The purpose of this collection development policy is to state the principles and guidelines used by Logan Library in the selection, acquisition, evaluation and maintenance of library materials. It is used not only to provide consistency among those responsible for developing the collection but also to communicate the library's policies to faculty, students, staff, and other interested persons. To meet the changing requirements of the curricula, instructional methods, and information technology, this policy will be subject to continued review and revision accordingly.
2. Mission Statement
The mission of William M. Logan Library is to provide traditional and innovative information resources and services in support of the educational programs of Schreiner University. To fulfill this mission, the Library commits to the following objectives:
- Building collections and creating tools to support research, teaching, and learning;
- Providing access to and promoting the discovery and use of local and external information resources;
- Ensuring the preservation and long-lasting availability of Library collections and resources;
- Creating hospitable physical and virtual environments for study, teaching, and research;
- Collaborating with other members of the University to enrich the research and learning community;
- Advancing local, national, and international library and information initiatives;
- Developing, encouraging, and sustaining expertise, skill, commitment and an innovative spirit in its staff.
3. Responsible Entities for Collection Development
Responsibility for planning, developing, maintaining, preserving and evaluating the collection rests with the library director and library faculty. Their responsibilities include the following:
- Recommending appropriate library resources in support of the mission of Schreiner University.
- Reviewing and approving collection development policies, including overall strategic objectives for collection development at the Library.
- Identifying areas of collection strengths and weaknesses to guide the setting of priorities in collection development and preservation.
- Granting approval or denying requests for major purchasing decisions including the handling of long-term acquisitions commitments such as standing orders, online databases, eBooks, continuations and serials.
- Establishing procedures for the approval of new subscriptions and the review of existing subscriptions.
- Participating in cooperative collection development projects involving other institutions.
4. Service Parameters
Schreiner University faculty, staff, and students are the main users of the Library, and as such, their needs represent our primary concern. Other patrons of the Library include alumni, members of the TexShare program, visiting faculty/scholars and the local community.
5. Collection Development Priorities
The subject collection areas for the library include all courses of study in the undergraduate and graduate programs offered at Schreiner University. Types of materials purchased for the collection include monographs, periodicals, online databases, serials, DVDs and so forth. The following is a hierarchical list of acquisition priorities:
- Materials to support accreditation requirements.
- Materials to support undergraduate majors and graduate programs.
- Materials for other courses and programs offered by the University.
- Materials for faculty research not directly related to the above.
- Materials responding to other needs of the library and the academic institution.
It is understood that these priorities are dependent also upon the collection level that has been established for each area, as well as how the other collections rate within their levels. These priorities do not determine how much is spent on each collection, but are to make sure that those collections that have problems meeting the first priority are remedied as soon as possible.
6. Selection Criteria:
Quality of content and fulfillment of academic curricular needs are the first criteria for the selection of items to be included in the library's collection. Specific considerations in choosing individual items include some or all of the following:
- Lasting value of the content;
- Appropriateness of level of treatment;
- Strengths of present holdings in same or similar subject areas;
- Availability of material in other formats (such as online);
- Authoritativeness of the author or reputation of the publisher;
- Use of review sources especially Choice Reviews;
- Cost.
Other guidelines also utilized:
- Textbooks are not normally purchased (exceptions are those which have earned reputations as "classics" in their fields, or when a textbook is the only or best source of information on a particular topic.);
- Duplicate or multiple copies are purchased only under unusual circumstances determined by circulation, reference, reserve or other related statistics;
- Lost, stolen, or damaged materials are replaced if they meet current selection criteria. Identical or similar materials may replace lost or stolen materials if the original is no longer available;
- Projects of cooperative acquisition with other libraries or through consortia are encouraged and supported.
7. Responsibility for Selection:
At the beginning of each academic year, the library director will share the specific subject areas that each library faculty member is required to develop. As much as possible, these library faculty members will serve as liaisons with academic departments and should work in cooperation with the teaching faculty to acquire the best possible resources for the library in the various subject areas. Requests made by teaching faculty from each department will take top priority provided they fall within the selection criteria.
