THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTHAMPTON



|THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTHAMPTON | |

LIBRARY COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT GUIDELINES

1 Department which owns and manages the guidelines on behalf of the University

Information Services.

2 Organisational Scope

This policy applies to all resources held within, or licensed to the Department of Information Services. As the physical premises are known as libraries, the traditional term Library is used where appropriate within this document.

3 Guideline Objectives

To set out the general framework on how Information Services will acquire, manage, review and develop its collection of research and learning and teaching resources. This document has been produced by Information Services to identify and communicate the Department’s policies and strategy. Overall responsibility for the Collection Development Guidelines lies with the Deputy Director (Academic Services).

3.1 Aims of the guidelines

• To enable a greater degree of consistency and continuity in developing and selecting material for the Library.

• To provide acquisition and relegation strategies, which will set guidelines for the selection and disposal of stock according to subject, user group and format.

• To act as a communication tool for academic staff, Information Services staff, students and researchers to ensure learning, teaching and research activities are realised and supported.

4 Guideline Statement

4.1 General Principles

4.1.1 Information Services supports the University vision of creating a student facing learner centred institution, regionally engaged and nationally acknowledged. The primary goal of Information Services in relation to the development of the collection is to provide a high quality service to all user groups by acquiring and making available the appropriate resources to support the academic objectives of the University. It achieves this in the following ways:

• In conjunction with Schools, providing premium information services and expertise to address the University's learning, teaching and research agenda

• Leading the academic community in exploiting and managing information resources

• Ensuring that all current and future technological developments are used to deliver the highest possible quality of information services .

• Information Services acknowledges that alternative formats can benefit a broad range of learners who have disabilities and/or additional needs. We recognise the specific needs of individuals and are committed to ensuring that all our users are enabled to access the facilities, services and extensive range of resources available within our Libraries and IT Centres.

4.1.2 Information Services aims to:

• Consult with staff in academic Schools and Departments to determine teaching and research interests.

• Respond to the current needs of the community by reacting to changing subject disciplines and developing new areas of the collection without an emphasis on maintaining collections for historical interest.

• Actively promote the use of electronic formats, particularly where these enable off campus access. The bias in future will be to buy electronic resources. Print should only be acquired if the decision could be justified ( i.e print was the only format available; or on pedagogic grounds.)

• Arrange access to the collection at times and in a manner that reflect the needs of the University community.

• Make resources available beyond the immediate academic community through the use of appropriate licence agreements.

• Support taught courses and research by promoting access to the Library's own materials and providing access to external information by inter-library loan and electronic services

• Provide value for money by engaging in national and regional purchasing consortia.

• Ensure that resources, as far as reasonably practical, are accessible to a range of users

 

4.2 Sources of Acquisitions

4.2.1 Purchase

Most accessions are purchased from the Academic Services budget. The book and subscription funds are allocated to Schools, according to an agreed formula, by the Deputy Director (Academic Services). Interlibrary Loans are purchased from a centrally administered fund, as are the major electronic resources, i.e. those that support activity in all Schools.

Subscriptions are reviewed on an annual basis to ensure that the collection reflects current teaching and research. Suppliers and contracts are monitored to ensure that the University is getting value for money. Both books and subscriptions are supplied under the terms of agreements made by a consortium of Midlands Academic Libraries, following a tender process.

Suggestions for potential purchases may be submitted by any member of the university. Information Services purchases items on reading lists submitted by the academic staff on the basis of the number of students undertaking the module and the rating (i.e. essential, recommended or background reading) applied to the item by the lecturer submitting the reading list.

Information Services require users to replace lost or damaged material. The preferred option being to physically replace the lost item, but payment of the replacement cost will be accepted.

4.2.2 Deposit

Information Services plans to build Special Collections of manuscript and specialised material in support of current research. We are prepared to negotiate deposit agreements where necessary.

Information Services expects Schools to deposit one copy of all research degrees (Ph.D., M.Phil. Masters by research) in the appropriate library. Electronic copies should be deposited in NECTAR, the institutional repository.

