Collection Development Policies in Central Librariesof Iranian Universities

This research aimed to evaluate and compare the status of the collection development policies and identify problematic factors in applying the policies in university libraries in Iran. The methodology was a descriptive survey. The study population was central libraries of the universities supervised by the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology and the Ministry of Health and Medical Education. The data collection tool was a questionnaire. The findings show that 18 libraries (54.4%) of central libraries of the universities supervised by the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology have a written policy, 7 libraries (21.2%) have an oral policy and 8 libraries (24.2%) lack a collection development policy. While 5 (17.9%) of the central libraries of the universities supervised by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education have written policy, 14 libraries (50%) have an oral policy and 9 libraries (32/1%) lack any collection development policy. The problems of collection development policies can be divided into two categories: