Collection Development

This policy is intended to serve as a statement of the guidelines used for acquiring and maintaining materials for the library collections at the Donald B. Watt Library. The primary objective of collection development activities at the Library is to build and maintain a library collection that supports the SIT curriculum.
The Library endorses intellectual freedom in accordance with academic freedom of SIT and with the American Library Association’s interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights, The Intellectual Freedom Statement, and Statement of Labeling. The Library’s policy is to purchase materials which represent a diversity of points of view.
All librarians, faculty, staff and students are encouraged to submit requests for both print and non-print materials that fall within their areas of expertise and that conform to the collection development policy.

Format of Materials

Books


Book selection is based on the needs of the specific programs, faculty and students. The Library bases many of its selection decisions on the requests and recommendations of faculty. Certain criteria must be met when selecting materials for the general collection:

  1. Relevance of the subject matter to the curricula.
  2. Possibility of use for one or more courses.
  3. Timeliness and/or relative permanence of the materials.
  4. Appropriateness of materials for all programs of SIT. 
  5. Current weakness in the collection in a particular subject area.
  6. Quality of materials in content, format and literary merit judged by the reputation of the authors and publishers, and assessments of reviewers.
  7. Special program needs, e.g. materials for the Language Resource Room.

It is generally the policy that multiple copies of a single title will not be purchased for the collection.
Replacements will not be made automatically when materials are missing, lost, or withdrawn because of wear. The merit of the item will be taken into consideration using the same criteria as for a new purchase (above).
Out-of-print materials will not normally be considered for purchase except in the case of replacements for materials that are lost or stolen and/or are considered standards in their field.

Periodicals

Because periodicals require an annual commitment of funds, selection of periodicals is the joint responsibility of the program faculty and library staff. When new serial titles are recommended for subscription by a program, others will be revaluated and cancelled where there is duplication of information or if material is deemed no longer relevant.

NEWSPAPERS

The Library maintains a collection of major newspapers in English as well as in other languages of interest to the student body. The selection is the responsibility of the librarians and is based on the recommendations of program directors and faculty, as well as requests from students.

DISSERTATIONS AND THESES


The Library maintains copies of PIM and MAT theses.

LITERATURE


The library maintains a small collection of contemporary fiction from a variety of cultures, as well as a selection of literary classics.

MICROFORMS/FILMS


The library purchases back issues of some periodicals and newspapers on microform. Selection of titles in this format is based upon user need.

MAPS


The map collection represents all regions of the world and is updated regularly.

PAMPHLETS AND POSTERS


These materials are collected from international chambers of commerce, travel bureaus and embassies. They represent all regions of the world and are updated regularly.

VIDEOTAPES AND AUDIOTAPES


Videotapes and audiotapes are added to the language collection for purposes of language instruction. Videotapes and audiotapes are purchased for the main collection only when they accompany a book or they are donated to the library as gifts.

ELECTRONIC FORMATS

The library subscribes to electronic databases and purchases CD-ROMs to support the needs of the specific programs, faculty and students.

LANGUAGE COLLECTION


The goal of the collection is to increase all language teaching materials, including ESL, as well as to update the collection on a continuing basis with newer items that reflect changes in both language instruction methods and culture. Print items include readers, dictionaries and textbooks. Audio, video, and computer-based media are collected as well.

REFERENCE COLLECTION


Selection of reference materials is based on recommendations and requests from faculty, as well as accepted library selection tools and reviews. Items are replaced when they are no longer relevant or when replacement editions are published.

GIFTS

The library welcomes gifts and donations, which are subject to the same criteria as materials acquired through budgeted funds. The library retains the right to dispose of all gifts as the staff sees fit. Items not added to the collection may be discarded, sold, or exchanged with other libraries.

 

COLLECTION MAINTENANCE

WEEDING POLICY


Materials that are no longer appropriate to the collection are subject to weeding. The library staff reserves the right to discard items which have become too old or too worn out to be useful, or which have not had sufficient use to warrant their retention. There is currently no timetable set up for the periodic review of the collection for weeding. Library staff will, if appropriate, consult faculty members in weeding decisions.

INVENTORY

Portions of the collection are inventoried regularly to determine the losses of particular items. After a reasonable amount of time, the information about lost books will be given to appropriate faculty members, so that they may recommend replacements as needed.

BINDING


Books may be re-bound professionally if they cannot be repaired in-house. If the book is out of print it will be re-bound; otherwise a cost comparison will be made of re-binding versus buying a new copy.

 

COLLECTION EVALUATION


The Library’s collection will be continually evaluated by:

  1. Checking standard lists, catalogs and bibliographies.
  2. Examining the collection directly. The librarians and faculty subject experts evaluate the collection based on size, scope, depth, significance, publication dates, and physical condition.
  3. Analysis of Interlibrary Loan (ILL) statistics. ILL requests are indicators of unmet research demands and are used to identify areas of weakness, need, and new directions in the curricula.
  4. A survey of user opinions to determine how well the collection meets user needs.