Collection Development Policy

Policy

I. Purpose

Lydia M. Olson Library provides resources to support the University’s instructional curricula, faculty and graduate student research, and other core functions of Academic Affairs and Student Success. In accord with the University's role as a regional center for higher education, the Library also considers the interests of the general community. Recreational interests are considered to a lesser degree.

II. Responsibility

While the Library Director/Department Head bears responsibility for collection development and materials selection, they have delegated overall coordination and selection to the Collection Management Librarian. Furthermore, participation in collection development and material selection are the responsibility of all members of the Library faculty, who serve as liaisons to academic departments. Departmental faculty are invited to recommend materials to support their instructional programs and research interests. 

III. Location of Library Materials

The Olson Library collection is primarily housed in the Elizabeth and Edgar Harden Hall. Olson Library may create separate locations for some materials, determined by type, material format, or usage. 

IV. Scope of the Collection

A. General Selection Guidelines

Material selected for the collection should, in general, reflect many of the following factors:

1. The content supports the teaching, learning, and research activities of NMU students and faculty or other core functions of Academic Affairs and Student Success.
2. The content has authoritativeness and/or scholarly value.
3. The librarians anticipate that NMU students, faculty, or staff will use the item.
4. The content is current and/or timely.
5. The content complements and/or strengthens existing holdings in a subject area or similar subject areas.
6. Electronic format is preferred. If a print item is selected, quality paperbound editions are preferred over hardbound whenever possible.

Furthermore, cost and affordability are considered. Cost is weighed in consideration of the other factors. Strong anticipated use and significant support for teaching, for example, can justify higher costs.

B. Considerations for Specific Material Formats

1. Periodicals

In addition to considerations listed above, periodical titles are strongly preferred that are indexed in standard sources or can be searched for within the Library’s discovery tool. Olson Library aggressively pursues opportunities to increase access to electronic journals by partnering with consortia and other Michigan academic libraries to negotiate as a group with publishers and other providers. The library provides access to high-quality collections of open access journals and supports enterprises that make journals accessible online at reasonable cost. The library closely monitors usage statistics to inform decisions on selection and renewal of print and electronic serials.

2. Media Resources

In addition to considerations listed above, hardware and software requirements and the Library's ability to support them are considered. Streaming media resources will be preferred over hosted digital media and DVDs. 

3. Microfilms

Print and electronic materials are preferred over microfiche, microfilm, and microcards. Materials unavailable or prohibitively priced in print or electronic format may be considered for microform.

4. Virtual Reality (VR)

As most VR apps are specialized to an academic department, and in most cases incur significant subscription costs, their purchase will typically be based on a successful trial of the app and commitment by one or more faculty members to create assignments based on the immersive experience. The trial allows the librarians and faculty members to assess the app’s usability and potential to increase learning over alternative resources. The Library will maintain a collection of VR simulations to allow students who do not have an academic assignment to experience virtual reality while at NMU. These simulations will be purchased as needed.

C. Selection Procedures

1. Liaison librarians, in consultation with the Collection Management Librarian, take primary responsibility for selecting new materials in all formats.
2. The Library seeks representative and standard works for its collection, not comprehensive coverage.
3. User requests are given special priority. A purchase request form is provided on the Library's web page for recommending titles for purchase. Consultation with a librarian is encouraged.
4. Normally, only a single copy of a title will be purchased. When demand is very great, as measured by circulation data, a second or third copy may be purchased.
5. Textbooks will be considered in cases in which a faculty member is working to reduce the cost of their course. In these cases, priority will be given to ebooks or other electronic resources to increase access for both on campus and Global Campus students.
6. Requests may be rushed to meet immediate needs.
7. All materials purchased with Library funds are processed and cataloged for the Library's collection so as to be accessible to all students, faculty, and staff in accordance with Circulation policies and procedures.
8. Materials purchased by other departments may be accepted for inclusion in the Library's collection if they meet the criteria in the Collection Development Policy. In that case, materials then become property of the Library.
9. Olson Library will not duplicate the special collections of local libraries or general popular collections provided by public libraries.
10. In cases of cost or limited interest, consideration will be given to available alternative means of access, including statewide cooperative lending programs (e.g., MeLCat) and interlibrary loan.