We would also like to continue our policy of accepting a selection of undergraduate and taught Masters dissertations. These will serve as examples of good practice and style for students who are writing their own dissertations. To this end we will accept deposits of dissertations submitted recently, and awarded a 2:1 grade or above.

4.2.3 Donations

Information Services is grateful for all offers of donations as they significantly enhance the Library’s collections.

The following criteria will be taken into account before donations are accepted

• Relevance to the University’s teaching and research needs

• Physical condition

• Currency of subject matter

• Level of duplication of existing stock

• Processing costs

It should be noted that

• Donations should not be brought to the Library without prior discussion with the appropriate Academic Librarian

• Although academic staff may be consulted, the Academic Librarians will make the final decision

• Donations are accepted on the understanding that on receipt they become the property of the University

• It is a condition of acceptance that donations will not necessarily be retained permanently by the Library

• Donated collections will not be shelved separately but will be integrated into the appropriate site library collection

• The processing of donations is usually subject to lower priority than that accorded to purchased stock.

4.2.4 Recording under licence

Under the terms of licences with the Educational Recording Agency and the Open University, Information Services may record broadcast programmes for educational use. The recordings may be onto Video or DVD, or may be stored digitally for the purposes of streaming.

4.3 Selection of resources

• Academic staff and Academic Librarians recommend new additions to the Library, in support of teaching and research.

• Detailed individual collection development policies will be agreed with each School/Department, and regularly reviewed to ensure that their contents continue to reflect the teaching and research interests of the School/Department as detailed in the current School plan.

4.4 Stock Relegation and Disposal

4.4.1 Stock Editing

In Information Services the responsibility for decisions on stock withdrawal, in accordance with the Department’s policy, lies with the Academic Librarian concerned, who will discuss withdrawals with the School.

In the case of stock relevant to the needs of more than one School, or in areas where there is no obvious user community, a Stock Editing Working Party, chaired by the Collections and Learning Resources Manager, will agree on withdrawals.

Queries and objections should be raised with the Academic Librarians, and then with the Deputy Director (Academic Services), or Collections and Learning Resources Manager (in the Deputy Director’s absence).

4.4.1.1 Books

Book collections are regularly checked to maintain relevant stock in suitable condition. In reaching decisions concerning the discarding of books [except for rare and historic texts], the following points are taken into account (not in priority order):

• Usage of items

• Physical condition – worth repair or binding?

• Currency of subject matter, especially in technology & biomedical sciences

• Relevance to subjects currently taught or researched

• Number of copies needed

• Number of editions to be retained

4.4.1.2 Periodicals

Titles in the Journals Collection are considered for disposal every two years. As Information Services does not have a Library Store, this will mean total disposal.

Both current and non-current titles are considered for disposal after taking note of the following:

• Limited holdings

• Relevance to research

• Ephemeral material e.g. trade magazines

• Availability from British Library

• Availability in electronic form

• Availability in other libraries with which Information Services has an access agreement

• Historical importance

Decisions are made by the Academic Librarians, in consultation with Schools and Departments. All interested Schools are consulted when cross-disciplinary titles are involved.

4.4.1.3 Dissertations and Theses

Theses for research degrees will be retained permanently.

Dissertations for undergraduate and Masters degrees, accepted as exemplars of good practice, will be weeded on a 3 year cycle. Should the university cease to teach in a subject area, the dissertations associated with that subject will be returned to the School which originally deposited them.

4.4.1.4 Multimedia

Multimedia material will be retained unless:

• It is damaged beyond use and cannot be repaired

• A replacement cannot be obtained

• It is in an obsolete format

• It is no longer relevant to subjects taught or researched.

4.4.1.5 Electronic Resources

Physical disposal in this context relates only to resources held in house i.e. CD-ROMs, Library Web pages, diskettes etc.

• We archive the Library Web pages locally on zip disk

• Diskettes of books and serials are disposed of following the policies for hard copy

Links to electronic resources will be removed as soon as access to the resource has ceased to be available to our users.

