Collection Development Policy

1. Collection Development Policy • Laila Miletic-Vejzovic • Head, Special Collections & University Archives • University of Central Florida Libraries • October 2, 2009 • lmiletic@mail.ucf.edu

2. Introduction • Why do we need a Collection Development Policy? • Purpose of the Collection Development Policy. • Main elements of the Collection Development Policy.

3. Why do we need a Collection Development Policy? Special Collections must have a collecting policy (which should be a “live document”) to ensure: • That they acquire material in concert with the mission of their university. • That the existing collections, gifts and purchases fulfill their main obligation, i.e. to support teaching, research, and scholarship. • That Special Collections continue to support international community due to its unique, and rare material.

4. Purpose of the Collection Development Policy • Intended to guide the selection of materials to be added to the collections, whether by purchase, or through gifts. • It is used in the allocation of funds and in the effort to obtain additional funding from endowments, gifts, or grants.

5. Cont. • It is a source of information for those both within and outside the Library community on the strengths of its collection and it identifies those areas of lesser collecting interest. • It therefore assists in resource sharing and cooperative collection development arrangements with other libraries. • It should include Department’s mission statement.

6. Department’s Mission and Collecting Policy The mission of the University of Central Florida Libraries Special Collections and University Archives is to: • Provide services to the Library and University community in support of research, teaching and service. • Special Collections acquires books that have a central function to the curriculum and that cannot be replaced and primary source materials that support long-term research goals. • The University Archives is the official repository of all aspects of life at the University of Central Florida.

7. Scope Primary Sources: • African Americana • Book Artist’s Archive • Caribbean and the West Indies • Floridiana • Travel & Tourism • University Archives

8. Cont. Printed Collections: • African Americana • Book Arts • Caribbean and the West Indies • Floridiana • Travel & Tourism • University Archives

9. General Guidelines • Language: English is the primary language but no other languages are excluded. • Chronology: No periods, or publication dates are excluded. • Geographical: Emphasis on central Florida, but other geographical regions are documented and/or represented, e.g. Caribbean region/West Indies, no area is specifically excluded.

10. Cont. • Treatment: Juvenile materials, textbooks, generic secondary materials, and UCF faculty monographs and articles, are excluded. • Types of Material: All forms, genres, and formats (print, manuscripts, aural and graphic) relative to subject areas defined in collection.

11. Observations and Qualifications • Department’s resources are acquired by gifts and purchases. • The Department will liaise with other local repositories to ensure the appropriate home for the materials. • The Department does not accept material on a loan. • The Department seeks to acquire materials of historical interest, clearly owned by the donor, and no duplications of records held at other repositories.

12. Cont. • The Department also seeks to acquire unique titles not held by other Florida libraries, and scarce items to preserve cultural heritage. • The Department builds to strength in its major areas of collecting, chiefly by augmenting existing collections through ongoing purchases or gifts.

13. Your Old Books • This RBMS guide addresses some frequently asked questions about rare and older books and their values. http://www.rbms.info/yob.shtml

14. Examples of Collection Development Policies • Special Collections & University Archives, UCF Libraries http://library.ucf.edu/SpecialCollections/AboutUs/CollectionUsePolicyInfo.asp • Manuscripts, Archives & Special Collections, WSU Libraries • http://www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/holland/masc/ generalcollectionpolicy.html

15. Cont. • UK National Archives Collection Development Policy • http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/archive_collection_policy.pdf

16. Important Additional Documents • Deed of Gift Form • Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) • Records Transfer Form • Gift in Kind Form

17. We must build Special Collections in concert with institutional mission. Conclusion We should enter a new collection area only if there is a firm commitment to develop the collection and make it accessible to users. Therefore, we must fulfill our liaison responsibilities by reaching out to our teaching faculty, engaging them, and consulting with them in regard to new gifts and purchases.

18. Cont. Furthermore, we must work collaboratively with appropriate partners to build collections in emerging areas of scholarly interest. We must broaden access to Special Collections by designing the most effective standards-based digitization projects. Finally, the University Archives chronicle and document the University’s history and serve as the institutional memory.

19. Cont. The biggest challenge facing us is actually the preservation of University Archives, due to the changing culture, e.g. text-messaging, blogs, digital born material, etc. How are we going to preserve University presidents’ papers, University photographs, records from individual department’s, faculty papers, etc. in the future? We must acquire, preserve and curate the content. Commitment to build Institutional Repository is only one of the answers.

20. Cont. In the past, Special Collections have primarily acquired collections to support the mission of their institutions. Secondly, Special Collections have curated their unique and valuable holdings, mainly manuscripts and rare books, for the international community. In the future it will be the digital content, of which a large part will be versions of traditional special collections, and increasingly born digital documents. Managing the former is typically well understood, managing the latter will be a challenge, especially as related to science, the large data sets, and social sciences.

21. Thank you for your Attention! Questions?