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South Louisiana Community College
Collection Development Policy |
I. Introduction
Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to guide the library staff in building the library collection at South Louisiana Community College (SLCC).
History of SLCC
South Louisiana Community College was created and established by Act 1369 of the 1997 Louisiana regular legislative session. The College was established as a comprehensive, multi-campus two-year institution of higher education. The College serves the eight-parish area of Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, and Vermillion. SLCC has two campuses; the main campus is located in Lafayette, and the other is located in New Iberia. Additionally, SLCC offers courses at the Franklin site and at the seven Acadian Ambulance Service state-wide locations.South Louisiana Community College seeks to cultivate a learning environment
in which participants develop the qualities and skills necessary to engage actively in the economy, governance, and culture of South Louisiana and in the global arena. This function is fostered in a climate that focuses upon intellectual rigor, caring, and respect for the diverse cultures of the College community.
Mission of SLCC
To fulfill its mission, South Louisiana Community College provides:
- General education courses and associate degree programs that transfer to other two-year schools and to baccalaureate programs at four-year schools.
- Associate degrees in fields of study that prepare students for immediate employment including:
- Early Childhood Education
- General Business
- General Studies
- Liberal Arts
- Criminal Justice
- Emergency Health Science
- Industrial Technology
- A developmental studies program that strengthens basic skills and prepares students for collegiate work.
The College’s provision of these programs and services is supported by an open admissions policy which provides access to students from diverse racial, religious, economic, educational, and cultural backgrounds. Within this open environment, the College proposes to offer educational opportunities that will improve the quality of life and meet the lifelong educational needs of the citizens it is designed to serve.
Mission Statement of the SLCC Library
The mission of SLCC Library is to become a center for information, library and learning resources. SLCC library is committed to providing quality information services in a user-focused culture that meets the needs of library users including instructors, students and staff. SLCC library services include, but are not limited to, activities conducted in the library, classrooms, institutions, community and remote sites. SLCC library is committed to information literacy goals. These goals include helping students develop expertise in locating, evaluating and using information in various formats. Additionally, the library provides point-of-use instruction, personal assistance in conducting library research, and traditional reference services.
Library User Groups
The primary user group is the students, faculty and staff of SLCC. The secondary user group is the citizens of the eight parish area served by the College. SLCC library's collection is developed to meet the needs of the primary user group.
- Students
- During its first three years of operation, SLCC experienced significant enrollment growth; from 156 students in the fall of 1998 to 1836 in spring 2004. The enrollment is projected to increase to 5000 students by 2009. The student population is a diverse population representing different gender, racial, and socioeconomic groups.
- Faculty
- There are eighteen fulltime faculty members and 50 adjunct faculty members. The faculty represent a range of disciplines reflecting the diversity in course offerings.
- Staff
- There are 38 fulltime administrative and support personnel in the following areas: administration, human resources, business services, student services, library services and enrollment management.
II. Collection Development Process
The collection development process includes four phases: material selection, acquisition methods, collection assessment, and material deselection.
Material Selection
It is a professional responsibility of faculty to make recommendations in
their respective disciplines and to incorporate library materials into
course development. Because the library faculty can best judge the balance
of the total collection in their respective subject area, acquisitions
decisions primarily rests with them. The Director of the Library has final
responsibility for collection-related decisions and coordinates the
selection process.
The library liaison program was developed as a mechanism for
faculty to submit suggestions for library purchases. All course subjects are
assigned to a member of the library staff. Library staff have the
responsibility to consult with the instructors to make materials selections
appropriate to the curriculum.
Other methods for soliciting input into the selection process
include: annual student and faculty surveys, input from the library
committee and participation on the curriculum committee by library staff.
Formats collected
The SLCC library collects materials in the following formats:
- Hardbound versus paperbound books - For their greater durability, hardbound editions are generally the preferred format. Paperbacks, however, are purchased for topics which change rapidly, when duplicate copies of a specific book are needed, if a hardcover is unavailable, if the title requires frequent replacement, or if the paperbound appears to be a better value.
- Textbooks - In general, the library does not purchase the specific edition of a textbook used in a College course. However, instructors or others may place copies on reserve. Workbooks and study guides are not purchased.
- Newspapers - The
Library collects daily newspapers of local interest. Only the latest fourteen days of daily newspapers are retained.
