BackInstitutional Content
TOC
NextSpecial Collections Policy
|
James G. Gee Library supports the full rights of individuals to intellectual freedom and to the free access of information as upheld by the United States Constitution. It is an essential task of the library to provide information vital to an institution of higher learning and research. This responsibility is carried out within the guidelines of the collection development policy. Any questions regarding these issues should be directed to the Library Director.
The library adheres to the provisions of the United States Copyright Law. Therefore, unpublished or copied materials in any form will be added to the collection only when copyright compliance can be verified.
Those library patrons who disregard the law do so at their own risk and assume all responsibility.
Copyright Law of the United States
http://www.copyright.gov/title17/circ92.pdf
Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ21.pdf
The major criterion for materials added to the library collection is the relevance of the material to the educational programs of the University. In priority order this includes:
In addition to receiving requests from faculty, subject librarians will consult reviews from professional journals, standard library sources such as Choice, catalogs from reputable publishers, and other authorities across the various disciplines. Subject librarians will also utilize standard bibliographies, if available, that are current and germane to their disciplines and sub-disciplines. It is also critical that faculty communicate frequently with librarians to ensure that their knowledge of sources in their fields is fully exploited on behalf of the collection.
These guidelines dictate policy on types of materials except where subject discipline policies differ.
Gifts will be evaluated using the same criteria for selection as regularly purchased materials.
Donors of gifts to the library shall be informed that:
- The library may keep or dispose of gifts in accordance with library collection development guidelines.
- The responsibility for appraisal of gifts rests with the donor.
All gifts shall be acknowledged in writing unless otherwise requested by the donor. Anonymous gifts, by their nature, cannot be acknowledged. Special cards will be sent to families of deceased persons in whose names memorial gifts are given to the library.
Major gifts shall be reported by the Library Director to the University President through the Provost’s Office.
Monetary gifts should be made to the Library Excellence Fund through University Foundation offices. A record of all memorials and honoraria shall be kept.
Duplicates are not normally purchased. Duplicate materials will be added to the collection if warranted by heavy demand, poor condition of existing copies, or if Archives/Special Collections policy requires a non-circulating preserved copy. Duplicate copies will be added at different locations if relevant to each collection and anticipated use necessitates the convenience of duplication. Electronic copies available to all locations will be considered as a cost saving measure in lieu of providing print copies to multiple locations.
Geographic, State and Regional Materials
In cases in which materials are available for each state, the library will normally collect only Texas. Particular emphasis will be placed on acquiring materials relating to Northeast Texas. Items with a geographic emphasis other than United States will only be purchased if they fit subject discipline needs.
Elementary and secondary school textbooks are acquired for the Curriculum Library collection. Other textbooks are not normally purchased. Exceptions are those which have earned a reputation as "classics" in their fields or which are the only or best sources of information on a particular topic. Textbooks, workbooks, and laboratory manuals will be evaluated and added to the collection if specified in the subject collection policy. The library will not acquire textbooks adopted as required texts for any given course; any exceptions must be approved by the Acquisitions/Collection Development Librarian. Items defined by database of the current state vendor as a textbook will be given additional review as meeting the policy guidelines before a decision to purchase is made.
The primary collecting language is English. Materials in languages other than English are collected for language instruction and for literary and historical research. Dictionaries for other languages will also be collected. Translations of major works in literature, history and other humanities disciplines will be purchased. Exceptions are noted in the subject policies.
The library will purchase items from the Publishers Weekly best seller list.
Reprints of monographs and journals are collected based upon the availability and comparative quality and price of the original or microform edition or upon the existence of additional material in the reprint edition
Gee Library acquires copies of dissertations and theses completed at the University. Dissertations and theses completed outside of the University are acquired on demand and may be purchased in non-print formats depending on price and availability.
The Library acquires children’s books on a selective basis in support of the curriculum. First priority is given to acquiring award-winning children’s books. In Gee Library these books are part of the Curriculum Library collection.
Annual Reports, College Catalogs, Telephone Books
The Library acquires company annual reports, college catalogs, and telephone books selectively in paper and on a collective basis in microform or electronic format. These items may not be cataloged and should be requested at the Gee Library reference desk.
Funds will be allocated for the acquisition of work tools for library staff.
