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Guidelines for Writing Departmental Policies
Purpose
These guidelines are intended to assist in developing departmental collection development statements. These statements are working tools for library and faculty information resource selectors. They are intended to aid communications between the Library and its users, assure consistent and balanced growth of the collections and assist in determining and documenting budgetary needs.
Ideally, both the Library Liaison and representatives of a Department's faculty will participate in writing the departmental statement.
Statements should be examined by the liaisons and departments annually, and revised if necessary.
General Guidelines
Each departmental statement will be written in standard format, including the following elements:
1. General Purpose
This provides a description of the department and its goals, including: the teaching and research program supported by the collection; the general emphasis in collecting activity; and short and long range plans for the future of the collection.
2. General Subject Boundaries
This defines the general priorities and limitations governing selection. It also indicates the areas not covered by the policy and should refer to other departmental or program policies where these areas are covered. The section also summarizes how collection responsibility is divided between department and/or library units. The deselection process should be described here.
3. Types of Materials Collected
This identifies types of materials which are excluded or intensively collected, e.g., monographs, serials, documents, indexes and abstracts, databases, etc. Include range of publication dates.
4. Format of Materials Collected
This identifies the format of materials that are excluded or intensively collected, e.g., printed books, electronic information resources, microforms, and audiovisual materials.
5. Languages
This identifies the languages in which material is collected.
6. Geographical Areas
This identifies the geographical areas for which materials are collected.
7. Chronological Guidelines
This describes any special attention given to particular historical periods within the subject area.
8. Special Collections and Manuscripts
This lists rare book and special collections and manuscripts that enrich and expand resources in the general collections. Check with staff in Special Collections for help in identifying materials that may not be easily found.
9. Other Resources Available
This describes other important information resources available to the Kenyon community which have an impact on the library's collecting patterns. Include local or regional resources which affect our collection activity. Examples of such resources are CONSORT, OhioLINK, and special regional collections.
10. Creation Date and Revision History
Indicate the month and year the policy was created, followed by the name of the person who developed the policy.
Indicate the month and year the policy was revised, followed by the name of the person who revised the policy.
11. LC Class
The sections of the LC Classification most relevant to the collection.
12. Liaison Name
Indicate the name of the liaison currently responsible for the policy.
Levels of Collection Density and Intensity
The following levels, slightly modified, are defined in: Guidelines for the Formulation of Collection Development Policies, David L. Perkins, editor (Collection Development Committee, Resources and Technical Division, American Library Association, 1979). They incorporate and expand upon those formulated in: "American Library Association Guidelines for the formulation of collection development policies," Library Resources and Technical Services, Vol. 21, no. 1 (Winter 1977) pp.40-47.
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), in all applicable languages, for a necessarily defined and limited field. This level of collecting intensity is that which maintains a "special collection"; the aim, if not the achievement, is exhaustiveness.
A collection which includes the major 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 a very extensive collection of journals and major indexing and abstracting services in the field.
A collection which is adequate to support the course work of advanced undergraduate and master's degree programs, or sustained independent study; this 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 primary resources, 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.
A collection which supports undergraduate or graduate course work, 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, complete collections of the works of important writers, a selection of representative journals, and the reference tools and fundamental bibliographical apparatus pertaining to the subject.
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 major review journals; and current editions of the most significant reference tools and bibliographies pertaining to the subject.
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 bibliographies, and a few major periodicals in the field.
A subject area in which few selections are made beyond very basic works.
The subject is not collected.