Collection Development Policy

Introduction

This policy provides guidelines for the systematic development of the library's collection of material in all formats. It outlines criteria to be considered by librarians and faculty members when selecting and withdrawing materials, and provides an overall framework for collection development.  It also informs the university community of the library's collection goals and policies.

Collection Goals

1. Responding to the curricular and research needs of students, and providing material that helps students broaden viewpoints.
2. Responding to faculty needs for instructional support and encouraging faculty input to the selection process through a system of discipline liaisons.
3. Maintaining a collection that provides current material, in a variety of formats, in the subject areas covered by the curriculum.
4. Providing access to material that we do not own through cooperative buying and interlibrary loan.
5. Spending funds in a timely fashion as well as showing awareness of financial constraints and fiscal responsibility.
6. Showing accountability by adherence to the collection policy.

Ordering Procedures

Selectors choose material in appropriate formats to add to the library's collection. Selectors work with faculty liaisons to develop the collection. In the fall, budget information is sent to faculty liaisons, whose task is to forward requests from their colleagues to the subject selector. The faculty and librarians, in general, order from Choice cards, Choice Online, brochures, and reviews forwarded to them from the selectors.

Allocations of Subject Funds

The amount of money allocated to each subject area is determined by a formula applied each fall by the Collections Development Coordinator. The formula takes into account several factors: the student enrollment in each subject, credit hours, and the average cost of books and periodicals for the subject.

Library Subject Funds are:

African and African-American Studies, Anthropology, Art History, Business, College/Career, Communications, Criminal Justice, Economics, Education, Engineering and Computer Science, English Language and Literature, Foreign Language, Health Policy Studies, History,  Mathematics, Music, Natural Sciences,  Philosophy and Religion, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, and Women’s Studies.

For further information, contact Fu Schuttringer, Collection Development Coordinator

 

Collection Policy Guidelines

In adding to the collection, selectors will:

1. Assess appropriateness of each new title for supporting the curriculum at UM-Dearborn;
2. Choose English language material, unless it is appropriate to select foreign language material (e.g., to support the foreign language curriculum);
3. Choose current publications, no out-of-print or rare material;
4. Choose U.S. imprints almost exclusively;
5. Choose paperbacks when available;
6. Choose e-books when practical.

In addition, selectors should consider the following when choosing a new title:

1. A gap in a particular subject area;
2. Permanence or timeliness of the book;
3. Positive review evaluations in one or more of the accepted reviewing media;
4. Student interest, if the subject matter is of a general or contemporary nature;
5. High standards of quality in content, format, or literary merit;
6. Author's reputation in the subject field;
7. Reputation of the publisher;
8. Cost.

Textbooks

The library does not purchase textbooks for courses offered at UM-Dearborn. Our library collection is intended to provide materials for instructional support and supplement classroom learning.

Withdrawing

Withdrawing material is also part of collection management, especially in a non-research library. In withdrawing material, the following considerations should be taken into account:

1. Materials containing obsolete or inaccurate data or facts;
2. Out-of-date media formats;
3. Chronically unused materials;
4. Worn, badly marked, damaged, or unusable materials;
5. Superseded editions of materials currently held by the library;
6. Incomplete sets of books, the continuity of which is not maintained;
7. Incomplete holdings of journals for which there is not adequate justification or demand.

Collecting Levels

The Mardigian Library uses the following criteria as a guideline for measuring the level of collecting. The Mardigian Library collects at level II-III in its attempt to support programs at the undergraduate level. It attempts to collect, in addition, material to support graduate level programs in specific fields.

LEVEL 0: Out of Scope: The library does not collect in this area.

LEVEL I: Minimal Level: A subject area in which few selections are made beyond very basic works.

LEVEL II: Basic Information Level: A collection of up-to-date general materials that serve to introduce and define a subject, and to indicate the varieties of information available elsewhere.

LEVEL III: Instructional Support Level: Materials adequate to support undergraduate and most graduate instruction. This includes a wide range of basic monographs, a selection of representative journals, reference tools, and bibliographical tools pertaining to the subject.

LEVEL IV: Research Level: Major published source materials, including materials containing research reporting, new findings, scientific experimental results, and other information useful to researchers. It includes all important reference works and a wide selection of specialized monographs, as well as a very extensive collection of journals, and major indexing and abstracting services.

LEVEL V: Comprehensive level: Includes all significant works of recorded knowledge, in all applicable languages, for a necessarily defined and limited field.

 

Additional Mardigian Library Collections

Browsing

Browsing is a small collection selected with the students in mind, and in the expectation that the collection will bring to their attention titles of which they might not otherwise be aware. It has been the practice to move titles from this collection to the regular circulating collection after one or two years.

Juvenile

The library has a collection of juvenile books, including a collection of Juvenile Historic books which originated as the May G. Quigley Collection. The Juvenile Historic Collection has since grown to include significant gifts from the Balbach family, Patricia Bravender, and Susan M. Steele. Items purchased for the Juvenile Historic Collection may include out-of-print or rare titles.

Faculty

The library also collects items that are written or edited by faculty members of the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Most of the items in the Faculty Collection are donated to the library by faculty members. If multiple copies of an item are owned, only one copy is kept in the collection; others are shelved with the regular circulating collection.

Alumni

The library also collects items that are written or edited by alumni of the University of Michigan-Dearborn. The items in Alumni Collection are either donated to us by the author, or donated to us through the Office of Alumni Relations. If multiple copies of an item are owned, only one copy is kept in the collection; others are shelved with the regular circulating collection.

Gifts-In-Kind Donations

The library welcomes gifts of books, archival materials, CDs, and other materials from students, faculty, and the general public. These gifts may enhance the collection and contribute to the mission of the Mardigian Library. We encourage and welcome the donation of gifts-in-kind.

All donations receive careful consideration by the Mardigian Library. Librarians review donated items using the same guidelines in selecting materials for purchase, in addition to potential restrictions, limitations, and costs that are associated with the gift and its processing and retention.

All gifts that are accepted by the Mardigian Library become the property of the library, which reserves the right to determine the use and disposition of the gifts. Materials accepted as gifts cannot be returned to donors and the library does not guarantee all items added will be a permanent part of the collection.

The Mardigian Library encourages donors to provide an inventory of items to be donated, including information such as author, title, publication date, or basic description of non-book items.

If you are considering a gift-in-kind to the Mardigian Library, please submit a completed copy of our Donor Record Form.

Materials Not Accepted Except in special circumstances, and only with the specific authorization of the Library Director, the library will not accept the following materials:

• Popular magazines;
• Scattered or single issue of magazines, journals, or newspapers;
• Textbooks.