Collection Development Policy

The collection development policy is designed for use as a planning tool for the library and as a means of communicating the collection goals and policies to the Carthage community. The policy helps provide administrative guidelines for decision making and the implementation of objectives. As a planning tool, this policy provides information necessary for budget preparation and expenditures and guidance for student/faculty requests, and outlines the philosophy that guides collection building. It aids in the standardization of activities, facilitates decision making, minimizes confusion, and co-ordinates the actions of various units within AIS (Academic Information Services).It is recognized that because programs and other information needs change, our policy must be subject to continuous review. Members of the Carthage Community are encouraged to suggest improvements to our policies and practices.

A. DESCRIPTION OF INSTITUTION AND CLIENTELE

Carthage is a residential, four year, liberal arts, ELCA Lutheran affiliated institution, with a full time equivalent enrollment of about 2,600 full-time students and about 150 full-time faculty. In addition to a strong liberal arts emphasis, substantial numbers of students major in business or elementary education. The college offers a master’s degree program in education. The vast majority of the students are traditional age, full-time, and residential, though a growing number are non-traditional, part-time, and returning students.

B. INSTITUTIONAL OBJECTIVES

Hedberg Library is committed to supporting the College mission of providing a strong foundation in the liberal arts for all its students and transmitting the human heritage in the arts, humanities, and sciences. The library also supports the College goals of fostering a love of learning, an openness to diverse ideas, a commitment to lifelong learning, the development of communication skills, and a facility for critical and constructive thinking.IN addition, the library supports the goals of preparing students to be licensed teachers and for other careers that offer opportunities for personal satisfaction and service to society. Last, but not least, the library supports the goal of encouraging active participation as informed and responsive citizens in seeking solutions to problems in the community, the nation, and the world.

C. COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT GOAL

The goal of collection development is to make as much information as possible available to the college community: students, faculty, administration, and staff. The information resources will consist of an on-site core collection of important and useful works of literature and scholarship. Supplemental to this will be access to other collections and databases by interlibrary loan and document delivery of appropriate items not owned by Carthage. We do not subscribe to the view that ownership is the only (or even primary) indication of the quality of a collection or of information service. In other words, bigger is not necessarily better. Rather, our goal is to achieve a balance between ownership of and access to information, with user convenience and budgetary limitations firmly in view.

All types of recorded information, including print and non-print material in all formats, may be acquired or made accessible. An important consideration will be whether access can be made available to users in the library, classrooms, faculty and staff offices, residence hall rooms, and from home or other off-campus locations. When appropriate, computer access over the campus wide network may be favored over traditional print resources. Access to and ownership of information will be consistent with our goal of creating an “electronic teaching library” or “virtual library” for the Carthage community and a “gateway” to information sources around the world.

A. RESPONSIBILITY

The responsibility for selection is shared jointly by the faculty and library staff. Recommendations from students and other members of the college community are also welcome. The final authority for selection rests with the Vice President for Academic Information Services, operating within the administrative framework of the College.

B. CRITERIA

Highest priority is given to materials that support the instructional program of Carthage College. General interest help students develop into well-rounded, knowledgeable citizens will also be provided within the limits of budgetary resources. The following criteria are used to evaluate materials considered for addition to the collection. All formats are evaluated using the same (or similar) criteria as appropriate.

C. GENERAL CRITERIA FOR SELECTION

• Additions to the library collection will be selected on the basis of:
• Support for curricular needs
• Appropriateness for undergraduate use
• Master’s programs that the College supports
• Strength of present holdings on a topic
• Faculty review and recommendation
• Demand and potential use
• Review and critiques appearing in standard selection sources
• Program requirements
• Budgetary resources

D. SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

• Authoritativeness (author, composer, director, issuing body, etc., significance and reputation)
• Style and quality of writing or presentation of subject matter
• Other materials available on the subject already in the collection
• Importance of subject matter as related to the collection and curriculum
• Permanence of scholarship or format
• Technical quality (particularly for media)
• Price relative to budget resources and anticipated use
• Timeliness of material
• Appropriateness of vocabulary and level of treatment
• Accuracy and objectivity of information
• Frequency of interlibrary loan/document delivery of the particular title, especially for periodicals
• Appropriateness of the medium
• Value as a classic of outstanding work in a field of discipline
• Size and shape of material

The library does not allocate specific amounts of its material budget to academic departments. Though some equity among programs is sought, consideration is given to the reality that the cost of materials is not the same for all disciplines. This allows the library flexibility to meet varying needs as well as unanticipated changes in curricula and in patron demand, ultimately providing better service in all areas. However, department heads and program directors should encourage and coordinate selection activities of their faculty and staff members.

