ACADEMIC SERVICES COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY

Transcription

1 ACADEMIC SERVICES COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY 1. Executive Summary The purpose of this document is to define the policies guiding the development and management of the University of Exeter s print, digital and other library collections. The policy applies to all collections managed by Academic Services regardless of location although additional policies apply to Special Collections and Arabic and Middle Eastern materials. 2. Underlying principles 2.1 The trend for users to expect resolution of their information needs from the desktop will accelerate. 2.2 Print, electronic and multimedia collections will be required for the foreseeable future. 2.3 Facilitating effective resource discovery and maximised exploitation is a fundamental requirement. 2.4 Electronic resources (especially web-based) are preferred to print equivalents on the grounds of accessibility and optimum space utilisation 2.5 Value for money (noting VAT on e-resources but not printed books) 2.6 No library can store all the scholarly information its own users may require but local collections must be appropriate in support of the University s research and teaching requirements. 2.7 That national schemes (such as the Interlending Network and the National Research Reserve) and International Agreements (such as JSTOR) will continue to impact on stock provision. 2.8 Disposal of redundant stock will be carried out in consultation with stakeholder groups and in collaboration with the UK Research Reserve. 2.9 The national importance of some print resources held by Exeter is endorsed by our membership of the UK Research Reserve which will provide the infrastructure to preserve such items in situ for the benefit of the entire UK academic community. 3. Implementation This policy will be subject to consultation with stakeholders and approval by the Vice-Chancellor s Executive Group. 4. Mission and strategic context This policy has been developed to support the wider university aims and requirements of the Corporate Plan. 1

2 5. Collection Development 5.1 Collection Development principles: Academic Services provides access to information resources that meet the learning, teaching and research needs of the university community; on a cost-effective basis, within available budgets, irrespective of media type and subject, as appropriate, to legal requirements (licences, copyright etc.) All information resources purchased by Schools from their own budgets are selected by the Schools and channelled to the Acquisitions and Metadata Support Section via authorised, School-based Library Liaison officers All information resources purchased from Academic Services funds will be selected by Academic Services staff School information resources budgets should be responsive to changes in course content and research profiles and sufficient to support user demands. They should be reactive to reading list requirements As a minimum, they are required to keep pace with retail price increases on an annual basis School information resources budgets earmarked for central provision must only be used to purchase materials for Academic Services collections Resource purchasing will increasingly move to support a steady state growth policy and reflect the e-learning agenda Web-based resources, when available, are the preferred option as they maximise access and endorse the principle of steady-sate growth Unnecessary duplication of resources (e.g. between sites) will be avoided through judicious use of inter-site transfers Collection evaluation, stock-taking and weeding exercises are carried out on a regular basis. These endorse the general principles outlined above and may result in stock disposals or transfers Academic Services works in close consultation with other partners and agencies including the British Library, national and international interlending networks, University College Falmouth (University of Exeter, Cornwall campus), the University of Plymouth (PCMD, PAHC, Social Work); it also is a member of the South West Regional Library Service (SWRLS), South West Higher Education Libraries Group (SWHELS) and SCONUL Academic Services is committed to intellectual freedom principles and will not exclude or withdraw from availability any material provided it is legal Purchasing will follow accepted university procurement guidelines including use of deals brokered through the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium (SUPC) including any necessary tendering requirements under EU regulations Collections and formats Physical collections include: 2

