Collection Management Policy 2 - Acquistion of Materials

2.1      Access to holdings

In consultation with the academic community, the Library will determine the optimum method of access to information resources, including:-

• Purchase of/subscription to physical materials, in a variety of formats, to be maintained within the Library’s collection
• Collaborative purchase of/subscription to physical materials to be held at another location but available on unrestricted access or free (at point of use) Inter-Library Loan
• Purchase of/subscription to access remote electronic information resources
• Collaborative purchase of/subscription to access remote electronic information resources
• Gift or deposit of material in any format
• Document delivery or inter-library loan

2.2      Collaborative Purchase and Access

The Library may enter into collaborative agreements with other institutions to acquire material. Reasons include:-

• Items with a cost that is too great for a single institution to justify
• Where a joint application for funding is made to acquire the material
• When the physical format (e.g. size or preservation requirements) cannot be accommodated at Aberdeen without the provision of special facilities
• Where the resource is provided electronically and accessible remotely

In all cases, appropriate and guaranteed levels of access and service will constitute an integral part of any purchase agreement.

The Library currently participates in several access schemes which facilitate physical access to collections of other libraries and, occasionally, borrowing privileges.  See the Library’s web pages,

2.3 Considerations not related to content

2.3.1   Formats

Material will be acquired in a range of formats, including printed and electronic monographs and journals, sound and video recordings, and multimedia, according to the following criteria:

• known/predicted user demand
• appropriateness to user requirements for access to information
• availability/cost of alternative formats
• availability/cost of essential enabling equipment/facilities
• accessibility
• licensing arrangements
• capability of technology to support the format
• the Library’s ability support the format
• ability of the e-resource to provide statistics of use for evaluation purposes
• life cycle, costs and value
• overall cost-effectiveness

2.3.2   Print ‘v’ Electronic

• The Library makes resources available in electronic format wherever it is advantageous to do so.
• New CD-ROMs will only be acquired where no suitable (in terms of cost or content) Web version is available.
• Web versions of existing CD-ROMs will be preferred, where possible.
• It is Library policy to opt for full-text delivery of electronic journals and other materials, whenever possible.  Where licensing arrangements are deemed acceptable, Web-only access will be considered for full-text resources.

Monographs
Electronic books will be acquired where possible and where the content is appropriate to curricular/research need. Many books will continue to be acquired in printed format in the short to medium term.  Alternative media accompanying books (e.g. a CD-ROM) will be made available and supported where this is technically and legally feasible.

Journals and databases
Both Journals and Abstracting and Indexing services (databases) will be made available electronically wherever possible, in consultation with Colleges / Schools, and journals will be provided electronically, except where this format is found to be  inappropriate by the recommending College / School. Factors governing the selection of format will depend on the nature of user demand, requirements for use, archival facilities / methodology, licensing arrangements, and technology compatibility.

Reference works
These may be acquired in electronic format, depending on availability, cost, and appropriateness of format to the anticipated type of use.

Exam papers

• A Web-mounted database of exam papers provides access to a 5 year rolling collection of examination papers. 
• 1 paper copy of each exam paper received is lodged in Special Libraries & Archives for archival purposes, and made available for reference only.
• Coverage, in either electronic or printed format, is not comprehensive, since only those exams papers provided by the Schools are made accessible by the Library.

2.3.3   General Criteria for Selection of Materials

Some of the following criteria will usually be applied by Library Representatives when considering material for inclusion in the Library collection. 

• Price/relative cost of material in relation to the budget and other available material
• Relevance to the curriculum or research activity and appropriateness to the user
• Timeliness and lasting value of content
• Reputation of the author, issuing body, and/or publisher
• Presentation (style and clarity)
• Aesthetic considerations
• Literary, artistic, or social value
• Appeal to the imagination, senses, or intellect
• Special features of unique value
• Local interest e.g. Pictorial representations; bibliography.     
• Physical and technical quality
• Suitability of content to form
• Strength of present holdings in the same or similar subject
• Need to increase holdings in subjects where titles are deemed inadequate
• Demand, frequency of inter-library loan requests for material on the same or similar subject

2.3.4 Course Reading List Materials

Monographs

• Schools will be responsible for ensuring reading lists are accurate and up-to-date and for advising the Library of their content and any changes.
• Following receipt of up-to-date reading lists from Schools at least 1 copy of essential items cited on reading lists will be made available in the Heavy Demand collection.
• Space constraints may make it difficult or impossible to accommodate all requests for multiple copies in Heavy Demand. Under such circumstances the HD Supervisor will liaise with School contacts.
• The Library will move items in and out of Heavy Demand, informed by the usage statistics.

Off-prints 

• Journal articles and book chapters are made available within Heavy Demand.
• All copying is made in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, and takes into account any special agreements made with appropriate bodies (e.g. the Copyright Licensing Agency).
• In cases where the offprint content is not available from the Library’s collections, copyright-fee cleared copies are requested through the Inter-Library Loans service. Schools are expected to pay all related costs.

