Rule 3341-3-60 | University libraries collection polices- undergraduate.
(A) Policy statement and purpose
This policy provides general guidelines and rules for use of the university libraries.
(B) Policy
(1) General collection
The general collection should serve the needs of the Bowling Green state university community either through ownership of items, consortial agreements, or electronic access. Current, seminal, and classic materials are added to the collection based on curricular needs, regardless of format. All selection decisions should make the most effective use of budget resources for the greatest number of users according to the priorities established by this policy.
Subject collection development statements provide detail and guidance for purchasing decisions for the general collection.
(2) Statement of purpose
In keeping with the mission for collection development, these pages set forth criteria and policies to use when selecting materials for the university libraries' collection. This policy seeks to create a flexible framework for balancing abundant needs against scarce resources in a way that is both systematic and equitable as far as possible.
(3) Mission statement
To fulfill its part of the BGSU university libraries' mission, the collection development unit is charged with the building and preservation of effective, high-quality collections including electronic access to information. The unit will coordinate the selection and management of materials in electronic, print, and other formats to meet the current and long-term teaching, research, and administrative needs of the university community. Within the "OhioLINK" environment and in cooperation with other Ohio academic libraries, the collection development unit strives to optimize effective use of personnel and financial resources by balancing access and ownership considerations and by building on recognized collection strengths.
(4) Diversity
In keeping with Bowling Green state university's curricular emphasis on multiculturalism, the university libraries seek to provide materials representative of many cultures and ideas.
(5) Cooperative collection development
(a) Cooperation within "OhioLINK"
Cooperation among libraries delivers more information from a wider variety of sources than a single library can provide, permits better resource allocation, and leads to more intensive use of collections. Many resources are shared among Ohio colleges and universities via "OhioLINK's" online borrowing initiative. Electronic databases and other resources are made available to "OhioLINK" member institutions through consortium contracts. Collection development decisions regarding these shared electronic resources are made through the "OhioLINK" cooperative information resources management (CIRM) committee, on which the coordinator of collections represents the university libraries.
The university libraries also contribute holdings information to the "OhioLINK" central catalog, will work through the CIRM committee to identify areas of collection strength and fully participate in "OhioLINK" statewide cooperative collection development initiatives. In general, the university libraries avoid unnecessary duplication of materials available within "OhioLINK." Materials widely held within "OhioLINK" (six to eight or more copies) should receive careful evaluation before purchase. This evaluation should include consideration of the importance of the work for curricular support; the number of copies available within "OhioLINK" and the time of the academic year; and other local needs. Local purchase of items with large numbers of copies in "OhioLINK" is restricted to only highest priority items. Conversely, purchases of materials held in no or very few "OhioLINK" libraries will not only meet local needs, but will enhance the diversity of "OhioLINK" holdings.
(b) Cooperation with other libraries
An agreement between Bowling Green state university and the university of Toledo- health science campus governs materials purchases for the joint nursing program: Bowling Green state university provides materials supporting the general education component and the university of Toledo - health science campus supplies the specialized nursing materials.
(c) Censorship/intellectual freedom
The Bowling Green state university libraries support the free exchange of ideas and endeavor to build collections which include all points of view. At the same time, they neither approve nor endorse the views expressed in materials included in the collections. Where there is controversy or disagreement concerning the truth of particular ideas and issues of belief, the university libraries attempt to provide a wide selection of materials encompassing the major viewpoints.
The Bowling Green state university libraries subscribe to and comply with the American library association library code of ethics. Titles for the collection are selected on the basis of overall content. No item is excluded on the basis of the author's race, nationality, or political or religious views. That some patrons may find an item objectionable on moral, religious, political or other grounds does not restrict or determine selection.
The Bowling Green state university libraries do not accede to requests of individuals or groups seeking the removal from the collection of materials which have been chosen according to this collection development policy, nor do they yield to requests to add to the collection materials if their addition would contradict this collection development policy.
The coordinator of collections in consultation with the library administration responds to all questions concerning the propriety of specific materials in the Bowling Green state university libraries. Persons or groups desiring further dialogue or action are referred to the dean of university libraries and/or to the library advisory committee.
(6) Priorities
(a) Priorities for collection development are as follows:
(i) To support the curricular needs of undergraduate students
(ii) To support faculty teaching needs
(iii) To support graduate research in selected areas, based upon graduate programs
(iv) To support faculty research
(v) To support leisure reading and community needs beyond the university
(7) Note
Highly specialized materials are purchased very selectively. Electronic access, "OhioLINK" borrowing, interlibrary loan or document delivery should be relied upon to provide more specialized information needed by researchers.
(8) Core selection criteria
These are essential factors that should be considered for any addition to the collection. Additional criteria applicable to special formats are listed in the sections dealing with those formats.
Support of one or more collection development priorities, regardless of format.
