Collections

Selection, Acquisition and Allocation Policy

The heart of the library lies in its collection, and it must be built continuously for the improvement of the library services. The selection and acquisition policy guidelines provide the institution with the direction for making appraisal and acquisition decisions and allocating resources. It is the backbone around which the institution can acquire comprehensive holdings in a planned, coordinated, and systematic manner.

SELECTION POLICY 

Materials selected for library purchase at any time should be those of the greatest use to the academic community, its faculty, staff and students. Judgment as to whether specific materials meet this criterion is exercised most frequently by consulting the opinions of knowledgeable people, either on the campus or in such publications as the standard bibliographies cited in the "Evaluation" section above, dependable review journals, and lists of publications considered to be outstanding by authoritative boards of review. Caution is urged in accepting publisher's statements at face value and in selecting titles solely on the basis of the author's or publisher's reputation. Specific criteria applicable to almost all library purchases include:

• Timely value of the material

• Accuracy of the material

• Authority, honesty and credibility of the author and publisher

• Usefulness of the material with respect to other works already in the collection or easily available from other collections, including:

• • Representation of all sides of controversial issues

  • Avoidance of materials that duplicate information already held

  • Avoidance of expensive materials of limited use when they are held by other libraries in the System or in the region 

  • Scarcity of material on the subject

  • Price of the work in comparison with other equally useful material

  • Format of the work

Selection Criteria

• Relevance – Information resources should support teaching and research needs

• Quality – Information resources should be of high quality as to content, authoritative authorship, reliability and well-sourced data

• Currency – Information resources should generally be up to date and provide current information. Exceptions may include materials for research purposes, or where a historical perspective is important.

• Fund source – The selection and acquisition should consider availability of funds
  
  

POLICIES CONCERNING SPECIAL AREAS OF COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT

Paperbacks

When there is a choice between hardcover and paperback, the paperback will be purchased unless the work is one expected to stand up to frequent and heavy use.

Periodicals

Current subscriptions are placed at the request of faculty and on the basis of the expressed needs and interests of the library's users. Every fall, prior to renewal dates, the library informs faculty members as to which titles are available in the library’s full-text databases. Faculty members are asked to review their orders and to consider canceling the print versions that are duplicated online.

Newspapers

The library subscribes to representative local, regional and national newspapers. Due to limited storage space, backfiles of newspapers are not kept beyond three to six months.

Government Documents

These documents are sorted by subject matter and housed separately from the rest of the library's collection.

Foreign Language Materials

Materials in foreign languages are purchased to support the language curricula offered by the university when a specific need is evident for a foreign language edition.

Limited-Used Materials

Resources (books, manuals, indices, periodicals, dissertations) and information needed to support the research of an individual student or faculty member are obtained, whenever possible, through interlibrary loan rather than through purchase.

Out-of-Print Materials

Out-of-print materials are sought through the catalogs and Web pages of out-of print book dealers and out-of-print services of major book jobbers.

Audio-Visual Media

The library acquires collections of e-books for student and faculty use. The library also acquires a number of recordings, CDs, DVDs and videos. These are selected on the basis of course needs and general interest to the Library's clientele, largely on the recommendation of the faculty. As for adding other A-V materials to the collection, the general policy is to select materials which will best serve the purposes of the university.

Duplicates

The Library acquires duplicate copies as need arises.

Replacement Copies of Missing Books

Lost books by the students are replaced with the same titles, author and copyright date. If it’s a foreign publication and no longer available for circulation, the students may replace the lost books with local author.

Gifts

The library welcomes gifts but accepts them with the understanding that it has the right to handle or dispose of interest of the institution.

Flow on Selection and Acquisition

1. Disseminate the latest book catalog and published announcements to the respective department heads thru the faculty library committee.

2. The faculty library committee informs deans and teachers of the latest  book listings for selection. 

3. Deans and teachers returned checked catalogs, publishers announcements and submitted recommended titles to the librarian.

4. Librarian checks recommended titles or authors from the faculty against library holding, indicating copyright date or editions, if the copy is already available.

5. Librarians prepare requisition of books for purchase duly signed by the Dean, Head Librarian, Budget Officer, VP Administration and to VP for Finance for approval.

6. Prepare a summary of the amount of purchase by department. Every purchase will be checked against their respective budget allocation.

7. File slips of book for indent orders. Indicate the date ordered on the slips.

8. Approved purchase orders will be sent to book suppliers and publishers for order.

9. Inform the Deans and Teachers which books have been ordered.

Budget Allocation

Resources are allocated according to inventory needs. The book gap requirements of the different departments are also considered. The library income is shared by all departments depending on needs and priorities.

Collection Evaluation Cycle

Acquisition

• Disseminate the latest book catalog and published announcements to the respective department heads thru the faculty library committee.

• The faculty library committee informs deans and teachers of the latest  book listings for selection.

• Deans and teachers returned checked catalogs, publishers announcements and submitted recommended titles to the librarian.
  
  

  • Librarian checks recommended titles or authors from the faculty against library holding, indicating copyright date or editions, if the copy is already available.

  • Librarians prepare requisition of books for purchase duly signed by the Dean, Head Librarian, Budget Officer, VP Administration and to VP for Finance for approval.

  • Prepare a summary of the amount of purchase by department. Every purchase will be checked against their respective budget allocation.

  • File slips of book for indent orders. Indicate the date ordered on the slips.

  • Approved purchase orders will be sent to book suppliers and publishers for order.

  • Inform the Deans and Teachers which books have been ordered.

  
  
  

  Processing

   

  • Cataloging/Classification

  • Accessioning

  • Call Number

  • Barcoding

  • Encoding thru School Automate

  Circulation

   

  • Display

  • Borrowing

  • Renewing

  • Returning

   

  Inventory

   

  Review collection in terms of:

  • Updatedness

  • Strength/Gaps

  • Missing

  • Unreturned

  • Curriculum support need thru syllabus reviewed

  • Consolidate findings