YBP Select Profiling System
Frequently Asked Questions

What is YBP Select?

YBP Select is a new system of YBP and Lindsay and Croft bibliographic descriptors designed as indicators for academic libraries of a book's accessibility and quality.

What is new about YBP Select?

Book vendors traditionally have not made qualitative judgments. We think many libraries will find it useful to be able to take advantage of our staff's book knowledge. YBP Select makes this possible.

What are the categories in the YBP Select system? YBP Select is a system of seven categories. Two "Basic" categories are assigned to books accessible to anyone within the academic community. Two "Research" categories indicate books more appropriate to advanced students and to faculty members. Accessibility values are then combined with qualitative values to form the two categories "Basic Essential" and "Research Essential," books of high interest to all libraries supporting, respectively, introductory and advanced programs. "Basic Recommended" and "Research Recommended," similarly, indicate good books that even so will often be discretionary purchases. "Specialized" books will probably be used only by experts in a field, and so would normally only be needed by libraries supporting advanced research. The "Supplementary" category describes good examples of books that are not works of scholarship, such as textbooks or popular genres such as cookbooks, that libraries may find useful but will want to buy selectively. Books assigned the "Not Select" value will usually be popular books or other books marginal to most academic library collections.

Please click here for full definitions of all YBP Select categories.

Please click here for examples of titles within each category.

What books are categorized under YBP Select?

YBP and Lindsay and Croft assign Select categories to all books profiled under their Approval Plan programs. We began doing this in spring 2003.

Who assigns YBP Select categories?

YBP Select categories are assigned by YBP and Lindsay and Croft bibliographers as part of the profiling process. The categories are assigned with book-in-hand, shortly after publication, at the same time all other bibliographic descriptors are assigned.

What are the qualifications of the bibliographers who assign YBP Select categories?

All of our 15 bibliographers examine thousands of new books each year. They become very familiar with the characteristics of books in their assigned subject areas, which frequently correspond to their formal subject expertise gained through advanced study or professional experience. Our bibliographers' experience averages about eight years. Some have been with our company for over twenty years.

How do your bibliographers determine YBP Select categories?

We take into consideration factors like author background; publisher reputation; physical quality; format; style; likely audience; and timeliness, uniqueness, and pertinence of subject matter. Again, this assessment is made with book-in-hand by experienced bibliographers who see virtually every new book published in their subject areas.

You can't possibly get it right 70,000 times a year.

We agree. We don't claim to evaluate books as a scholar would, as a reviewer who spends weeks with a book might, or as millions of readers do over the life course of a book. We believe, though, that our bibliographers, who see more books than even scholars, reviewers, or serious readers, can offer a useful first cut on relevance and quality to librarians who have less and less time to make these judgments themselves.

What if I do want to make those judgments myself?

Use of the YBP Select system is entirely optional. Librarians who would prefer not to make use of our YBP Select categories can simply ignore them.

Why would I buy a "Not Select" title? Those must be bad books.

"Not Select" does not mean "bad book." Usually, as with popular books, it means that the primary audience of author and publisher is not academic libraries. These may be fine books, but books academic libraries probably will acquire in a highly selective manner.

What role does profit to your company play in YBP Select assignments?

None. In fact many of the more popular trade titles, on which YBP and Lindsay and Croft will receive the highest publisher discounts, will be categorized by our bibliographers as "Not Select."

Does YBP Select affect the number of titles handled for YBP and L&C customers?

No. We continue to profile 60,000-70,000 distinct new titles annually with book-in-hand, more than handled by any other company. We have merely added YBP Select categorization to our profiling routines. The system has no effect on the number of books we buy from publishers.

Do paper slips show YBP Select categories?

No.

How does the YBP Select system affect my library's Approval Plan or Slip Plan profile?

It has no effect, unless your library has chosen to incorporate YBP Select categories into the profile.

Then how can I use YBP Select?

YBP Select categories might be useful to selectors in reviewing slips or other discretionary purchases. YBP Select might also be a good way to focus a GOBI search or a larger YBP or L&C retrospective project.

What's the difference between "Content Level" and "YBP Select?"

YBP and Lindsay and Croft bibliographers have assigned content level to titles for many years. These descriptors indicate accessibility, but otherwise have no qualitative element. YBP Select categories represent judgments about both accessibility and quality.

What would be the advantage of incorporating Select Values into my Approval Plan or Slip Plan profile?

For libraries whose profile is working well, there wouldn't necessarily be any advantage. For some libraries, in particular those who want to begin a small or medium-sized profile, basing a profile upon YBP Select values can focus the bibliographic universe in ways traditional categories cannot. Libraries with larger profiles, too, may find that incorporating YBP Select categories into their profile may be a good way to narrow coverage in some subject areas. Libraries of any size may find that YBP Select categories make it possible to have a simpler profile than otherwise possible.

Where can I see YBP Select titles?

In GOBI. Electronic slips and other online title records show our Select categorizations for all recent Approval Plan titles. Any GOBI search will return these titles. GOBI's Advanced Search enables searching by Select categories. A user might, for example, query GOBI to find "Basic Essential" titles in History that were "not acquired by my library." Many other search combinations would be possible.