A major source of review of materials suitable for college libraries is the periodical Choice. Additional recommendations should be based upon current scholarly reviews as well as personal/professional judgment. The library attempts to have a carefully selected collection that meets the needs of all departments, thus indiscriminate choices from publisher’s catalogs and blurbs should be avoided. In cases where an individual or department makes numerous requests, the requester(s) should be prepared to rank in importance or set priorities on the items desired.

A. GENERAL COLLECTION

Books

Books and monographs comprise a large percentage of the collection and budget allocation, and are bought on virtually all topics. Criteria for selection include the following:

• Current materials in English receive the highest priority
• Non-English language materials used as aids in the teaching and learning of a language currently being taught are purchased
• Materials for general information in subject areas not included in the curriculum are acquired as necessary. Current popular fiction and nonfiction that are non-course related are not considered high priority acquisitions.
• Books are purchased in paperback when available
• Hedberg is a “single copy” library; in general, only one copy of a title will be purchased
• Rare books are not purchased
• Research materials are not purchased solely for individual faculty or student use
• Out of print materials are low priority purchases

B. COLLEGE CATALOGS

The library will provide access to current information regarding other colleges and universities, undergraduate and graduate, with emphasis on those in the US

C. DISSERTATIONS AND THESES

The library does not routinely acquire academic master’s theses and doctoral dissertations completed at other institutions. The Master’s theses written as part of the Master in Education program at Carthage College are classified, cataloged, and added to the collection. Two copies are added: one for the general collection and one for the college archives.

D. ELECTRONIC RESOURCES

The library will provide access to a variety of electronic resources as deemed appropriate. In some cases they may supplement the core collection of print resources, in others they may be substitutes for specific print resources. These electronic computer based resources may take the form of on-line or CD-ROM databases, accessible from either on- or off-site hosts. These sources may provide bibliographic information, or they may be full-text in nature. When possible and expedient, Carthage holdings records may be attached to the data base so users can easily see which of the found citations are among our current holdings.

In general, selection of electronic resources will be subject to the same criteria as traditionally acquired materials. Additionally, the following criteria are considered in the acquisition of electronic formats:

• Ability to access the information through the campus network
• Simultaneous use by multiple users
• Cost relative to benefit over print materials
• Currency of information
• Availability of hardware or personnel to install and maintain electronic resources
• Availability of personnel support
• Compatibility with campus operating platforms

E. GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS

Hedberg Library is not an official depository library for federal or state publications. Purchases of government publications are made at the recommendation of faculty and AIS staff in accordance with the usual selection criteria.

F. MUSIC SCORES

The library acquires a working collection of scores that are needed for current instruction. It is not the role of the library to provide multiple copies for performance purpose.

G. NON-PRINT RESOURCES

Non-print titles are classified, cataloged and made an integral part of the existing collection. All formats, excluding periodicals, reference and microforms, are inter-shelved in order to provide easy patron access. All materials on the same subject, regardless of format, are found together.

Audiovisual

Audiovisual materials, including videocassettes, videodiscs, compact discs, audiocassettes, etc., are considered an important means of packaging, storing, and transmitting information. They are acquired for the collection on the same basis as all other materials, the basic criteria being curricular relevance. In addition to the relevant general criteria used for other acquisitions (cost, technical quality, subject content), selection for purchase will depend upon availability of appropriate hardware to use the resource. The library will strive to provide the equipment necessary for the use of these materials.

Computer Software

AIS will provide a variety of special purpose computer software and programs for academic use on the campus network or as part of the circulating collection, with preference given to those acquisitions that are used in the curriculum and classroom. Selection criteria will be the same as with other media: curricular relevance, prospective use, and availability of equipment and staff expertise will be considered.

H. RARE BOOKS

The library does not purchase rare books, but does accept them as gifts subject to the same criteria as other gifts. Rare books are defined as those materials which are so old or scarce that they seldom appear in the book markets. These materials include incunabula, sixteenth and seventeenth century imprints, early American imprints, first editions, specially illustrated editions, or books with particularly find bindings. Rare books that are old and fragile will be housed in the more protected environs of the College Archives.

