I. GENERAL STATEMENT OF POLICY

Maintaining an adequate collection of informational resources, as measured by its ability to support the goals and requirements of the total educational program of the university, is one of the major goals of the Randall Library.

The ongoing development of the Library's informational resources is an activity that is shared by the professional staff of the Library, the faculty of the university, and the staff and students of the university.

Final responsibility for the adequacy of the various components of the Library's collections, however, rests with the University Librarian, who: (1) allocates available funds each fiscal year to standing accounts (i.e., the serial subscriptions account, the tax/postage account, and the binding account) and to those individuals and groups directly involved in the selection of materials to be purchased (i.e., schools/departments, Library staff); (2) coordinates the examination of all materials donated for possible inclusion in the collections; and (3) coordinates the selection of materials that should be withdrawn from the collections.

Continuous communication and cooperation among all groups involved in the collection development program are the basic factors determining the level of success achieved; therefore, a strong effort will be made to support, encourage, and facilitate a continuing dialogue concerning the proper growth and maintenance of each component of the collection.

The University Librarian, at the September meeting of the University Library Committee, will present the established materials budget for the fiscal year for discussion and consultation.

All materials selected for inclusion in the Library's holdings, whether purchased or donated, must be clearly related to the general educational mission and stated goals of the university. Because the university is dedicated to the principle of unrestricted inquiry into, and scholarly examination of, all ideas and current knowledge germane to any discipline, constant care will be taken by the Library to assure the university community that no form of censorship, whether based on personal or ideological bias, will be allowed to circumscribe the development of any subject area of the Library's collections. The Randall Library subscribes to, and will therefore act in accordance with, the Intellectual Freedom Statement of the American Library Association.

II. ANNUAL ALLOCATION OF MATERIALS BUDGET

1. At the beginning of each fiscal year, or as soon as the new budget has been received by the Library, the University Librarian determines approximate amounts required for three standing accounts. These include:

(A) Serial subscriptions account: all continuing serials subscriptions plus appropriate amount for price increases and for new titles (See 4. below).

(B) Binding (periodicals and monographs) account

(C) Tax and postage account

2. An appropriate amount is assigned to each of the various accounts established for selection of materials by the Library's professional staff. These accounts include funds for general collection development, Reference Collection, serial backfiles, and replacements/added copies. These accounts/amounts may vary each year, depending upon changing collection development priorities and upon funds available. Funds will be made available for the purchase of materials requested by campus agencies not represented by academic schools/departments.

3. An appropriate amount is assigned for allocation to schools/departments for faculty selection of monographs, audiovisuals, and serial backfiles. The total amount assigned for this purpose should not be less than the allocation established during FY1988-89.

4. Based on the amount of increase in the total materials budget for a given fiscal year, the Library will determine an appropriate amount to be used for the purchase of new serial subscriptions.

The Library will work to maintain the total serials costs at approximately 68% - 72% of the total materials budget for each fiscal year.

Schools/departments will be requested to submit serial subscription requests to the Library in priority order. Subscriptions will be placed as funds permit, after consultation with the University Library Committee.

III. DISCARDING UNNEEDED MATERIALS

The University Librarian will coordinate the selection of items that should be withdrawn from the collections.

Generally, responsibility for this ongoing activity is delegated to those librarians who are directly involved with the development of particular components of the Library's collection, i.e., Head of Reference (Reference Collection), Documents Librarian (Documents Collection), CMC Librarian (CMC Collection), Head of Technical Services (General Collection).

Titles considered for withdrawal should be only those that have been superceded by more recent editions and/or those no longer appropriate for supporting the teaching and research programs of the University.

Library users who request the removal of specific titles should be referred to the University Librarian.

IV. RANDALL LIBRARY COLLECTIONS

1. GENERAL COLLECTION (2nd Floor)

2. RESERVE COLLECTION (1st Floor)

3. AUDIOVISUAL COLLECTION (1st Floor)

4. RECREATIONAL READING COLLECTION (1st Floor)

5. CURRICULUM MATERIALS CENTER COLLECTION (2nd Floor)

• Includes: State-adopted textbooks

• Diagnostic tests

• Curriculum guides

• Computer software (limited)

• Vertical file

• Juvenile books

6. GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS COLLECTION (2nd Floor)

• Includes: U.S. documents

• N.C. documents

• NTIS publications

• NRC Public Documents

7. REFERENCE COLLECTION (1st Floor)

• Includes: General reference materials

• Telephone directories

• Atlases

• Maps (except those housed in GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS COLLECTION)

• CD-Rom Databases (non-bibliographic)

• College catalogs (paper copy)

8. INDEXES/ABSTRACTS COLLECTION (1st Floor)

• Includes: CD-ROM databases

• Printed Indexes/Abstracts

9. MICROFORM COLLECTION (1st Floor)

• Includes: Periodicals backfiles

• Newsbank (fiche)

• Catalogued materials in microformat

• College and university catalogs (fiche)

• ERIC documents (fiche)

10. PERIODICALS COLLECTION (1st Floor)

• Includes: Current issues

• Unbound backfiles

• Bound backfiles (see also under MICROFORM COLLECTION)

11. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (2nd Floor)

• Includes: Rare books, pamphlets, etc.

• Manuscripts

• UNCW archival collection

• N.C. visual arts and artists collection

Questions about this policy maybe addressed to Beth Roberts, Library Secretary.

Last updated: July 14, 1997