Internet Web Pages or Free Internet Web Resources
To be included in the Libraries' Web pages, a remote resource must serve the academic and research interests of the University and fall within the guidelines established in the Library's collection development policies. Suggestions to add sites should be addressed to the appropriate subject librarian. If a remote site is well regarded as a reliable source for information on a particular subject, the library will link to that site.
Cost, staffing, storage, and use implications are factors included in the consideration of new acquisitions, materials retention, and preservation of existing materials. Increasingly, the demands of distance education are considered. As a result, decisions are sometimes made to purchase or provide access to informational products in multiple formats.
Books/Monographs
The most readily available format for monographs is acquired. Monographs are purchased primarily in traditional printed copy, but electronic books are increasingly becoming an option as availability increases and because distance education users have quicker and easier access to this format. Preference in ordering is given to books that are clothbound on acid-free paper. Paperbacks are ordered only when a more sturdy format is not available for a title. The cost of maintaining paperbacks is frequently more than the original purchase price of clothbound items.
- Monographic Sets
The library acquires monographic sets depending upon available funding, how directly the set supports curricular needs, and how unique individual titles in the set are compared to titles already in the library’s collection. Complete sets are acquired only if the majority of the titles meet cost constraints and academic needs.
Serials/Journals/Periodicals/Annuals/Monographic Series
Journals/periodicals are acquired on a continuing basis, as short runs of titles tend to get little or no use in the long term. Links to electronic versions of print journals to which the Library currently subscribes are continually added to the Library’s web site and LION (the Library’s web-based catalog) when it can do so at minimal, or no, additional cost. Selection of periodicals is determined by the current teaching and research needs of the University community. In addition, Gee Library gives heavy consideration to long-term access and archiving issues.
Serials/annuals/monographic series may be acquired on an ongoing basis (subscription or standing order) or on a volume by volume basis, on request, depending on their usefulness to University programs and accessibility. Standing orders and periodical subscriptions will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.
- Newspapers
Current print newspapers are acquired on a highly selective basis. Emphasis is placed on local newspapers, then major U.S. newspapers representing regions of the country for teaching and research as well as national and international news. Foreign newspapers may be acquired on a highly selective basis with English-language given priority. Foreign newspapers are primarily collected as gift subscriptions and are accepted on the basis of serving the needs and interests of the University’s international student population. Priority is also given to newspapers which are indexed. Many Texas, national and international newspapers are accessible through electronic subscriptions and are available in library internet databases. Back runs of selected newspapers with research value may be acquired in microform.
- Loose-leaf Materials
The Library subscribes to loose-leaf services in all areas that support the curriculum. In the selection and continuation of loose-leaf services, maintenance is a primary consideration. Loose-leaf materials in formats other than paper may be given preference, if the updating is less labor-intensive and at least as timely as in paper, and if monetarily feasible. Some regularly updated items will still continue to be obtained in paper loose-leaf format as the best source available.
Microforms
Monographs in microform are acquired selectively. Serial microforms are regularly acquired with regard to space, price, use, and durability/longevity of the print version. Microforms make sense especially when the materials are either available in no other format or used less frequently, or when paper copies, especially periodicals, are physically deteriorating, or likely to deteriorate rapidly. Preference is given to microfiche over microfilm when both formats are available.
The library endeavors to add microforms, rather than hard copy, under the following conditions:
- Backfiles of most periodicals, newspapers, and documents because of the expected low usage and minimal space requirements, plus the possibility of physical deterioration, especially for newsprint;
- Highly specialized monographic or documentary sets or series, providing the quality and type of indexing is sufficient to assure scholarly use of the contents;
- Titles whose chief function is to provide rapid, comprehensive and cumulative updating in a field;
- Material whose hard copy would be unaffordable; and
- Material subject to mutilation, theft, or rapid deterioration.
Maps
Maps, atlases, globes and charts are purchased selectively. The Government Documents Collection regularly receives maps in print and electronic format on a selective basis from the U.S. Government Printing Office and from the Texas State Library as part of the respective depository programs. Support of the curriculum and the depository community as well as space, usage, and staffing are criteria in the selection.
Pamphlets, Broadsides
Pamphlets and broadsides are rarely acquired and must support the curriculum and be a specific request of an instructor. As with maps, they are also received through the U.S. Government Printing Office and from the Texas State Library as part of the respective depository programs. The library will also collect pamphlets which are a part of the University’s history.
