New Mexico Junior College, 1 Thunderbird Circle, Hobbs, NM 88240 - Phone: 575.392.4510, 1.800.657.6260
© 1996-2012 New Mexico Junior College * All Rights Reserved
Library Collection Development Policy
INTRODUCTION
The Pannell Library and Information Resource Center (IRC) exists to support the total program of New Mexico Junior College. The Library and IRC collections reflect the curricular and research needs of the students, faculty, staff and community. A consistent and conscientious effort must be made to provide the resources required by library patrons through good collection management practices, judicious use of interlibrary loan, and participation in library networks and consortia.
Librarians and IRC staff members are responsible for the overall management and development of the collections.
Policy
Responsibility for Materials Selection
Materials Considered for Purchase
Materials Not Considered for Purchase
General Criteria for Purchase of Materials
Gifts
Government Documents
Collection Maintenance/Unneeded Materials
Intellectual Freedom
Provisions for Review
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Policy
In accordance with New Mexico Junior College educational philosophy and guidelines established by the Association of College and Research Libraries, the Library seeks to provide a sufficient and useful collection for all programs and divisions of the college. It will not seek to build a comprehensive research collection in any one subject area or at the graduate level. It will attempt to provide a timely collection that is relevant, vital, and useful. Such a collection requires research and careful planning. It also requires time, enthusiastic support and recommendations of faculty and students, and financial support of the college.
The mission of the Library is to provide learning materials to support and supplement the instructional, institutional, and individual needs of students, faculty, and staff. The term "learning materials" refers to a wide range of subject matter and format (book, periodical or audiovisual) chosen to reflect the purpose of the college, courses offered, varied teaching methods of faculty, and special needs of Library clientele.
The Library collection development policy should:
- provide a mechanism for faculty participation in the collection development process
- provide quantitative and philosophical diversity/balance in relation to curricula, programs, and personal development needs of students, faculty, and staff.
- respond to the diverse clientele which varies in age, reading ability, ethnic background, and previous exposure to formal education
- provide a basis for evaluation of the collection
- provide a basis for budget planning
Responsibility for Materials Selection
Librarians are responsible for collection development in terms of coordinating and balancing the collection as a whole. Faculty requests for purchases will be regularly solicited.
Faculty members, full and part-time, should be aware of Library materials available for their students' needs. Faculty have a professional responsibility to make recommendations in their area of knowledge. Librarians will assist the faculty in these endeavors.
The Library Director is responsible for purchasing decisions based on the guidelines outlined in "General Criteria for Purchase." Decisions are made by the director after consulting with the librarians and faculty. The Director is also responsible for the continual assessment of the collection balance and for making budgetary adjustments in regards to Library funds spent on materials for various departments throughout the fiscal year.
Materials Considered for Purchase
Subject matter that is directly curriculum related is considered first for purchase. This includes items needed for class assignments, supplemental reading and supplemental materials for use in preparing term papers and reports, along with up-to-date reference and bibliographic tools which will facilitate finding and using such materials.
After primary needs have been met, consideration can then be given to materials that will meet special interests or needs of the students, faculty and staff. These may include professional materials dealing with community colleges, materials of local or state interest, fiction beyond that needed for literature courses, and peripheral subjects not taught at the college but needed for a basic collection.
Materials Not Considered for Purchase
Required textbooks are not normally considered for purchase, along with research materials beyond the needs of the students. Rare books or limited editions are generally not purchased.
General Criteria for Purchase of Materials
Librarians first select on the basis of independent reviews appearing in standard selection periodicals, such as Booklist, Choice, Library Journal, Wilson Library Bulletin, and the New York Times Review of Books. Reviews appearing in professional journals, standard/core lists, and subject bibliographies are also used in collection development.
The Library Director and the Librarians then consider the following questions for all materials recommended for purchase by faculty, students or staff:
1. Does
the item fit the guidelines established in this policy for "materials
considered for purchase?"
