Collection Development Policy for Hugh Stephens Library

Mission Statement

It is the goal of the Hugh Stephens Library to act in support of the mission statement of Stephens College :

"Historically committed to meeting the changing needs of women, Stephens College engages students in an innovative educational experience focused on pre-professional fields and the performing arts and grounded in the liberal arts. Graduates of Stephens are career-ready women of distinction, connected through a supportive network of alumnae across the world, confident in themselves, and inspired by our tradition of the Ten Ideals as core values that enrich women's lives."

- Adopted February 2004

Purpose

This collection development policy intends to provide an up-to-date document that reflects the guidelines and policies of the Hugh Stephens Library.

The Stephens College community, as served by the Hugh Stephens Library, includes the students, faculty and staff. The students are the primary service community and student needs are a priority for the Library.

The Library aims to provide a balanced collection with a strong emphasis on scholarship and curricular relevance. The collection is intended to support undergraduate students in their quest to attain a well-rounded liberal arts degree with a woman-focused emphasis.

It is the goal of the Library to develop a current and applicable collection for each major discipline offered by the college incorporating the appropriate medium for the discipline. For example, graduate studies are primarily supported via electronic resources whereas dance is primarily supported with visual media. The Library does not collect for faculty research.

All selection as performed according to the policy below will take into consideration the Library's partnership with MOBIUS, the academic library consortium in the state of Missouri . Specialized areas outside the realm of the Stephens College curriculum and specialized items outside of the Library's budget will be borrowed from other institutions at patron request.

Responsibility and Procedure for Selection

The responsibility for selection of monographic materials lies primarily with the Reference Librarian with assistance from part-time reference staff. Any member of the Library staff may recommend titles for purchase. All requests are forwarded to the Associate Library Director for approval and purchase.

Electronic Resources may be recommended by any library staff or faculty member. New database subscriptions are acquired based on current and expected budgets, relevance to overall curriculum, and support for specific majors when electronic format is preferred. The Library Director and Associate Library Director will consult with library staff and make the final selection.

Free internet resources are selected based on recommendation from a reliable source by the Associate Library Director with assistance from part-time reference staff. Any member of the Library staff may recommend resources to be added to the Library website.

While faculty and library staff do not meet formally, faculty input is an essential component of the selection process. The Reference Librarian may consult with faculty regarding purchase of new materials, and faculty may provide any librarian with suggestions and materials for consideration. Faculty may submit requests at any time via e-mail or via electronic form provided on the Library website. Students may also submit requests.

General Selection Guidelines

It is not the policy of the Library to purchase textbooks, vanity press materials, audio books or foreign language materials. Multiple copies will be purchased only of very heavily used materials.

In the case of non-book materials, DVD, CD and electronic formats are preferred.

The general reference section is collected for by standing order. The frequency of the standing order updates is determined based on need for currency within each individual subject area. New reference books are acquired when recommended, according to their relevance to the Stephens College curriculum.

Selection should reflect curriculum awareness and the building of a balanced collection. Courses being offered in a particular year often influence that year's purchases. Purchases in the general collection primarily focus on the major subject areas offered by the college. Minor subject areas are selected for based on courses offered and the availability of budget.

The allowed cost of materials is subject to the annual budget. In all cases, the most economical format option will be sought.

Materials frequently requested via Inter-Library Loan will be referred to the Reference Librarian for purchase consideration. If articles from the same journal are frequently requested, that journal will be considered for subscription.

Every attempt will be made to maintain a fair balance of materials on controversial issues.

The Hugh Stephens Library abides by the American Library Association's Library Bill of Rights and Freedom to Read statement. These statements can be viewed at http://www.ala.org .

Requests for Materials

Faculty requests are honored as long as the request is available and the cost is not prohibitive in accordance with the annual budget. If the price exceeds a cost deemed prohibitive by that year's budget, staff librarians will review the request to ensure its benefit to the service community as a whole, and alternative funding will be sought.

Requests from students will be honored if they meet the selection guidelines as outlined in this policy.

Instructional Media Requests may be made by faculty members for classroom use via a form on the Library website. These requests are first sought to be filled via the Library's contractual agreement with the University of Missouri 's Academic Support Center . If the Academic Support Center cannot provide the material requested, it will be sought via Inter-Library Loan.

Requests may be made for dissertations that cannot be borrowed from their institution of ownership. In these cases, the dissertation will be considered for purchase if it meets the needs of the general collection.

Monographs - Criteria for Selection

Monographs are selected either by faculty request or in response to a positive review from a major reviewing source or by advertisement from a reputable publisher.

All purchases must support the institution in some way. Firm orders are assigned a fund code that represents an area of study. Fund code reports will be taken into consideration to ensure balance within the collection.

