Resources from the Internet

1992
Dr. Michael Binder, Dean of Libraries
Dr. Marvin D. Leavy, Coordinator of Collection Development
Faculty of the Department of Library Public Services

Given the pace of change, a decision as to the need to revise the Collection Development statement is now under review.

The mission of the Western Kentucky University Libraries is to provide essential services in support of the University's three principal endeavors: instruction, research, and public service. The Libraries assume a pivotal role in Western Kentucky University's commitment to excellence through the efficient and effective selection, acquisition, and dissemination of scholarly information. The selection of materials to meet current and future needs of Western's faculty, staff, students, and the local citizenry is a critical service element in the Libraries' mission and is the very core of collection development.

The purposeof this Collection Development Statement is to specify curricular and disciplinary priorities to guide the selecting and acquiring of informational materials up to the twenty-first century. A formal statement of the priorities which will energize and focus our efforts will be a valuable blueprint for rational collection development.

Effective collection development will require sufficient funding to meet the needs of an expanding student population, new courses and programs, and changing faculty research interests. In addition, it will require coping with escalating inflation rates for books, serials and resources in newer formats such as compact-disc technology. Accelerating developments in information technology exert a special challenge to conventional library collection needs. The range of information format options is expanding just at a time when funding stability (not to mention growth) is ever more uncertain. All of these developments highlight the necessity for efficient planning in developing the resources of Western Kentucky University's Libraries.

This statement is prepared in accord with Western Kentucky University's Spirit of Excellence: Values and Directions for the Twenty-First Century, a document approved by the University's Board of Regents in late 1990 (hereafter referred to as Western XXI). It is also compatible with University Libraries: A Five Year Plan, 1990/91-1994/95, also adopted in 1990 by WKU Libraries (hereafter, Strategic Plan). The outline of the Statement relies upon a Guide for Written Collection Policy Statements endorsed by the American Library Association in 1989 (hereafter, ALA Guidelines ), especially pp. 4-6. Collection standards expressed in ALA's Standards for College Libraries in 1986 (hereafter, ALA Standards) are taken into account as well. Lastly, conformance with the 8th edition of SACS (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) Criteria, section 5.2 is also adhered to. Familiarity with these materials, as well as with the Libraries' prior collection development statement (adopted in early 1984), would enhance a reader's understanding of this Statement.

While evaluation of the strength of existing collections is a major concern of academic libraries (see Strategic Plan, p. 6 and ALA Standards, pp. 191-192), it will not be emphasized here. Instead, selection criteria for future development, i.e. what will be selected and why, will be highlighted. As stated in the ALA Standards, "the best way to improve quality in a library collection is to adhere to rigorous standards of discrimination in the selection of materials to be added." Assessment of quality in existing collections is not to be ignored, merely delayed until this forward-looking statement is adopted and implemented. (In passing, it should be noted that this statement is not meant to delineate policies for development of Special Collections resources in the Kentucky Library or University Archives).

This policy statement departs from the Libraries' earlier statement (and from many other university library collection development policy statements) in two ways. First, as will be explained, a conspectus approach is not directly applied to Library of Congress classifications. The ALA Guidelines do not insist upon that application but allow application of the approach instead to academic departments (and departmental programs) as it will be deployed here. Second, this statement will explicate some factors to actually be considered in distributing materials budget funds. The goal in this statement is to underpin the need for a more systematic process embodied in a formula, which once in place, would "drive" the materials allocation process. In most collection development policies, the only criterion which purports to affect distribution of the materials budget is "collection intensity level." While "collection intensity levels" by curricular program will be profiled in this document and may correlate highly with allocation differences between departments, these intensity levels for programs will not be the determining factor in allocation decisions.

Collection developmentis a planning function which involves the overall molding of library collections to meet users' needs. It is implemented at Western Kentucky University Libraries by a Coordinator of Collection Development and several subject librarians (bibliographers) in the Department of Library Public Services who are specifically charged with the responsibility. In keeping with ALA Standards and SACS guidelines, however, the involvement of teaching faculty in college departments is encouraged; they are the best judges of their needs for professional materials. A faculty member in each department is named by the Head of that department as its library representative. This individual serves as liaison with the subject librarian assigned primary responsibility for a host of collection development duties for the programs and discipline(s) centered in that department. This liaison channels book and serial requests from the department's faculty to the appropriate subject librarian. The selection of materials deemed useful for academic purposes in accord with precepts of academic freedom (primarily with that of freedom of unrestrained pursuit of knowledge) is a major duty of these librarians.

The Libraries contract with various book jobbers to receive prompt notification of newly published academically- oriented publications (for books and non-print items). One primary serials vendor (Faxon) serves as a broker to sustain serials control over thousands of subscriptions to periodicals and ongoing series. The Acquisitions and Serials units of the Department of Library Automation and Technical Services process requests for books and serials which are cataloged or registered upon receipt by the Catalog and Serials units, respectively, to maintain an expeditious flow of desired materials into the hands of users.

