About Our Collections

Collection Development Policy

Introduction

The Gleeson Library | Geschke Learning Resource Center is committed to providing a collection that is grounded in the Vision, Mission, and Values of the Library, as well as the Mission and Values of the University of San Francisco. This Collection Development Policy outlines the Library's commitment to these principles and guides the selection, acquisition, and deselection of materials to build and maintain a comprehensive collection that fosters critical thinking, supports the teaching and research objectives of the university, and reflects the needs and interests of our diverse community.

In accordance with the Ignatian principle of magis, the Library seeks to go beyond the ordinary and provide resources that inspire excellence, challenge preconceptions, and encourage individuals to strive for intellectual and personal growth. The Library encourages opportunities for reflection and contemplation by providing materials that promote introspection and ethical reasoning. The collection aims to foster a sense of curiosity, a thirst for knowledge, and a commitment to lifelong learning.

Antiracism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ADEI) Perspective

“A well-balanced collection does not require a one-to-one equivalence for each viewpoint but should strive for equity in content and ideas that takes both structural inequalities and the availability of timely, accurate materials into account.” — ALA’s Diverse Collections: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights

Gleeson Library is dedicated to curating equitable and accessible collections in service of our diverse learning community as articulated in our Collection Development Diversity Statement: “We acknowledge long-standing systemic biases and structural inequities that have shaped how information is created, disseminated, organized, and accessed, as well as the role libraries have played in upholding these systems (Baildon et al., 2017; Bourg, 2016). To dismantle these structures based on power and privilege, we strive to build intentional collections that recognize, value, and embrace the diverse experiences and multiple identities within our community. These identities and experiences include, but are not limited to, race, ethnicity, gender identity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, ability, culture, language, geographic origin, level of education, religion, age, and size.”

Academic and Intellectual Freedom

“A strong intellectual freedom perspective is critical to the development of academic library collections, services, and instruction that dispassionately meets the education and research needs of a college or university community.” — Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights

The Agreement between the University of San Francisco and the USF Faculty Association affirms the right of individuals to free inquiry and access to the Library's collections and the freedom to select materials based on sound academic grounds according to the instructional and research needs of the University. The Library supports the freedom of inquiry and promotes access to a wide range of ideas and opinions. Materials are selected based on their educational, informational, and scholarly value rather than their alignment with any specific ideology or belief.

The Library respects users' privacy rights and ensures the confidentiality of their library records, adhering to applicable laws and professional standards. Patrons can explore a wide range of ideas without fear of surveillance or retribution.

Selection and Acquisition

Liaison librarians, as subject specialists, are responsible for selecting and deselecting resources in their assigned liaison areas. Liaisons curate materials using a variety of sources, including professional reviews, scholarly recommendations, faculty input, and student suggestions. Selection recommendations or collection concerns should be directed to the liaison for the appropriate subject area. The ultimate responsibility for the selection of Library materials and the policy decisions related to this function rests with the Dean of the University Library.

In selecting materials for the Library’s collections, liaison librarians strive to discern the educational value of resources, considering how they align with the institution's mission, promote intellectual growth, and contribute to the holistic development of individuals.

Consistent with the Ignatian value of service to others, the Library actively engages with the academic community to understand their information needs and preferences. Librarians, faculty, and students collaborate to develop the collection. The Library recognizes and respects individuals' unique needs, experiences, and backgrounds within the academic community; however, the Library does not purchase books for the sole purpose of satisfying the personal interests or beliefs of librarians, faculty or other patrons.

General Selection Criteria

Selection criteria encompass the quality, authority, relevance, and scholarly value of materials. The Library also considers the demand, currency, uniqueness, and cost-effectiveness of resources. Specific criteria varies from one subject area to another, but in general the following factors are considered in the decision to obtain a Library resource:

• Relevance to curriculum
• Cost of the resource, including maintenance fees and annual price increases
• Degree of specialization; e.g. is the resource likely to serve multiple disciplines or a more narrow range of users
• Intended audience (scholarly vs. popular; graduate vs. undergraduate, etc.)
• Projected need based on use patterns of similar material already in the collection
• Reputation and authority of publisher and/or author

Formats

Books/ebooks

The Library regularly acquires recently published print or electronic books for general collections that are aligned with and support the academic curriculum, as well as standard works of general reference and those in individual subject fields.

Some items are selectively collected, such as major study guides and standardized test review books such as NCLEX, TESOL, and GRE. Juvenile literature is not collected except when the material meets curricular needs. In general, Gleeson Library does not purchase self-published works. However, in accordance with our Collection Development Diversity Statement, we may consider material from self-published, independent, small, and local publishers including authors and artists from traditionally underrepresented communities.

The Library prefers e‐books with the fewest restrictions on use, including but not limited to the number of users, printing, and downloading functionality. However in some cases the Library will purchase the lowest usage license if automatic upgrades are available from the vendor.

Duplication is generally avoided due to shelving and financial constraints. Duplicate copies are not purchased for the sole use of individuals, academic departments, or administrative offices. Duplication of print and electronic formats of the same title is generally avoided, unless there is demonstrated need for both formats.

Textbooks

The Library does not automatically acquire textbooks adopted as required texts for any given course. Some textbooks and other course‐adopted materials, however, are valuable in their own right. These are selected in accordance with the provisions of this policy.

Popular reading collection

The Library provides a small Popular Reading collection, including works of fiction and nonfiction. This collection is not available for interlibrary loan (including LINK+). Books in this collection are evaluated on a periodic basis and those that aren’t circulating are typically returned to the vendor. Occasionally, select items are transferred from the Popular Reading series into our general collection.

