Developing Our Collections - Glossary

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Access/accessed/accessible/accessibility – to locate and provide a means of getting

Approval plan - A plan where library material is selected by a vendor from a predetermined profile and delivered to a library, however the library retains the right to return any unwanted proportion of material

Blanket plan - An order agreement between vendor and library that the vendor will deliver all material within a particular criteria and the library agrees to accept it. The criteria could be publisher, subject or format.

Collaborative collecting - work with another organization/s under an agreement for collecting responsibilities

Collection - a group of items with a common link gathered together, either permanently or temporarily, in an area.

Collecting Criteria – the rules or principles for collecting

Consortium – a combination of organisations undertaking a large project or task, usually requiring significant resources

Derivative – a copy of an original item

Digital/ digitised – a non-analogue format

Document (documented, documentary) – a record, usually written but may be pictorial, digital or audio which imparts information or enriches learning.

Ephemera – material produced for a specific and transient purpose, one time and short use and which is usually physically slight.

Exchange – change for another

Film – a media that contains consecutive pictures or photos of objects which are thrown rapidly onto a screen to give the illusion that the objects are moving

Format – the general physical appearance

Genealogy – an account of the descent of a person or family through an ancestral line

Hardcopy – a copy that is firm to touch

Heritage – documented material that either:

• relates to the history, life, culture and achievements of people associated with Western Australia or is
• rare and supports but does not relate directly to the history, life, culture and achievements of people associated with Western Australia.

Heritage collections - heritage items stored either in digital or physical format at or by the State Library, including those items housed in the J.S. Battye Library of Western Australian history or in offsite storage.

Indian Ocean Territories - Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands

Indigenous – Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders

Local interest newsletters - newsletters of groups or associations that are of most relevance and continuing interest to a small specific group and/or locality.

Manuscripts – a creator’s original copy of a work, usually handwritten but may be typed with handwritten annotations. May also include digital works.

Monographs – A publication complete in one volume or a finite number of volumes.

Ownership/owned – belonging to the State Library

Outstanding – notable, important in the field

Pictorial – expressed in the nature of a picture

Preservation – to protect and keep safe from decay or damage

Private Archives – a collection of records from private individuals rather than organizations or the state

Published – works available to the public, including works for limited distribution, and those available on or through the web

Rare – has a high $ value reflecting its scarcity or uniqueness

Realia – not printed or written three dimensional object

Retention period – the length of time an item will be kept

Rationalise – to apply a set of criteria to a collection or resource to eliminate unnecessary resources

Reference – documented material that is based on fact or perceived fact to which people can refer (non fiction) 

Research/ researchers – (a person who carries out) an investigation to establish facts or collect information on a subject

Resource - a source of aid to do something

Serials – a publication regularly issued and consecutively numbered

Significant – noteworthy, important

Sound recordings – a record of sound which may include voice and music

Transcriptions – a representation in writing of speech

Unpublished – not produced or issued for public distribution

Urtext – the version of the music as it was created by the composer

Value – the worth of an item which may be determined by elements such as price, rarity, significance or usefulness