COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY
FOR THE
FREDERICK DOUGLASS LIBRARY

Introduction:

The purpose of the collection development policy is to provide a clear statement of the
principles and guidelines that govern the selection; acquisition and maintenance of the
library collection. This policy will be reviewed periodically to ensure that changes occurring
in the academic program are incorporated. It is hoped that this Collection Development
Policy will also provide a mechanism for collection analysis and a basis for comparing The
Frederick Douglass Library collection against standard lists and other library collections.

Objectives:

The University's goals must provide the framework for selection of library materials.
As stated in the UMES Catalog, the pertinent goals are:

1. To provide high quality programs at the baccalaureate level in the arts and
sciences, agriculture, business and economics, industrial education and
technology, education and selected professional studies.

2. To provide high quality graduate programs in selected areas that are feasible
and in which there is a need.

(UMES 1992-96 Catalog. p2)

The library's goal then, will be to provide materials - books, serials, non-print and electronic
resources to support course work or teaching, research and the public function i.e.
extension. The library seeks to accomplish this goal by acquiring essential materials, as far
as funding permits, and by establishing access to other materials through interlibrary loan
or by electronic access for those held by other libraries.

Clientele:

The primary clientele of the Library are the students, faculty and staff of the University of
Maryland Eastern Shore. The UMES collection is also accessible to the students, faculties
and staffs of all other University System of Maryland campuses. Maryland residents have
on-site-use privileges. The Dean of Library Services may assign special borrowing
privileges to others.

Rev. 06/98
General Guidelines
Selection Responsibility

The ultimate responsibility for the policy decisions and directions regarding acquisitions,
adequacy and quality of library materials rests with the Dean of Library Services and the
staff of the Library. The Dean is responsible for disbursing the materials budget to fulfil the
library's collection development goals. This obligation is discharged on the Dean's behalf
by the Coordinator for Acquisitions and Collection Development who allocates the
materials budget between the various categories of expenditure.
Selection of library materials is the joint responsibility of faculty and library staff. Through
the Faculty/Library Liaison Program, teaching faculty and professional librarians
collaborate to select suitable materials for the collection. All requests for library materials
are reviewed for their compliance with the established guidelines in this policy.

Types of Materials:

Books

Both faculty members and library staff may submit requests for the purchase of books.
Students usually send their requests through the Public Services Librarians. The quality of
content, authoritativeness of the author or reputation of the publisher and cost are important
criteria considered in selecting books for the library. Other guidelines are:

1. Selections will be made according to the established intensity of collection
building in the subject area and the levels indicated (See Appendix A).

2. When lack of funds limits acquisitions, current publications of lasting and
scholarly value will be given priority over older and out-of-print books.

3. Books will be purchased primarily in the English language, except when
foreign language titles are needed for language instruction and teaching or for
reference.

4. Priority for book purchases will be given to those books that meet direct,
curricular needs in the courses offered, including items needed for class
assignments, reserve collection, collateral reading, general reference and
supplemental individual study.

5. If the library holds the material in another format, the hard copy will not be
acquired, unless justified by heavy and continued use.

6. Duplicate copies will not be purchased unless justified by the requestor of
heavy and continued use.

7. Specialized research publications will not be duplicated.

8. Textbooks, workbooks, and similar classroom material, currently used on
campus will not be acquired.

9. Rare books will not be acquired save where special allocation of funds
has been made for such acquisition.

10. Cloth-bound editions of monographs are preferred. Where the cloth- bound
copy is excessively high-priced, the paperback may be substituted since current
facilities for cover reinforcement provide such books with prolonged shelf life.

Primary selection tools used include Books for College Libraries, Choice, Booklist,
Publishers Weekly, Guide to Reference Books, American Reference Books Annual, New
York Times Book Review, Books in Print, selected subject - specific journals, and
Publishers' Catalogs. Electronic resources (e.g. OCLC, Internet) are used for new editions
and to locate works on specified topics.

Serials

In general the same general criteria for selecting books apply to serials. However, because
each new serial acquired becomes an implied ongoing expenditure, periodical titles will be
added very selectively. Only teaching faculty and the serials librarian may suggest new
titles for purchase. Journal requisition should be made on the Serial/Journal Subscription
Form (See appendix B).

A subcommittee of the Electronic Resources Committee consisting of the Coordinator of
Acquisitions and Collection Development and the Serials Librarian should be established
to advise on the selection, deselection and acquisition of serials, print as well as electronic.

1. Serials that the library acquires should be indexed or abstracted in
sources owned by the library. Special interest recreational serials will not be
acquired.

3. Lost issues must be replaced with copies obtained through exchange.

4. Where possible, serial titles must be acquired in microform to eliminate the
cost of binding. (The library will provide patrons with the necessary equipment for viewing
microforms.