3 Main Library Streatham Campus, which houses the major university collections relating to Arts, Humanities, Science and Social Science and also provides the central management and administration. Old Library Streatham Campus, which houses the Arabic and Special collections and also acts as the Library s open access store. Law Library Streatham Campus, which houses the university s Law collections and the European Documentation Centre Roborough Basement Streatham Campus, which acts as a closed store St Luke s Campus Library St Luke s Campus which houses the university s Education, Sport Science and Social Work Collections and is the main focus for the PCMD. Arab World Documentation Unit Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, Streatham Campus The University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus Library includes those items formerly from Exeter s Camborne School of Mines collections and is managed by University College Falmouth with significant input from the University of Exeter. These collections include Mining, Environmental Geography, Biological Sciences, History, Law, Politics and English The collections include both primary and secondary sources of different types and formats Digital resources include: Purchased items (including e-books) and subscription-based or licensed resources Locally-created digital assets including those held in the Institutional Repository Material freely accessible on the internet and selected for use in the University s Electronic Library. These will be accessible on campus, or (as far as possible subject to licence or technical constraints) remotely. 5.3 Funding and budgeting priorities Funding is derived from two sources: School budgets dedicated to information resource purchases Under the University s Income Distribution model, schools set their own budgets based on available resources in order to meet their agreed, strategic targets. As a key top 2010 metric, Library and Information expenditure is expected to have a top priority and Strategy Performance and Resources Committee (SPaRC) also requires Schools not to spend any less (in real terms) on library budgets than in previous years. Unspent allocations are clawedback in entirety from Schools at the end of each academic year and are used to bolster multidisciplinary resource purchases and 3

4 subscriptions.responsibility for expenditure from School budgets rests with the School and is administered through the schoolappointed library liaison officer. Central funds The Academic Services budget includes central provision for core, generic purchases including multidisciplinary electronic resources. This fund is underpinned by income streams such as fines and photocopying supplemented by annual clawbacks from unspent school funds and grants from the University Foundation. Additionally, a modest, ring-fenced budget enables Academic Services to make acquisitions for Special Collections augmented by external funds and following agreed collecting policies. Academic Services is responsible for the expenditure of these funds Spending patterns must reflect the University s commitment to ensuring high-quality information provision for learning, teaching and research at all levels. The balance of expenditure between material types, books and journals, and teaching and research will vary from and even within Schools Criteria to inform the sustained purchase of core texts (made available in Short Loan or Ready text areas) is based on the following: Number of students on the course Period over time over which the item is required to be read Prominence of the item in relation to others recommended The possibility of using shorter loan periods to accelerate circulation The following formula is strongly recommended to ensure sufficient copies of Temporary Reserve ( Ready Text ) and Short Loan (One week loan) copies. For example, if there are 100 students undertaking a module and they have six weeks to complete the required piece of reading, the recommended number of copies is 3 for Temporary Reserve and four for Short Loan A daily review of reservation queues allows Academic Services staff to identify items in heavy demand. Such items may be transferred to a shorter loan period (bearing in mind the lack of suitability of the TR Collection to distance-based or part-time students), as well as being notified to relevant academic colleagues. Weeks Students on module

5 It is recommended that no more than twenty copies of a particular item are purchased unless there are special circumstances Academic Services will recommend the purchase of E-Book equivalents as appropriate The University has signed up to the CLA digitisation licence and Academic Services staff will recommend and facilitate the digitisation of core elements of print texts for use in the university Virtual Learning Environment in accordance with copyright stipulations Spending on research materials is governed by the following principles: Generally, only one copy of an item is bought (unless required for teaching as in 5.3.4). Resources should be relevant to research needs. Journal subscriptions and the move from print to electronic formats are reviewed annually Where items are only required for one-off consultation, consideration should be given to alternative delivery methods (e.g. Inter Library Loan) Resources relevant to more than one school may be shared between relevant school budgets. Schools should carefully cost new information provision requirements in collaboration with Academic Services. 5.4 Selection responsibilities and criteria Final decisions on purchase and cancellation of information materials rests with the Director of Academic Services. However, material selection relies on a close and dynamic partnership between schools and Academic Services. Each school has a designated Support Consultant from Academic Services who acts as the main liaison School or Departmental Library Liason Officers are responsible for selecting resources purchased from School budgets Responsibility for purchases from central funds lies with designated staff within Academic Services. Suggestions from academic colleagues and students are welcome Electronic resources will be preferred when there are significant gains in terms of accessibility and ease of use in relation to the costs involved. In addition, decisions will include additional considerations: Electronic versions should be as complete as the print counterpart and/or include enhancements such as hyperlinks Long-term e-archiving potential including whether back-files will be removed if the subscription is cancelled. Whether long-term archiving formats are future-proofed Assessment of staff and technical implications including long-term support. 5

