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RIT Libraries Collection Development Policy

Contents:

• Introduction
• General Collecting Principles
• Support Levels
• Locator Assignments
• General Selection Criteria
• Cooperative Collection Development Agreements
• Publication Formats
• Collection Maintenance

Introduction

It is the primary responsibility of the RIT Libraries to provide collections to directly support the curricular needs of Rochester Institute of Technology's career-oriented undergraduate programs. The research needs of the RIT community are served through a combination of on-site collections, electronic resources (indexes and full-text), interlibrary loan and document delivery services, including ConnectNY.

The RIT Libraries Collection Development Policy delineates the objectives of each academic department, program and center. The policy contains individual statements, one for each major discipline included in the current curricula of RIT's eight colleges, as well as, statements for the Reference Collection, the Special Collections, the RIT Archives, Electronic Resources, Bindery, and Gifts. The statements identify the parameters and priorities for selection, retention, and evaluation of material in each of these areas.

The selectors (i.e. Reference Department staff) are responsible for specific portions of the libraries' collection. In their assigned disciplines, selectors in collaboration with their faculty, provide for collection development, bibliographic instruction and academic department liaison activities. Other library staff and patrons may suggest titles by submitting a "Suggest New Library Materials" form or by contacting any of the Reference Department staff.

The Collection Development Policy guides the selectors in choosing library materials for addition to the collection. It provides the criteria to make routine purchase decisions, establish approval plan profiles, and make gift acceptance decisions. It also provides selectors with the criteria for making retention and weeding decisions. The policy functions as a guide to library resources for RIT faculty, outside users, and other libraries. As an indicator of collection strengths and weaknesses it can be a useful tool in proposing/establishing resource-sharing and cooperative acquisition agreements.

These statements were written by the reference librarians responsible for selecting materials for each of the disciplines and edited and collated by the Head of Collection Development/Acquisitions and the Head of Reference. They are based upon current library policies, procedures and collections. All statements will be reviewed by appropriate individual colleges and departments for further refinement at any time. When significant changes are made to any curriculum or library policy, the policy statements will be updated as expeditiously as possible. Otherwise, the entire policy will be reviewed every three-four years.

General Collecting Principles

The focus of the RIT Library acquisition program is on current, in-print materials. In general, current materials have collection priority over older materials. Whenever possible, current materials are selected on the basis of favorable reviews or notices in reputable reviewing media. If selection is desirable before publication date, the reputation of the author or the credentials of the publisher or other issuing body is taken into account. The purchase of retrospective monographic works is selective and based on annotations in standard general bibliographies or specialized subject lists. When specific out-of-print titles are required, commercially-produced microforms, photocopies, or reprint editions are generally as satisfactory as the original. Retrospective acquisition of serials to meet new program needs is extremely selective and usually limited to the past five years.

Most materials acquired are printed monographs. When both paperback and hard bound editions of monographs are available, the hard bound edition is preferred in most cases unless the price differential is substantial. Electronic format is preferred over microform or hardcopy for periodical backfiles, except when titles include extensive illustration, substantial graphical material, or mathematical notation. Whenever feasible, current subscriptions are obtained in electronic format via the internet to facilitate access to the widest possible RIT user population.

Note: Exceptions to the above statements may appear within individual subject area policy statements.

Support Levels

The collection development policy statement for each discipline concludes with a list of "Subject Divisions" for that discipline and the "support level" provided for each of these divisions. The support levels assigned to each subject division are based on national standards developed by the American Library Association and explained in detail below. In most cases, support levels for on-site collections do not exceed C-1, the "advanced study level." When the curriculum dictates, on-site collections are augmented to higher support levels through a combination of selective acquisition, interlibrary loan, and document delivery.

A. Comprehensive level: A collection in which a library endeavors, so far as is reasonably possible, to include all significant works of recorded knowledge (publications, manuscripts, other forms) for a necessarily defined field. This level of collecting intensity is that which maintains a "special collection"; the aim, if not the achievement, is exhaustiveness.