Theses & dissertations

The Library maintains copies of dissertations to preserve this intellectual output of the University. Theses and dissertations written from 2014 onward, unless embargoed by their authors, are submitted in electronic format and made freely available online through the Institutional Repository. Existing print copies submitted prior to 2014 will be scanned and made available electronically to the USF community when possible.

Journals, ejournals, and newspapers

The preferred format of journals, magazines, and newspapers is electronic when it is available via authenticated access. The Library does not support access via individual username and password. Generally, print journal titles are moved to storage, sent to other libraries, deselected and/or discarded annually as they become available electronically. As the budget allows, electronic backfiles of select titles are also purchased.

New requests for print and online journal subscriptions are reviewed annually by the Associate Dean for Collection Services. Occasionally, special circumstances may require a title to be reviewed or acquired outside the regular review cycle.

The Library prioritizes online newspaper subscriptions in support of user preference. As much as possible, print subscriptions and/or backfiles are replaced by electronic-only format. Requests for new print newspaper subscriptions, or any print journal subscription, are considered on a case-by-case basis.

Gifts

The Library generally does not accept unsolicited physical donations, particularly bulk donations of print books. Single book titles are considered on a case-by-case basis in accordance with our general selection criteria. While donated items have the potential to enhance collections, they also present challenges for library storage capacity and availability of staff to process them. Potential gift items support the university’s current and evolving curriculum academic disciplines and/or fill gaps to enhance or provide depth to current subject collections, in accordance with the provisions of this policy.

The Head of Metadata and Collection Management is the first point of contact for all potential donations and collaborates with the Associate Dean for Collection Services and subject liaison librarians in determining final disposition. Gift materials not added to the collection will be turned over to a commercial book vendor that specializes in finding viable users online or an appropriate recycling venue. Inappropriate or damaged books will be discarded.

Materials generally considered inappropriate:

• Materials that are not in good physical condition, e.g., contain mold or mildew, torn pages, extensive highlighting, stains, and/or water damage.
• Materials that require significant restoration, conservation or unique storage, unless accompanied by appropriate funding or by permission of the Library Dean.
• Gifts with donor restrictions that will negatively affect the use of the materials.
• Textbooks and workbooks will be evaluated on a case by case basis to determine their long term value for the Library’s overall collection.
• Popular fiction paperbacks.
• All print journals.
• Outdated, superseded content or editions.
• Outdated media formats such as LPs, audio cassettes, VHS  etc.
• Sheet music vocal or instrumental, songbooks.
• Unsolicited materials received by mail.

Exceptions to this policy are made at the discretion of the Library Dean. If an exception is made, once received, the Library becomes the owner of all donated materials and reserves the right to determine their retention, location, cataloging treatment, and other considerations related to use, maintenance, or removal.

Assessment of Library Collections

The Library routinely assesses the collection's relevance, currency, accuracy, and condition to maintain a dynamic and current resource base. Regular assessments of the collection are conducted to identify gaps and imbalances in representation. Actions are taken to address these gaps and ensure a diverse range of voices and perspectives are included.

Deselection or "weeding" is the systematic evaluation of the Library's collection to identify and discard those items which are no longer appropriate to the collection. This process is an integral part of collection management.

Care is taken to avoid disproportionately removing materials representing marginalized or underrepresented groups during deselection processes. The Library considers the impact of deselection on maintaining a balanced collection and will consult relevant stakeholders.

Assessment of electronic subscriptions

Ongoing assessment of our continuing resources' usage and cost data is vital to ensure that our acquisitions budget is spent on the resources most relevant to our students and faculty.

Subscriptions to electronic databases, ebooks, journals, and journal packages will be evaluated annually for retention, cancellation or expansion/reduction. Factors such as current cost, price increase, usage, and faculty & librarian input will be considered. The Library collects usage data for all electronic resources annually and intentionally assesses all subscriptions. During the annual assessment period, cost, usage, and cost per use are considered before a renewal or cancellation recommendation is made. When possible, usage is based on COUNTER compliant reports. If these reports are not offered by the content provider, then other metrics (e.g. non-COUNTER usage; number of clicks within the online database or journal lists) are considered. Additional criteria for deselecting ebooks includes but is not limited to superseded editions, outdated materials, the format or internet site is no longer supported, and relevancy to the curriculum.

Assessment of print collections

Gleeson Library will actively deselect print materials that don’t meet the current needs of our community. Library staff use standard library statistics and methods such as those outlined in CREW: A Weeding Manual for Modern Libraries to identify candidates for withdrawal. The CREW method gives six general criteria for considering weeding an item from the collection which are summarized with the acronym MUSTIE (misleading, ugly, superseded, trivial, irrelevant, or obtained elsewhere). In general, the same criteria apply to deselection as are used in the selection of new materials.

Print serials are deselected when this format is no longer the best option for our users. We are actively weeding print serials that have a complete, stable online copy available to the Library and do not require a print format for use (e.g. art serials with significant visual content).

Some print serials also have retention policies in place such that only a certain number of issues are retained (e.g. newspapers). Measuring the use of print journals, magazines, and newspapers relies on re-shelving data that are difficult to collect, so additional methods of evaluating print serials are used. The appropriate liaison  librarian makes a recommendation on whether a print serial is canceled or retained. As a part of developing a recommendation, liaison librarians may contact the faculty who requested a print serial in order to confirm whether the serial is still providing sufficient value.

Microformats (fiche, film, cards) are deselected whenever it is reasonable to do so. We are actively weeding these formats when a complete, stable online version is available to the Library.

Created: March 2024
Adopted: June 2024