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I. General Description of the Business Collection and Its Users

The subject scope of the business collection is broad. Functional core areas include accounting, economics, finance, organizational behavior, management, marketing, international business, and decision sciences. Other subject elements of the core grouping quantitative analysis (including computer applications), business environment (including legal environment), and integrative or policy analysis.

The collection is developed in support of the curriculum of the College of Business and Economics department of the College of Liberal Arts. The collection primarily supports undergraduate and masters level courses (student research, faculty teaching needs). The collection is also heavily used by students and faculty members from other departments, particularly those in Food/Hotel/Travel Management, Packaging, and Graphic Design. In addition, career and employment resources are used extensively by the entire Institute community. Administrative staff also frequently draw upon the resources of the business collection.

II. Description of the Programs Served by the Business Collection

A. Undergraduate Programs

Majors are offered in accounting, finance, management, decision sciences and marketing. Photographic Marketing Management is jointly conducted with the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences.

1. Accounting
   Public Accounting
   General Accounting
   
   Designed to provide career opportunities in public accounting and accounting departments in corporate organizations.
   
   
2. Finance
   Financial Management
   Security Analysis
   
   Designed to prepare students for entry level financial management positions in business organizations and financial institutions.
   
   
3. Management
   General Management
   
   Designed to prepare students for management level positions.
   
   
4. Economics
   
   
5. Decision Sciences
   Information Systems
   Operations Management
   Statistics
   
   Designed to maximize career options for those students interested in the application of computer science and technology to business and government.
   
   
6. Marketing
   
   Designed to develop a high degree of marketing management competencies.
   
   
7. Photographic Marketing Management (with School of Photographic Arts and Science).
   
   Designed to provide students with a thorough knowledge of the photographic process and a solid background in business and administration. The emphasis is on preparing students for a varied career in the photographic business.

B. Graduate Programs

Business Administration

Corporate Accounting
Public Accounting
Finance
Marketing
Management
Management of Technology
Manufacturing Management
International Business

III. Subject and Language Modifiers

A. Geographic Areas

The geographic focus of the collection is primarily on the United States, including aspects relating to international concerns of the United States.

B. Chronological Limits

No restrictions. Emphasis, however, is on current developments and analysis of recent events.

C. Languages

No restrictions. Emphasis is on English-language materials. Only selected foreign language statistical sources and multilingual dictionaries/encyclopedieas are acquired.

IV. Date of Publication

General emphasis for acquisition of new titles is on current publications in all subject areas. Acquisition/retention of material older than ten years is based upon importance of the work to the discipline; usefulness for historical information/perspective; extent of current publishing in the discipline; curriculum needs for new program development; usage of existing material of same age; and physical condition of the material. Retrospective acquisition of serials to meet new program needs will be extremely selective and limited to the past five years. Document delivery will be utilized instead to meet these needs whenever feasible.

V. Special/Archival Collections

A. Annual Reports

The library maintains a hardcopy annual report file for all the Fortune 500 companies, 250 of the Fortune 500 Service Industries, as well as locally based companies, for the last ten years.

VI. Treatment of Subject Matter

A. Level of Treatment

Primary emphasis is on a collection which supports curriculum driven needs of the students and faculty. The needs of the NTID students are considered where relevant. Major published source material containing research reporting and scholarly work appearing in core collection bibliographies or recommended lists will be included. Pertinent reference sources will also be acquired. Such sources include selected subject dictionaries/encyclopedias, handbooks, almanacs, directories, business and tax services, standard statistical sources, trade statistical annuals, commercial research reports, company/industry reports, and international reference sources. Every effort is made to accommodate faculty requests for specific curriculum related titles.

B. Textbooks

Not acquired routinely unless classic titles or useful as general surveys or handbooks for a particular area not otherwise represented.

C. Multiple Copies

Acquired only when heavy use is anticipated or at the curriculum based request of a faculty member. A select few journals are retained in both paper and microfilm for (up to) five years, if use justifies, then in microfilm only. (See Bindery Policy/Procedure-Periodicals)

D. Newspapers

Essential sources of current information on domestic and international business and finance are acquired. Local papers and selected metropolitan and international daily papers are supported by general reference, business, and economics.

E. Government Documents

Acquired selectively when their content is appropriate to the scope of the collection.

F. Maps/Atlases

Acquired selectively when appropriate for specific representations (for example, commercial atlases, census maps).

G. Other

Pamphlets are acquired only if substantial enough to justify cataloging. No pamphlet/vertical file is maintained.

VII. Cooperative Collection Development Agreements

No contractual cooperative collection development agreements for this discipline have been made between RIT Library and any other library. Informal working relationships with other members of the RRLC exist and closer associations will be pursued in the future.