(a) Value -- content, format, physical condition, and cost effectiveness (anticipated use versus cost).
(b) Collection level -- appropriateness of the subject content and intellectual level of material to the stated subject collection development level.
(c) Authority -- originates from a recognized authority on the subject.
(d) Currency of information.
(e) Access -- availability from an external source through electronic access, interlibrary loan, "OhioLINK," document delivery, or another source.
(9) Languages collected
The university libraries collect materials primarily in the English language for the general collection. Translations of foreign language materials are normally preferred to the originals. There are three prominent exceptions:
(a) Literature, literary criticism, and materials relating to foreign cultures appropriate to language department curricula
(b) Selected major foreign newspapers and periodicals
(c) When information is required in a particular foreign language or is not available in English
(10) Collection levels
In each subject area represented in the university curriculum, collection development librarians select materials in appropriate formats to the depth needed to support the degree programs in place. The levels of collecting for each type of degree program follow; they are adapted from the WLN Conspectus. It should be understood that these levels represent an ideal that will be pursued to the extent that funds permit.
(a) Undergraduate:
This level provides resources adequate for imparting and maintaining knowledge about the basic or primary topics of a subject area. It includes a broad range of basic works in appropriate formats, classic retrospective materials, key journals on primary topics, selected journals and seminal works on secondary topics, access to appropriate machine-readable data files, and the reference tools and fundamental bibliographical apparatus pertaining to the subject. It supports to a lesser extent subjects that are taught but in which no degree is offered.
(b) Master's:
This level provides resources adequate for imparting and maintaining knowledge about primary and secondary topics of a subject area. It includes and/or provides access to a significant number of seminal works and journals on the primary and secondary topics in the field; a significant number of retrospective materials; a substantial collection of works by secondary figures; works that provide more in-depth discussions of research, techniques, and evaluation.
(c) Doctoral:
This level includes and/or provides access to the major published source materials required for dissertation and independent research, reporting new findings, scientific experimental results, and other information useful to researchers. It also includes and/or provides access to important reference works, to a wide selection of specialized monographs, to an extensive collection of journals, and to major indexing and abstracting services in the field. Crucial foreign language materials are included. Older material is retained if pertinent for historical research.
(11) Gifts
Gifts in kind are essential for enriching the quality and range of the university libraries' collections. This is most true when items are rare or unique. Bowling Green state university libraries welcomes and solicits such gifts when items support the teaching, research, and other collection needs of the university. Such materials are useful, enduring additions to its resources. These include books, manuscripts, sound recordings, and other objects.
However, in many cases, collection managers will not add materials to the holdings for a variety of reasons, which may include: duplication of existing titles, poor physical condition of the gift, or the materials do not fall under the collection scope of the library. Gifts not selected for the library may be sold or recycled for the benefit of the library.
BGSU libraries also accept funds for the purchase of items, which enhance existing collections and support BGSU instructional and research programs.
(12) Approval plan for monographs
The university libraries have an approval plan with a major vendor chiefly to supply materials for undergraduate curricular needs. The approval plan provides new monographs as quickly as possible, and gives selectors the advantage of reviewing the books first hand before making a decision.
Collection development librarians and vendor representatives have devised a subject profile, which specifies one of three levels of coverage for each subject included in the BGSU curriculum:
(a) Books are sent on approval for subjects that are central to the curriculum.
(b) Notification slips are sent to inform library faculty that books on less central subjects are available.
(c) Materials are excluded; no books or notification slips are sent.
Subjects not covered by the curriculum or materials systematically acquired by other means are excluded entirely. The vendor ships books or notification slips on a weekly basis as determined by the profile.
Bowling Green state university libraries do not place "on approval" orders for material other than what is received on the approval plan, nor do they accept offers from a company or salesperson to send material "on approval." Exception is made on a case-by-case basis for expensive non-book materials, for which price may make an on-site review desirable before selection.
(13) Monographs
The university libraries have set up an approval plan to supply monographs, chiefly for undergraduate curricular needs. The approval plan is complemented by funds made available to departmental faculty to recommend materials for purchase; it is expected that these recommendations will reflect faculty and graduate-level research needs. Librarians will make further selections to fill in gaps.
(a) Selection guidelines for monographs
(i) Multiple copies
Only one copy of a title is normally purchased for the general collection; this does not preclude purchase of different editions of a title. Possible exceptions are:
(a) When few or no circulating copies are held by other "OhioLINK" libraries.
(b) A book is placed on reserve.
(c) An item receives very high use.
(d) A volume is received as a gift.
(ii) Paper/hard bound books
Paperbacks when available are supplied for the approval plan and are preferred for firm orders. Gifts may be added in either form. New paperback volumes that are oversized, more than two inches thick, or longer than tall are generally sent to the commercial binder for binding before circulating.