4.4.1.6 Video and DVD

The Video and DVD collections will be regularly weeded:

• Under the terms of the Open University licence, we are obliged to check and report on our holdings on an annual basis. We are also obliged to withdraw course material on the instructions of the Open University.

• Recordings will be copied to new formats if this is in the best interests of use.

• In all other cases, usage of items, physical condition, currency of subject matter and relevance to current teaching and research will all be taken into account.

4.4.2 Disposal of Stock after Withdrawal from the Catalogue

Discarded stock is disposed of according to the following priorities:

1. Items are offered for sale to booksellers. The income partially meets the Departmental income generation targets set by the University.

2. Selected material is sent to other libraries in parts of the world where academic resources are needed. The requirement is that the organiser / recipient must collect the items.

3. Material not suitable for either of the above options is packaged up and sent for recycling or disposal as appropriate.

4.5 Documentation and Arrangement of the Collections

• All printed items, and electronic books, are included in the Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC)

• Access to all electronic journals is provided via Metalib, the portal for online resources.

Library users are given training and assistance in accessing both print and electronic resources.

5 Definitions

Library

Those physical spaces where users may consult resources collected to support research, learning and teaching within the University.

Periodicals

Publications issued on a continuing basis, usually consisting of a collection of articles. Annual volumes are numbered consecutively, and pages numbers follow on from part to part

Resources

Printed books and periodicals; material available via the internet in the form of single (or collections of) electronic books, articles, webpages, learning objects and images; sound and visual recordings; physical objects designed to be used in the classroom. This definition excludes hardware.

Subscriptions

Contracts made for a limited term for the supply of specified titles or collections of resources.

6 Approval Process

1. Information Services Collections and Learning Resources Forum

Approved 10.7.2008 Amended 26.1.2009, 12.3.2010

2. Information Services Executive

Approved

7 Implementation and Review

• All academic staff will be informed of the approved guidelines, this being the responsibility of the Academic Librarians.

• The Guidelines will appear in the relevant section of the Departmental Web Site and on the Intranet.

• The Guidelines will be referred to in in-house communication.

• The Guidelines will be referred to in the New Staff Induction process.

• A copy will be made available to The University of Northampton Students Union.

9 Current Status

Approved.

10 Associated Documents

This departmental policy is supported by the individual collection development guidelines for the 6 Schools. That for obtaining resources in alternative formats follows as an appendix.

Appendix

Obtaining resources in alternative formats

Information Services acknowledges that alternative formats can benefit a broad range of learners who have disabilities and/or additional needs, not just those who have visual impairments. We recognise the specific needs of individuals and are committed to ensuring that all our users are enabled to access the facilities, services and extensive range of resources available within our Libraries and IT Centres.

In order to facilitate access to hard copy texts, we offer the following assistive technology and equipment:

• Text recognition and speech output software (Kurzweil)

• Screenreading and magnification software (JAWS, Narrator, ReadPlease, Supernova, Read & Write Gold)

• Magnification hardware (Magnifying CCTV, A4 Magnifying sheets)

• Coloured overlays, Quicktionary Reading Pen

Digitisation of material is possible (subject to the terms of our CLA Licence) and can be arranged through liaison between Information Services and academic staff.

Users may access a range of e-books with read aloud features from EBL (some of the above mentioned software will work in harmony with texts available via our other e-book providers: Books@Ovid, NetLibrary and Dawsonera).

We offer assistance with searching and obtaining material from the RNIB Library Catalogue, which offers access to over 170,000 items in audio, large and giant print, Braille and Moon.

The University has access to BoB (a service from the British Film and Video Council that enables you to record and view TV and radio online from the free-to-air channels). Where the broadcaster has provided subtitles with a programme, the default setting on BoB is to include the subtitles.

Users whose needs are not met by the above and who require further reasonable adjustment should contact their Academic Librarian or Jenny Townend who will work in conjunction with academic staff and endeavour to obtain electronic versions of key texts via Publisher Lookup UK (a collaborative facility jointly organised by the JISC TechDis service and the Publishers Association).

Related information:







Kate Littlemore and Jenny Townend

Mar 2010

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