The current WKU undergraduate and graduate catalogs (1991-1993) and Western XXI set forth the context in which the Libraries of Western Kentucky University create this statement. The historical background of the Libraries is drawn from the former source and from its own Strategic Plan.

Western Kentucky State Normal School, Bowling Green, was established by an act of the 1906 Kentucky General Assembly. Prior to 1906, there had existed in Bowling Green the Southern Normal School and Bowling Green Business University, whose president was Henry Hardin Cherry. In 1907, the Southern Normal School was transferred to state control and Dr. Cherry was named as first President. In 1930, the school's name was changed to Western Kentucky State Teacher's College and in 1948 to Western Kentucky State College. In 1966, the Kentucky General Assembly designated Western as a University and changed its name to Western Kentucky University. The granting of university status gave the Graduate School (renamed the Graduate College in 1969) the power to strengthen existing programs and to offer a wider spectrum of programs. Currently, thirty-three degree- awarding departments are distributed in four Colleges: the (Potter) College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences: the College of Business Administration; the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences; and the (Ogden) College of Science, Technology and Health. In addition, Area Study Programs, a Community College and Extended Campus teaching programs were developed in the 1980's to further enhance educational opportunities for residents of the Commonwealth.

Library collections date back to 1909 when a small collection was started in Potter Hall. Gordon Wilson Hall housed library holdings for over thirty years, beginning in 1931. In 1963, the facility moved to the former gymnasium, renamed the Helm Library; in 1971 the Cravens Graduate Center and Library was completed as a nine-story stacks tower. Margie M. Helm headed the College Library from 1923 to 1965. Ms. Helm's successors were Ms. Sara Tyler (1965-1969), Dr. Earl Wassom (1969-1985), and since 1985, Dr. Michael Binder. At present, four library/resource centers serve the Bowling Green campus. They are (1) the Helm-Cravens Library, (2) the Kentucky Library and Museum, (3) the Science Library housed in Kelly-Thompson Central Complex, and (4) the Educational Resources Center. Western's Libraries hold more than one-half million books, over 1.2 million microform items, approximately 100,000 bound periodical volumes and over one-quarter million government documents. The Helm-Cravens Library, located near the center of campus, houses the major circulating book collection (in Cravens) and the main reference, government documents, periodicals and microforms, and law collections (in Helm). The main circulation and reserve desks, the technical services units, and the extended campus services office are located in Cravens. The two buildings are connected via two walkways. Four decks in Gordon Wilson Hall serve as a storage facility for older, rarely used print materials.

The Educational Resources Center (ERC) primarily supports the needs of faculty and students in the Department of Teacher Education and enriches its instructional programs through provision of both print and non-print materials. Textbooks, manuals, activity books, curriculum guides, and tests, all keyed to application in grades K-12 are typical print materials as are college-level methodology books and a few journal subscriptions. Non-print materials include audio-visual software such as multi-media kits, filmstrips, slides, audio and video recordings, pictures, realia, and microcomputer programs. Appropriate electronic indexes (such as ERIC and PsycLit on CD ROM) are housed here as well.

The Science Library provides books, periodicals, compact disc workstations, and reference/circulation services vital for instruction and research in the sciences and technology. Severe overcrowding there has necessitated cataloging of all such books acquired since 1990 for the Cravens stacks.

A reference library housed in the Glasgow Campus managed by a full-time librarian emphasizes CD-ROM reference assistance and TOPCAT 2000 access to collections on the main campus rather than developing an independent circulating collection. An endowment fund supports purchase of many of its reference materials. FAX service of journal articles and frequent courier service of books to this campus (and to the Owensboro center) are a boon to students at these sites. Access to the collections for other off-campus students is coordinated by an Extended Campus Librarian stationed in Cravens. The increase in the extended campus population has served as a challenge for the Libraries to make collection access as equal as possible for all WKU students.

A multitude of technological networks tie these operations together. The system software for acquisitions, cataloging, and circulation and the online catalog are from NOTIS Systems, Inc. (Northwestern Online Total Integrated Systems). The online catalog for the entire cataloged collection, known as TOPCAT 2000 here at WKU, became fully operational in January, 1992.

While the Special Collections housed in the Kentucky Library and Museum and the University Archives are not focused upon in this statement, a brief statement of its purpose is in order. The Kentucky Library collects print and non-print materials pertaining to the state's history in all genres. The Folklife Archives and Manuscripts section contain unpublished primary source materials with special emphasis upon Kentucky, while the University Archives (housed in Helm) collects the records and correspondence of administrative officials and faculty of the University. Both primary research and instruction are facilitated in these special collections.

