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Selection, Evaluation, and Maintenance of the Reference Collection 15 Part RT 1 W hat AT I s R efere FER E nce E A ll L A bou t? Chapter 2 Selection, Evaluation, and Maintenance of the Reference Collection Introduction The digital information revolution has resulted in the most marked changes in the types of reference sources and services used in the school library. Nowadays, the reference collection occupies at least two places in the library—on bookshelves in a separate section and on the school library Web page. The continuous transformation of references sources and services from a print-­based medium to a mix of print and electronic formats has had a significant impact on the selection and evaluation of materials and how they are updated and maintained in the library. The term collection development refers to the process of systematically building library collections to serve, study, teach, research, and meet other needs of students and teachers. The process includes selection and weeding of current and retrospective materials, the planning of strategies for continuing acquisition, and evaluating collections to determine how well they serve user needs. Overall, collection development encompasses many library operations ranging from selection from the group of individual titles for purchase to the withdrawal of expendable materials. As with ALA guidelines, this outline has been designed to use within all library types. What is a reference source? Broadly speaking, it can be defined as materials, from book to computer to periodical to photograph that can be found anywhere in the library or online. A narrow definition restricts the term to sources specifically