- Periodicals - The library purchases print periodicals according to the relevance to the curriculum. Generally, the library gives priority to print titles not available electronically through the Louisiana Academic Library Information Network Consortium (LALINC).
Audiovisuals
Audiovisual materials are purchased to supplement the print collection and to the extent that they support the curriculum. The current format collected is VHS. However, the library will collect materials available in the DVD format as the technology dictates.
Electronic Resources
SLCC library participates in the purchase of database licenses available through LALINC. The library may purchase additional database licenses not available through LALINC if the licenses support the curriculum.
Pamphlets and maps
These items are added to the pamphlet file to provide concise and timely information, particularly on Lafayette, New Iberia and Acadian Louisiana topics. Art works, globes, and other similar items may be purchased to enhance the library collection and environment.
- Government information - The Library is not a repository for federal or state of Louisiana government publications.
- Foreign language materials - Items written in languages other than English are purchased when they support the language curricula of the institution.
- Literary fiction - Items in this category are purchased according to the same criteria asother library materials.
- Theses, dissertations, pictures, photographs, manuscripts, archival materials, instructor’s manuals and laboratory manuals - These items are not collected. However, they may be placed on reserve by the faulty.
- Duplicate copies - Duplicate copies of materials may be purchased for additional campuses. A decision to purchase duplicate materials for campuses and sites is determined by: curriculum offerings, demand for material, availability of funds, and accreditation requirements.
Selection Criteria
The Library's first priority is to provide materials to students in support of curriculum requirements. Since a community college focuses on the first two years of an undergraduate curriculum, materials recommended for the first two years of undergraduate education will receive first priority for purchase. Second, the Library serves faculty teaching needs by purchasing more advanced materials when funds are available.
In order to collect materials, which will support the current curricular needs of the College, the Library chooses a representative selection of resources based on the following selection criteria:
- Importance/relevance to the curriculum
- Contribution to depth or breadth of collection
- Faculty recommendation
- Patron needs, including requirements of special populations
- Timeliness of information
- Depth of coverage
- Adequacy of scope
- Authoritativeness
- Accuracy
- Objectivity
- Physical quality
- Appropriateness of format
- Special features
- Price/value/cost
- Bibliographic accessibility: inclusion in important bibliographies, major indexes and abstracting services, syllabi, and databases
- Physical space requirements
- Maintenance costs
- Ease of use/training requirements
- Access restrictions
- Licensing requirements
While all of the above criteria are important, the primary selection criterion is relevance to the curriculum.
Liaison Librarians & Faculty Responsibility for Selection
In fall 2003, the SLCC library initiated the library liaison program.
Librarians serve as liaisons with department chairs and program coordinators
in order to gather data for collection development. Liaison’s
responsibilities include:
- meeting with faculty, staff, and student groups to ascertain information needs and
develop plans to acquire appropriate resources
- analyzing and evaluating library resources
- assisting faculty in the use of library resources
- conducting classes to teach faculty and students how to use library resources
- coordinating collection development activities with the Director of the
Library
All library users, regardless of status, are invited to make
acquisition recommendations to the Library Director and Library
Staff.
Acquisition Methods
The library staff routinely consult a variety of sources to find appropriate
materials for the collection. Discipline-specific bibliographies are used to
identify new materials. Additionally, the library staff consult
subject-specific lists of materials published by professional associations,
special libraries, book jobbers, commercial publishers or university
presses.
SLCC library participates in the Louisiana Academic Libraries Information
Network Consortium (LALINC). Through its annual membership dues to LALINC,
SLCC participates in the purchasing of database licenses with the other
academic libraries in Louisiana. The consortium, as a whole, evaluates usage
of the databases and will select or deselect databases as appropriate to the
needs of the consortium.SLCC
library has an additional licensing agreement with NetLibrary for licenses
to the NetLibrary I, and III collections. Participation in future NetLibrary
collections are based on appropriateness to the College curriculum.