Musical Scores
Musical scores are acquired selectively as needed in support of the curriculum.
Audio Materials
Sound recordings are acquired with priority given to curriculum support. Consideration on suitability of format, quality of production, availability of equipment and facilities assist in the selection. The library also collects sound recordings made by the University’s Music Department. Sound recordings are also ordered and circulated by the University’s Media Services for support of classroom teaching. Teaching tools per se will not be purchased on the Library’s materials budget but through Media Services. Gee Library collects in descending order of preference: compact discs, cassette tapes, and records (records only if other formats are unavailable or of poor quality).
Video Materials
Nonprint and multimedia materials for use in classroom teaching are acquired and circulated primarily through the University’s Media Services. Teaching tools per se will not be purchased on the Library’s materials budget. However, the Library also acquires these materials on a limited basis when it is determined that materials support study and research relevant to courses offered, and these materials will circulate to students. On occasion, other formats are accompanied by video materials and are usually retained in the library on that basis. Consideration on suitability of format, quality of production, availability of equipment, and facilities assist in the selection. The Library acquires video materials using the U.S. standard of VHS and DVD.
Computer Software
Functional software (such as MS Word) is outside the scope of the Library's selection policy
The library retains for the circulating collection software which accompanies purchased monographs, such as diskettes and CD-ROMs.
Machine Readable Materials
Some information, including monographs, that were previously available in print, are now only available in some electronic format (i.e. only readable by machine). Machine readable materials include but are not limited to the following: machine readable data files, magnetic tape, floppy and hard disks, compact disks, laser disks, DVDs. The Library acquires materials in machine readable format in support of the curriculum. These materials may be mounted on the University campus network or on standalone machines. Considerations in the acquisition of these materials include the availability of software technology for using/reading the material, the needs of the students and faculty, and quality of production. Availability of equipment, facilities, and technical support are also considerations in the selection.
Internet Accessible/Electronic Resources
Recognizing that one of the goals of the Library is to increase access to full-text scholarly information, the Library is committed to acquiring and facilitating use of electronic full-text resources which support the University’s curriculum. Internet resources include items such as periodical index/abstract databases, electronic journals and books. Selection of electronic information for the collection, as with other formats, must support the teaching and research needs of the University community.
In general, the same criteria are applied to the selection process for resources in electronic formats as are applied to print and other standard library formats. The library considers electronic resources to be the equivalent of print materials. The content of such resources must be at least equal to the content of the print resources, including graphic material, and the information must not entail any additional cost to the patron.
Additional concerns specific to internet/electronic databases need to be reviewed as part of the selection process.
- The resource should offer some value-added enhancement to make it preferable over, or a significant addition to, other print or non-print equivalents. Examples of such enhancements include wider access and greater flexibility in searching, more extensive content, multimedia components, or the ability to invoke linkages to local and/or related resources.
- Implications for Public Services support’ such as the need for staff and user training, ease of integration into library bibliographic instruction, and adequacy of documentation.
- If currency of information is important, the resource is updated frequently enough to be useful.
- The resource is sufficiently "user-friendly". For example, it provides introductory screens; on-screen tutorials; function-specific help; novice and expert searching levels; helpful error messages; and ease of exiting the database.
- Customer support is available from the vendor during Library working hours.
- Resources which are available on the internet through IP address authentication are preferred.
- A trial period is available for examining the resource before a final commitment is made with the vendor.
- The resource can be made available in agreement with the Intellectual Freedom statement of the American Library Association and in agreement with all University Library policies on access to electronic information.
- Licensing agreements must adhere to Texas State laws, System policies and University guidelines.
- Existing electronic resources may be deselected because of low use and/or changes in content, format, availability or pricing.
Toys, Games
The Library does not collect toys and games, except items that accompany the Texas state-adopted textbooks or come with other titles that were ordered and are an integral part of the publication. If an item that has been requested indicates that a toy or game is a part of the package, the item will be reviewed more closely for relevance before a decision is made to purchase.
Realia, Memorabilia, Ephemera
The Library does not actively collect realia, memorabilia (e.g., rocks, fossils, coins, stamps, shells, pennants, pins, etc.) or ephemera (e.g., bookmarks, calendars). The exception is items that come with the Texas state-adopted textbooks.