Non-Book Materials

The general guidelines that must be considered in selecting materials in non-book format
center around storage requirements and playback equipment. Compatibility with
equipment already owned by the library is also crucial. Non-book formats likely to be
acquired include electronic resources, microforms and media materials:

Electronic Resources

Due to the expensive cost of electronic resources, special attention will be paid to the
guidelines for the selection, acquisitions, review contract negotiation and access to
electronic resources by the Frederick Douglass Library. Presently these resources include
CD-Roms, Internet indexes, full text databases and electronic journals.

Generally, electronic media will be considered only if appropriate equipment is currently
available for their use. Preference will be given to titles that can be networked to provide
maximum access. Electronic versions of indexes, abstracts or other expensive titles may
be purchased in lieu of the print version, not in addition to it. Other factors to be considered
in selection are:

1. Authority of compilers

2. Relevance to subject interest

3. Relationship to existing resources

4. Stability of resource - guaranteed long-term access/archiving if
appropriate

5. If a trial period is available - take advantage of this facility to obtain users'
comments and to allow time for license review.

6. Adequate instruction for access and use

7. Compare costs, content, search software, timeliness of updates of print, CD-Rom,
Internet or other versions

The factors listed above continue to evolve along with the technology that has made all
these possible. USM Council of Library Director is experimenting on a cooperative
selection of some electronic resources to take advantage of cheaper consortial prices.
Nevertheless, it is recommended that the library establishes an Electronic Resources
Committee consisting of the Head of Reference, Head of Serials, Special Collections and
the Coordinator for Acquisitions and Collection Development to review licenses and
advise on the selection, deselection and acquisition of electronic resources.

Microforms

Microforms consist of microfilm, microfiche and microcard. Microforms will be acquired in
preference to a hard copy under the following conditions:

1. Where the hard copy is out-of-print or very costly.

2. As missing volumes or partial runs to fill the gaps in incomplete periodical
holdings, provided the replacement cost for the hard copies is more expensive.

3. Resources In Education (ERIC) microfiche.

4. National, regional and local newspapers.

5. Large collection having low use such as Library of American Civilization.

6. Theses and dissertations for which the hard copies are unavailable and very
expensive.

Media-Material

The library will purchase audio-visual materials in all formats - audiotapes, videotapes,
films, filmstrips, slides and disc recording - to support the curriculum. Request for
audiovisual materials are usually accepted from the teaching faculty only. The general
principles and guidelines for other library materials apply in procuring these audio-visual
material also. The media collection will be selective rather than comprehensive and will
include mainly items that support the current curriculum. The Media Center also maintains
curriculum guides, which should be updated regularly.

Gifts

1. Library solicits and encourages gifts and donations of useful materials, or money
to purchase them, provided they are not contrary to the library selection policy,
and provided no restrictions are placed by the donor, on their acceptance,
location or disposal.

2. Since gift materials represent an outlay of relatively more staff time and
processing costs than new materials, it is imperative that the library reserves the
right to place any restriction on acceptance and disposal of gifts.

3. Library is free to dispose of any unneeded material, regardless of their means of
acquisition.

4. Under federal tax regulations, the library cannot give appraisal or estimates of
value to donors.

5. The Acquisitions Department of the library is authorized to accept gifts of library
material and determine their suitability. Acknowledgments are issued by the Dean
of Library Services.

6. Monetary gifts are to be accepted and acknowledged by the President of the
University, the Dean of Library Services and the Institutional Development Office.

Policy Revision

The Collection Development Policy is reviewed periodically and these guidelines are
subject to amendment or revision with the joint approval of the Library Administration and
the Faculty Library Committee.

Appendix A

Collection Levels

Because the lofty goal of comprehensive collection in all areas cannot be attained in a
small University Library, the Frederick Douglass Library does not seek "to acquire all
significant works of recorded knowledge in all applicable languages..." Research will in
part be supported by resource-sharing linkages with other libraries. The following levels are
established for collection development:

* Level 1 - Minimum development.
Fundamental reference works containing
general information on a subject, e.g.
dictionaries, encyclopedias, surveys, and
bibliographies.

** Level 2 - Basic development.
In addition to the reference collection, this
level will include a collection of monographs
and journals for general coverage.

*** Level 3 - Intermediate development.
This level will consist of enough coverage to
Support an undergraduate degree program.

**** Level 4 - Advanced development.
This level will consist of a large, well
developed collection with some specialized
materials to start a research program and to
maintain some measure of graduate and faculty
research. (i.e. print, nonprint, audiovisuals and
computer media).