(iii) Textbooks
Textbooks are very selectively added to the general collection on the basis of currency, comprehensiveness, and when they provide the best or only treatment of a needed subject. Otherwise, textbooks, including accompanying manuals, workbooks, and other auxiliary materials, are normally not purchased for the general collection. Other books used as texts for specific courses may be added to the general collection, but are not systematically acquired.
(a) E-books textbooks
Normally the university libraries does not purchase textbooks. The only exception is for topics where information is not compiled in another book format, for instance, social sciences research methodology.
Acquisition (lease or purchase) of e-books for class-related student use may be made according to the following guidelines:
(i) Faculty should consider e-books for classroom support, that are already available from ebrary, "NetLibrary," or via the "OhioLINK" e-book center (e.g. Springer, Oxford titles)
(ii) E-books should be supplementary reading and not a primary required text for the course. Any supplementary texts should have a strong likelihood of use by some students. The libraries cannot meet the demand by all students for electronic books with regularly required reading assignments.
(iii) E-book purchases as for classroom support should be titles that the libraries normally might purchase, according to our collection development policy.
(iv) For new purchases, we will acquire e-books from vendors with whom we have established business relationships ("NetLibrary" and "E-brary") and whose e-books are readily accessible from the library catalog.
(v) The preferred access model is one that makes multiple simultaneous uses available at no additional cost. If multiple simultaneous use at no additional cost is not an option, we will purchase one copy (or one simultaneous user) of an e-book.
(vi) Faculty wishing to make a required text available should be encouraged to place a personal copy on reserve, or make selected chapters available, as permitted by US copyright law and fair use guidelines, via the e-reserve system.
(iv) Microforms
Materials are acquired in microformat either because of cost, for backup, or for preservation reasons. Fiche is generally the preferred format.
(v) Local authors
Books written by Bowling Green state university employees or alumni are added to the general collection as needed to support the curriculum. Archival copies of books by Bowling Green state university authors, primarily current faculty, are placed in the center for archival collections. Books by authors from the city of Bowling Green and surrounding area will be added to the collection as needed to support the curriculum.
(vi) Leisure reading
Bestsellers and other popular works are added to the collection as needed to support the curriculum.
(vii) Replacement
Missing or damaged books are replaced if the information they contain remains relevant to the curriculum and is of current or lasting value. An outdated book on a topic still relevant to the curriculum may be replaced with a newer edition of the same book or with a comparable up-to-date title. Details of the replacement policy are stated in the guidelines for the replacement of missing and damaged books.
(viii) Dissertations/theses
Dissertations abstracts international and other bibliographic indices provide indexing and abstracting of academic theses and dissertations. Non Bowling Green state university dissertations and theses are not actively collected, but may be purchased at the recommendation of a faculty member.
BGSU theses and dissertations are accessible at the "OhioLINK" ETD site (www.ohiolink.edu/etd). The center for archival collections preserves a microfilm security copy of creative writing theses which are not submitted to the ETD site.
(14) Materials not collected
The following types of material are not collected for the general collection. This statement does not preclude these types of material being collected by the appropriate special collection(s).
(a) Juvenile books
(b) Games or other realia
(c) Three dimensional objects
(d) Art works
(e) Posters
(f) Pamphlets
(g) Musical scores
(h) Musical recordings
(i) Maps
(j) Manuscripts
(k) Archival materials
(l) Serial genre fiction
(m) Photographs
(15) Serials
The serials collection provides materials for undergraduate and graduate student use and the specialized research resources for advanced graduate student and faculty use. The serials collection consists of journals accessible at the "OhioLINK" electronic journal center, locally-subscribed periodicals and standing orders, and open access electronic journals.
Because journals have traditionally been the primary vehicle of scholarly communication, they form a very prominent part of the general collection and absorb much of its budget. Unless the university libraries materials budget is sufficient to support new serial subscriptions, new subscriptions may be opened only if existing subscriptions of equivalent cost are cancelled.
(16) Selection criteria for journals
In addition to the core selection criteria, the following criteria should be considered in reviewing a new journal subscription.
Where possible, electronic access, or electronic access with print, should be preferred to print only. Subscriptions to print and electronic versions of the same title may be held. The print subscription should be cancelled when its use becomes low if we have determined that the publisher provides adequate archival access terms for the subscription period. The university Libraries will add electronic access to a print subscription for titles where the added cost for electronic access is less than one hundred dollars. If the added cost for e-access exceeds one hundred dollars and the materials budget cannot absorb the additional cost, subscriptions will need to be cancelled to cover the added cost.
Open access or other free electronic journals added to the library catalog should receive the same scrutiny as other journal subscriptions.
At this time, the university libraries do not attempt to archive electronic journals for future access, but rely upon other sites to provide access to journal archives. Perpetual access rights to subscribed content should be sought to allow for future archival access.
