Library

Hermann Memorial Library

Collection Policy

 

I. Definition of Collection Development and Management

Collection development and management is the process of selecting, acquiring, organizing, housing, maintaining and deselecting library resources in a variety of formats.

II. Purpose of the Collection Policy Statement

The purpose of this collection policy statement is to explain to the students, faculty and staff of SUNY Sullivan, as well as to the public at large, the Herman Memorial Library’s philosophy for the collection, maintenance and deselection of library resources.

III. Mission of SUNY Sullivan

The mission of SUNY Sullivan is to provide programs and resources that educate, inspire and empower its students and the broader community. To prepare students for an increasingly diverse, dynamic and interconnected world, the college will model sustainable actions and promote socially and environmentally responsible citizenship.

IV. Library Goals Relating to Collection Development and Management

In support of the educational mission of the college, the Hermann Memorial Library has adopted the following goal and objectives relating to library collections in its mission statement. (See Appendix A for the entire mission statement.)

Goal: Provide library users with access to collections of relevant print, video and electronic resources.

Objectives:

1. Select and provide appropriate learning resources required by students, faculty and the public in all the curricula, continuing education, and community-oriented college programs.

2. Obtain and house videos in support of classroom instruction.

3. Organize, house and manage all collections in a bibliographically accessible and useful way.

4. Borrow materials from other libraries, when necessary, to supplement our collections in support of users’ needs through participation in resource-sharing programs.

5. Select and facilitate access to computerized full-text services and research databases.

6. Maintain a library web page that provides access and guidance to online research and Internet resources.

V. Clientele Served by the Library

The primary clientele of the Hermann Memorial Library are the students, faculty and staff of the college. Although the library serves additional constituencies as outlined below, the selection of library resources and expenditure of the library’s collection budget in purchasing these resources is based on the needs of the library’s primary clientele.

Additional clientele served by the library include (1) the students, faculty and staff of all SUNY institutions which may borrow materials through SUNY’s Open Access and Universal Borrowing programs, (2) permanent county residents who may obtain a book borrower’s card for a small annual fee to borrow library materials and utilize interlibrary loan, (3) other libraries and their clientele who may access our resources through interlibrary loan and document delivery, and (4) library visitors who may access the Internet and the library’s online databases in the library and access the library collections on-site.

VI. Intellectual Freedom

The staff responsible for the selection, maintenance and deselection of library resources endorse the American Library Association’s “Library Bill of Rights,” “The Freedom to Read” statement, and “Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries.” (See appendices for these texts.)

VII. Copyright

The library strives to comply with U.S. Copyright Law such as the Copyright Act of 1976 and its amendments. The library also supports the fair use of its collections to further the educational mission of the college.

VIII. Library Staff Responsible for Selection and Deselection

The chief responsibility for collection development and maintenance rests with the director of library resources. The director seeks regular assistance in the selection and deselection of library resources from the professional librarians on the library staff and also seeks input from the teaching faculty and college staff.

IX. Collection Focus and Collection Level

The library is committed to providing the necessary resources to support the academic programs of the college and to maintaining a broad, generalized collection in the arts and sciences to support the college’s commitment to a strong liberal arts core. In general the library strives to collect its resources at the “Basic Study or Instructional Support Level.” As defined by the Western Library Network’s WLN Collection Assessment Manual (Lacey, WA : WLN, 1992) the “Basic Study or Instructional Support Level” provides:

“a collection that is adequate to impart and maintain knowledge about a subject in a systematic way but a level of less than research intensity … [and that] provides resources adequate for imparting and maintaining knowledge about the basic or primary topics of a subject area. The collection includes the most important primary and secondary literature, a selection of basic representative journals/periodicals and subject-based indexes, the fundamental reference and bibliographical tools pertaining to the subject. This [collection level] supports lower division undergraduate courses as well as some of the basic independent study needs of the lifelong learner.”

X. General Criteria Used in Selection of Library Resources

Many criteria are used in the selection of library resources. Such criteria include:

A. Pertinence to the educational mission and curriculum of the college.

B. Appropriateness for undergraduate level educational programs.

C. High-quality of content, style and format.

D. Timeliness or permanence of content.

E. Positive reviews in one or more of the accepted reviewing media such as Booklist, Choice and Library Journal or other specialized bibliographies.

F. Possibility of use for more than one course.

G. Author’s reputation.

H. Publisher’s reputation.

I.  Student interest for items of a general or contemporary nature.

J.  Fills a gap in the collection for a particular subject.

K. Only available publication for a new or obscure subject.

XI. Specific Issues Relating to the Library’s Collections

A. Scope: The library’s collections are generally limited to resources in English except for materials supporting coursework in foreign language acquisition. Library acquisitions generally come from American sources.