The library's Collection Development Policy guidelines are followed in material selection and in the elimination, preservation, replacement, or removal of deteriorating and outdated or irrelevant materials in the collection. All requests for materials are reviewed and compared to selection guidelines. Student and staff requests are welcome and are reviewed by the same standard, as are requests from other sources.
The Library Director is a non-voting member of the Academic Affairs Committee (AAC). It is through this channel that the Director monitors academic program developments in order to help the library anticipate changing curricular needs and subsequently, make changes in the collection. If available, additional funds for the new programs are added on top of the existing budget through the new department's budget.
8. Collection Evaluation
Collection evaluation is a measurement of the library's physical holdings and any online resources to which the library has access.
The Library will use subject-specific and standard bibliographies and reviewing sources in evaluating the collection (such as Choice Reviews Online); the library will follow the standards of collection evaluation recommended by the Association of College and Research Libraries; and will use faculty expertise as a resources for both selection and evaluation of the collection. Evaluation of the collection is conducted on a regular basis. Programs such as OCLC’s WorldShare Collection Evaluation or GreenGlass Sustainable Collection Services will be used on occasion to analyze the size and scope of the library’s collection and compare it to peer institutions. The results will provide a breakdown of areas of strength in the collection as well as areas that need attention.
9. Definition of Collection Levels
The library maintains different levels of collection development for various collections. The Research Libraries Group has developed the following levels of coverage:
- Out-of-Scope: The Library does not collect in this area.
- Minimal Level: A subject area in which few selections are made beyond very basic works. For foreign law collections, this includes statutes and codes.
- Basic Information Level: A collection of up-to-date general materials that serve to introduce and define a subject and to indicate the varieties of information available elsewhere. It may include dictionaries, encyclopedias, selected editions of important works, historical surveys, bibliographies, handbooks, a few major periodicals, in the minimum number that will serve the purpose. A basic information collection is not sufficiently intensive to support any courses of independent study in the subject area involved. For law collections, this includes selected monographs and loose-leaf titles in American law and case reports and digests in foreign law.
- Instructional Support Level: A collection that in a university is adequate to support undergraduate and most graduate instruction, or sustained independent study; that is, adequate to maintain knowledge of a subject required for limited or generalized purposes, of less than research intensity. It includes a wide range of basic monographs, complete collections of works of more important writers, selections from the works of secondary writers, a selection of representative journals, and reference tools and fundamental bibliographical apparatus pertaining to the subject. In American law collections, this includes comprehensive trade publications and loose-leaf materials, and for foreign law, periodicals and monographs.
- Research Level: A collection that includes the major published source materials required for dissertations and independent research, including materials containing research reporting, new findings, scientific experimental results, and other information useful to researchers. It is intended to include all important reference works and a wide selection of specialized monographs, as well as a very extensive collection of journals and major indexing and abstracting services in the field. Older material is retained for historical research. Government documents are included in American and foreign law collections.
- Comprehensive Level: A collection which, so far as is reasonably possible, includes all significant works of recorded knowledge (publications, manuscripts, and other forms), in all applicable languages, for a necessarily defined and limited field. This level of collecting intensity is one that maintains a "special collection." The aim, if not achievement, is exhaustiveness. Older material is retained for historical research. In law collections, this includes manuscripts, dissertations, and material on non-legal aspects.
It is noted that these collecting levels are aspirational in nature. That is, they are goals for guiding our collecting policies. Changing resources in, for example, budgets or human capital, may require adjustments in collection building. Currently, Logan Library strives to maintain collections at Level 4 for all of its undergraduate and graduate programs.
10. Weeding Policy
Weeding is done with the help and advice of the faculty connected to the collection being weeded. Weeding is done when the material is outdated and without historical value.
The process of weeding is also used to assess materials in need of repair or replacing. Options for preservation of such materials include:
- Replacement of item;
- Scanning of the item into electronic media (if allowed by federal copyright laws);
- Remote storage or closed stacks.
11. Criteria for Deselection
Items contained within the collection may be removed according to the following criteria:
- Relevance: the items contained within the collection must be relevant to the goals of the Policy. Collections are reviewed if any substantive additions or changes to University curricula are made.
