Medical Campus :: Northern Virginia Community College

MEC Library's Collection Development Policy

I. Introduction

Purpose: The Library strives to create and maintain a current, well-balanced collection of materials in a variety of print, audio-visual and electronic formats. The physical collection primarily supports the health sciences programs offered through the campus; however, the Library also provides access to virtual resources which support general education and other college curricular areas. Additionally, a consumer health collection is provided to meet the information needs of the community.

The College policy for selection of Learning Resource Services materials appears in the NVCC Faculty Handbook: 3.7300 Selection of LRS Materials.

The guidelines for the selection of materials are set forth in the following selection policy. The policy of Northern Virginia Community College, through its Learning Resources services, is to select, commensurate with budgetary and space allocations, materials in all formats which support:

the mission of the College

the courses offered in the curriculum of a given campus

the teaching methods of faculty members of a given campus

the special needs relative to the purpose of a given campus, including consumer and clinician information and leisure reading; and

professional development reading for faculty and staff.

This selection policy applies equally to all resource materials, whether acquired by purchase, gift or exchange.

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:

making available the widest diversity of views and expressions, including those which are unorthodox or unpopular with the majority;
opposing and challenging all attempts to impose censorship on the Library; and
preserving the constitutional right of freedom of expression.

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

Responsibility for provision of quality library materials on each campus rests with the director of Learning Resource Services (At the Medical Education Campus, the Director of Information and Support Services.) 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.

Evaluation and selection is considered to be a cooperative responsibility, with participation and recommendations by all constituent groups, but primarily by subject knowledgeable librarians in cooperation with teaching faculty. Recommendations are encouraged and facilitated through a librarian/ faculty liaison relationship with each academic program on campus. Faculty recommendations for materials which meet selection criteria will be honored to the extent that funds are available in the library book budget.

All librarians and library practitioners should make a note of particular materials frequently requested (especially through intercampus loan) and subject areas in which patrons frequently have been unsuccessful in locating materials.

In addition to recommendations, librarians select and evaluate materials using standard professional collection development tools.

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.

IV. Collection Priorities and Criteria for Selection and Removal

The College-wide selection policy for LRS materials requires that all materials purchased with library funds are to be available for circulation or remote access or for use in the library and are to be available to all of our patrons. Accordingly, the following priorities apply:

To provide students with materials supporting the Medical Education Campus courses and programs
To provide faculty with materials supporting their teaching activities;
To provide students, faculty and staff, Medical Mall patients and community users with consumer health information
To provide faculty and staff with materials to support professional development;
To provide the academic community with materials of general interest or for recreational and leisure use.

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

They contribute to the development and maintenance of subject collections which support the curricula;
They support instruction-related subject areas or topics for which a demand exists and which the collection does not meet;
They provide information that is current and authoritative;
They present information in the format, treatment, level of difficulty and language that best meets the needs of the students served by the college; and
They are available at a cost justified with anticipated use.

The Medical Education Campus Library does not acquire materials which are:

consumable(workbooks, etc.);
kept outside the Learning Resources area (classrooms, labs or divisions);
duplicate copies, unless sufficient demand warrants.
in a format requiring equipment that the Library or Open Computer Lab does not own.
Computer software

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:

do not meet one or more of the selection criteria,
are obsolete and have no historical value,
are unused for a long period, or
are worn or damaged by use.

Faculty subject experts are consulted when there is a question of whether material should be weeded or retained. Some programs have unique accreditation 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. Donations which do not meet selection criteria may be placed on carts to be given away or otherwise discarded. In acknowledgment of donations, the Library will provide a memo for tax purposes, but monetary appraisals are solely the responsibility of the donor.

V. Allocation of Funds

The Associate Director of the LRS in consultation with the professional staff annually allocates the materials budget among periodicals, books, electronic reference sources, and non-print media. The librarians make collective decisions on the purchase of expensive materials, subscriptions to or cancellation of periodicals, electronic resources and standing orders.

