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Collection Policy Statement

I. Introduction

This policy is a guide to the planned development and management of the library collection. It expresses purposes and guidelines for decisions about acquisitions and withdrawals. It outlines the priorities and goals for a collection that is responsive to the needs of the Annandale Campus and the entire college community. It defines the scope of the collection and provides the basis for budgetary decisions, the allocation of resources and plans for cooperative collection development.

The goals and objectives of the Annandale Campus Library are in accord with the mission and goals of the college, as stated in the College Catalog. The library is an integral part of the instructional program at Northern Virginia Community College and seeks to provide an up-to-date collection of print and non-print materials, well-organized and accessible to students, faculty, staff and members of the community. The collection needs to be sufficient to support the work of the librarians who assist users in finding information, promote the importance of libraries as a vital resource for equality of access in the information age and educate users in gathering, evaluating and utilizing information.

Please note that there is a separate Collection Development Office Manual that covers specific procedures and work plans.

II. Intellectual Freedom

In accordance with the philosophy and objectives of the American Library Association's Library Bill of Rights, Intellectual Freedom to Read Statement and Freedom to View, the Library is responsible for:

The Library strives to include representative materials related to the needs of cultural and racial minorities, as well as materials reflecting diverse social, religious, political or moral viewpoints. The Library will not use labels or other devices to indicate particular philosophies contained in library materials. The Library will provide a collection wherein all users can examine a diverse set of viewpoints in a wide range of materials of varying levels of complexity.

III. Responsibility for Participation in Selection

Selection is considered to be a cooperative responsibility, with participation and recommendations by librarians, faculty, staff and students. Recommendations are encouraged and facilitated through a Faculty Liaison Program between the Library and the academic divisions on campus. Faculty are encouraged to order materials to support their classes at least three months prior to the start of classes to ensure that students have them when needed. Librarians have primary responsibility for selecting materials in their assigned curricular areas and they are encouraged to seek out subject expertise among the faculty when appropriate. The Collection Development Librarian is responsible for the coordination of all activities related to collection development. Final selection decisions are the responsibility of the Associate Director of the LRS.

IV. Collection Priorities and Criteria for Selection and Removal

The College-wide selection policy for LRS materials is stated in the Faculty Handbook, 3.7300. All materials purchased with library funds are to be available for circulation and/or use in the library and are to be available to all of our patrons. In accordance with that policy, the Annandale Campus Library uses the following priorities:

The Annandale Campus Library will select those materials which meet the following criteria:

The Annandale Campus Library does not acquire materials which are:

Withdrawal Criteria:

Materials are withdrawn from the collection when they no longer provide current and accurate information. They are reviewed and withdrawn based on the following considerations:

As in the selection process, faculty input is elicited when questions arise on the appropriate withdrawal of items. Some programs like those in the health technologies have unique criteria that require diligent attention to weeding materials that are outdated because they are potentially harmful if the information has been superseded with newer guidelines. Withdrawn materials will be disposed of following institutional and state guidelines.

Gifts:

Gifts or donations are accepted only when the donor places no restrictions on their housing, handling or disposition. Storage space, staff time requirements, cataloguing costs and our accepted criteria for selection of materials are all considered before adding gifts to the collection. Many donations are placed in our ongoing library book sale. In acknowledgment of donations, the Library will provide a memo for tax purposes, but monetary appraisals are solely the responsibility of the donor.

V. Appointment of Funds

The Associate Director of the LRS in consultation with the professional staff discusses the annual budget with all selecting librarians. The librarians make collective decisions on the purchase of expensive materials, subscriptions to or cancellation of periodicals, electronic resources, standing orders and microfilm collections. Formula allocations by subject are not made. However, attention is given to all academic programs on a systematic basis and documented in collection development reports. The number of FTEs generated by the academic programs, the number of graduates in the programs, the cost of the materials in a given subject area, the number of full-time faculty and patterns of use are all considered in making apportionment decisions.

VI. Guidelines for Specific Categories

Books:

Periodicals:

Audiovisual Materials:

Reference Collection:

The Head Reference Librarian and the Collection Development Librarian have primary responsibility for the reference collection. It consists of materials used frequently to answer questions, provide bibliographic access to other materials and to assist in research. These materials are non-circulating and provide access to information in all fields of knowledge. The collection includes periodical indexes, subject and general encyclopedias and other standard reference works, both print and electronic. Reference standing orders are reviewed annually and are updated as necessary for the provision of current and reliable information. Superseded editions may be added to the circulating collection if the information in them is not obsolete.

Electronic Materials:

Electronic materials are selected using similar criteria that govern book selection, but other technical factors such as authentication through a proxy server, need to be considered. With more and more material appearing in both print and electronic format, we are challenged to determine which format serves our users best. Sometimes we need resources in both print and digitized format. The ability to share information and make cooperative collection agreements increases with electronic data sources. Internet access to specific databases and indexes through groups like VIVA and the VCCS open up new ways to provide our remote users with information 24 hours a day. These new options create a new and expanding virtual library environment. A look at both the college-level decisions and consortia decisions is necessary in discussing electronic collections.

The LRSs have decided to acquire or subscribe only to major databases that have a broad appeal and usefulness to all five campuses including the Extended Learning Institute. Locally we strive to support collective purchasing so that students will have access to databases at any campus or from home at any time. These sources can be accessed through the library website using authentication procedures for remote and distance education patrons. The collection development librarians meet to evaluate databases that fulfill our college-wide audience. Communal purchases involve the same criteria for selection including relevance, scope, quality, need, currency, ease-of-use, accessibility and cost. Recommendations are forwarded to the LRS Directors who make the final decision with their votes. Some of the databases we purchase at the college-level include ProQuest and JSTOR.

System-Wide and State-Wide:

Consortial purchases through VIVA (Virtual Library of Virginia) and the VCCS (Virginia Community College System) have increased our access to a broad range of databases which would otherwise be unaffordable, especially subject-specific databases like Project Muse and Opposing Viewpoints. Although some autonomy is sacrificed in this process, the community colleges have benefited greatly from these cooperative purchases. The need for input and increased communication from all libraries affected by a communal purchase becomes more urgent in this environment, thus we continually seek representation on state committees governing the Consortias to ensure that our concerns and needs are voiced.

VII. Interlibrary Loan

The Annandale Campus Library maintains an Interlibrary Loan program to meet the needs of faculty and staff for materials which are not available from the college's collection and do not meet our selection criteria. Interlibrary loan is not a substitute for purchase of appropriate materials, but rather an avenue for temporarily providing items that we would not select for acquisition. Through VIVA (the Virtual Library of Virginia), the library provides both books and articles from the collections of the six doctoral granting institutions in Virginia as well as 66 other in-state community colleges and private universities and colleges.  We also loan and borrow materials from out-of-state institutions through our relationship with OCLC.

VIII. New Programs and Program Evaluations

When new academic programs are planned for the Annandale Campus, the liaison librarian should be involved in the planning process for library resources to include required services and material support. Funds for the purchase of initial materials must be appropriated as part of the program start-up costs.

Librarians are also needed to work on program evaluation committees to be proactive in assessing the adequacy of the collection in supporting programs. The adequacy of current holdings will be evaluated and projections of new acquisitions for the program will be made.

Revised by Ellen Wertman in conjunction with all the librarians: 01/09/03

Appendices: