Collection Development Policy

Updated: 8/1/16; ​Reviewed: 10/13/21
Contact: Library Services

Statement of Purpose
This document is a statement of the collection development policies of the Charles F. Curry Library at William Jewell College (hereafter Jewell). Collection development consists of the selection, evaluation, deselection (weeding), replacement, and retention of library materials to best support the mission of the college.

As a public document, the Collection Development Policy describes the Library’s existing collection strengths and weaknesses and future collecting activity in order to inform both users and funding decision-makers of collection development priorities. It demonstrates the Library’s commitment to support the teaching and research needs of Jewell.

The development and management of the collections depend on cooperation between librarians, faculty, and students. This policy is designed to be reviewed and amended to reflect changes in the college’s teaching and research priorities. The Collection Development Policy is also a means of facilitating cooperation with other libraries. As an internal library document the Collection Development Policy provides guidance to the Library’s staff and faculty members in the selection of resources, assists with focus on patron needs, and provides consistency and continuity in building and maintaining the Library’s collections. This policy statement represents an ideal that must be tempered by the reality of fiscal resources, staff expertise, and the constraints of time and space. There is, however, no attempt to define these considerations within this document.

Cooperative Collection Development
Curry Library participates in strong local and state-wide consortiums. This has provided another alternative to building a large local library collection. Cooperation among libraries delivers more information from a wider variety of sources than a single library can provide, permits better, more efficient allocation of resources, and leads to more intensive use of collections. Many resources are shared among Missouri academic libraries through the MOBIUS Consortium. The current list of member libraries in the Mobius Consortium can be found at: mobiusconsortium.org/members-by-cluster.

Responsibility for Collection Development
Librarians serve as liaisons to faculty, and work closely with faculty members in selecting new materials and evaluating the collection (e.g., by checking bibliographies against the Library’s holdings, submitting lists of materials to faculty for their approval, and identifying materials for deselection).

Library resources are acquired through individual purchase, approval plans, standing orders, and gifts. Access to electronic resources may be through subscription or purchase, with terms of access contracted through license agreements with information providers. Cooperative purchases through consortial arrangements are increasingly common for the acquisition or licensing of expensive electronic resources. In the case of purchased materials, librarians are responsible for controlling orders in relation to the availability of Library funding.

Funds are allocated by the Library Director to support all of the College’s academic departments in a fair and equitable manner. Factors to be considered include the number of credit hours offered; the number of faculty; the number and type of degrees awarded; the average cost of titles in the relevant subject area(s); circulation statistics; the size and age of the existing collection; and the rate of change in the discipline. Consideration should be given to departments that need improvement because of outdated, weak, or non-existent subject collections in support of the college’s current research and curricula.

Evaluation Criteria
The subject librarians evaluate possible acquisitions by considering, but not limiting themselves to, the following criteria:

  • Subject: Appropriateness for the entire collection, including filling gaps in the collection
  • Authoritativeness: Author’s or publisher’s reputation
  • Binding
  • Current Jewell faculty monographs
  • Historical value price
  • Relevance to the curriculum
  • Student and faculty needs and requests
  • Published reviews

General Collecting Guidelines
In addition to the above criteria, the general parameters defined below guide collection decisions. These parameters may be modified slightly in the Subject Level Policies to meet the unique needs of a given college or department.

Chronological: Primary emphasis is on current materials.
Classics in a field and other works dealing with all time periods are considered selectively.

Subject Treatment: Materials are selected at an appropriate academic level to support the curriculum & research needs of the college. In most cases this is at a minimum of an undergraduate 4-year college level. The chief exceptions to this are textbooks, and curriculum materials at the high-school, middle school and elementary levels acquired to support teacher education for the College’s Education Department.

Format: The primary formats collected are monographs and serials, in both print and electronic formats. Electronic versions of serials are preferred over their print counterparts. Other formats such as DVDs, and compact discs are purchased selectively to support the curriculum.

Multiple Copies: Generally discouraged. Additional copies of materials are acquired only if demand or a faculty request warrants it.

Required Course Texts: Library Services purchases supplemental and recommended texts but does not purchase textbooks or required texts for course curriculum. Required materials should be requested through the College Bookstore utilizing the established process. Please contact the Barnes & Noble College Bookstore at (816) 415-5956 for additional information.

Format Guidelines
Monographs

  1. Hardbound/Paperbound books: Paperback books are generally preferred to hardbacks, but both types will be considered for purchase.
  2. Books with appended computer disks or CD-ROMs: The Library selects books with accompanying computer material under the same evaluation criteria for other materials. Such books shall be cataloged, shelved, and circulated in the same manner as all other books.
  3. Textbooks: Generally not purchased unless for the Curriculum Library.
  4. Popular literature: The Library maintains a collection of Best Seller fiction and non-fiction. Funds for this collection are separate. These materials will be acquired principally through a book leasing program in order to keep the collection fresh. Titles may be purchased outright at the discretion of the Library.

Other reference books:
The following types of materials are purchased upon request: almanacs, atlases, directories, encyclopedias, gazetteers, guides, handbooks, statistical compilations, tables, national and international standards, and local, national, and international codes.