6 Where possible, e-resources will be evaluated during a trial period prior to purchase/subscription. 5.5 Deposits University regulations stipulate that a copy of all Postgraduate-level theses presented in full requirement of a higher degree should be deposited with Academic Services. It is expected that an increasing number of theses (and dissertations) will be made available electronically via the University s digital, Institutional Repository It is expected that an increasing number of home-grown digital resources including electronic copies of research material, academic papers and grey literature produced locally will also populate the repository in due course. 5.6 Donations, gifts and free materials Gifts and bequests are accepted on the understanding that: All print donations will be carefully considered. In many cases, Schools may prefer to filter potential donations as appropriate before they are passed to Academic Services. Items that do not fit the collection development criteria described in this document will be returned to the donor. When appropriate, such items will be disposed of without further reference to the donor, by gift, sale or discard. Academic Services retains the right to organise and locate donations according to its own judgement A separate Collection Development policy covers Special Collections including the deposit of material which remains the property of the donor. Major donations are acknowledged by letter and notified to the University Foundation Benefactors may also wish to donate, covenant or bequeath funds to be spent on the collections. This process is organised through the University s Development Office. In particular, there is an annual parental bookfund system which enhances collections in areas of special interest to parents of those graduating Freely available and appropriate internet information resources that meet the teaching or research needs of the university community are selected and made available via the Academic Services Electronic Library website. 6. Collection Management 6.1 Acquisitions, procurement and licence agreements 6

7 6.1.1 The purchase of all information resources in all formats, including access to electronic resources, is managed centrally by Academic Services whether the resources are purchased from School budgets or central funds All acquisition procedures are automated and carried out on a costeffective and value for money basis within the resources available. The cost of outsourcing labelling and cataloguing will be met from central funds. The cost of other processing work (including strengthening etc.) will be met as part of the purchase cost Academic Services is committed to utilising e-commerce procedures in order to optimise the efficiency of procurement procedures already in place such as the use of EDI (Electronic data Interchange) for acquisitions processes. Academic Services also works closely with the Finance Division to make invoicing and reporting procedures as efficient as possible The selection of suppliers of information resources is carried out using university-wide procurement guidelines including those established by the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium and following EC tendering requirements Academic Services seeks to take advantage of publishers deals and national site licence agreements where they are in the best interests of the University Academic Services will seek to obtain out-of-print items by searching the second-hand market or by consulting with the copyright holder To ensure value for money, acquisitions will be purchased shelf-ready wherever possible. 6.2 Resource Discovery and Access The cataloguing of all Academic Services acquisitions is managed centrally regardless of purchase fund The online catalogue ( will be available 24/7/365 and also linked via the University student portal and Academic Services website Academic Services will also provide links to other significant resources, hosted elsewhere, via its Electronic Library website ( This will include national resources such as COPAC Remote access to licensed electronic resources is free for all members of the University and is obtained through a system of electronic authentication that is centrally operated by Academic Services Access to the physical collections by undergraduates, postgraduates and academic staff who are not members of the University of Exeter is facilitated through reciprocal schemes such as UK Libraries Plus and SCONUL Research Extra (shortly to merge) Academic Services welcomes members of the general public and others using the collections for reference purposes during opening hours. Free, walk-in access is provided to permitted electronic resources in the Main Library. 7

