Collection Development Policy

The mission of the Douglas and Judith Krupp Library at Bryant University is to support the broader mission of the University as articulated in its mission statement: "Bryant is a student-centered University focused on excellence that prepares its students to achieve their personal best in life and their chosen profession". In support of achieving the University mission, the library collects materials and provides access to information resources which strongly promote and uphold student and faculty learning and research.

The purpose of this policy is to provide direction and planning for future growth of the library collections as academic programs and degree offerings expand, new methods and formats of acquiring information become available, costs rise, and financial constraints are experienced.

The Douglas and Judith Krupp Library acknowledges and accepts the following statements from the American Library Association:

Library Bill of Rights

Freedom to Read Statement

Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries

Library Materials

Within the confines of its finances, the library strives to cultivate a utilized collection of materials. The following general collection development criteria are to be weighed and considered when acquiring materials:

• Support the curricular needs as presented in the University catalog and course syllabi;
• Ensure the informational needs of students and members of the Bryant community;
• Examine published reviews when available;
• Evaluate the timeliness of publication
• Review the publication source;
• Consider the credentials of the author(s) or editor(s)
• Cultivate the personal enrichment of students and members of the Bryant community (when fiscally able)

Print Books (one-time purchases, including reference-type publications)

The Douglas and Judith Krupp Library will attempt to allocate at least 20 percent of its operating budget to the acquisition of books in support of curricular and library objectives.

Under the supervision of the Library Director, the responsibility for book selections reside with the reference librarians, whom are all assigned subject specialty areas. The reference librarians utilize the following standard selection tools when evaluating library resources for purchase: Harvard Core Collection, Choice, Library Journal, Publisher's Weekly, NY Times Book Review, Business Week, Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Booklist, Business Library Review and more.

Input from faculty members regarding book purchases in their area of expertise is both welcomed and encouraged. Faculty suggestions may be submitted via a publisher's flyer, in person request submittal(s), or via an e-mail to a member of library administrative staff.

General rules for book purchases:

• Duplicate copies/items will not be purchased;
• Rare books are not collected or purchased;
• The purchase of items greater than $200 each must be approved by the Library Director;
• When an item is "out of print," an order will be sent to an out-of- print vendor only if the item has been requested by a faculty member and/or the item is essential to a specific subject area. Regular orders deemed “out of print” will not be automatically sent to an out-of-print vendor;
• Replacement copies of lost, unreturned, or damaged items will be purchased if:
1. The item is in demand;
2. It has high circulation statistics;
3. There are current inquiries for the material from users;
4. The item is considered a classic or vital work in its subject area;
5. And/or the item is not available via another HELIN member library

Electronic Books

The library maintains collections of electronic books with 2 types of access, perpetual and subscription. When acquiring electronic books, in addition to the general collection development criteria:

• Evaluate the timeliness of the material when considering perpetual access or subscription access;
• Refrain from purchasing duplicate titles, unless faculty author or part of a subscription package;
• Consider and review the method of access and ease of use

Subscriptions - Electronic Databases

As the individual demand for electronic access increases, the library seeks to provide electronic resources whenever feasible. In cooperation with the library director, reference librarians and relevant faculty members continually evaluate new databases to determine whether the purchase of a subscription to a particular database will add value to the library collection. The factors contributing to a decision for or against purchasing a database include:

• Curricular value;
• Number of classes the database will support;
• Cost of the database;
• Positive reviews/recommendations from Bryant faculty and/or professional reviewers;
• Appropriateness of the content to the level of research conducted by undergraduate and graduate students;
• Quality of the interface design- ensuring students and faculty are able to retrieve the information they are seeking from the database;
• Frequency of updates;
• Review of license agreement, including limitations on number of simultaneous users, etc.

In light of the needs of Bryant students and faculty and the monies available in the budget, all current database subscriptions will be evaluated annually to determine if a particular database is still the best database for the library collection. All database subscriptions, including those with associated annual costs, must be approved by the Library Director.

Subscriptions - Electronic Journals

The Library Director will consult with reference staff to determine whether the purchase of a subscription to electronic journals will add value to the library collection. When considering purchasing subscriptions to electronic journals, review and take into consideration the general collection development criteria, in addition to the following factors:

• Avoid the purchase of individual e-journal subscriptions, bundled options are preferred;
• Cost;
• Duplication- if we have access to the title electronically, cancel the print subscription;

All new electronic journal subscriptions, including those with associated annual costs, must be approved by the Library Director.

Subscriptions - Electronic Serials

The Library Director will consult with reference librarians to determine whether the purchase of a subscription to electronic serials will add value to the library collection. When considering purchasing subscriptions to electronic serials, review and take into consideration the general collection development criteria, in addition to the following factors:

• Consult with Reference staff
• Price must be somewhat comparable to the hard copy version
• Consider the effects of expired access, as some subscriptions will not be perpetual, leaving a void in the collection

All new electronic serials subscriptions, including those with associated annual costs, must be approved by the Library Director.

Subscriptions - Print Journals
In order to cope with fiscal constraints, the library is reducing its collection of print journals, retaining only those titles that create a “popular” magazine collection.

• Journal title must meet general collection criteria;
• A new title can be added only if an older one (of the same price) is eliminated (due to fiscal constraints);
• If we already have access via electronically, the hardcopy will not be purchased;
• Journals merely for faculty research cannot be purchased (due to fiscal constraints);
• Free subscriptions are added if they meet the general collection development criteria

Subscriptions - Print Serials

• Titles can be acquired only if there is a need;
• If item is available electronically, acquire in this format if fiscally able *(for irregular print serials consider the effects of purchasing an electronic subscription that will expire after a year and leave a void in the collection);

To ensure fiscal responsibility, all print serials, especially standing orders, will be evaluated annually to ensure their demand and usage justifies their cost. All new print serial subscriptions, including those with associated annual costs, must be approved by the Library Director.

