The priorities of collection development in the digital library: viewpoints of faculty members and post-graduate students of Shiraz University

This study investigates the priorities of collection development for the Digital Library of Shiraz University on the bases of the viewpoints of faculty members and post- graduate students. This is a quantitative survey. A questionnaire was used for data collection. The number of the research population was 5261 of which 351 persons were selected as sample of the study. Descriptive and inferential statistic were used to analyze data by Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).Findings/ Findings showed that the highest priority for collection development was given to research reports produced by academic staff. Electronic books were the highest priority for library patrons. The highest priority for collection development was given to research reports produced by academic staff. Subjects of the study gave importance to index and access points more than other measures that have been effective in collection development. Users preferred fulltext in comparison to other textual formats. Among different information formats, library users prefer images in JPEG format. The majority of subjects of the study agreed to digitization of special and unique collections and integration of physical and digital resources as well. They showed their agreement with 21/21 percent allocation of resources to digital and physical information resources. Originality/Value: The highest priority of digital library is to serve the information needs of its users. In this study, we attempted to explore information needs of potential users of digital library of Shiraz University and the responses of this library to its patron's needs.