Collection Development- Core Selection Criteria
Answer
Balanced selection of titles from the range of subject areas will depend on careful evaluation and identification of titles listed in GOBI, selected publisher catalogs, and reviewed in appropriate journals. The following factors should be considered for additions to the collection: 1. Essential factors: a. Support of the library's strategic plan. b. Value: Content, format, physical condition, and cost effectiveness. c. Authority: Originates from a recognized authority on the subject. d. Currency of information. e. Access: Availability through purchase, subscription, interlibrary loan, or document delivery.
2. Secondary factors: a. For monographs and scores, the library purchases only one copy of a title, unless additional copies are justified by projected or proven heavy and continued use. b. Every effort is made to coordinate the collecting of scores and sound recordings. c. All new definitive editions will be acquired, as possible. If Talbott Library already has a definitive edition published within the last ten years by another publisher, the work will not be acquired unless a review literature indicates that significantly new material or scholarly interpretations are represented by the newer edition. d. Simultaneous access to books, journal issues, and articles by multiple
users both on and off campus is preferrable. e. Licensing agreements for electronic subscriptions with provisions giving the library permanent access to volumes for which it has paid and allowing the library to use articles in those volumes for Interlibrary Loan purposes are preferable.
3. Format Materials are purchased in the most appropriate format for their expected use. Collection development prioritizes electronic format.