Serials - Criteria for Selection

Serials are only added to the collection if they will be used heavily and are relevant to the curriculum. They also may be purchased by faculty request. Free subscriptions are added to the collection only if they are well-reviewed and relevant to the curriculum.

Serials are generally purchased by standing order. This includes annuals and monographic series that reflect time sensitive material. The preferred format for serials is electronic. Print subscriptions are purchased if the electronic equivalent eliminates image content.

Subscriptions to serials are renewed automatically. They will be evaluated periodically and may be cancelled if they are found to be no longer relevant or if price, frequency of publication, or other factors affecting the subscription have changed significantly.

Non-print Materials - Criteria for Selection

Non-print materials purchased by the Library include projected media and sound recordings. DVD and CD formats are preferred. VHS format will be purchased if it is the only available format to fill a request. Microform and microfiche are not generally collected unless it is the only medium available for a requested resource.

Sound recordings generally are purchased only by faculty request.

Materials of projected media are purchased primarily to support the areas of Digital Filmmaking, Mass Media, Theatre and Dance. Selection generally takes place via faculty request, though items of relevance may be selected by the Reference Librarian.

Electronic Resources - Criteria for Selection

Paid database subscriptions are chosen based on general emphasis that supports the curriculum. Database subscriptions may be cancelled if use is low or there is a dramatic change in licensing terms.

Free internet resources are selected to be added to the Library website based on recommendation from a reliable source. These resources are to be evaluated at least once a year to ensure that links are functional and information is current. A site will be removed from the Library website if it has broken links, has changed its content well beyond the site's original intent, or is no longer free.

The Schweitzer Collection

Additions to the Albert Schweitzer Collection will be made by gift only. A gift fund has been established to support this collection.

Education Materials

While some education materials are selected for the general collection, for the most part these materials are held in the Educational Resource Center (ERC). The ERC is not selected for by the Library. These materials are selected and purchased by the Education Department and are processed by the Library.

Deselection:

Deselection, or weeding, is done as a conscientious effort to maintain an up-to-date collection of materials in good condition. It is responsibility of the librarians of the Hugh Stephens Library to periodically evaluate the collection for material in poor physical condition, outdated material, and material superseded by newer editions or formats.   

Deselection will occur during shelf-reading, inventory, and collection analysis reports. Inventory is completed in rotation throughout the collection on an annual basis. Shelf-reading is conducted on an ongoing basis by the circulation manager. Collection analysis reports are available through the Library's system software and should be reviewed every two to three years.

Material deemed to be of a condition too poor to continue circulating will be evaluated on a piece-by-piece basis as to whether they should be repaired, replaced or removed from the collection. In addition, the following subject-by-subject guidelines shall apply:

Cancelled Majors and Minors:

These materials will be retained to support the liberal arts curriculum.

Art, Music, Literature and Fashion:

These materials will be weeded only due to physical condition. They will not be discarded because of content.

Other Humanities:

Historical and explanatory texts will be discarded when superseded by a newer edition. Inaccurate or unfair interpretations of history will be discarded.

Math, Science and Medicine:

Materials with obsolete information or theories, as well as works that have been superseded by a newer edition will be discarded.

Social Sciences and Business:

These areas require frequent revision as much of the material deals with issues of popular interest. Materials will be discarded if superseded by a newer edition. Materials deemed obsolete by the subject community will be considered for weeding. Titles that are considered classics in social science and business will be retained.

Material in the Reference Collection will be weeded for physical condition, outdated information, or if it has been superseded by a newer edition. The majority of Reference standing orders indicate that only the current edition should be held.

Materials of great monetary or aesthetic value or materials that have become too fragile to continue regular circulation on the open shelves will be added to the Reserve section.

The deselection policy is to be reevaluated should storage of materials become an issue.

Replacement of Lost or Damaged Books

Materials that have been lost or damaged beyond repair will be replaced if replacement cost is reasonable with preference being given to heavily used materials. If a material is deemed worthy of replacement and is out of print, best effort will be made to replace it, but cost must be weighed against need.

Gift Policy:

Gifts to the Hugh Stephens Library will be considered for acceptance if they support the current and anticipated curriculum or are of interest to the general community, if they are in a currently collected format, and if the gift is free of restrictions set by the donor. The library will not accept gifts when their physical condition does not allow normal library shelving and use.

Gift materials of which a copy already exists in the collection will be considered on a case by case basis.

Special consideration will be given to gifts from alumnae of Stephens College . The Library Director will be the contact person for alumnae.

Gift materials pertaining to the history of the College, such as yearbooks, senior projects, etc, are not retained by the Library and are automatically forwarded to the College Archives.

The Library is under no obligation to accept or acknowledge gifts which are not prearranged and reserves the right to utilize all donations to its best advantage.

Materials not retained by the library will be disposed of at the Library's discretion.