In addition to the core selection criteria, the following criteria should be considered in reviewing a new journal subscription:
(a) Determine whether print or electronic version is the version of record for the journal, or if content in both is equivalent.
(b) Inclusion of fulltext in and comprehensiveness of coverage by a database. In general, do not duplicate current, comprehensive fulltext database journal coverage with a local subscription.
(c) Indexing accessible at Bowling Green state university.
(d) Perpetual electronic access rights to the subscribed content.
(e) Search engine available on the publisher web site and/or indexing available at Bowling Green state university.
(f) Fulltext of the journal available directly from the publisher web site.
(g) Back issues available to subscribers, preferably from the publisher web site.
(h) Software support necessary for journal access.
(i) Articles available in HTML and/or PDF.
(j) Reasonable cost, especially if print and electronic versions differ considerably in scope or coverage.
(k) Do not purchase a subscription to any ejournal that "OhioLINK" is negotiating for, or that "OhioLINK" has made available.
(17) Selection criteria for newspapers
The university libraries seek to provide electronic access to online versions of newspapers according to the following criteria:
(a) Selected major national newspapers which directly support teaching and research needs.
(b) Selective coverage of predominant regional and local newspapers.
(c) Selected Ohio and Michigan newspapers.
(d) Major alternative press titles (e.g. the "Village Voice").
(e) International newspapers which support the curricular needs of the foreign language departments.
(f) International newspapers which allow students from abroad to keep informed of events in their homelands. In most cases, the university libraries subscribe to or accept gifts for only one newspaper from a given country.
Subscriptions to print newspapers are highly selective and limited to a few national, regional, and local newspapers.
(18) Electronic databases
Any Web-based, electronic, audio-visual, or multimedia resource format may be considered for inclusion in the general collection; these may be indexing and abstracting resources, reference materials, or fulltext or numeric databases. New products which enhance awareness of or accessibility to the university libraries' current holdings of journals, books, and other resources are given priority. The university Libraries do not duplicate access locally in any format to databases that are identical, similar, or equivalent to "OhioLINK" databases.
(19) Selection criteria for electronic resources
In addition to the core selection factors, the following criteria should be considered in reviewing a new electronic database:
(a) Comprehensiveness: scope, subject coverage, time span, frequency of updates.
(b) Functionality: Ease of use, quick load time; if Web site, well maintained.
(c) Quality of indexing, search engine.
(d) Preservation, storage, and archiving of data; stability of web-based resource.
(e) Anticipated number of users, based upon the specific courses that will be served.
(f) Special attention should be given to authority and currency.
(g) Type of access, e.g. web access with authenticated remote access, standalone workstation or specific IP address access only, access by a restricted number of simultaneous users vs. campus-wide access; local network, circulation from general stacks.
(20) Electronic, audio-visual, and multimedia materials
(a) Audio-visual
The university libraries selectively purchases audio-visual materials which meet the core selection criteria. Audio-visual materials are purchased from monograph funds. Collection development librarians must balance monograph purchases between books and audio-visual resources according to the needs of the discipline.
In general, DVDs are currently preferred, in the US format. So long as VHS equipment is available in the library or on campus, VHS tapes may be purchased if DVD is not available and if no copy is available via "OhioLINK."
Audio recordings are not purchased for the general collection. All audio recordings are housed in the music library and sound recordings archives.
University libraries purchase digital video from films for the humanities and sciences or ambrose video for the "OhioLINK" digital video center. If the video title is owned by an "OhioLINK" library, BGSU will purchase the digital rights for two hundred dollars. If the title is not owned in "OhioLINK," BGSU will purchase the title and the digital rights. The funds for the video itself will come from the monograph fund. In all cases, funds for obtaining "OhioLINK" digital rights will come from the "OhioLINK" digital video rights fund.
(b) Computer applications
The Bowling Green state university libraries do not purchase or maintain a collection of standard microcomputer applications such as word processing, database applications, or spreadsheets, etc. However, they may acquire college level computer-assisted instruction packages that support the university curriculum. These could include, but are not limited to, tutorials, simulations, drill and practice exercises.
(c) Books with appended computer disks or audio recordings
The university libraries purchase books with accompanying material on machine-readable disk, audio cassette, or compact disk, where items fall within subject area collection development policies, regardless of the availability on campus of hardware for accessing them.
Books with accompanying disks or cassettes should be located in the collection appropriate to the subject content of the item and may be circulated based on regular loan policies for that collection. These items need not be placed on reserve, unless specifically requested by a professor for class use.
(21) Mediated online searching
This policy does not cover librarian-mediated online searching, whether conducted at the reference desk in answer to a reference query or as a fee-based search.
Date: February 2015
Last updated March 2, 2023 at 11:45 AM
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