B. Formats of collected publications: Formats included in the library’s collections include books, journals, newspapers and electronic databases delivered over the Internet.

C. Audio-visual materials: The library will acquire DVDs for classroom instruction as requested by individual professors. These DVDs are part of the reserve collection and may be used by students only within the library or may be circulated to professors for classroom presentations. Audio-visual materials also may be acquired by the academic divisions and placed on reserve in the library.

D. Electronic/computer files: Databases and other digital resources which are accessed via the Internet are preferred over the purchase of individual CD-Roms or other discrete digital storage formats due to the greater accessibility of Internet databases from anywhere on or off campus. Thus, the library does not collect works on CD-Roms or other discrete digital storage formats, although these materials are kept when they accompany book purchases.

E. Microfilm: While the library possesses a collection of periodicals in microfilm format, the acquisition of microfilm ceased in 2008.

F. Reference works: The library strives to maintain a current and well-balanced reference collection in the major fields of knowledge. The breadth of subjects of the reference collection is not limited to areas covered in the college curriculum.

G. Reserves: The library maintains a collection of reserve materials that are circulated to students for library use only. Some of the reserve materials are purchased by the library, but many reserve items are loaned to the library by faculty.

H. Textbooks: Although the library selectively acquires textbooks for the reserve collection as well as to support the circulating collection, the library does not systematically or comprehensively purchase the textbooks assigned for student classroom use. Faculty members are encouraged to provide current textbooks for the library’s reserve collection.

I. Children’s literature: The library maintains a selective collection of children’s literature in support of early childhood education curriculum.

J. Fiction: The library selectively collects fiction for recreational reading and in support of the college’s academic programs.

K. Local authors’ publications: The library is selective in its purchase of works by local authors. Regional materials will be purchased on the basis of their need to support the curriculum.

L. Scholarly works: The acquisition of scholarly works should generally be aimed at the undergraduate level. Requests to purchase highly specialized faculty research materials will be considered in the context of the teaching and research mission of a community college. In lieu of purchasing highly specialized, advancedor expensive materials, such items will be sought through interlibrary loan or document delivery.

M. Bindings: When books are available in both trade paperback and hardback bindings, the library will often purchase the trade paperback due to the lower cost. However, the expectation of frequent use and photocopying of certain materials, such as reference works, will be considered when deciding between hardback and paperback formats. Books with spiral or notebook bindings are generally not purchased except when no other format is available.

N. Multiple copies: Although multiple copies of certain items may be purchased on a case by case basis, the duplication of titles is generally avoided.

O. Government publications: The library is a partial depository for NY State documents. The state documents that we receive are determined by the New York State Document Depository Program. The library also collects a very limited number of federal government documents via standing order.

P. Acquisition procedures: The library utilizes standing orders for some of its annuals and infrequent periodicals. Periodical subscriptions are generally acquired through a centralized subscription service. Approval plans and blanket orders are not used.

Q. Gifts: Due to limitations of space, the acceptance of gifts must be very selective. The same standards will be used in accepting donated materials as are applied to purchases. Offers of gift collections should be accompanied by a list including the title, author and date of publication of the items. Library staff reserve the right to give away or dispose of unwanted gift items. The appraisal of gift items for the purposes of income taxes is the responsibility of the donor.

R. Cooperative collection development: The library participates in an annual grant process for receiving state aid for the purchase of library resources. In cooperation with other libraries receiving aid, the library uses the grant money to collect materials in the areas of (1) graphic arts and photography, (2) early childhood education and (3) sociology.

S. College archives: An archive of college publications, newspaper clippings and other materials relating to the history of the college is maintained by the library.

T. Deselection: Periodic weeding of the collections will be performed based on several criteria including: (1) outdated or inaccurate content, (2) lack of relevance to current academic programs, (3) worn or mutilated volumes, (4) outdated editions of a work, (5) lack of circulation and (6) multiple copies of a work when there is no longer adequate need. Materials must never be weeded on the basis of partisan or doctrinal disapproval. Where necessary, replacement copies or more current materials will be purchased to replace weeded resources.

XII. Appendices

A. Mission and Goals of the Hermann Memorial Library

B. Library Bill of Rights of the American Library Association

C. Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries of the Association of College and Research Libraries

D. Freedom to Read Statement of the American Library Association

E. Degree Programs of SUNY Sullivan