Building a retrospective multicultural collection: a practical approach

Abstract

Examines the contribution of the library to Old Dominion University's five-year strategic plan, which targeted cultural diversity as one of its eight objectives and included specific statements about library support of this goal. To meet its part, the library created a three-pronged action plan for the selection of videos, development of guides to the collection, and an evaluation of the multicultural collection, the most extensive portion of the project. Explains the choice of university minority and international student populations to assist in prioritizing collection efforts. The actual assessment project was collection-centered; project coordinators identified a series of appropriate bibliographies to compare against the collection as the most practical way to meet defined objectives. The resulting retrospective desiderata list identified resources (once funding became available) to improve both the depth and scope of the library multicultural collections with very little impact on staffing.Building a retrospective multicultural collection: a practical approach

Revolutionary cinema: an annotated bibliography of the 1989 and 1991 revolutions through the lens of cinema

“…Pinhey (2002) makes note of an elective film course on modern history developed for 12th-grade high school students by Ron Briley. Pettingill and Morgan (1996) recommend developing an action plan to best develop a film collection and then make it findable and easily searched (p. 11). In the case of a topic such as films relating to the 1989 European revolutions, only a relatively small budget will be needed, because the list will be finite.…”

Exploring reader response to minority ethnic fiction

“…Pettingill and Morgan (1996) tested the ethnic composition of a library's stock by comparing the library's holdings against titles listed as “multicultural texts” in bibliographies. Whilst such a method is fairly limited in its approach, it nonetheless raises questions as to the nature and composition of minority ethnic stock collections, and whether or not they should match the profile of the local community.…”

‘What we should strive for is Britishness’: An attitudinal investigation of ethnic diversity and the public library

“…However, in a study of Danish libraries Berger (2002) concludes that it is mainly older members of minority ethnic communities who request materials in their mother tongue, and that younger users generally prefer to read in English. Pettingill and Morgan (1996) tested the ethnic composition of a library's stock by comparing the library's holdings against titles listed as 'multicultural texts' in bibliographies. Whilst such a method is fairly limited in its approach, it nonetheless raises questions as to the nature and composition of minority ethnic stock collections, and whether or not they should match the profile of the local community.…”