Collection Development Practices and Policy

Collection Development Practices and Policy

Standard Practices for Collection Development, MiraCosta College Library

The selection and evaluation of materials is based on curricular demands, the recommendations of current professionals' review of media, standard book selection devices and bibliographic tools, and the suggestions and requests of qualified members of the college community. Maintenance of high quality in the libraries' collection requires that materials considered for purchase be appraised by such criteria as factual accuracy and objectivity, authority, excellence of expression, lasting literary, historical or other value, suitability of format and subject matter, timeliness, and maturity level.

Materials that may be appropriate for discard include those that are (1) in poor condition (beyond economic repair); (2) superfluous (duplicates or items no longer in demand); (3) obsolete (superseded editions and materials in which information is no longer accurate).

The library staff and the faculty have a joint responsibility for collection development and maintenance. The library staff is responsible for the selection of reference materials, general materials not related to specific curricular areas, and for maintaining a balance among the various subject areas and among materials in various printed, filmed, and recorded formats. The final decision to order the purchase of materials is the responsibility of the Dean, Academic Information Services.

Members of instructional departments recognize that they have special expertise to evaluate the suitability of the library holdings in their respective disciplines and acknowledge that an aspect of their instructional responsibilities is to help ensure the availability of pertinent and current learning resources. Therefore, as part of a yearly departmental effort, all faculty will (1) survey the materials in their disciplines and (2) make recommendations to the Dean, Academic Information Services for retiring outdated or unusable resources, and for the purchase of new materials for the collection.

To avoid duplication of effort, faculty are encouraged to work collaboratively with colleagues in their discipline as they (1) assess the library holdings and (2) develop recommendations for additions and deletions to the collection. Faculty then will complete and submit the assessment forms to their department chair by March 1 each year. The chair will coordinate the reports from all members of the department and submit a report to the Dean, Academic Information Services.

The department chair and members of the department should determine what areas within the library holdings are relevant to that department, and which areas will be covered by which faculty members. More than one faculty member may evaluate an area; however, each faculty member should evaluate at least one area. At the beginning of each academic year, the library staff will provide each chair with a packet of collection review materials. These are to be distributed to department colleagues who will use them to evaluate the holdings and make recommendations. They will return the appropriate forms to the chair upon completion and no later than March 1. The chair reviews materials submitted by department members with an eye to departmental and curricular needs. S/he then submits by April 1 any additional recommendations regarding these needs along with all the completed faculty collection review materials for their department to the Dean, Academic Information Services. This same process will be repeated annually to ensure currency and adequacy of the library holdings. The Vice President, Instructional Services and Dean, Academic Information Services, will work with chairs as necessary to ensure faculty involvement and completion of the review process.

Donations

All offers of donations of materials will be referred to the Dean, Academic Information Services. Gifts are accepted with the understanding that only those meeting the standards of selection criteria will be added to the collection. Gifts not retained are normally made available to faculty and staff, to students, or to community service organizations.

Controversial Materials

Materials representing various sides of controversial subjects are included in the library collection as a matter of routine. No material which is otherwise appropriate will be excluded in order to keep its ideas from students. None will be excluded solely because its ideas will be considered by some distasteful or harmful. Attempts by individuals or groups to influence what students read, listen to, or view are considered legitimate only if they are advanced in a way that does not violate the liberties of students and does not interfere with the professional responsibilities of the faculty, the administration and the Governing Board.

If the suitability of particular material is questioned, the specific objections should be submitted in writing to the Dean, Academic Information Services. The Dean shall refer the matter to the Technology and Pedagogy Committee for consideration and action. The Senate Council shall ratify the Committee's decision and advise the Superintendent/President of the disposition of the complaint. The complainant shall be advised in writing of the Committee's disposition of the complaint.

Website Evaluation Criteria

Websites' unique characteristics should be evaluated by the following criteria developed by Yale University Reference Librarian Lynn Sette ("Evaluating Web Sites" Selection Criteria. 6 Apr. 1999. Yale University. 13 Dec. 2000.). Also see UCLA's library site by Esther Grassian, "Thinking Critically about Discipline-Based World Wide Web Resources".

I. Scope

• What is the mission of the site?
• Does it accomplish its mission?
• Is the mission stated?
• Is the primary purpose of the site informational or advertising?

II. Authority

• Is the author clearly identified?
• Is there an institutional affiliation?
• What are the author's credentials?
• How knowledgeable is the author on the subject (educational background, past writings, experience)?
• Is contact information included in the document?
• Has the site been reviewed by outside sources?

III. Content

• Is the content substantive?
• Comprehensive?
• Unique?
• Accurate?
• Does it meet the needs of the intended audience?
• Is the information objective or is there evidence of subjectivity or bias?
• Is it easy to read?
• Are there spelling and grammatical errors?
• Is the integrity of the original source preserved?

IV. Currency

• When was the page created?
• Is it regularly maintained and updated?
• Are the links current or updated regularly?
• Is the information outdated?

V. Accessibility

• Is the resource consistently available?
• Does it load quickly?
  
• Is there an option for text only?

VI. Unique features

• Does it provide a search engine?
• Are there instructions or help?
• Are there buttons or navigational aids available?
• Are links provided to move through the document and return to the home page?
• Do the icons clearly represent what is intended?

VII. Cost

• Is it a free resource?
• Does it require registration or a subscription fee?