B. Research level: A collection which includes the major published source materials required for dissertations and independent research, including materials containing research reporting, new findings, scientific experimental results, and other information useful to researchers. It also includes all important reference works and a wide selection of specialized monographs, as well as an extensive collection of journals and major indexing and abstracting services in the field.

C. Study level:

1. Advanced study level: A collection which is adequate to support the course work of advanced undergraduate and master's degree programs, or sustained independent study; that is, which is adequate to maintain knowledge of a subject required for limited or generalized purposes, of less than research intensity. It includes a wide range of basic monographs both current and retrospective, complete collections of the works of more important writers, selections from the works of secondary writers, a selection of representative journals, and the reference tools and fundamental bibliographical apparatus pertaining to the subject.
2. Initial study level: A collection which is adequate to support undergraduate courses. It includes a judicious selection from currently published basic monographs (as are represented by Choice selections) supported by seminal retrospective monographs (as are represented by Books for College Libraries); a broad selection of works of more important writers; a selection of the most significant works of secondary writers; a selection of the major review journals; and current editions of the most significant reference tools and bibliographies pertaining to the subject.

D. Basic level: A highly selective collection which serves to introduce and define the subject and to indicate the varieties of information available elsewhere. It includes major dictionaries and encyclopedias, selected editions of important works, historical surveys, important biblio-graphies, and a few major periodicals in the field.

E. Minimal level: A subject area in which few selections are made beyond very basic works.

Locator Assignments

A. Reference Collection

Material is assigned a REF locator if it wholly, or in substantial part, conforms to a traditional reference format: dictionary, directory, bibliography, encyclopedia, index, handbook, library catalog, standards, etc. Serials, special issues of serials, and monographs can be assigned this locator. In general, only the most current editions of a title are assigned a REF locator and earlier editions are moved to the circulating collection, the periodicals collection, or are deaccessioned.

B. Reserve Collection

The RESD locator is assigned to discourage mutilation and/or theft of materials while permitting access when the library is open. It may also be assigned to ensure fair and timely access to high demand materials. The following are the main types of materials in the Reserve Collection:

1. Materials presented in a standard reference format that have been the target of thieves and vandals or are similar to these items, such as creative services directories and loose-leaf services.
2. Current issues of periodicals that are more vulnerable to theft or mutilation due to the currency (or academic value) of the information they contain.
3. Current issues of periodicals that are regularly heavily used.
4. Graduate Exam books.
5. Testing kits.

C. RIT Archives

The RIT locator is assigned to any item published by RIT, about RIT or written by or documenting the work of an RIT student, alumnus, faculty member, or staff member. An additional copy or copies may also be placed in the circulating collection.

D. Special Collections

The RARE locator is assigned to serial and monographic titles and other materials that have a high monetary value (old illustrated works such as Fruits of New York State and Audubon's bird paintings), are considered to be a likely target for theft or mutilation, or are issued in a format difficult to control in the circulating collection. The primary types of materials assigned a RARE locator are listed below. A fuller description of the materials in the RIT Library Special Collections and criteria for their selection is given in "Collection Development Policy Statement: Special Collections."

1. Illustrated monographs and serials with content that has proven to be the target of mutilation and theft (illustrations of nudes, for example).
2. Illustrated monographs and serials issued as loose plates or in parts that cannot be bound (Aspen magazine, portfolios, posters, photographs, for example).
3. Artists' books that are not primarily exhibition records. This choice of location is made to preserve the physical integrity of the artists' book as an art object.
4. A limited number of serials that have been repeatedly mutilated because of the content or quality of their illustrations (Life, Aperture, Picture, photography & design annuals, for example).
5. A limited number of fragile or unbound serials valuable as primary resource documents for the study of the history of photography (early years of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Fortune, for example).
6. Archival and manuscript collections (i.e. graphic design archives).