8 6.3 Retention and disposal Academic Services library storage is almost full. There is a delicate balance between providing increasingly expensive space for print resources and maintaining appropriate collections for teaching and research which befit a top 20 university. Through Academic Services, the University will: Purchase materials in electronic rather than physical formats wherever appropriate Discard (rather than relegate to store) all print and other physical materials which have been replaced by reliably archived electronic resources (such as JSTOR) and all print and other physical materials which, following consultation, no longer meet the teaching and research needs of the University. Develop the criteria for retention, relegation and withdrawal into a set of traffic lights (red, amber, green) in agreement with schools on an individual discipline basis Criteria for selecting items for withdrawal (disposal): Books, print journals and other physical items that are no longer relevant to the current and future teaching and research needs of the university (e.g. in subjects that have been dropped) unless it can be demonstrated that they are rare or unique items not available via the national inter-lending networks. Print versions of high-use electronic journals where access to archives is secure wither via archiving services such as JSTOR or as a result of adequate archiving arrangements with publishers (e.g. those available via LOCKSS). Print versions of low-use journals where access to archives may not be secure but which are available through the British Library (or UK Research Reserve). Abstracts and indexing print runs available electronically All duplicates unless required as additional copies to support current reading list requirements Single and duplicate copies of superseded texts unless they have an obvious historical value. Isolated issues or incomplete runs of journals that have ceased publication or which were cancelled more than five years ago or low-use titles that are available via the British Library/UK Research Reserve. Low use items in poor physical condition that are available elsewhere in the UK e.g. via Inter-Library loan Stock may be disposed of by transfer to another (non University of Exeter) library, donated to the UK Research Reserve, sale, gift or discard. Ultimate approval rests with the Director of Academic Services Criteria for selecting items for relegation to store include: 8

9 Print versions of high-use electronic journals where access to archives is not secure especially where access is not guaranteed to archived material if subscriptions are not maintained. Low/nil use books published more recently than the 40 year moving wall nil use print items unless included in above. Material that needs to be kept in closed access for security of preservation purposes (e.g. past copies of local theses) Single copies of superseded texts where there is an obvious historical value. Physical items which are no longer obviously relevant to the current or future teaching or research needs of the university but where it can be demonstrated they are rare or unique in the UK context. where appropriate these items will be transferred to Special Collections Academic Services endeavours to comply with recognised professional conservation standards for all its collections regardless of format. These will be continuously reviewed in the light of best international practice Binding will only take place for specified items where access considerations make that an essential requirement. Currently this includes certain legal materials and parliamentary publications Digitisation will be used, under the direction of the Digital Assets Manager, to enhance access to identified materials and collections in direct response to the university s teaching and research requirements. This is not a cost-free solution High-use items missing from stock or physically unsuitable for further use will be replaced from Academic Services funds Academic Services maintains a separate Disaster Recovery Policy and has a subscription to the Harwell response team if required. This is intended to protect the stock from major physical emergencies such as fire or flood Academic Services maintains a stock security system in each library building to protect stock from theft. Functionality will be regularly reviewed to ensure maximum use of technology in this area to provide a more efficient and less intrusive service. 8. Access to remote collections 8.1 Document supply and Inter-Library loans Funding for interlending is either via a voucher purchased by Schools from Academic Services or privately by individuals. Authorisation (effectively provision of a voucher) and criteria for allocation is the responsibility of each School (or Department) for its own staff and students. Inter-Library lending increases the availability of resources using the just in time principle and includes increasing options for desktop delivery (e.g. using the British Library s Selective Electronic Delivery (SED) service) 9

10 8.2 Locally-created electronic texts 8.3 EThOS Under the terms of the CLA digitisation licence, members of the University may make a single extract (loosely defined as 5% of a work, one chapter or one journal article per issue) of a work held publicly within the Academic Services collections for use on a passwordprotected website (or VLE). Full details of copies made should be notified to the Digital assets Manager. Costs of digitisation will normally be met by the School concerned. The university has signed up to membership of the national EThOS project which will promote the provision of online theses in a national setting. 8.3 Physical Access to other libraries The University of Exeter has signed up to reciprocal national schemes such as UK Libraries Plus and SCONUL Research Extra (see ) and INSPIRE ( The University of Exeter is also part of the Exeter Elip group of local libraries (see ). It enjoys a close relationship with the Exeter Health Library ( Exeter Cathedral Library and the Devon and Exeter Institution. 10