D. Selection Limitations and Exclusions

The Library generally avoids acquiring the following types of materials:

1. Textbooks, with possible exceptions for textbooks that are of outstanding quality and usefulness;
   1. Published in fields where the literature largely appears in that form;
   2. To support campus-wide course material affordability initiatives;  or
   3. For use in the Pre-K-12 Collection in support of teacher-education curricula.
2. Self-published materials.
3. Materials generated using artificial intelligence (AI).
4. General anthologies, except those treating a unique theme or specific geographic area.
5. Collected works, except those of major writers.
6. Correspondence, except where additional critical material contributes to the disciplinary literature, or where the material provides primary sources on locally important subjects (e.g., the library's Holocaust Collection).
7. Collected articles, except those not previously printed in journals or other sources.
8. Abstracts, extracts, or abridged editions, except for the Pre-K-12 collection.
9. Dissertations or reprinted dissertations from other institutions.
10. Manuscripts or archival materials.
11. Rare books or other expensive material, except if a program's need is very great or received as a donation (see the Special Collections Policy).
12. Legal case books.
13. Government or legal documents, except those received as a depository library or selected by the government documents librarian.
14. Symposia proceedings.
15. Spiral or ring notebooks.
16. Non-English materials, except in languages taught by the Department of Languages, Literatures, and International Studies or Native American Studies, or translations into English.
17. Highly specialized materials.
18. PAL DVDs or non-Region 1 DVDs

V. Gifts

Gifts are welcome if they meet criteria governing purchased materials. Monetary appraisals or receipts stating value cannot legally be given. The Library must be free to dispose of material not needed. Gifts accepted for inclusion in the collection will be cataloged, processed, and made available to students and faculty according to standard Library procedures. Please refer to the Gift Policy.

VI. Replacement

Worn, damaged, or lost materials may be replaced with new copies, updated editions, or alternative formats, with electronic formats preferred. Other material from within the same discipline may be substituted.

VII. Deselection

Removing outdated, superseded, damaged, or duplicated material from the collection is a vital part of collection development. Retaining material that is no longer useful can diminish the vitality and appeal of a library collection; valuable materials can easily be overlooked if marginal material is allowed to accumulate. Weeding makes a higher proportion of materials visible to users.  Items marked for retention per the Michigan Shared Print Initiative (MISPI) (or similar shared print collection) will not be considered for deselection until such time commitment has passed.

A. Deselection Criteria

While the following general criteria are used to deselect library material, differences are recognized among disciplines and subjects. Materials in the humanities or mathematics retain value much longer than materials in the hard sciences, medicine, or technology, which can become outdated quickly.