General Selection Criteria

A. Content of Material

1. Falls within subject collection criteria
2. Comprehensiveness
3. Duplication of coverage
4. Comparison with other material with similar coverage
5. Usage statistics of current holdings in this area warrant addition
6. Scarcity of material on the subject
7. Representation of all sides of controversial issues

B. Potential Users

1. Subject specific group
2. Cross-disciplinary
3. Non-academic users (i.e. CIMS, Coop & Placement, Development Office)

C. Accuracy of information

1. Credentials of author
2. Reputation of publisher or sponsoring organization

D. Ease of Use

1. Most appropriate format
2. Arrangement of information
3. Style and clarity of presentation
4. Bibliographic accessibility
5. User documentation
   
   • Accuracy
   • Comprehensibility
1. Level of user sophistication required
2. Level of training required for basic use

E. Cost

1. Unit price
2. Cost in comparison with other equally useful material
3. Bindery
4. Cataloging/processing
5. Shelf space
6. License agreements
7. Hardware & software support

Cooperative Collection Development Agreements

No contractual cooperative collection development agreements have been made between RIT Library and any other library. However, RIT Libraries participate in ConnectNY which allows direct access to seven other library collections (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Colgate University, St. Lawrence University, Siena College and Union College). Informal working relationships with other members of the RRLC also exist for specific disciplines.

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.

RIT Libraries also participate in other local, regional and national cooperative efforts that allow us to optimize our buying power to procure large online databases.

Publication Formats

A. Microfilms

Journals are retained in microform when electronic archives are not available or deemed too costly or when binding original paper issues is ackward or space prohibitive.

B. Non-Print Materials

Acquisition of traditional non-print materials (videotapes, video discs, films, sound recordings) is very selective. Non-print material needed by faculty for classroom use should be procured through the Media Resource Center.

C. Software, CD ROM, and Internet Access

Indexing and abstracting services and specialized full-text sources will be acquired in these formats where they meet subject collection criteria, as well as, the Electronic Resources Policy criteria (in process).

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. (see also Serials Review Guidelines) 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 repair, rebinding or 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 and special subject lists should be retained in the collection. Second (and higher numbered) copies that do not circulate in five years should be deselected
   

2. Selective Weeding

   a. Monographs
   In general, 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 deaccessioned.
      
      
   2. Scholarly Publications
      Long runs of key scholarly journals 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 Libraries 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 considered for deaccessioned. If the title is not readily available through an alternative resource and it meets the collecting levels assigned in Section IX: 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, trends, etc.) should be discarded after a period of one to five years. 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 Libraries.
      
      
   4. Review Series and Annuals
      These provide overviews of both current and historical developments, and therefore are kept indefinitely.
      
      
   5. Directories
      Current editions are kept in reference or reserve; for directories that change very little,one copy of the previous issue is kept in the circulating collection for users to circulate or to use if the latest edition is temporarily misplaced. Older editions are discarded.

B. Current Edition/Year Only Retained

1. Textbooks

   Although it is not the policy of RIT Libraries to collect textbooks as such, for classic textbooks in high demand, an earlier edition may be kept.

2. Manuals of practice

   For manuals of practice that change very little, older editions are kept (no more than 3) for students to circulate, or to use if the latest edition is temporarily unavailable.

3. Career Material
4. Newsletters/Calendars/Current Awareness Services

   Materials providing timely information about events, activities, and employment opportunities are discarded when information is not longer current. Current awareness services are discarded after one year, when the articles they cover are indexed by other sources.

5. Membership Directories
6. Standards

C. 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 confined 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 condiiton of collection by replacing worn circulating copies with more sound gift copies.

D. Stacks Maintenance

The condition of all materials should be monitored to ensure those in need of repair and rebinding are attended to before they are irreparably damaged

Maintained by Sheila Smokey