Publication analysis
About the publication
Title: Collection Management
ISSN: 0146-2679 (Print) and 1545-2549 (Online)1
Website: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/aboutThisJournal?journalCode=wcol20
Purpose, objective, or mission: The website of Collection Management states that the publication “offers library professionals of all types crucial guidance in the fast-changing field of collection management, including the latest developments in sharing and providing access to resources, creating digital collections, preserving both traditional and digital library resources, applying technological developments to managing collections, training and developing staff, and managing and analyzing the administrative data associated with building collections, such as usage, licensing or rights, access, and financial issues.”2
Target audience: Librarians and information specialists working in access services, interlibrary loan, and special collections; library administrators and educators; archivists, curators, bibliographers, academics, students, and publishers who work with libraries.3
Publisher: Routledge/Taylor and Francis Group4
Peer reviewed? Yes5
Type: LIS scholarly6
Medium: Print and online7
Content: Collection Management covers topics on collection management, planning, allocation of resources, selection, and acquisitions, development of virtual collections, consortia, resource sharing, preservation, and other relevant topics8
Frequency of publication: Quarterly9
About the publication’s submission guidelines
Location of submission guidelines: https://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?show=instructions&journalCode=wcol20
Types of contributions accepted: Per the publication website, “The journal welcomes articles that provide library professionals with crucial guidance about the latest developments in sharing and providing access to resources, creating digital collections, preserving both traditional and digital library resources, applying technological developments to managing collections, training and developing staff, and managing and analyzing the administrative data associated with building collections, such as usage, licensing or rights, access, and financial issues.”10
Submission and review process: Collection Management does not require initial queries or proposals; it accepts completed manuscripts. Using the ScholarOne Manuscript software, Taylor and Francis offers an extensive website, Authors Services, that provides guidance beyond the submission guidelines for this specific journal and is full of helpful information.11
Editorial tone: Scholarly, suitable for practitioners and academics in the LIS field.12
Style guide used: The Chicago Manual of Style, latest edition13 See the recommended reference guide here.
Conclusion: Evaluation of publication’s potential for LIS authors
Collection Management is an authoritative and credible LIS scholarly publication. This peer-reviewed journal publishes articles on collection development and related topics. With this in mind, potential authors may contribute articles on a broad variety of topics, from electronic resource acquisitions to recreational reading collections to book preservation. Authors need to be certain they submit work that contributes to the body of knowledge on collection management.
The journal is indexed/abstacted in De Gruyter Saur; IBZ; EBSCOhost; Academic Search Complete; CINAHL; H.W. Wilson; Library, Information science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA); MasterFILE Complete; RILM Abstracts of Music Literature; TOC Premier; Elsevier BV; Scopus; OCLC; ArticleFirst; Education Index; Electronic Collections Online; ProQuest; Aerospace Database; Civil Engineering Abstracts; Engineering Research Database; FRANCIS; LISA: Library & Information Science Abstracts; METADEX and VINITI RA.14
Audience analysis
About the publication’s readers
Publication circulation: Circulation information not available.
Audience location and language or cultural considerations: The journal is published in English in the United States, but has an international audience.15 The issues covered are of interest to librarians whether they are in United States, Taiwan, or Germany, with topics including how to manage collection development in a digital environment, selection versus censorship, and the use of circulation statistics and interlibrary loan data in collection management.16
Reader characteristics: Readers range from associate university librarians to assistant professors to electronic resources librarians. Often the audience will have earned several degrees: BA, MLS or MLIS, MA, and perhaps PhD. Readers often have supervisory functions with purchasing responsibility, either selecting or authorizing resources for purchase. Readers of Collection Management will most likely have several publications of their own in their portfolio and therefore expect to see well-thought-out and well-researched articles.17
The readers of Collection Management have the same professional interests in common, building their library collections in support of the research and teaching agendas of their parent institutions. They meet the challenge of changing technology, providing the latest publications, and staying within limited library budgets. Collection Management has well-researched theoretical and practical articles that help librarians of any rank succeed in their work. It explores “the future and emerging trends in the field and provides reviews of relevant books, technological resources, and software. This useful resource examines technological advances that help librarians manage and assess collections, such as electronic resource management modules, utilities that provide journal coverage data, and developments in the preservation of library materials.”18
Collection Management is geared towards librarians and information professionals who are interested in articles that help them understand how collection assessment tools and methods can help improve their overall resource management and planning for the future, including how to effectively use staff, facilities, and computing resources.19
Knowledge of LIS subject matter: Collection Management is a peer-reviewed publication that focuses on collection development in college, university, and research libraries of all types. The main readers are librarians and information specialists working in access services, interlibrary loan, and special collections; library administrators and educators; archivists, curators, bibliographers, academics, students, and publishers who work with libraries. These readers have a strong background on LIS topics and issues. Not only will they understand library jargon, but they will expect to find it in articles written for this journal.20
Conclusion: Analysis of reader characteristics and their potential impact on authors
Prospective authors for Collection Management would do best to consider the education level of the audience and the journal’s reputation for addressing the challenges of their profession. Successful submissions will target current issues in collection management.
Last updated: May 11, 2020
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