2.3.5 Purchase of additional copies of course reading list materials

In general, the Library will buy

• 1 copy per 20 students, up to a maximum of 25 copies
• where the School indicates that students are required to purchase personal copies of the text, 1 copy per 30 students

For multiple copies, 1 copy will usually be placed on Standard Loan, with the remainder on 3-day loan, unless addition of copies for Heavy Demand is specified.
Library staff undertake to relocate material according to demand on copies.

Subject to the maxima above, these levels of provision are guidelines and dependent on a number of factors, such as the level of demand, cost, alternative forms of access. They may also vary among subject areas/Schools.

2.3.6 Purchase of materials in support of new courses or staff

To enable an element of flexibility, each academic session a percentage of the Library’s materials fund (usually 5%) is allocated to pump-prime new initiatives i.e. in support of new academic staff, new courses, etc.  A maximum upper value is indicated to Schools at the start of the bidding round.

A bidding process is undertaken within Schools and submissions for funding are prioritised by the Colleges, with advice from the appropriate Information Consultant.
Prioritised submissions are then considered by the Librarian and monies allocated.
Submissions can be made for one-off purchases of electronic resources.

2.3.7 Criteria for purchase of hardback/paperback

Printed books are usually purchased in paperback format, except where the paperback versions are known to be of inferior quality with limited life.
Paperbacks are laminated (usually done by the suppliers before delivery) to make them more sturdy and durable, unless urgent access to the resource is required through Heavy Demand. 

Hardback format is usually preferred in cases where:

• This format has been specified by the requester for valid reasons
• The hardback is not significantly more expensive than the paperback
• The resource being purchased is a reference item
• The item merits retention in perpetuity

Book jackets are usually discarded for new material going into current collections, unless they contain unique or useful information that has been noted in the catalogue record, in which case they will be laminated or otherwise protected. Book jackets are retained on books accommodated in Special Libraries and Archives.

2.3.8 Out-of-Print Materials

Monograph funds should primarily be spent on purchasing current publications of long-term worth. On request, and subject to funding availability, it may be possible to fill gaps in the collections with large-scale purchase of retrospective material but such material is often out-of-print, rare and/or difficult to obtain.

2.3.9   Foreign Language Material

Foreign language material is bought only to support specific research and teaching interests, on the recommendation of the Library Representative. 

2.3.10   Date

Works will be acquired irrespective of date if they are relevant to teaching/research interests, and where they accord with the other specified selection criteria.

2.3.11   Bias/Discrimination

Works will be acquired irrespective of source and/or content if they are relevant to teaching/research programmes, and where they accord with the other specified selection criteria, within the limits of legal compliance.

2.3.12   Temporary deposits of material on loan

• Personal copies of material may be deposited temporarily within Heavy Demand in support of teaching: these are normally included in the catalogue.
• Requests to deposit for borrowing personal materials elsewhere within the library will generally be refused, although the merits of each request will be evaluated before a final decision is taken.

2.4 Donations

2.4.1. Criteria for the acceptance into the general library of material acquired by gift (or exchange)

Items or collections will only be accepted on the clear understanding that the Library may subsequently select individual items for retention or disposal as it deems appropriate. Items not required may be sold and the proceeds applied to the acquisition of other materials for the Library.

• Material should be of recognised scholarly significance.
• On the basis of current teaching/research priorities, the material should have actual or potential use.
• Material may be accepted because of its rarity
• Material may be accepted where authorial bias provides unique contextual value (eg in explaining national/religious thinking).
• The item offered is in better condition than an existing Library copy and the content is still topical
• On the basis of known or anticipated demand, additional copies of the title would be useful
• Items that fill gaps in the Library’s holdings, particularly back-runs of print journals.  (School donations can be particularly useful in this respect).
• Material that is significant to the heritage of North and Northeast Scotland and/or Scotland nationally; also material that has strong associative links to the University or its Library.
• Free CD-ROMs, or other media, shall only be accepted if they meet the above criteria and can be supported technically.

In very rare cases, material which does not meet the criteria above, will be accepted if there is a significant public relations case for doing so.

Library Services Donation Agreement Form

2.4.2. University of Aberdeen Theses

All research postgraduate theses produced by students of the University of Aberdeen will be retained in the Library, one electronic copy, one print copy for reference.  Theses generated on taught Masters programmes will generally not be retained.

2.5  Cataloguing and Classification

Information resources acquired by the Library will be recorded in the Library Catalogue (some donated collections await completion). All resources in the catalogue are described to internationally agreed standards for bibliographic description, principally AACR2 (Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, Second Edition), and are held in MARC21 (MAchine Readable Cataloging for the 21st century) format to facilitate the exchange of data with other libraries and agencies. Subject Headings using the Library of Congress Subject Headings standard are added for all materials. Authority control is maintained for author and subject names following the Library of Congress Name Authority File headings.

Non-electronic materials held in the Library are mostly assigned a shelfmark based on the Dewey Decimal Classification scheme, except for Special Libraries and Archives materials. Electronic materials are not all individually catalogued but where this is the case the same standards apply. These materials are not normally assigned a Dewey-based shelfmark.