Guide to Writing Collection Development Policies for Music. (Diverse Topics).

Guide to Writing Collection Development Policies for Music. By Amanda Maple and Jean Morrow. (Music Library Association Technical Reports, 26.) Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2001. [xii, 110 p. ISBN 0-8108-4006-5. $40 (cloth); ISBN 0-8108-3865-6 $24.50 (pbk.).]

Music librarians know that collections of music materials are "different" from other library collections and often find it necessary to make their case in discussions with generalists, administrators, and other specialists. This slim volume, because of its focus on elucidating the detail that underlies and circumscribes music collections, will be an asset to all professionals needing to marshal their forces to articulate those distinctions. Whether doing a quick consult or a thorough read, one can quickly derive cogent points from the clear and useful text.

This volume supplements the American Library Association's (ALA) Guide for Written Collection Policy Statements (2d ed. [Chicago: American Library Association, 19961), a slender fourteen-page outline of basic tenets and principles. Authors Amanda Maple and Jean Morrow have focused and amplified these generic concepts to provide both substance and detail in addressing music collections. Their ninety pages of text draw attention to the wide range of considerations that music librarians must think about in formulating collection policy statements: categories of music, formats, media, gifts, and a myriad of other areas.

The structure of the book is in three parts: a checklist, an outline of a sample policy (with examples), and a complete collection development policy. A glossary, bibliography, and index conclude the volume. This is the first volume published by Scarecrow Press to appear in the long-running series of technical reports, and it is distinguished in its serviceable hardcover edition and handsomely designed paperback edition.

The checklist section provides the theoretical underpinnings for the rest of the book and adheres fairly rigorously to the ALA general guidelines. There is ...