Library Collection Development Plan

I. Introduction

The purpose of this document is to provide guidelines for the collection of materials by the Library of the Delaware County Community College. This document is intended to give information about the scope of the collection and to provide criteria and priorities for the selection and de-selection of materials in the collection. This document is dynamic and is subject to change.

Mission statement

The mission of the Delaware County Community College Library is to provide the best possible services and access to information resources that support the mission of the College. The Library aims to serve a culturally diverse student population pursuing a two-year degree at various campus locations, as well as serving faculty, staff, continuing education division, and the local community at large. The Library will provide the highest quality, yet cost-effective materials to directly support the curriculum. Materials will be selected in a variety of formats, including, but not limited to, printed materials, multimedia, and electronic formats. The Library aims to deliver timely and accurate reference and access services, and to provide a comprehensive instructional program in information literacy skills, which will teach and encourage life-long independent learning. Services and resources will be provided through the effective use of currently available technology.

II. Philosophy of Parent Institution

The mission of the Delaware County Community College is to offer programs that are accessible, comprehensive, community-centered and flexible, in order to enhance the development of the communities and residents of the service area.

III. Objectives and Scope of the Collection

The Library collection is intended to be a highly selective basic level collection but sufficient enough to support curricular offerings as determined by the school's mission, goals, and objectives, and by size and scope. Materials will include such resources as major dictionaries, encyclopedias, historical surveys, monographs, textbooks, fiction, pamphlets, archival material, audio and video materials, bibliographies, and periodicals in various formats including print and electronic. Beyond the scope and content of the collection, other factors such as cost, usability, and currency will determine acquisition priorities.

Formats

The Library will acquire materials in various formats, and priority will be given to current material, although out-of-print materials will be collected as requested, needed, and/or available. Print materials may include monographs and such reference materials as dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, directories, indexes, and abstracts. Only classics and lasting contemporary fiction that may support the curriculum will be collected.

Textbooks are acquired on a limited basis. Factors considered include number of sections, number of requests, faculty request, and required texts for core courses. Textbooks currently required for courses do not circulate.

Criteria for Selection of Current Textbooks (In no particular order)

Required text for core courses
There are multiple sections of the course
Requested by faculty
Requested by students directly or through library staff

Electronic books will be piloted as budget and needs permit.

Subscriptions to periodicals will be acquired according to the needs of the curriculum as well as pricing, availability, and indexing. A limited selection of recreational reading will be added. Factors for retention include demand, space, currency, physical description, and availability of alternate formats.

Due to the needs of satellite campuses, remote access, and the Distance Learning program, the Library will strive to increase the amount of electronic materials, including bibliographic databases, periodical indexes, and statistical databases, as well as electronic reference resources. Selection will depend on hardware and software compatibility, licensing restrictions, content, and projected amount of use.

The decision to acquire non-print versus print materials will depend upon quality, access, and pricing. Video materials will be purchased based on the amount of usage, currency, and price. DVD format will be preferred. Laser disks will be no longer collected.

Audio materials will be collected in so far as they support the curriculum. Books on tape will follow the same guidelines as the fiction book collection.

The Library will retain small special collections of rare books. As well, the Library retains the college archives. Such archival material as course catalogs, yearbooks, Board meeting minutes, literary publications, and other material deemed appropriate to documenting the history of the institution.

IV. General Guidelines for Selection

Accountability: Accountability for the development and maintenance of the Library collection rest with the faculty librarians. All requests for materials are reviewed for their adherence to selection guidelines and must be approved by the faculty librarians. Input from faculty is expected, and input from staff and students are welcomed and will be reviewed by the same standards as other requests.
Budget: The Library Director is responsible for allocating an acquisitions budget in such a way as to fulfill the above mentioned collection development goals. Priority for purchase of materials reflects such factors as the curriculum, number of students and faculty, available circulation statistics, and requests. The rate of publishing and average costs of materials is also considered. The budget allocation is reviewed annually. The Library Director reserves the right to reallocate funds as necessary based on technological changes, curriculum changes, and institutional changes.
Priorities: In general, selection of materials is based on quality of content and fulfillment of academic need as the first priorities. Other factors considered when selecting materials include lasting value of content, level of content treatment, strength of current holdings in the subject area, cost, suitability of the format to the content, authority of the author and publisher, and indexing of the resource. The Library will acquire materials primarily in English.
Selection/purchase methods: Selection tools will include Choice, Library Journal, Books in Print, Guide to Reference Books (Sheehy), online book vendors, publishers' catalogs and pre-publication literature, other library online catalogs, national databases, online union catalogs, and faculty/scholar expertise. Materials will be purchased first from book jobbers, serials subscription agents, and if necessary, directly from the publisher/producer. The faculty librarians may suggest various methods of acquisition; including approval plans, licensing agreements, and standing orders, which the Director must approve. Classics and heavily used items will be purchased in hardcopy; others will be purchased in paperback when available. Multiple copies for highly requested items will be purchased as needed.
Gifts: The Library accepts gifts and donations, preferably when no restrictions are attached for integration into the collections. In most cases, the Director of the Library reserves the right to accept or reject gifts as deemed appropriate by the General Guidelines for Selection as outlined above. The Library reserves the right to dispose of unwanted materials as seems fit. All gifts and donations will be acknowledged and the donor will be asked to sign a deed of gift form, which will include a statement on these policies and procedures. The Library is not responsible for appraisals of gift materials. Items in poor physical condition, especially those containing active mold and mildew will not be considered for acquisition.
Resource sharing: Attempts will be made to share resources through reciprocity agreements with local libraries, document delivery, and inter-library loan where possible, to provide materials not suitable for the permanent collection.