- Poor Content/Inaccurate Information/Outdated Resource: Works that are of poor content and found to contain inaccurate, outdated or false information are considered for deselection.
- Unwanted Gifts: Any irrelevant or unwanted donations to the collection may be removed upon the discretion of library faculty.
- Damaged Works: If a work has been damaged by intensive use and replacement would be less expensive than repairs, the work is to be disposed of and replaced.
12. Budgeting
The Library materials budget is a part of the total Library budget, and is the responsibility of the Library Director. The budget is set according to the needs of supporting University programs. The Library attempts to distribute its funds in such a way as to insure a solid foundation for a collection serving a variety of users in a variety of disciplines, while allowing some freedom of choice among disciplines in meeting immediate and sometimes unanticipated needs.
The general categories of the Library Materials Budget include:
- Periodicals/Databases/Continuations: This budget amount is based on departmental needs, cost of periodicals for that subject area, availability of periodicals in electronic databases, and curricular needs. Serial subscriptions are collected in print or electronic format, but with a growing preference for electronic. Because of space constraints, the Library makes every effort to acquire and provide access to materials in electronic format, when available. Because of the high cost and interdisciplinary nature of these materials, the library will purchase electronic materials after careful consideration and evaluation in terms of the overall collection goals of the library.
- Books/DVDS/Streaming Video: This budget line is used for items which are a one-time purchase rather than an ongoing cost. Books, DVDS and patron-driven acquisitions such as our streaming video collection come from this line.
- Equipment/Preservation: The Library believes that preserving the collection for continued use by the University community, and, in some areas, by the scholarly community at large, is a natural extension of our collection development responsibility, and requires the allocation of sums for regular repair as well as other preservation methods when indicated. In addition, new small equipment items (under $500) are purchased from funds from this line as needed.
13. Gift Policy
The resources of Logan Library have been developed over the years through purchase of materials and acceptance of many valuable and useful gifts. Donations have played a significant role in developing the size, depth, and diversity of our resources. In order to build a quality collection, it is the policy of the University that gifts of materials be accepted with the understanding that, upon receipt, they are owned by the University and become part of the Library. Therefore, the Library reserves the right to determine their retention, location, cataloging treatment, and other considerations related to their use, disposition, or sale.
The library assumes no responsibility for appraisal of gifts, nor will the library accept gifts to the collection under restricted conditions.
The Library's records reflect only the number and type of gifts donated, not the titles. If a donor wishes to claim a charitable deduction for income tax purposes, the donor is responsible for providing a detailed inventory of the gifts. If a donor wishes to make a tax claim, the donor or a third party member provided by the donor must determine the fair market value of the gift.
The Library Director will be notified of all gifts that require formal acknowledgement to the donor. As a general rule, gifts will be added to the collection following the selection criteria as similar purchased materials. A bookplate bearing the donor's name will be placed in each book added to the library's collection if requested.
- Acknowledgement: Each gift to the University Library is acknowledged, unless the donor requests otherwise. Acknowledgements typically include the date of receipt, number and type of gift donated.
- Donor Recognition: The Library will place a bookplate inscribed with the donor's name in each gift donated, if requested. Some donors prefer not to be publicly recognized. Please advise the Library of your preference when making gifts.
- Tax Information and Appraisals: Usually a gift of books or other materials will qualify as a deduction for income tax purposes. The donor is responsible for establishing the fair market value of an item given to the library. IRS regulations prohibit the library from providing appraisals of gifts. However, the library may provide reference assistance to donors in using standard sources related to evaluation of library materials, or suggest names of appraisers for donors to contact.
- Memorial and Honorarium Gifts: A gift of a minimum of $50.00 may be made in memory or in honor of a friend or relative. The volume purchased with the gift will have a bookplate indicating honoree and donor. A letter of acknowledgement will be sent to the family or friend of the person in whose name the gift was given. Please furnish your name and address, full name of the person to be honored or memorialized, the general subject area of the book to be purchased, and the name and address of the family member(s) or friend(s) you wish to have notified of the donation.