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

Format: Hardbound editions are purchased when the material is expected to have long-term value, or is expected to receive heavy use. Otherwise, a paperback version may be purchased.
Replacement: The library does not automatically replace items that are lost or damaged. If sufficient demand exits and the item is still available, it may be replaced, but a more current treatment of the subject is evaluated when applicable.
Textbooks: Textbooks and study guides or answer books are not purchased. Recent editions may be accepted as donations if the subject area is appropriate.

Periodicals

Continuing Subscriptions: The library reviews periodical titles for renewal annually. Special attention is given to titles which have increased substantially in price, which may be available in electronic format or may be accessible through document delivery, or where continued subscription is unwarranted on the basis of use, its relation to curricula or the lack of indexing.
New Subscriptions: New subscription requests are evaluated according to the collection priorities outlined in Section IV of this statement. The following criteria also apply:
- scope of periodicals already received;
- inclusion in periodical indexes;
- Availability/ reliability in electronic formats;
- availability at other NVCC campuses, accessibility through VIVA or the VCCS or through other consortial agreements.
Back-files of Periodicals: Backfiles of many titles are available in microfilm at other NVCC campuses. Electronic back-files of full-text journals are available for many titles dating back to the 1980s although the permanence of this format for archiving purposes is still not completely reliable. The purchase of electronic back-files is a viable option when lack of shelf space prohibits the retention of paper holdings. When value depends on the visual presentation (color and artistic works) or on completeness of the content, and space permits, paper copy may be given priority over the electronic version. Length of retention is determined in consultation with the program faculty liaisons.

Audiovisual Materials

VHS and DVD videos are purchased following the same criteria that govern the selection of books, with preference given to DVD format when licensing and streaming or other digital dissemination may be desirable. Close-captioned tapes are obtained when available. Cost and potential use are carefully considered.

Audio-tapes or CDs may be purchased where appropriate and where other formats are not available.

Reference Collection

Determination of whether materials are made reference (in house use) or circulating is made by the librarians based on anticipated use. Reference materials are used frequently to answer questions, provide bibliographic access to other materials, and to assist in research. They may include encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, directories, indexes and other standard reference works, of general interest or subject specific, both print and electronic, which support the Medical Education Campus programs and courses. Reference standing orders are reviewed annually, and are updated as necessary for the provision of current and reliable information. Superceded editions may be added to the circulating collection if the information in them is not obsolete.

Recreational Reading

The Library may acquire paperback books and periodicals for recreational reading, as funds/ donations permit. These will not be cataloged as part of the inventoried book collection.

Electronic Materials

Electronic materials are selected using criteria similar to that governing book selection. However, other factors must also be considered:

technical factors such as authentication through a proxy server and reliability of access
comparability of content with traditional formats
commitment to archiving
Ability to collect statistical information regarding use
Anticipated need for onsite vs. offsite access and resource sharing
Ongoing College and consortial commitments to virtual resources

College LRS practice is to acquire or subscribe only to major databases that have a broad appeal and usefulness to all six campuses and the Extended Learning Institute. The Medical Education Campus supports collective purchasing so that students will have access to databases at any campus or from home at any time. Utilizing the College and campus Web Home-Pages and using authentication procedures for remote and distance education patrons. The collection development librarians are responsible for evaluating 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 on purchase.

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. 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 Medical Education Campus Library participates in an Interlibrary Loan program to meet the needs of faculty and staff for materials which are not available in the College's collection. Interlibrary loan is not a substitute for purchase of appropriate materials, but rather an avenue for temporarily providing items that we do not have or would not select for acquisition. Materials for which there are multiple requests will be considered for acquisition.

VIII. New Programs and Program Evaluations

When new academic programs are planned for the Medical Education Campus, the Associate Director 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/ accreditation 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.

Appendices:

Questions? Please email the Collection Development Librarian, Kathryn Willis.