Collection Assessment
The collection in each subject area is extensively evaluated at least
bi-annually. The evaluation schedule is:
| Description |
| General Works |
A |
Spring |
Odd year |
| Phil,Psych,Religion |
B |
Spring |
Odd year |
| History and Geography |
CDEFG |
Summer |
Odd year |
| Social Sciences |
H |
Fall |
Odd year |
| Political Science and Law |
JK |
Spring |
Even year |
| Education |
L |
Spring |
Even year |
| FineArts |
MN |
Summer |
Even year |
| Language and Literature |
P |
Summer |
Even year |
| Science & Technology |
QRSTUVZ |
Fall |
Even year |
This evaluation is for the purpose of acquiring new library
materials and deselecting library materials. Tools used to perform this
analysis include:
- Circulation reports
- Shelf list and other bibliographic reports
- Collection aging and other collection assessment reports
Material Deselection
The SLCC library staff regularly weed the monograph collection at both the
Lafayette and New Iberia locations and at the Franklin site. Certain factors
determine the necessity of weeding including: lack of shelving space,
condition of books and obsolescence.
The following are general criteria which the library staff
follow in deciding which materials to deselect.
Material will be deselected if:
- Material is infested, dirty, shabby, worn out, water damaged or exhibits the presence of mold.
- Binding and cover of book is in fair to poor condition upon inspection.
- Materials have small print, brittle paper and missing pages.
Criteria to be used include:
- Input from faculty
- Relevance to course syllabi
- Appropriateness to a community college level audience
- Comparison with standardized lists appropriate for a community college.
- Age of material. Age of material should be carefully considered in context with the subject area. Below are some general guidelines:
| Industrial Technology |
Older than five years old |
Historical material |
| MCIS |
Older than five years old |
Historical material |
| Biology and EMT |
Older than five years old |
Historical material |
| Literature |
None if book is a classic |
Historical material |
| Criminal Justice and Law |
Older than five years old |
Historical material |
| History |
None if book is a classic |
|
| Education |
Older than ten years old |
Historical material |
Quantitative Criteria:
- Adequate representation of subject
- Age of books in subject
- Acquisition rate
- Number of books per student in a degree program
- Older edition of a book is superseded by a newer edition
Deselected library materials are disposed of according to
State of Louisiana property disposal guidelines.
Replacement of Materials
The SLCC library will not automatically replace all materials withdrawn
because of loss, damage, or wear. Factors considered include:
- Number of duplicate copies
- Extent of adequate coverage of the field in the collection
- Importance to collection
- Usage
- Availability of material for purchase
- Availability of more up-to-date material or alternate format
- Replacement cost
- Final
decisions concerning replacement copies rest with the Library Director.
III. Donations and Gifts
The Library welcomes gifts and accepts them with the understanding that the
materials will be evaluated according to the same standards as items that
the Library purchases. All gifts are acknowledged by the Library; however,
no monetary evaluation can be done, pursuant to Internal Revenue Service
regulations. The library reserves the right to refuse a donation if the
donor specifies special conditions, including retrieval from a donor's home,
or special shelving requirements.
The Act of Donation form is located in the Library Procedure Manual.
IV. Conservation and Preservation of Collection
Generally, the Library exercises care and diligence in the preservation, replacement
and duplication of library materials. The Library attempts to purchase
quality materials, which will withstand expected use. In addition the
Library encourages proper handling of materials and takes preventive
measures in the physical processing of materials to enhance longevity of
use. When items become worn or damaged, steps may be taken to repair, mend
or bind materials to extend their useful life. If items must be discarded or
have been lost, replacement or updating is considered. The Director, in
consultation with cataloging staff, make decisions on preservation,
duplication or replacement based on general selection criteria.
V. Intellectual Freedom
It is the responsibility of the library staff to ensure that all points of view
relevant to the SLCC mission are represented in the collection. This
position is affirmed by the ALA Library Bill of Rights[1],
Accordingly, all patrons of SLCC library are afforded the right of freedom
to read as defined by the ALA "Freedom to Read" statement[2].
Patrons with a complaint about an item in the collection should be referred to the
Director, who will ask them to submit their concerns in writing. The library
committee, composed of librarians and faculty members, will review the
complaint and the material in question, and make a recommendation. The
complainant will receive a written response from the Director.
Any requests related to government sponsored investigations will be directed to the
Director of Library Services. The Director will direct requests to the
administration of SLCC who will verify the validity of these requests. Such
investigations will be documented and submitted to the Louisiana Community
and Technical College System Office of Legal Counsel.
Last updated: 7/23/04
Approved by SLCC Cabinet 8/19/04
[1] American Library Association Library Bill of Rights. Available at:
http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/statementspols/statementsif/librarybillrights.htm
[2] American Library Association "Freedom to Read" statement. Available at http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/statementspols/ftrstatement/freedomreadstatement.htm
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