the rise in support questions for delivering information to the desktop, and the inability to add staff lines. These changes have affected the ways in which collection development is done, expanding the roles of selectors and cutting into their time. The line between public service and collection development has blurred. Some of the time constraints have affected procedures used in acquisitions.