Toward a Structural Approach to Collection Development

Abstract

A method for developing acquisition priorities based upon scholarly need is discussed, using some of the newer techniques in the area of information science. The structuralist approach requires a method interpreted through the study of behavior and properties of subject literatures. Behavior refers to temporal conditions while properties relate to the organizing principles of class and order. Subject literature behavior and properties are described in this paper through the techniques of citation counting, Bradford's law, and Coffman's indirect method.