I. PERIODICALS

Periodicals are defined as titles that are published over a period of time, at regular or irregular intervals. These include newspapers, journals and magazines, transactions, proceedings, and similar publications. Generally, information found here is more current than that found in other publications. These materials are selected to cover fields reflecting the curriculum of the college, thereby providing a core of current research for all represented disciplines. New title requests, including requests for back files, are carefully reviewed. Periodicals will be acquired and retained in various formats including print, microforms, CD-ROM, and on-line access. Selections are made at the request of faculty and AIS staff, with decisions based on criteria similar to other acquisitions.

J. NEWSPAPERS

The library provides access to current general news though printed newspapers and electronic news sources to meet the teaching and informational needs of the College community. Sources selected will represent local, state, national, and international coverage and a variety of perspectives. Selection of foreign language news will be influenced by the number of students on campus from that country and the needs of instructors teaching that language. Retention of back files will be decided on a title-by-title basis. Availability of storage space, storage format (microfilm, CD-ROM, etc.), reference value, and anticipated demand will be used to determine the extent of the files retained.

K. TEXTBOOKS

Textbooks are defined as books or materials required to be purchased by students for use in class. Such material, as well as lab manuals and workbooks designed to be written in, generally will not be purchased for the collection. Some textbooks may be acquired depending on the nature of the discipline, the way the text treats the subject, and the particular needs of the students in that class. As with other materials, our general selection criteria will be applied.

L. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

Archives

Hedberg Library collects and organizes many of the document records of the College. Examples of such materials include minutes of the Board of Trustees meetings, reports of the College, College publications, committee minutes, and official files of the College Administration when available.

The Archive Collection also houses non-official materials such as pictures and photographs, yearbooks, course catalogs, clippings from newspapers and magazines, student publications, and similar items of interest and pertinence to the College.

M. CURRICULUM COLLECTION

Children’s Literature

Children’s literature (Library of Congress classification PZ), is shelved with the Curriculum Collection. Reading interests spans reading interests and levels from pre-school through junior high. Included in the collection are fiction, non-fiction, and picture books. It is not our intention to offer a full and comprehensive collection of children’s books; rather, the purpose of this collection is to support the curriculum of the Education Program. The best known classics in children’s literature and award winning books will be acquired, including winners of the Mildred L. Batchelder Award, the Randolph Caldecott Medal, the Coretta Scott King Award, and the John Newbery Medal. Selection of these materials will be based upon the same criteria used for other parts of the collection.

Curriculum Materials

The library attempts to acquire a sampling of elementary and secondary materials that are necessary to aid instruction in the undergraduate teacher education programs, graduate reading program, and master’s degree in education program. Preference will be given to those materials used in the local schools, particularly the Kenosha and Racine school districts.

N. MICROFORMS (MICROFILM AND MICROFICHE)

Microforms are selected because of their usefulness for undergraduate research, and the efficiencies gained from minimal space consumption. In general, monographic sets and series are not purchases. With any such purchase, viewing and reproduction equipment needs are taken into consideration.

O. REFERENCE MATERIALS

Materials will be selected for the reference collection based on their ability to meet both general and specialized information needs. The reference collection may contain titles that generally are considered to be reference tools, such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, indexes, directories, and similar genres .Usage will have a strong bearing on the decision to place materials in the reference collection of the general circulating collection. Electronic reference resources will be selected using the same criteria as other library materials and may be selected in place of the traditional print versions.

The nature of this collection will require frequent weeding and updating to remain authoritative, current, and trim. Criteria for deselecting will be similar to that applied to other parts of the collection.

The library welcomes gifts and donations of useful materials. However, the disposition of accepted gifts is subject to the discretion of the library. Gifts are subject to the same criteria for inclusion in the collection as are used for purchase decisions. Gifts that cannot be added to the collection are disposed of at the discretion of the Vice President for Academic Information Services. They may be discarded, sold, or given to students and faculty or non-profit agencies. Letters of acknowledgment will be sent to donors. The library staff does not make appraisals of materials, either for re-sale acknowledgment of donation for tax purposes.

There are certain items that generally will be considered unsuitable for gifts, although the library reserves the right to make exceptions when circumstances warrant. Unsuitable gifts might include:

• Materials in poor repair, worn out, or marked up
• Duplicates or older editions of materials already in the collection
• Broken and incomplete runs of periodicals
• Old back files of periodicals, particularly those in the sciences
• Old lab manuals, workbooks, and textbooks
• Old reference books such as outdated encyclopedias and directories
• Outdated legal or other sets requiring ongoing expense to update