Electronic Monographs and Reference Tools
The Library’s electronic purchases include: databases, electronic journals and electronic books.

Specific criteria for evaluating these technologies includes some or all of the following:

  • Cost
  • Demand
  • Quality of indexing and search capabilities
  • Ease of use
  • Suitability to curricular support
  • Technical support requirements
  • Compatibility with existing network system
  • Training requirements for staff and users
  • Comprehensiveness
  • Currency
  • Opinions of review sources
  • Licensing restrictions

Journals
In order to best support the library’s mission of providing access to information anywhere, anytime, electronic journals accessible over the Internet are to be collected in place of their equivalent print versions. The challenges to providing access to electronic journals warrant a detailed collection development policy focusing on these materials. This policy will provide guidelines for the selection and acquisition of both print and electronic journals as well as the provision of access. Related collection development documents will address procedural concerns in detail.

  1. Print Journals: Although electronic access to journals is now preferred, print journals are still collected in some cases. Dual print and electronic subscriptions will be maintained only where electronic access is dependent on a print subscription. Existing runs of print journals will be maintained and augmented through donations and exchange. Some subjects, such as art, architecture, design, and photography, require access to print journals, and new print subscriptions will be evaluated in these subject areas. New print journal subscriptions will not be considered unless there is no electronic counterpart or there is a significant cost advantage of the print over the electronic version.In addition to the established evaluation criteria for all materials, a new print journal subscription should be reviewed for the following criteria:
  • Electronic or print indexing coverage in a source available to students and faculty
  • Electronic version not available
  • Faculty request
  1. Electronic Journals:
    Selection Responsibility
    Responsibility for selecting electronic journals rests primarily with the Library Director, library staff, and department faculty.General Selection Guidelines
    Electronic formats are always to be preferred over print when selecting journal titles. In such cases where the electronic version meets the criteria specified in the following sections, the subscription to the print version may be cancelled.

    In certain cases, in addition to content, the criteria listed below should be considered when selecting electronic journals:

  • If free, the improvement or enhancement that the resource will give to existing print materials
  • The technical requirements necessary to provide access
  • The broad accessibility of the resource under present copyright laws and licensing agreements
  • The user-friendliness of the resource
  • The necessity of archiving and/or availability of archives.

It is particularly important to consult available published reviews of electronic journals before their acquisition. Reviews can outline how well a resource meets specific criteria and can provide further insight regarding the resource’s overall quality. If reviews are not available, then librarians will make an effort to locate other pertinent information about the resource so that possible issues and concerns about a resource may be explored.

A title should not necessarily be excluded because it does not meet every individual criterion or because it duplicates a print subscription. However, every attempt should be made to select resources that adequately meet as many of the selection criteria as is possible.

The licensing or purchase of electronic journals should follow present collecting policies, whether general or subject specific policies. Specifically they should adhere to the chronological, geographical, language, and date of publication guidelines set forth in general or subject specific policies.

Gifts and Donated Materials Policy
Responsibility for Accepting Gifts
The library director and library staff makes the decision to accept gifts for addition to the Curry Library collection. When gifts are sizable or potentially rare or valuable, the approval of the Director of Advancement is necessary. Gifts of manuscripts or archival materials must be referred to the Archive Librarian.

Appraisal of Donations
Potential donors must be advised that due to IRS rules, the Library cannot make monetary appraisals of donated materials. The librarians can advise donors that many services exist to help them place a value on their donations. Although the Library does not provide appraisals, an inventory of all gifts that are accepted for the Library’s collection must be made. For gifts that require a Deed of Gift, the Archive Librarian will provide the appropriate forms. In most circumstances, donors are responsible for sending gifts to the Library. In certain cases, the Library will pay for packing and shipping of gift items. These arrangements should be made in advance in coordination with and approval by library staff.

Accepting Large Collections
Large gift collections can be accepted only after proper consultation has been made with the Library Director. In these cases, the Library and donor must arrange for transportation and processing, as well as temporary and permanent housing.

Disposition of Gift Materials
It is the responsibility of the librarian working with the donor to advise him or her that:

  • Not all donated materials will necessarily be added to the Library’s collections.
  • Any donated items not added to the Library’s collections may be put on the free book cart, sold to dealers, shared with other university libraries, or otherwise disposed.
  • Donated items not selected may not be returned to the donor unless specifically requested by the donor prior to the donation and release of ownership.

Deed of Gift
The Deed of Gift is a document that conveys the gift material to the Library without any encumbrances, including copyright or ownership issues. It spells out any terms or conditions of the gift and provides a clear title to the material. The Archive Librarian is responsible for issuing the Deed of Gift and keeping the master files on these gifts.

Patron Suggestions Regarding Library Materials
The Library welcomes expressions of opinion from the Jewell community concerning materials selected or not selected for inclusion in its collections. Requests to add materials to the collection can be submitted by students, subject to approval, faculty, and staff of William Jewell in electronic format. The Request Form must be filled out in its entirety for materials to be considered.

Librarians, in consultation with the faculty of the department that handles the subject material requested, will handle each request on an individual basis. Requests to remove Library materials will be considered within the contexts of the policies laid out in this document. Members of the Jewell community who wish to request the reconsideration of library materials should speak to the Library Director about the materials in question.