A qualitative assessment of the library collection to find relevance and currency to the users in the time of transition from print to electronic: A study at the main library, eastern university of Sri Lanka

Despite the library services are more or less inclined to electronic resources; the importance of complying with well-drawn collection development policies is never neglected in any library management, especially running with limited resources. Although the libraries are facing scarcity, they have to run abreast technological advancements. The researcher, in this paper, considers that the collection development policy is an invisible vertebra of the library function, since a rich collection that does not ignore electronic information resources, will serve the voracious user demand at best. In the case of the main library concerned in the study, allocation for information resources has been fluctuating every year, thus strife arises among the faculties as to who should be given more budget priority. From undergraduates’ point of view, the demanded titles do not have sufficient number of copies to cater to them when examinations approach. Moreover, the physical space in the library is more challenged than ever as the collection grows every year with new additions through procurements and donations, nevertheless, the old stuff is not weeded off the shelves in the past. Above all, the main library is gradually employing electronic services through digital repository means as well as it is concentrating on adding more electronic resources to the collection. Hence, the research examines the need for and avenues to devise an effective collection development policy for the main library of the university, with the anticipation to move into cooperative collection development practice among other university libraries in Sri Lanka.