Organizational structure, acquisition practice and collection development in a botanical research library in the United States

Abstract

In this survey the organizational structure, the acquisition practice and collection development at the LuEsther T. Mertz Library of the New York Botanical are analyzed and discussed. The Mertz Library specializes in botany and horticulture and it collects materials published in all core botanical subjects as comprehensively as possible. The library serves both as an institutional research library and a public library. It is sought by a broad constituency, locally and abroad, for plant information. The budget organization and financial management is a complex, long-term planning process that requires the implementation of a detailed strategic program and finance plan in which the entire parent institution is involved. The strength-of-collection analysis, the collection development analysis and age-of-collection analysis conducted within the framework of this study provide detailed information on the growth of monograph collections in all main collecting areas of the Mertz Library, in the Library of Congress-Classes Q (Science) and S (Agriculture). This survey also allows a comparison of the library acquisition practice with the goals and mission of the parent organization.