14. Censorship
The Library has an obligation to protect library collections from removal of materials based on personal bias or prejudice, and to select and support the access to materials on all subjects that meet, as closely as possible, the needs, interests, and abilities of all persons in the Schreiner University community. This includes materials that reflect all political, economic, religious, and social viewpoints. If a challenge is made to a particular item; the following steps will be followed:
1. Patron should fill out the online Resource Objection form to register an objection.
2. The Library/Technology Committee will discuss the complaint, make a decision regarding this complaint, and inform the patron of their decision.
Please note, it could take up to 8 weeks before a decision is made by the Library Technology Committee.
15. Books and Monographs
The Library collects primary and secondary publications to support the educational and research needs of the students and faculty in all academic fields relevant to University programs. Books/monographs are collected in hardbound or softbound editions at the discretion of the library faculty.
As outlined in the general policy, under Selection Criteria, the following categories are relevant:
- Textbooks
- Multiple copies
- Replacement of lost, stolen, or damaged items
Monographic series may be acquired as individual titles, or by establishing a continuation order. The need to purchase all volumes in a series or a work issued in parts is the primary requirement for establishing a continuation order.
Senior theses completed at Schreiner University are added to the collection.
Other considerations include:
- Languages: For undergraduate classes other than Foreign Languages and literatures, the Library purchases English language materials.
- Translations: Translations of works originally written in English will not be purchased unless the foreign works contain important material not contained in the original. English translations of core materials originally written in a foreign language will be collected along with the originals.
- Faculty Publications: The Library strives to collect all Schreiner University faculty publications.
- Multiple Copies: The Library ordinarily purchases only one copy of each title, except when heavy usage demands purchase of multiple copies. Requests for more than one copy of any item is scrutinized carefully. Duplicate books received as gifts are added to the collection if warranted by heavy use of the books already in the library.
- Best Sellers: The Library supports the recreational information needs of its patrons through a subscription to the McNaughton Best Seller Service.
- Government Publications: The Library is not a government depository and therefore collects state and federal government documents only selectively.
16. Periodicals
The objective of a periodical policy is to develop and maintain a periodical collection that is closely related to the University's curricula and is responsive to student, faculty, and administrative needs.
Periodicals include journals, magazines, and serials that are issued more frequently than once a year and are not classed as continuations. Because the purchase of a periodical subscription represents an on-going commitment, the funding and selection of periodicals differs from the funding and selection of monographs. Acquisition of a periodical requires and receives substantially more consideration than acquisition of a single monograph.
In most cases, the Library will provide journal subscriptions in one format only and preference is given to electronic formats. Retrospectively, as a print subscription journal becomes available in an electronic format, print cancellation and conversion to an electronic subscription will be favored unless doing so compromises student/faculty use or is not cost effective.
There are several considerations for periodical collection development. These include the following:
- The addition of new titles to the collection
- The continuation of existing subscriptions
- The preservation and maintenance of back files
- The de-selection of titles through subscription cancellations and total or partial elimination of back files.
General criteria used in evaluating periodicals for acquisition, on-going subscription, cancellation, and maintenance of back files include:
- Intellectual content as judged by consultation with teaching and library faculty who have knowledge of the field
- Relevance to the present academic curriculum
- Centrality to the discipline
- Collection balance
- Frequency of current use or projected future use
- Reputation and indexing of the periodical as judged by an examination of authoritative reviews and citations in standard bibliographies
- Cost and availability of funds
- Refereed status
Additional criteria for electronic journals include:
- Availability of electronic back files
- Licensing and access requirements
- Availability of the journal in full-text format in aggregator databases or free access
Periodical titles of general interest
The Library acquires a limited number of periodicals of general interest. The Library will not subscribe to periodicals for recreational reading or hobbyists. Criteria considered for these periodicals include:
- Intellectual content
- Inclusion in indexing services
- Usage
- Cost
Newspapers
The Library will subscribe to a representative but limited number of newspapers in order to support teaching and research and to provide sources of local, national, and international news and general intellectual and cultural awareness for faculty and students.