V. General Guidelines for De-selection

The staff of the Library reserves the right to remove materials from the collection when they no longer support the curriculum or contain out-dated material. Faculty and administrators may be consulted. Damaged materials are evaluated for conservation, and may be discarded and/or replaced.

Criteria for De-selection (In no particular order)

Availability of space
Consortia availability
Holdings by other libraries
Circulation statistics
Copyright date
Physical condition
Indexing
Does not support curriculum
Changes in technology
Faculty input

VI. Statement of Intellectual Freedom

The Library of the Delaware County Community College subscribes to the American Library Association's policies on intellectual freedom, including the Bill of Rights, and the Freedom to Read statements. The Library attempts to purchase materials representing various points of view, and the selection of materials is without partisanship regarding matters of race, ethnicity, sex, religion, or moral philosophy.

Conspectus

In the Spring of 2008 the DCCC Librarians evaluated the entire library collection and created a conspectus to gage at what collecting levels the library should be acquiring materials. A description of the collecting levels (0-5) follows. Click here to view the conspectus.

Description of collecting levels:

5 - Intensive level: All available significant works are collected; the aim is exhaustiveness.
4 - Advanced research level: Supports doctoral and post-doctoral research with a high degree of adequacy. It includes the major published source materials required for dissertations and independent research, all important reference works and a wide selection of specialized monographs and other secondary literature as well as an extensive collection of journals. In addition to printed, microform, and online material, it may include manuscripts and other special materials, if appropriate.
3 - Study level: Intended to support undergraduate or graduate course work, or sustained independent study, i.e., which is adequate to maintain knowledge of a subject required for limited or generalized purposes of less than research intensity. It includes a wide range of basic monographs, complete collections of the works of important writers, selections from the works of secondary writers, a selection of representative journals, and the reference tools and fundamental bibliographical apparatus pertaining to the subject.
2 - Basic level: Describe a highly selective up-to-date general collection, including introductory, background and fundamental material and basic reference works, that serve to introduce and define the subject and to indicate the varieties of information available elsewhere. Can include major dictionaries and encyclopedias, selected editions of important works, historical surveys, important bibliographies, and a few major periodicals.
1 - Minimal level: Few selections are made beyond the very basic works.
0 - Not collected

Adapted from American Library Association Subcommittee on Guidelines for Collection Development. Guide for Written Collection Policy Statements, 2nd edition, 1989.

This is a sample conspectus

VISUAL ARTS
PAINTING
History	3
Conservation and Restoration	2
Watercolor Painting	2
Mural Painting and decoration	2
Illumination of Books and Manuscripts	2
Study and teaching	2-3
Technique	2-3
GRAPHIC ARTS
Engraving--Printing	3
Wood Engraving	2
Woodcuts	2
Etching	2
Chromolithography--Serigraphy	2
Lithography	2
Study and teaching	2-3
Technique	2-3

Statement on Appraisal of Gifts

This statement was developed by the Committee on Manuscripts Collections of the Rare Books and Manuscripts section of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). The ACRL Board of Directors adopted the statement on February 1, 1973.

The appraisal of gifts to a library for tax purposes generally is the responsibility of the donor since it is the donor who benefits from the tax deduction. Generally, the cost of the appraisal should be born by the donor.
The Library should at all times protect the interests of its donors as best it can and should suggest the desirability of appraisals whenever such a suggestion would be in order.
To protect both its donors and itself, the Library as an interested party, ordinarily should not appraise gifts made to it. It is recognized, however, that on occasion, the Library may wish to appraise small gifts, since many of them are not worth the time and expense an outside appraisal requires. Generally, however, the Library will limit its assistance to the donor to:
- Provide donor with information such as auction records and dealers' catalogs
- Give suggestions of appropriate professional appraisers who might be consulted;
- Prove administrative and processing services, which would assist the appraiser in making an accurate evaluation.
The acceptance of a gift which has been appraised by a third, disinterested party, does not in any way imply an endorsement of the appraisal by the Library.
An archivist, curator, or librarian, if he is conscious that as an expert he may have to prove his competence in court, may properly act as an independent appraiser of library materials. He should not in any way suggest that his appraisal is endorsed by his library (such as by the use of the Library's letterhead) and should not ordinarily act in this fashion (except when handling small gifts) if his institution is to receive the donation.