Subscriptions - Microfilm

The library currently is not adding any additional microfilm to its collection, but it is maintaining the collection it already possesses.

Videos/DVDs/Streaming Media

Videos and DVDs within the Douglas and Judith Krupp Library collection are all available for circulation. Streaming media titles are available electronically to current Bryant students, faculty and staff. As the movement toward electronic access increases, the library prefers to purchase streaming media rights and the MPEG2 format of titles whenever available and fiscally feasible.

• Media requests $200 or greater require the approval of the Director of Library Services.
• Entertainment videos/DVDs are not purchased due to budgetary restraints.
• VHS, DVD, MPEG2 format will be dependent upon title/format availability.

Audiocassettes

All audiocassettes within the Douglas and Judith Krupp Library collection are all available for circulation. The library is not currently adding any additional audiocassettes to its collection, but it is maintaining the collection it already possesses.

Archives

The Archives play an essential role in documenting and preserving Bryant University's history. Bryant students and alumni make frequent use of the archives, confirming the fact that the collection plays an essential public relations' role for the University. Items of historical interest to the history of the University are collected, and donations/artifacts relating to Bryant's past and present are accepted.

Special Collections

Budgetary restraints prohibit the library from collecting resources for special collections, for example historical items on the history of business or business education. Items currently in special collections have been acquired from donors, or some items have become "special" since the time of their purchase, i.e. first editions, autographed editions, etc. Should the library acquire a special-collection gift, it will be determined at that point if additional funding is appropriate required to build on the acquired collection.

Gifts

The Douglas and Judith Krupp Library accepts unsolicited gifts of library materials. If possible, a preliminary analysis is done beforehand to determine the appropriateness of the materials for the library collection. Once a gift is accepted, the actual inclusion of gift items in the collection is determined by a librarian and item(s) in question must meet the same set of criteria that is used in the acquisition of purchased materials. As a rule, duplicate materials, examination copies, outdated editions, and items in poor physical condition are not added to the collection. Gifts that are not added to the collection are stored temporarily, given away, or discarded.

Gifts that are accepted for inclusion in the collection are affixed with a Douglas and Judith Krupp Library gift plate, and items are coded "g" in the appropriate field in the item record.

All donations of library materials are funneled through the Director's Office so that they can be acknowledged appropriately. Larger gifts must come through the University's Development Office.

The library does not assess the value of donated items either before or after their acquisition. It is the responsibility of the donor to acquire such an appraisal if it is so desired for tax purposes or mere curiosity. Appraisers are generally listed in the Yellow Pages under “Book Dealers- Used & Rare”.

Other Freely Available Information Sources

The reference librarians locate, review, and promote credible academic, government, and commercial Web sites useful to the research needs of the Bryant community. Selected sites are posted on the Reference Services section of the Library Web page under the Research Guides by Subject option. Criteria for selecting a particular Web site for posting and promoting include:

• Author of the site (i.e., the author has appropriate credentials to write on the subject);
• Sponsor of the site (i.e., is there any possibility of biased information because of the sponsor's relationship to the information posted on the site);
• Quality and scope of information;
• Timeliness of information;
• Site design and its effectiveness in helping patrons locate and retrieve needed information.

The reference librarians will attempt to find additional professional reviews of the particular Web sites they recommend. The reference librarians review and revise links to Web sites on an ongoing basis to ensure obsolete links are deleted and that valuable new sites are linked and available to Bryant patrons.

Revision of this Collection Development Policy

The library administrative staff will review the Collection Development Policy annually and make appropriate revisions as needed.

Definitions

Audio Cassette: See Media.

Book: A set of written, printed, or blank pages fastened along one side and encased between protective covers.

CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory): An index or reference work that is stored on a compact disc and accessed through a computer.

Database: A collection of information stored in an electronic format that can be searched by a computer.

DVD: See Media.

Electronic Resource: See Database.

Journal: A publication, issued on a regular basis, which contains scholarly published research such as articles, papers, research reports, or technical reports. (See also Periodicals.)

Magazine: A publication, issued on a regular basis, containing popular articles, written and illustrated in a less technical manner than articles found in a journal.

Media: In libraries, the term is used to describe non-print and print materials such as video, DVD, audio, and music.

Microforms: A reduced-sized photographic reproduction of printed information on reel-to-reel film (microfilm) film cards (microfiche), or opaque pages that can be read with a microform reader/printer.

Periodicals: Material published regularly such as magazines, journals, and newspapers. (See also Serial.)

Reference: 1. A service that provides assistance to information users to find needed information. 2. Sometimes refers to reference collections, such as encyclopedias, indexes, CD-ROM databases, handbooks, directories, etc.

Serial: A library term for periodicals that refers more to hard-bound print publications such as annuals and directories, and which are filed with either the reference or circulation collections but not with print journal collections.

Videotape: See Media.

Definitions sources:

http://www.ala.org/ala/acrlbucket/is/publicationsacrl/
multilingual.cfm

http://dictionary.reference.com

Related Information:

We are providing this information to help users find additional information that is related to this policy:

Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) Standards for College Libraries (2000 edition)

Guidelines for Media Resources in Academic Libraries