Collection Development Policy

I. INTRODUCTION

This policy is intended to serve as a statement of the guidelines used for acquiring and maintaining materials for the library collections at Lake Forest College. Rising costs, increases in publishing output, and a relentless increase in the demand for information in a wide variety of formats necessitate careful materials selection based on an understanding of the immediate and future goals of the library and the College. The collection must be systematically shaped and developed in order to make the best use of our financial resources.

II. OBJECTIVE

The primary objective of collection development activities at Lake Forest College is to build and maintain a library collection that supports the undergraduate curriculum. LIT programs and services are designed to promote intellectual and physical access to the collection for the members of the college community.

III. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS

It is the responsibility of the Director of the Office of Library and Information Technology to allocate the materials budget in order to fulfill the library's collection development objectives. The majority of funds available for the purchase of monographs is divided among disciplines which are broadly defined by academic departments. The amount of money allocated to support the purchase of library material for each discipline reflects such factors as size of the relevant department(s) (i.e.. number of faculty and students), number of courses taught, and the average cost of materials in the department's subject areas.

Some funds are maintained to be used at the discretion of the Director and the librarians.

Faculty and administrators are reminded that library support is an additional cost which must be considered when implementing new programs or courses.

IV. SELECTION GUIDELINES

The objective cited in section II provides the framework for selection. Thus the major responsibility and top priority of the library lies with the support of the teaching programs. The library does endeavor to obtain materials needed for faculty study and research either through purchase or interlibrary loan. Interlibrary loan will usually be the method of choice for materials which do not support the undergraduate curriculum. Although a lower priority, the library also makes some effort to serve the entire college community through the purchase of cultural, recreational and general information materials.

The fulfillment of academic curricular needs is the first criterion against which any potential item is evaluated. Specific considerations in choosing individual items include the following:

• Appropriateness of level of treatment (e.g. is the material accessible to students? Is it anticipated that the material will be used for term papers, supplementary reading, etc.?)
• Strength of present holdings in same or similar subject areas
• Cost
• Suitability of format to content - particularly in the case of AV or digitized products. Does the format of the item effectively convey the desired information, and does the library have any special equipment required to use the material?
• Authoritativeness of the author
• Reputation of publisher
• Lasting value of the content

Other guidelines also observed:

1) Textbooks are not normally purchased. The exceptions are those items which have earned reputation as "classics" in their fields, or when a textbook is the only or best source of information on a particular topic.

2) Duplicates are purchased only under special circumstances.

3) In instances where the cost of an item is high and anticipated demand is low, the holdings of nearby libraries and those libraries with whom we have special borrowing arrangements, such as ILCSO libraries, will be considered in determining whether or not to purchase the item.

4) When there is an option of paper or hardcopy, the choice is based on expected use, lasting value of content, cost differential, and quality of paperback binding.

5) Lost or stolen materials will be replaced within one year of the date they are reported missing (or immediately if needed) if they are available. The current book trade and selection criteria will also be considered.

6) The library acquires primarily English language materials. Exceptions to this are foreign language dictionaries and literature that are used in the teaching of foreign languages.

7) The majority of selections are current publications. The library recognizes the need for retrospective purchases and systematically uses standard bibliographies and other evaluation tools to locate and fill gaps in the collection. However, in view of the difficulty and expense in obtaining out-of- print and reprinted material, it is most important to spend funds for valuable current publications of long-term worth, thus preventing a future need for retrospective buying.

The library staff uses the following as primary selection tools, with additional sources as needed: Choice, Library Journal, New York Times Books Review, Publishers Weekly, publishers' catalogs and pre-publication literature, selected subject-specific professional journals, Guide to Reference Books, American Reference Books Annual, and Books for College Libraries. Approval plans may also be established with vendors to help ensure that the collection develops at the desired level in all appropriate subject areas.

V. SELECTION RESPONSIBILITY

Ultimate responsibility for the development and maintenance of library collections at Lake Forest College rests with the Director of the Library and Information Technology. The director will assign selection responsibilities to librarians who serve as liaisons to academic departments. In addition, selections are strongly encouraged from faculty to support their current and planned courses. It is hoped that faculty will monitor their professional literature for appropriate library acquisitions, and that they will make the librarians aware of material most useful for course requirements and for student research needs. Student and staff requests for the acquisition of materials are also welcomed and encouraged and are reviewed by the same standards as are requests from all other sources.

VI. SERIALS

Serials differ from monographs in that a serial subscription is an ongoing financial commitment. In addition, serials prices have historically increased at a rate that far exceeds such standard economic indicators as the Consumer Price Index and great care must be taken to ensure that the Library's ongoing commitment to serials does not consume a disproportionate share of the total acquisitions budget. Therefore, requests for new serial subscriptions must be considered very carefully. Generally, a new serial subscription will not be entered unless another subscription of similar expense can be canceled. Faculty members who wish to request the addition of a new subscription will be asked to review existing subscriptions in their subject discipline to identify a current title that might be discontinued.