Criteria for Deselection

(In no particular order)

Availability of space

Consortia availability

Holdings by other libraries

Circulation statistics

Physical condition

Indexing

Does not support curriculum

Changes in technology

Faculty input

Criteria for Selection of Current Textbooks

(In no particular order)

Required text for core courses

There are multiple sections of the course

Requested by faculty

Requested by students directly or through library staff

Serials Retention

Purpose:

The Library’s Periodical collection provides up-to-date information to the college community for their research needs. These guidelines dictate which journals are kept in storage and for how long.

Guidelines:

Store:

Normally, store back issues for 2 full years (with exceptions)
Nursing journals are kept for 5 years
Titles indexed in databases but with NO full-text
Titles where embargo period is more than 2 years
Journals needed for specialized accredited programs (ex: JAAMT- Journal of the American Association for Medical Transcription)
Titles with delayed publication (ex: Studies in Short Fiction- if the most current issue is 2000, keep 1998 and 1999 in blue storage bin and 2000 on shelf.)
Titles with local information (ex: Philadelphia Magazine)

Do not Store:

Titles with recreational reading value only (except those of local interest)
Titles available full-text in an online database (ex: Ebsco)
Titles received on microfilm
Non-indexed titles

Procedures:

Type labels with journal title and year(s) and affix on blue storage box.
Remove back titles from the current shelves and place in the blue containers (procedure to take place during August).
Bundle discarded titles for “wish list”

Example:

Chemical & Engineering News (abstracted in Ebsco but not full-text)

In Aug. 2005, discard all print issues prior to 2002 (Keep 2003 and 2004 in storage. Keep Jan.-Aug. 2005 on shelf. At least 2 full years are available.

Exceptions:

Special issues (especially of future historical value) will be retained. Example: the reporting of 9/11 in Time and Newsweek in 2001.

Collection Development Plan for Nursing and Allied Health

developed by Carol Videon, 4/06

I. Purpose

The DCCC Library Collection supports the academic programs in Nursing and Allied Health. The collection includes materials to meet user needs related to clinical practice, academic research (not original research), and certification. The collection also serves to provide materials dealing with consumer health of interest to the college community at large.

II. Scope

Only publications in English will be collected and those aimed at an American audience. The focus is on current healthcare practice; a minimum of historical and biographical materials are collected.

III. Types of Materials

The reference collection includes handbooks, manuals, directories, atlases, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and study guides for licensing examinations.

Videos and CDs are also collected and housed on the Reserve shelf.

The following tools are used to identify relevant monographs, serials, web sites, and electronic databases:

“Books of the Year” American Journal of Nursing (published

annually, January issue).

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries (12 X/year)

Online book distributors such as Rittenhouse.

Publisher web sites.

Monographs:

Materials are acquired to support the curricular offerings in the health sciences with the purpose of applying basic biological, physical, social and behavioral sciences to clinical situations. The collection includes assessment and diagnosis, bioethics, care of the elderly, evidence-based practice, holistic medicine, informatics, childbirth education, palliative treatment, transcultural nursing, and use of the internet. Most applicable titles are in the R-RZ section. Additional titles related to the health sciences are held in the following classifications: BF; HQ; HV; QM; QP; KF.

An ongoing objective is to assemble a ready-reference collection that provides students with basic information on diagnoses, treatment, etiology, drug and therapeutic intervention for their referenced research paper as well as their clinical experiences.

Weeding: Usually annually in spring with input from faculty.

Serials: The current subscriptions reflect selections based on reputation, curricular offerings, student and faculty demand, and mention in core lists. Issues are retained for 5 years.

Databases

The Library provides remote access to CINAHL, Ebsco Academic Search Premier, and Ebsco Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition, Ebsco Clinical Pharmacology, Ebsco Medline, and Wilson OmniFile Full Text Select which provides indexing and full text articles. PubMed’s free index (with DCCC’s logo attached online for our holdings) is available in conjunction with a robust interlibrary loan procedure.

Conspectus

LC Class	Subject	Level
RA	Public aspects of medicine	2
RB	Pathology	2
RC	Internal Medicine	2
RG	Obstetrics & Gynecology	2
RJ	Pediatrics	2
RT	Nursing	3a

All other R subject headings are collected at level 1.

1- minimal level

2- basic

3- instructional support- introductory level