1. Chronological and usage criteria. In general, materials more than 25 years old or that have not been used in the last 10 years are considered for withdrawal; materials in scientific or technological disciplines may be considered for withdrawal earlier.
2. Library material meeting the following criteria may also be withdrawn:
   1. Quality: The material lacks intrinsic merit (i.e., it would not now be added to the collection).
   2. Scope: Materials that no longer pertain to the university's programs.
   3. Physical condition: Materials that are worn, frail, or beyond repair, and whose value to the collection does not warrant replacement.
   4. Obsolescence: Materials with substantial outdated or incorrect information likely to mislead the reader. Obsolescence does not sanction the removal of materials because of controversy. Further, historical materials with viewpoints currently considered inaccurate or offensive, but representative of their time and place, are not withdrawn on that basis alone. Obsolescent general anthologies, ephemeral fiction, and outmoded translations will be withdrawn if not of research interest.
   5. Redundancy: Superfluous copies of materials when the need for them has passed. Reprints of titles where the original is held in the collection and in good condition. Older editions are withdrawn as revised editions of the same work are added to the collection. A previous edition may be kept depending on the subject, length of time between editions, circulation, extent of revision, or other research significance. Unless otherwise noted by a subject librarian, Technical Services will remove previous editions from the collection when an updated edition is received.  
   6. Language:  Materials in languages other than those currently being offered through the Department of Languages, Literatures and International Studies or Native American Studies.
      Series: Isolated volumes in a series and broken runs of older series that are no longer purchased or published.
   7. Format: Copies of media superseded by newer formats. Non-print materials requiring obsolete or unsupported equipment or software for access.
   8. Biography or personal narratives of an obscure person.
   9. Dissertations and theses from other universities which are outside the University's curricular foci or faculty research areas.
3. Exceptions to the deselection criteria above include:
   1. The author is so prominent that marginal works have value.
   2. The material contains valuable illustrations or unique historical data.
   3. The treatment is historical or of historical importance.
   4. The material has an extensive bibliography which is still useful.
   5. The material is a volume in a series and other volumes are still being used or purchased.
   6. The material concerns the local area or is written by a local author. 

B. Deselection Procedures

1. The Collection Management Librarian determines areas to be reviewed for weeding in consultation with the Collection Development Group and liaison librarians.
2. Deselection criteria are drafted in consultation with departmental faculty when appropriate and possible.
3. Librarians use the criteria to deselect materials in consultation with the Collection Management Librarian.
4. Primary responsibility lies with the librarians; advice from other faculty may be sought.
5. Circulation and Technical Services staff withdraw the materials.
6. Deselected items in fair condition are offered to other libraries or to vendors. Items in poor physical condition or that do not qualify for redistribution are recycled.

VIII. Materials Reconsideration Requests

Intellectual freedom is a necessary component of the university environment. Lydia M. Olson Library collects and acquires materials that represent a broad range of methodologies, viewpoints, expressions, approaches, ideas, and experiences. This may include works that are uncomfortable or offensive to some members of the NMU community. The Materials Reconsideration procedures establish how Olson Library addresses and responds to requests to remove materials from the collection.

The Library uses the American Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries and the Freedom to Read Statement as guides to ensure that a wide breadth of materials is available to the NMU community.

A. Guidelines

1. Materials reconsideration requests will only be accepted from current undergraduate and graduate students, staff, and faculty members.
2. The materials reconsideration request form will only be available in hard copy and on request from the Public Services desk.
3. Materials under reconsideration will continue to circulate as part of the Library’s collections.
4. Materials will be reviewed in their entirety.

B. Reconsideration Procedures

Request for reconsideration of materials follows the process below:

1. An individual completes the reconsideration form. As stated above, materials reconsideration requests must come from current NMU students, staff, and/or faculty members.
2. The request is reviewed by a three person panel consisting of the Collection Management Librarian, the relevant subject liaison librarian, and a teaching faculty member with content expertise. In the case that the Collection Management Librarian is the liaison librarian, another librarian will be appointed to the panel by the Library Director/Department Head.
3. The Collection Management Librarian will present the recommendation based on this review and the submitted reconsideration form to the Library Director/Department Head.
4. The Library Director/Department Head will render a decision on whether to keep the item in the collection or remove it. The Collection Management Librarian will ensure necessary actions are taken, and will inform the individual in writing within 90 days of initial request, barring unexpected staffing changes.

Notes:

1. The item being reconsidered remains available to the NMU community during the review.
2. The Library Director/Department Head’s decision is final. There is no appeal process.
3. The Collection Management Librarian will maintain a file of all reconsidered items that includes the title, date challenged, and date resolved.

IX. Supporting Library Policies

• Gift Policy
• Special Collections Policy

CONTACT: Emera Bridger Wilson, Collection Management Librarian, (906) 227-1205, or ebridger@nmu.edu