Collection Policy: Nursing 1. Introduction The Library supports the instructional and research needs of faculty and students working within the Department of Nursing. Founded in 1965, the School of Nursing offered courses towards a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing. The School of Nursing is currently part of the Faculty of Health and Behavioral Sciences The School of Nursing currently offers the following academic programs: Native Nurses Entry Program (NNEP) Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN, either four year collaborative or three year compressed) The Ontario Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioner Certificate Program Masters of Public Health (Nursing Specialization) The Chancellor Paterson Library is the main location for the print collection. Print monograph and print journal collections are enhanced by a substantial and growing collection of electronic resources. The Chancellor Paterson library has been a depository for federal government documents since 1967 and for Ontario government publications since 1972. Significant materials of relevance to the collection would be published by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Health Canada and Statistics Canada. Government resources which have traditionally been made available in print are now largely disseminated in electronic format and made accessible through links in the library catalogue. In addition to materials acquired for nursing and related health programs, users also have access to the print and electronic collections at the Health Sciences Library of the Northern Ontario School of medicine. 2. History of the Collection When it was established in 1965 the School of Nursing offered a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing. The school has grown to include specialized courses with a focus for aboriginal, northern and rural health in order to reflect provincial health care education needs. In 1988 a Native Nurses Entry Program was created to provide preparatory instruction to those entering the 4 year Bachelor of Science (Nursing) program and a
Northern Clinical Practice Certificate program was added in 1998 to prepare nurses for clinical practice in remote First Nations communities (no longer offered). Lakehead is also a member of the nine-university consortium that delivers the Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioner curriculum since 1997. While other academic disciplines retain select historic texts for research, the nursing collection is very current with very few retrospective materials. Curriculum for the Nursing programs include patient care across the lifespan (individual, family, population, community), clinical practice, community health, gerontology, psychology, sociology, and case management, with additional course requirements in anatomical sciences, physiology, immunology and biochemistry. Graduate level programs include health assessment and diagnosis, research methods and therapeutics, as well as public aspects of health care, population health and health care systems. 3. Languages Acquisitions are primarily in the English language. 4. Chronological Guidelines Emphasis is on the acquisition of current material. 5. Geographical Guidelines There are no geographical restrictions. 6. Types of Material The Library actively collects monographs, journals, government documents and reference materials. Conference proceedings, dissertations and theses, annual reports and other serial publications are acquired selectively. The predominant format for monographs is print although the Library is progressively building the e-book collection. The predominant format for journals and government documents is electronic. Resources in other formats such as microfilm, CD-Rom and DVD are purchased when relevant.
7. Subject Areas/s The subject organization below follows the Library of Congress Classification Outline. Nursing materials fall into the Library of Congress class RT with medical material in classes R-RZ. Collection areas in the table below are ranked by a collection level; basic, initial study, advanced study or research. Subject Classification Range Current Target Nursing RT 1-120 Advanced Advanced Community health nursing RT97-98 Initial Research Medicine (general) R 5-920 Initial Initial Medicine - Public aspects (medicine and state: planning, reform, health status, medical sociology, economics) RA 1-420 Initial Advanced Public health promotion, policy, community health services, hygiene, epidemiology, etc RA 421-790.95 Advanced Research Hospitals RA 960-1000 Basic Initial Medicine public health promotion Canada RA 449-450.999 Initial Advanced Pathology RB 1-214 Basic Initial Internal Medicine RC 31-1245 Advanced Advanced Geriatrics RC952-954.6 Initial Advanced
Subject Classification Range Current Target Geriatric nursing RC954 Basic Initial Cancer nursing RC266 Basic Initial Surgery RD1-811 Initial Initial Gynecology and obstetrics RG1-991 Initial Initial Pediatrics RJ 1-570 Advanced Advanced Pediatric nursing RJ245-247 Basic Initial Therapeutics - Pharmacology RM 1-950 Initial Advanced Pharmacy RS 1-441 Basic Initial Human Anatomy QM 1-695 Basic Initial Physiology Development, aging, nutrition, body systems, biochemistry 501-981 QP 1-981 Advanced Advanced 8. Interdisciplinary Activities The School of Nursing supports interdisciplinary programs, allowing students to minor in either women s studies or gerontology. Masters of Public Health programs are offered with a joint specialization in Nursing or Gerontology. 9. Strengths/Weaknesses Lakehead s print monograph collection for Nursing (Class RT) is very current. Coverage is strongest in the general, philosophical, administrative and psychological aspects of
nursing. Coverage is also good for the subjects of critical care nursing, the study and teaching of nursing and nursing research. The School continues to purchase material in these subject areas as well as in the area of public health (Class RA). Additional materials could be acquired to support graduate level work on the subjects of clinical assessment and public health nursing, research methods and the work of nurse practitioners. Additional undergraduate level material could be obtained in nursing communication and cross-cultural nursing as well as special aspects of nursing like geriatric, cancer and pediatric nursing. The School is extremely selective about purchasing materials in the broader subject classes (R-RZ). In recent years, however, coverage and currency has dramatically increased with the addition of e-book packages purchased with funds from other library budgets. Substantial numbers of texts have been added in the following subject areas; general medicine (R5-920), public aspects of medicine (RA1-420), pathology (RB 1-214), internal medicine (RC 31-1245), surgery (RD1-811), gynecology and obstetrics (RG1-991), pediatrics (RJ 1-570), and therapeutics (RM 1-950). Areas for improvement would include human anatomy (QM), therapeutics (RM), and pharmacy (RS). Lakehead has an extensive collection of electronic journals in both nursing and medicine as well as a select collection of print title subscriptions. The library provides access to electronic journals through participation in the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN) and through consortial subscriptions through the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL). Journal packages with significant medical or nursing journal coverage include Informa Healthcare, SpringerLink, Proquest Nursing, Sage, and Blackwell Synergy. In addition, resources like Academic OneFile and Gale Health and Wellness are made available through Knowledge Ontario. 10. Thunder Bay and Regional Resources The Paterson Library Commons at Confederation College contains a large selection of monographs of relevance to nursing, and gerontology. The Thunder Bay Public Library has a limited collection of introductory, reference and popular health materials that may be suitable for first year students or for general interest reading. 11. Internet Resources The Library maintains links to nursing resources on the Internet via the electronic subject guide. Additional subject guides with useful content links are available for related studies like; gerontology, public health, women s studies, sociology, social work, psychology, and kinesiology.
12. Liaison: The School of Nursing is responsible for selecting appropriate library resources. A library representative from the School liaises with a designated Collections Development Librarian with respect to the library budget, the acquisitions process and cancellation projects. It is the responsibility of the Collection Development Librarian to ensure that relevant information regarding new publications is forwarded to the School s library representative for consideration. 13. Weeding. Weeding will be done on an ongoing basis to preserve the quality, currency and strength of the collection. School of Nursing Library Representative Collection Development Librarian May 10, 2012 Date Date