Back runs of serials are purchased only when deemed necessary or as the budget permits.

Some or all of the following criteria are used in evaluating titles for acquisition or cancellation:

• support of present academic curriculum
• strength of the existing collection in the title's subject area
• present use of other serials in this subject area
• projected future use
• cost
• reputation of journal and the publisher
• inclusion in a reliable indexing source
• availability online/electronically through reliable and reputable sources
• avoidance of redundancy across formats
• number of recent interlibrary loan requests for this serial

VII. NON-PRINT MATERIAL

Requests for non-print materials (audio-visual materials, CD-ROMs, digital resources, etc.) are evaluated on the same basis as are monographs, with special emphasis on the suitability of the format to the content, on the quality of the production, and the Library's ability to provide the equipment and support to required in order to use the material.

VIII. SPECIALTY COLLECTIONS

A. Special Collections and Archives

(1) Archives. The College's archives are its own records (documents, books, photographs, realia) deposited in the library for historical and administrative use. Retention schedules, prepared in the mid 1970s and updated last in 1995, when staffing has been available, have guided articulation between departments and units of the College and the archives unit in the library. The department-level retention schedules, originally agreed upon by an archives committee in the Hotchkiss administration, manage decisions about what to discard, transfer to archives or hold -- annually and when offices change administrations.

(2) Special Collections. Since the mid-nineteenth century the College Library's special holdings have come from town, alumni,and collections of friends of the College -- virtually always with a local angle. Thus, the interests of the Chicago leadership community which founded (or were core-customers of) western-facing railroads (railroad history collection, Donnelley), newspapers (Patterson/Tribune), printers (Donnelley), etc., shaped the earlier special collection holdings. Later holdings resulted from the Renaissance interest of the turn-of-the-century descendants of founders who set up Chicago culture (Hamill, etc.). This group's interests provide the organizing principle of the collecting over many years. Currently, new gifts are added which follow these interests (railroad, printing, Americana/West, Chic. Renaissance). All gifts must be made in consultation with the Director of LIT. Purchases on an endowed fund support Special Collections interests to a modest degree.

B. Government Documents

Lake Forest College Library participates in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), receiving approximately 12% of the items available from the Government Printing Office (GPO). In return for receiving these materials free of charge, the College must provide public access to the collection and maintain each item for at least five years. The Library's Depository collection focuses on basic legal materials, statistical publications, and policy oriented documents. The collection mainly consists of recent materials, but it also contains significant numbers of historical documents.

The Library receives FDLP publications in a variety of formats, including printed materials, microfiche, CD-ROM, and offers access to some of these publications via remote electronic databases. As required by Federal Law, the library maintains these collections in the same manner as commercial publications, including technical services (such as shelving and preservation), reference services, and the purchase of supporting bibliographic materials (such as commercial indexes).

The primary role of the Depository collection is to support the college's liberal arts curriculum. The Library selects to receive a wide variety of materials on current federal policy, especially materials found in the large collection of Congressional Hearings, and to provide access to laws, regulations and court opinions. To provide an in depth overview of current society, the library receives major statistical publications from most government agencies and a wide selection of Census Bureau documents. When possible, the Library chooses to receive comprehensive coverage government publications on Illinois and the local area, including detailed Census Bureau reports and Geological Survey maps. Donnelley's periodical collection also contains a number of important financial, scientific, and policy titles received via the FDLP.

The Depository collection also serves the public's need for government information, with an emphasis on the residents of Lake County and the 10th Congressional District. Public interest documents selected include tax forms, information on elected officials, and business-oriented statistics, reports, and guides.

IX. GIFTS

Gifts are accepted with the understanding that the library may dispose of them or add them to the collection at its discretion, and in the same manner as purchased material. All gifts must be approved by the Head of Public Service or, in some cases, the Director of LIT. As a general rule, decisions to add gift books to the collection will be based on the same criteria as purchased ones. The Library assumes no responsibility for appraisal of gift items, nor can the Library accept gifts under restricted conditions.

X. COLLECTION MAINTENANCE AND EVALUATION

Weeding is an important component of collection development. Upon arrival of new editions, the reference staff will evaluate previous editions and will withdraw those deemed outdated. The reference collection will be continually monitored for outdated material, which will be replaced and withdrawn if necessary. Individual sections of the general collection will be periodically reviewed and weeded. Academic departments will be encouraged to participate in a weeding of their collections every five years.

XI. INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM

The Office of the Library and Information Technology supports the American Library Association's Bill of Rights, its Intellectual Freedom Statement, and its statement on Challenged Materials. The Library attempts to purchase materials which represent differing opinions on controversial matters. Selection is without partisanship regarding, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or moral philosophy.

Endorsed by LIT Advisory Committee, October 1996.