Preservation and Conservation
Collection development must be followed by collection preservation and conservation which keeps the collection in usable form for present and future use.
At the outset, preservation begins with material selection. In general, the library will acquire the best quality materials available. This includes issues like purchasing print materials in hardback rather than in paperback. Materials of unique, aesthetic, or historical value shall be preserved in their original form. Materials whose value lies primarily in the information they contain may be replaced with a format that allows for the most convenient use.
In order to protect materials and retard damage:
- The temperature and humidity of the library will be consistently maintained to maximize the environment for books while maintaining user comfort.
- Library staff and student workers shall be instructed in the recommended care of library materials, and users will be encouraged to use care when handling library materials.
- A theft prevention system will be used.
The Library’s emergency plan to cover minor and major disasters, including damage recovery, is coordinated with campus-wide plans and can be found at http://www7.tamu-commerce.edu/library/displan.htm
If a useful item is deteriorating so that further handling would cause it harm, the library may repair it, replace it, reproduce it (within copyright guidelines), place it in an archival container, or place it in an area where usage can be monitored.
Replacement
Materials that are missing, lost, or withdrawn are not automatically replaced. Heavily used materials determined to be necessary for teaching and research will be replaced as quickly as possible if they are available. In general, potential replacements are evaluated using the same criteria for selection as other purchased items.
Weeding/Deselection
Libraries must systematically withdraw materials that are no longer fit for use, superfluous copies, rarely used books, and materials no longer needed.
Gee library will discard volumes when:
- There is more than one copy of a title, except in those cases where usage justifies the retention of multiple copies.
- The material has deteriorated to the point that it cannot be used and its value to the collection does not warrant preservation efforts.
- The material is in bad condition, but can be replaced.
- Information contained is deemed misleading and counter to current professional norms as agreed between the library and appropriate academic departments.
- The material has not been recently used and has no foreseeable research value to University programs.
- The material has been superseded.
The material is from a cancelled serial title whose primary value came from its being current.- The material is no longer relevant to the information needs of the University.
In general, the library retains previous editions, except as follows:
- Previous editions of U.S. Government Publications are discarded in accordance with procedures promulgated by the U.S. Superintendent of Documents.
- Texas Sate Documents editions are discarded according to rules of the Texas State Library.
Monograph Review
TopGee Library believes, in accordance with ACRL Standards, that the library collection should be evaluated using a variety of means. The North American Title Count, an important quantitative tool which provides information about collection growth for print and electronic books by call number range, will be used. The library is also continuing its search for a collection management tool which is based on peer-comparisons and/or core standards. Additionally, the subject librarians work closely with faculty representatives to ensure that library resources which are ordered comply with the appropriate discipline and sub-discipline collection development policies. Formal Library Committee meetings with faculty also provide an avenue of exchange about the collection. Other valuable measures of the library’s collection occur when reports are formulated in response to accreditation reviews. Qualitative evaluation of resources can be obtained from library collection/resources questions that appear on several regularly administered student surveys, including the Subscription Evaluation Survey, discussed below, that asks faculty and students their opinions about journal holdings.
Subscription Review
Because cancellations, or even trade-offs for titles, are anticipated for the future, the library has commenced an online, ongoing subscription review to aid in keeping abreast of faculty and student needs and desires. This review can be found on Gee Library’s web page at: http://www7.tamu-commerce.edu/libacq/survey/default.asp. This review is monitored when a subject area or invoice is reviewed, so it is imperative that faculty undertake to review their areas of interest and that they update their review as curricular needs change. The Subscription Review includes print and electronic items, and preferences can be indicated. The library recognizes that new serials are being published at an astonishing pace, and these new serials may be of greater value than the serials to which we presently subscribe. For this reason, Gee Library, like academic libraries everywhere, will continually review its subscriptions and the money available for new purchases. This continual review is also necessitated by economic constraints, but more importantly, is driven by a commitment to ensure the relevance of holdings to the teaching, learning, creative and research needs of the University community. In addition, there is an ongoing evaluation of print versus electronic as the University Library subscribes to increasing numbers of electronic serials packages across all disciplines which are delivered to the academic desktop.
| Back Institutional Content |
TOC |
Next Special Collections Policy |
| This page designed
& maintained by Ashish M
Pandya |