Assessing the library collection, a necessary asset in times of crisis

Abstract

Collection evaluation is one more stage in the management of funds, whether printed or digital. It should be a routine task. However, in practice, libraries consider evaluation in crisis situations: the most frequent ones are lack of space or lack of budget. After a decade of growth in content, especially digital content, since 2010 the cuts in budgets for information suffered by university and scientific libraries have forced them to rethink decisions about purchasing resources and to evaluate acquisitions with the aim of adjusting to these cuts. It is an opportunity to resize the collection, get rid of what is unnecessary, cooperate where necessary, and even to change the unequal relationships between libraries and information providers.