In this sweeping revision of a text that has become an authoritative standard, expert instructor and librarian Peggy Johnson addresses the art of controlling and updating library collections, whether located locally or accessed remotely. Each chapter offers complete coverage of one aspect of collection development and management, including numerous suggestions for further reading and narrative case studies exploring the issues. Johnson thoroughly considers:

- Traditional management topics such as organization of the collection, weeding, staffing, and policymaking
- Maintaining productive relationships with vendors and publishers, and other important purchasing and budgeting topics
- The effects of rapidly changing information delivery and access technologies, the evolving needs and expectations of library users, and new roles for subject specialists.

Johnson offers a comprehensive tour of this essential discipline and situates the fundamental ideas of collection development and management in historical and theoretical perspective, bringing this modern classic fully up to date.