Library Collection Development Policy

The James Earl Carter Library has several special collections.  These include the Dr. Harold Isaacs Third World Studies Collection, the Georgia Southwestern State University Historical Collection, and the Dr. and Mrs. John Paul Jones Music Collection.  These collections are maintained and enhanced primarily through gifts and donations.

Rare Books: Through the years, the James Earl Carter Library has acquired a number of rare and unique items.  These are maintained as a separate collection, housed in the Macy Bishop Gray Rare Books Room.  While the Library encourages the donation of rare materials, their collection is not a high selection priority for this institution.

4. Government Documents

The U.S. Government Printing Office designated the James Earl Carter Library a selective depository for U.S. government publications in 1966.  The purpose of the depository is to collect, organize, and provide access to U.S. government publications, in all formats, in support of the current and anticipated instructional, research, and service programs of Georgia Southwestern State University as well as to serve the research needs of the citizens of the second Congressional District of Georgia.

Collection development for government publications must be in accordance with The Federal Depository Library manual (http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/fdlm/93fdlm.html#2) and the Instructions to Depository Libraries (http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/instructions/in_ch2.html).  Collection development and maintenance is the responsibility of the Reference/User Services Librarian/Gov. Docs. Coordinator.

5. Gifts Policy

While the James Earl Carter Library encourages the donation of gift materials and funds designated for the enhancement of its collections, it reserves the right to refuse, discard, or weed materials which do not meet its collection priorities and selection criteria or whose poor physical condition prohibits their addition to the Library's collections.

Library staff are not permitted to offer an evaluation or appraisal of any gift.  This is the responsibility of the donor.  The Library will provide the donor with a list of items received.

6. Copyright

The James Earl Carter Library complies with all regulations of relevant sections of the Copyright Law of the United States of America (http://www.loc.gov/copyright/title17/).

The James Earl Carter Library supports the American Library Association's Library Bill of Rights (http://www.ala.org/work/freedom/lbr.html).  The Library attempts to select materials representing different points of view and without partisan or doctrinal bias.

The ultimate responsibility for the development and maintenance of the Library's collections resides in the Director of the Library.  However, the responsibility for the selection and evaluation of the collections is shared between the Library staff and the University faculty.  The Collection Development Librarian coordinates these activities and, with the Library liaisons/selectors, is responsible for insuring that all selections meet the standards set forth in the Library's Collection Development Policy.
 

1. Selection Responsibilities

1. Library Dean 

1. Upon receiving the Library's annual budget and the University's Fall enrollment figures, the Director, using a formula based upon enrollment figures and program level, develops and distributes annual allocations to the University's Schools and Departments.
2. Has the final authority in decisions relating to controversial selections.
3. Has the final authority on the acceptance and disposition of gifts.
4. Has sole fiscal and budgetary authority and responsibility for the Library's budget and gift funds.

2. Collection Development Librarian

1. Plans and coordinates all collection development activities.

Administers all allocations and relevant acquisitions budget lines.

Library staff are assigned to subject areas matching their interests and expertise.  (http://www.gsw.edu/~library/Selectorlist.htm)  They inform their disciplines' faculty, prioritize requests in accordance with selection criteria and priorities, process requests, do supplementary selection, and manage their areas allocations. (http://www.gsw.edu/~library/Selectorproc.htm)

Faculty receive Choice cards from their Library liaisons. They are also encouraged to use other selection resources such as professional journals.  Upon approval by their Dean or Department Chair, they submit their requests to their liaisons.  The Library accepts written, e-mailed, and faxed submissions.

As time permits, the Collection Development Librarian, in consultation with the Director, designates specific subject areas of the non-journal collection for an in-depth analysis to ascertain whether the collection currently meets selection criteria.  These analyses are conducted with the assistance and participation of the relevant Dean, Department Chair and faculty, Collection Development Librarian, and Library liaison/selector.  The purpose of these analyses is to upgrade and enhance the collections (to the extent Library resources permit) to ensure they meet current curriculum and program needs, to weed out materials no longer relevant and to preserve those which do.

It is the responsibility of the Deans and Department Chairs to prioritize requests within their allocations to meet the specific needs of their curriculum and programs, and to work with the Director to seek any additional funding needed to enhance the collection.

2. Deselection

Materials which no longer meet the selection criteria become candidates for deselection.  Individual items and gifts are normally deselected by the liaison/selector.  Deselections involving larger areas of the collection are done in consultation with the Department Chair and faculty in the field.  The disposition of deselected materials is done in accordance with relevant sections of Federal Law (primarily relating to our depository collection) and Georgia State Law (see Code of GA, Annotated, Bk. 13, 1998 Revision, 45-13-85, GCA & 40-606a).

3. Preservation

To the extent resources permit, the Library maintains and preserves the core collection through binding, preservation boxes, and, for rare and fragile materials, the limitation of open access, i.e., in-house access, by request.

4. Storage

The Library has a small on-site storage area where little used but still useful or historically relevant materials are kept.  They are accessible by request.

2. Core Journal Analyses

During the Spring semester, prior to renewing its journal subscriptions, the Library invites the faculty to participate in a review of journal subscriptions in their subject areas.  Deans and Department Chairs are sent lists of the Library journal subscriptions in their fields covered by their schools and departments.  Under their direction, faculty are asked to evaluate and prioritize these subscriptions in terms of the extent to which they support current curriculum.  Faculty indicate whether they are no longer needed or are duplicated through an available database.  Faculty are also invited to recommend new core journals.  The Collection Development Librarian is responsible for conducting these analyses and, in consultation with the liaisons/selectors, makes retention, deselection, and enhancement recommendations to the Director.  The Collection Development Librarian also conducts regular reviews of Library journal holdings and databases to eliminate unnecessary and expensive format duplication.