Where faculty and student research needs fall outside the primary undergraduate curriculum-based scope of the onsite collection, access to this information will be provided through traditional, as well as, commercial document delivery services.

VIII. Publication Formats

A. Microforms

Journals are routinely retained in microfilm with the exception of titles containing substantial graphical material or mathematical notation.

B. Non-Print Materials

Acquisition of traditional non-print materials (slides, videotapes, video discs, films, sound recordings, slide/tape programs) is very selective and made in consultation with the Media Resource Center, usually at the request of a faculty member. Non-print materials are generally housed in the Media Resource Center.

C. Software and CD ROM

Indexing and abstracting services and other specialized sources will be acquired in these formats where they meet subject collection criteria, as well as, the Electronic Products Policy criteria.

IX. Collection Maintenance

Continuous maintenance of the collection is carried out based upon systematic evaluation in light of curriculum shifts, use statistics, core bibliographies, physical space limitations and alternative availability of information. Current periodical titles will be reviewed annually prior to their renewal. All other areas of the collection should be reviewed every three to five years. Included in the process are weeding of materials no longer relevant to curriculum needs, elimination of superfluous titles where information is duplicated in more current or authoritative sources, and the ordering of replacement copies of damaged/heavily used items still relevant to curriculum needs.

A. Weeding

1. Duplicates Only Weeded

a. Monographs

At least one copy in good condition of standard classic titles listed in major general bibliographies of business and special subject lists, such as Harvard Business School Core Collection should be retained in the collection. Second (and higher numbered) copies that do not circulate for five years should be withdrawn.

b. Serials

A highly selective collection of business serial titles are kept in both paper and microform for up to five years, after which the paper is weeded.

2. Selective Weeding

a. Monographs

In general, economics materials should be reviewed every three to five years to remove materials no longer relevant to the curriculum, older materials where sufficient coverage is provided by contemporary titles, and multiple copies of materials where high use is no longer a factor.

b. Serials

(1) Indexing and Abstracting Services

Indexing and abstracting publications should be discarded only when equivalent or improved coverage and access is available through new sources, printed or electronic (i.e. covers approximately same or more pertinent journal titles in the field and/or provides enhanced search capabilities pertinent to our programs). Duplication of coverage should be monitored annually. If the library has a run of less than ten years and the materials covered are indexed by another resource, the volumes should be withdrawn.

(2) Scholarly Publications

Long runs of key scholarly journal in all aspects of business that meet the criteria given in the introduction to this section should be retained indefinitely. Priority for retention should be given to titles accessible though indexing and abstracting services available at RIT Library and titles not available in any other Rochester-area library. Titles that have ceased publication need to be reveiwed carefully. If the library has a run of less than ten years and the journal is available through an alternative source, either an area library or a document delivery service, then it should be withdrawn. If the title is not readily available through an alternative resource and it meets the collecting levels assigned in Section X: Subject Divisions then it should be retained.

(3) Trade Journals

Retention of trade journals should be carefully scrutinized. Those that primarily provide timely information (industry news, new products, market trends, etc.) should be discarded after a period of one to five years. An example would be Monetary Trends . Those that include articles of more lasting value should be considered for longer retention, particularly if they are accessible through indexing and abstracting services available at RIT Library. An example would be Progressive Grocer .

4. Current Edition/Year Only Retained

a. Monographs

(1) Modern (post-1980) textbooks

(2) Modern (post-1980) manuals of practice

(3) Career guidance and professional information (legal, business, tax, grant, etc. materials)

(4) Standards

b. Serials

(1) Newsletters, calenders, other curent awareness services providing timely information about events and activities of organizations, employment opportunities.

(2) Membership directories of business organizations

(3) Directories of corporations except in cases when information included is more extensive than basic directory information. An example would be the Moody's series. When comprehensive information is available then the retention should mirror the curricula needs.

B. Replacement of Materials

1. Lost, Mutilated

Every effort should be made to replace lost or heavily mutilated titles if they are judged to be of continuing relevance to the collection. When mutilation is confimed to a few pages, replacement copies of these should be requested through the Information Delivery Service (see RIT Library Bindery Policy: Monographs and RIT Library Bindery Policy: Serials).

2. Gifts which duplicate existing holdings should be used to upgrade the condition of the collection by replacing worn circulating copies with more sound gift copies.

C. Stacks Maintenance

The business collection, particularly the reference section, is fairly heavily used therefore requiring shelf-reading on a on-going, consistent basis. The condition of items shelved in these areas should be monitored to ensure those in need of repair and rebinding are attended to before they are irreparably damaged.

X. Subject Divisions

[rev. 7/94, 2/95]

Maintained by Sheila Smokey