Library Collection Development & Selection Procedures

The following steps are involved in the collection development selection process.

Key Definitions:

Collection Development:  Process of planning, building and maintaining a library's information resources.

Selection:  Process of deciding which specific materials in any format should be added to a collection: *print, *nonprint, *electronic.

Liaison/Selector:

An individual within an organization that provides a formal communication channel between groups.  Liaison duties and responsibilities consist mainly of contacting the Department Chair/School Dean in order to originate the ordering of library materials that specifically support the curriculum and to assist in the selection of materials until all allocated funds are encumbered.  Responsibilities will also include:

1. Familiarizing self with assigned School(s) and department(s).

   1. Courses Offered

   2. Syllabi

2. Sending Choice Cards and suggestions from other sources, e.g., publishers' catalogs, subject journals, subject databases, to their faculty.

3. Instructing their faculty in selection procedures and setting target dates for requests.

4. Working with their faculty to prioritize requests.

5. Explaining to their faculty why we cannot fill some requests (e.g., lack of money, out-of-print, other faculty priorities, etc.)

6. Offering alternatives when we cannot fulfill requests, e.g. resources we already have, ILL, Universal Borrowing (within UGA system), etc.

7. Forwarding to appropriate staff, requests outside of selection, e.g., Circulation, Reserves, ILL, Reference/User Services for customized instruction/tours, and Collection Development.

1. Allocations

   1. The Director, Senior Administrative Secretary, along with the Collection Development (CD) Librarian will determine the allocations according to the established formula.

      1. Collection Development Librarian distributes allocations to selectors

      2. The Director will contact the Deans of each School to 1) inform them of the allocations and 2) that the Liaisons/Selectors will be contacting faculty in their areas to offer their assistance in facilitating the selection process.

      3. Liaisons/Selectors will contact the Department Chairs to introduce themselves and, if possible, make arrangements to attend a departmental meeting.

2. Distribution of Choice Cards

   1. Senior Administrative Secretary, and/or Student Assistants will check OPAC to see if the library retains the books listed on the Choice Cards or any request in any form before sending them to the Liaisons/Selectors.

   2. To ensure good communications with faculty, Liaisons/Selectors should notify Department Chairs via e-mail, interoffice mail, phone or fax, that Choice Cards and other additional materials, e.g., subject catalogs are being sent to their department.

   3. Liaisons/Selectors should distribute Choice Cards and other additional materials, e.g., subject catalogs, to respective departments in their area.

   4. Liaisons/Selectors should remind Department Chairs to approve faculty's selections and place their initials on the requests.

   5. Liaisons/Selectors should inform Department Chair to remind faculty to put their initials on the Choice Cards along with the Chair's.

   6. Director will involve Faculty Advisory Committee in encouraging faculty participation in the selection (Fall and Spring).

3. Return of Choice Cards and Selection Requests from Faculty

   Note: Liaisons/Selectors will no longer print out Books In Print (BIP) or any other online bookstore slips in the place of Choice Cards.  The Choice Cards are acceptable to turn in.

   1. Liaisons/Selectors should alphabetize the Choice Cards by title (excluding articles "a, an, the...) and highlight the following items after the cards have been selected from the faculty:

      1. Title of Book

      2. Author(s)

      3. Publisher(s)

      4. ISBN

      5. Price

   Selections from Catalogs, Online Bookstores, etc.

   2. Liaisons/Selectors should prioritize faculty requests as needed.

      1. Rush Orders

      2. Curriculum/Subject-related

      3. Not Related to their Area

      4. Multi-Volumes (if very expensive see CD Librarian)

      5. If more materials are requested than allotted dollars.

   3. Liaisons/Selectors should send the approved requests back to CD Librarian, designating departments and faculty who made the request along with the faculty's initials or names.

   4. If a liaison selects a title out of an online bookstore, catalog, professional journal, etc., he/she should check OPAC for duplication and put his/her own initial and subject area on the request and forward it to the CD Librarian.

   5. Liaisons/Selectors should alphabetize their requests by title before returning them to the CD Librarian.

   6. Liaisons/Selectors should highlight the following items on the request:

      1. Title of Book

      2. Author(s)

      3. Publisher(s)

      4. ISBN

      5. Price

   7. If Senior Administrative Secretary receives highlighted Choice Cards or any other form of requests in her mailbox, she should forward the items to the CD Librarian for processing.

4. Record Keeping of Liaison's Budget

   1. Liaisons/Selectors should keep a rough estimate (running total) of their expenditures until the allocation is encumbered.

   2. CD Librarian will communicate with Liaisons/Selectors four times in the academic year providing an update of their balance.

   In the event that the faculty has not submitted sufficient requests to encumber their allocations by target date, any of the following steps can be implemented.

   1. Liaisons should inform Department Chairs of remaining dollars in their allocations and urge them to send requests.  Give a target date, e.g., February 15th.

   2. Ask faculty if they would like to review subject catalogs in their area.

   3. Liaisons/Selectors can select materials themselves from professional or subject-specific professional journals and catalogs, or

   4. If time permits, Liaisons/Selectors should send materials from catalogs to Department Chairs for their input.

   5. Inform the CD Librarian.  The CD Librarian will inform the Director.

   6. The Director will remind the appropriate Deans they still have remaining funds and will give them a target date, e.g., February 15th.

4. The following guidelines are an integral part of selecting from catalogs and review journals.

1. Select items useful to curriculum.

2. Select items favorably reviewed.

3. Do not select textbooks.

1. Processing Orders

   1. CD Librarian selects publishers or vendors, e.g.

      1. Majors (Nursing)

      2. Midwest (All Disciplines)

      3. Baker & Taylor (Popular Books)

   2. CD Librarian forwards processed Choice Cards, online bookstore slips, etc. to CD Assistant who creates purchase orders (PO's).

   3. CD Assistant forwards POs to Director/Budget Unit Head for his/her signature.

   4. CD Assistant tracks orders.

2. Wrapping Up

   1. Liaisons complete encumbrance by April 1st.

   2. Liaisons submit all approved requests to CD Librarian.

   3. Liaisons should retain remaining Choice Cards and other requests until the following semester.  If necessary, remaining materials can be purchased from the following:

      1. Gift Monies

      2. End of Year Monies

      3. Miscellaneous

3. Receipt of Materials

   1. Materials come in and are processed by CD Assistant

   2. CD Assistant forwards books to Cataloger to assign call numbers and shelve them.

   3. Senior Administrative Secretary notifies faculty that their selections are in the library by e-mailing an Additions List.  This list includes:

      1. Title of book, video, etc.

      2. Author

      3. Call Number

      4. Name of the person who ordered the book, video, etc.

   4. Senior Administrative Secretary also places hard copies of the Additions List at the Circulation Desk.

Revised 6/5/02