In the Library of Congress Classification scheme of subject disciplines the following code
has been used:

* Level 1
** Level 2
*** Level 3
**** Level 4

GENERAL WORKS

* AC Collections
*** AE Encyclopedias (General)
*** AG Dictionaries and other General Reference Works
*** AI Indexes (Notes: In our Library Indexes and
Abstracts are not classified, but filed
Alphabetically by title.)
* AM Museums
** AN Newspapers
*** AP Periodicals
*** AS Academies and Learned Societies (General)
*** AY Yearbooks, Almanacs, Directories
* AZ History of Scholarship and learning.

PHILOSOPHY, PSYCHOLOGY, RELIGION

* B Philosophy
** BC Logic
*** BF Psychology
** BL-BX Religion

AUXILIARY SCIENCES OF HISTORY

* C Auxiliary Sciences of History (General)
*** CB History of Civilization (General)
* CCC Archaeology
* CD Archives
* CJ Numismatics
* CR Heraldry
* CS Genealogy
*** CT Biography

HISTORY: GENERAL AND OLD WORLD

*** D World History, including World Wars
*** DA Great Britain
*** DB Austria
*** DD-DS Other individual countries
*** DT Africa

E-F

HISTORY: AMERICA

*** E 1 - 143 America (General)
*** E 151 - 857 United States (General)
*** F 1 - 957 United States: States and Local
** F 1001 - 1140 Canada
** F 1201 - etc Other individual countries

GEOGRAPHY, ANTHROPOLOGY, RECREATION

** G Geography ( General)
* GB Physical Geography
** GC Oceanography
*** GN Anthropology
*** GR Folklore
* GV Recreation

SOCIAL SCIENCES

*** HA Statistics
*** HB-HJ Economics
*** HM-HX Sociology

POLITICAL SCIENCE

*** JA-JC Political Science
*** JF-JQ Constitutional History and Public Administration
*** JS Local Government
** JX International Law

LAW (GENERAL)

** K Law (General)
* KD United Kingdom
** KF United States
KM Soviet Union

EDUCATION

*** LA History of Education
*** LB Theory and Practice
*** LC Special Forms
** LD-LH University and Colleges
** LJ College Fraternities

MUSIC

** M Scores
*** ML Literature of Music
*** MT Music Instruction

FINE ARTS

** NA Architecture
*** NB Sculpture
*** NC Graphic Arts
*** ND Painting
*** NK Decorative Arts
P

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

** P Philosophy and Linguistics
* PA Classical Languages and Literature
* PC Romance Languages
* PD-PF Germanic Languages , including PE, English
* PG Slavic Languages and Literatures
* PH-PL Oriental Languages and Literatures
*** PN General and Comparative Literatures
* PQ Romance Literatures
*** PR English Literatures
*** PS American Literatures
* PT Germanic Literatures
*** PZ Fiction in English, Juvenile Literature

SCIENCE

**** QA Mathematics, Computer Science
* QB Astronomy
*** QC Physics
*** QD Chemistry
* QE Geology
*** QH Natural History
*** QK Botany
*** QL Zoology
*** QM Human Anatomy
*** QP Physiology
*** QR Bacteriology

MEDICINE (GENERAL)

**** RA 1190-1270 Toxicology
*** RC 1200-1245 Sports Medicine
** RM Therapeutics, Pharmacology
**** RM 695 - 890 Physical Medicine, Physical Therapy
S

AGRICULTURE (GENERAL)

**** SB Plant Culture and Horticulture
** SD Forestry
*** SF Animal Culture
*** SH Fish Culture and Fisheries
* SK Hunting Sports

TECHNOLOGY (GENERAL)

*** TA General Engineering, including general civil engineering
* TC Hydraulic Engineering
**** TD Environmental Technology
* TE Highway Engineering
* TF Railroad Engineering
* TG Bridge Engineering
*** TH Building Construction
*** TJ Mechanical Engineering
** TK Electrical Engineering. Nuclear Engineering
*** TL Motor Vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics
* TN Mining Engineering. Mineral Industries. Metallurgy.
* TP Chemical Technology
** TR Photography
*** TS Manufactures
** TT Handicrafts. Arts and Crafts
*** TX Home Economics

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND LIBRARY SCIENCE

* Z4 - 1115.5 Paleography
* Z116 - 656 Book Industries and Trade
** Z662 - 1000.5 Libraries
** Z1001 - 8999 Bibliographies

APPENDIX B

Dept.
Date

SERIAL SUBSCRIPTION REQUEST FORM

To assist the University Library in justifying new serial requests, please complete the
following form for each title requested. All blanks on the form must be completed for the title
to be considered for acquisition.

1. Title

Publisher

Price Recommended by

2. Course(s) the title will support:

Dept. Course # Course Title

3. Faculty and/or research project this title would benefit.

4. Primary student user group:

Undergraduate Masters Doctoral

5. Titles of serials presently subscribed to in the same field which could be deleted in
order to purchase the new titles.

DO NOT WRITE BELOW DOTTED LINE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title indexed in

Title abstracted in

APPROVED DISAPPROVED