2. Is similar material already available in the collection?
3. Is the item in demand and have potential use?
4. Is the item of significant, permanent and of knowledgeable authorship?
5. Is the item from a reputable and conscientious publisher?
6. Is the item being considered both timely and current?
7. Is the item included on standard lists, bibliographies, and indexes?
8. Is the cost commensurate with quality and potential benefit?
9. Are the funds available?
In addition to the above guidelines, more subject specific guidelines based on the Library of Congress Classification Scheme and ACRL guidelines for level of collection development may be adopted. These standards and guides are modified to programs of instruction currently being offered at New Mexico Junior College. (See Appendix A)
Duplication within the library will be limited except where the needs of the students and the continued demand for the book make it apparent that additional copies should be purchased. Initially, only one copy of a title will be purchased for most materials.
Gifts
Gift materials are welcomed and will be added to the collection if they meet the general criteria. Monetary value will be assigned by the donor. Disposition of the gift will be at the discretion of the Library Director.
Any moneys
given to the Library may be designated to purchase materials in a subject
area, but the specific titles will be selected by using Library general criteria
for purchase and within the limits designated by general College Policy on
gifts.
Pannell Library at New Mexico Junior College participates in the government
depository library program.
Government Documents
FEDERAL:Pannell Library, New Mexico Junior College participates
in the federal governments depository library program. The library currently
receives approximately 25% of material distributed by the superintendent of
documents office. Our goal is to gradually reduce the printed documents received
by incorporating and utilizing more documents in electronic format. Over the
next 12 months we should receive only about 15% of documents in print.
STATE:
LOCAL:
Collection Maintenance/Unneeded Materials
The Librarian will withdraw library materials when, in their professional
judgment, such a course of action is necessary to remove unneeded material.
Continuous evaluation of holdings is an essential ongoing routine, in which
unneeded materials are removed permanently from the library collection. The
Librarian may also withdraw materials because of a shortage of shelf space
or other serious constraints. Additionally:
Decisions to remove materials will be made in consultation with faculty most
directly concerned with their future use. The following materials may be withdrawn
from the collection and discarded:
- dated periodicals
- obsolete materials
- superseded editions
- superfluous duplicates
- badly worn or defaced volumes for which there are suitable replacements
- unused materials which have no historical or lasting value
Whenever possible, faculty members and other subject specialists should be invited to participate in the weeding process to assure that materials of historical or research interest are not inadvertently removed. . In most instances similar criteria will be followed for items in the general and the reference collection. Weeded materials are officially withdrawn from the collection and disposed of by direct sale, by gifts to other libraries, by discard, or other appropriate means as allowed by state and local regulations. Weeding schedules for each area of the collection will be devised and adhered to as necessary. (See Appendix B)
Library materials reported missing are not replaced automatically. Instead, potential replacements are evaluated using the same criteria for selection as regularly purchased items. Heavily used materials, determined to be necessary for teaching or research, will be replaced as quickly as possible if they are still available. Other materials will be replaced upon the recommendation of the Librarian. If after two (2) years an individual bibliographic item is still missing and cannot or will not be replaced, it is to be considered permanently lost and all records of it will be eliminated from the catalog.
Intellectual Freedom
Implementation of the concept of academic freedom in the Library involves selecting some materials that may be considered controversial by some individuals or groups. Pannell Library policy is based on the Material found in the American Library Associations "Response to Challenge" and its published policies on Intellectual Freedom. The acquisition of such materials does not imply approval or endorsements of contents. These materials are acquired to support the curriculum and to represent all sides of controversial issues. The selection criteria used by the Library must remain broad and flexible in order to provide a collection that supports the broad range of academic programs and diverse backgrounds of its clientele.
1. The concerned patron will be offered the opportunity to discuss her/his concern
with the staff person responsible for selection and/or the Director of Library Services. If the patron
is dissatisfied with this discussion and wishes to pursue the issue, the patron must complete and submit
a Request for Reconsideration of Library Resources (copy attached).
2. The Director of Library Services will review the complaint and Request for Reconsideration,
and will respond in writing.
