Formação e desenvolvimento de acervos na biblioteca da Universidade da Integração Internacional da Lusofonia Afro-Brasileira (UNILAB)

Abstract

The systematic collection developmenthas become an essential area for the managementof information environments today, whose basic function is providing information in all formats: impress and/or electronic.Through case study, this research analyzes the collection development at the Library of the Universidade da Integração Internacional da Lusofonia Afro-Brasileira (BU/UNILAB),an higher Education institution that recently was established in northeastern Brazil, based on parameters, guidelines, and criteria for the establishmentof a institutional formal policy in this area.Several studies in literature show that the formalization of this process is the first step of creating a collection rational,which meets the institutional goals and budgetary,as well as the informational demands of users.Moreover,policies,that are resultof carefully planned actions,provide operational efficiency of collection development,such as the selection,acquisition,discarding and evaluation.Atthis library,the challenge was to adaptthe available technical and theoretical contributions observed in literature to create a collection policy thatmeets the goals of a new institution,which is based on international cooperation among differentcountries,mostly African. A user-centered approach was essential to respond to the informational demands of a varied academic community from differentcultural,social and economic realities,joined by Portuguese language. Itis concluded thatthe success of broad public educational policies such as UNILAB will only be successful with libraries well organized and managed, with collections that meet the informational demands of academic communities.