3. If the issue is still not resolved to the patron’s satisfaction, the complaint will be taken to the
Vice President for Instruction along with any supporting documentation from the patron and/or the Director
of Library Services. The matter will be reviewed according to standard college policy for resolution of complaints
as outlined in the College Catalog current at the time of the complaint. The Vice President for Instruction will
prepare a written response, taking into consideration the needs of the college and the position of the library.
Procedures for handling complaints include allowing residents of the community college district to complete a form (See Appendix C) requesting that the material be reconsidered and given appropriate administrative review. The form is available at the Library.
The Library subscribes to the principles contained in the "Library Bill of Rights" and "Freedom to View."
Provisions for Review
This policy will be reviewed annually by the Library staff and the Vice President for Instruction.
Appendix A
Main classes
1. Humanities (to be added)
2. Social Sciences (to be added)
3. Science and Technology
3.1. Q Science (to be added)
3.2. R Medicine (to be added)
3.3. RD Surgery (to be added)
3.4. RS Pharmacy (to be added)
3.5. RT Nursing
Resources in this division are primarily for the use of students in the program
who need course related works, and material for assignments, and faculty who
need material for course preparation, teaching and research. Administrative
staff and alumni may also use the collection. Resources in media of various
types are collected: representative periodicals, online services, electronic
data, books (both general use and selected textbooks) and audio-visual material.
The nursing subjects are strongly textbook based; however, current resources,
as listed, are essential to supplement and enhance the academic needs of the
clientele.
The library will collect current and/or up-to-date materials based on General Criteria for Purchase of Materials and recommendations of Allied Health Library Liaison Committee. Bibliographic items collected will be at Level 1(Minimum development), 2 (Basic development) or 3 (Intermediate Development). No material at Level 4- Advanced Development will be collected under normal circumstances. Material that is not current or up-to-date but still useful for historic purposes, as defined by the Librarians and the Allied Health Library Liaison Committee will be designated with a color-coded stripe on its spine. This will serve to differentiate these works from current works shelved in the R-RT class.
3.6. S
Agriculture (to be added)
3.7. T Technology (to be added)
Appendix B
Subject
specific weeding schedules
Main classes
1. Humanities (to be added)
2. Social Sciences (to be added)
3. Science
and Technology
3.1. Q Science (to be added)
3.2. R Medicine (to be added)
3.3. RD Surgery (to be added)
3.4. RS Pharmacy (to be added)
3.5. RT Nursing
The Allied Health Library Liaison Committee, with the assistance of the Librarians,
will- at least annually - conduct a review of collections and holdings of
use to students in their division. Materials that are 5 years old or older
and meet other general criteria for weeding will be considered for discard.
Considerations regarding final disposition of these works will include consultation
with faculty in disciplines from closely related study areas, such as developmental
psychology, ethics, family theory, women's studies, etc if these works are
not classed in R-RT and may have significant contributions to the other discipline.
3.6. S
Agriculture (to be added)
3.7. T Technology (to be added)
Appendix C
| REQUEST FOR RECONSIDERATION of LIBRARY RESOURCES |
| Thank you for taking an interest in the collection of resources at our library. |
| TITLE _________________________________________ |
| BOOK ______________________________ PERIOCIDAL _________________________ |
| OTHER _____________________________ AUTHOR ____________________________ |
| Request Initiated by: ________________________________ |
| Address:______________________________________________ |
| City, State & zip:_______________________________________________________ |
| Telephone:________________________ |
| Request made on behalf of: |
| Yourself ______ |
| An organization ______ |
| Other group (name) __________________________________ |
| 1. Did you read/review the entire work? ________ |
| 2. What is your objection? Please be specific, cite pages/scenes, etc. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
| 3. What is positive about the work? ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
| 4. What do you feel might be the result of reading/reviewing the material? ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
| 5. For what library patrons would you recommend this work? ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
| 6. What do you believe is the theme of this work? ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
| 7. What resource (s) do you suggest to provide additional information on this topic? ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
| 8. Action requested: |
| ______ Return it to the staff for re-evaluation |
| ______ Other. Explain. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
| 9. In its place, what work would you recommend that would convey as valuable a perspective of the subject treated. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
| ______________________________________ |
| SIGNATURE |
| ______________________________________ |
| DATE |