The major unit of collection analysis is and will continue to be academic program within academic departments. Allocating the Libraries' materials budget to departments has evolved by what is called "The Historical Method" in Guide to Budget Allocation for Information Resources, p. 9 (produced by the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services of ALA in 1991). It is remarkable that this method has thus far produced allocations which fit as closely as they do the relative costs of available academic books discipline by discipline. A Table in the Appendix attests to this. If one compares the cost breakdown of books reviewed in CHOICE in 1991 with departmental allocations for the 1990-91 fiscal year, one will see a close, albeit coincidental, correspondence. Nevertheless, a more systematic approach to allocations is worthy of consideration and a serious review of formula-based allocations is in process. Some criteria of potential importance in a formula developed to apportion book and/or serials funds department by department are:

the status of degree programs at baccalaureate and graduate degree levels as enunciated in Western XXI. See the Appendix for a listing of these priorities.
the number of students instructed in lower-division, upper-division, and graduate-level courses as measured by student credit hours at those levels.
the number of majors enrolled or degrees granted.

the number of Full-time Equivalent faculty.

the estimated cost of current publications available by discipline which are appropriate to Western curricula and research foci.

the collecting intensity emphasis as stipulated in the collecting level codes reported for programs in the departmental profiles. See Collecting Level in the next section for explanation of these codes.

some measure of use of the collection, e.g., circulation of books by Library of Congress Class of book circulated. This measures collection use, not collection users, however.

It should be observed that just as difficult as selecting the most appropriate criteria for an allocation formula is deciding the proper weighting of these factors in an equation. There is no magic formula awaiting our discovery. No extensive justification of any of the potential components listed above is necessary here, except for the first one. (All of the others are mentioned in the Guide to Budget Allocation for Information Resources for academic libraries cited earlier.) The assignment of Prominent, Essential, Desirable, or Nonessential classifications to academic programs at Western Kentucky University was the end-result of protracted deliberation across campus and is the official framework for future university-wide decisions, particularly the strengthening, enhancing, maintaining, or deletion of programs. Thus, Western XXI will be incorporated into budgeting decisions as soon as is practicable.

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The Collection Parameters to Profile Departmental Needs for Materials

The purposes and collecting needs of departmental degree programs are profiled in this document. (A copy of the form employed to profile them is shown in the Appendix.) These profiles were prepared by appropriate subject librarians in conjunction with departmental liaison faculty in late 1991. In these narratives, Western XXI status and level of collecting intensity are coded for each degree program above the associate degree level. The parameters are described below.

Subject:: Library materials are selected in all areas of inquiry taught within university departments, including interdisciplinary area programs and the Community College. Degree programs (majors/minors at undergraduate and graduate levels) essentially set these boundaries in their "Purpose of Degree Program" statements.

General (non-subject) Parameters:: Language - English Language materials will predominate in nearly all program areas. The phrase "English predominates" will be specified in each profile with exceptions noted in a few departments.

Date of Publication - refers to emphasis upon current or retrospective year of publication. Here again, current (i.e., still in print or recent) years may predominate in most departments but great variance between departments is to be expected.; Chronological Coverage - refers to the historical time periods of greatest interest in a department. Here, too, variance between departments is to be expected.; Geographic Coverage - the scope of interest (local, regional, national, or international) will be specified in a department's profile; departments will vary widely.; Formats Preferred - refers to the medium in which information is encoded; paper versus various electronic media is a major decision-point. Print-on-paper sources are still predominant in most programs. Also specified here will be the relative emphasis upon monographs, journals, edited works, etc. preferred by a department. In some departments, emphasis upon government documents (in whatever format) will bear specification.; Formats/Excluded - Generally, introductory level textbooks (aimed at 100-200 level courses) will be excluded as will be master's theses and doctoral dissertations (unless published by a recognized press). Copies of Master's theses completed for degree requirements at Western are cataloged in the circulating collection, however. Instructor's manuals and student study guides keyed to particular textbooks (at any level) will generally not be collected. Added copies of works will also not typically be acquired. Each department may indicate its unique mix of exclusions desired but the typical pattern just described will be reported as the "Standard Exclusions."
Collecting Level:: This refers to the level of intensity with which materials in an area of scholarly study at Western Kentucky University are sought for the collections. As already implied, Western XXI priority and presence of graduate degree programs will determine this level. For programs leading only to undergraduate degree majors or minors, this level will typically be what ALA Guidelines term the "Study or Instructional Support Level (Introductory)"; for programs offered at both baccalaureate and master's degree levels (or at master's level only), the typical level will be the "Study or Instructional Support Level (Advanced)". In the profiles, the former level is coded as 3a and the latter is coded as 3b. Level 4 (the "Research" level) will be accorded only a few programs offering post- Master's level degree programs if the programs are identified as Prominent or Essential in Western XXI and have a research component. See the Appendix for more detailed definitions of these ALA/RLG Conspectus definitions.

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Treatment of Special Formats

Before turning to the profiles for academic departments, guidelines for acquiring particular genres of publication and special policies appertaining thereto are in order.

Newspapers:: The WKU Libraries maintains a representative collection of international, national (U.S.A.), and local (regional and county) newspapers in hard copy. The most current two months of leading foreign newspapers as well as of several major American dailies (including all eight indexed in Newspaper Abstracts on Disc) are held. Microfilm backfiles of the latter are obtained. Daily and weekly papers representing as many regions of the state as possible are acquired for patron enjoyment. The Glasgow Campus Library has acquired the New York Times and Washington Post in full-text CD-ROM versions.

Microforms:: An extensive and diverse collection in this space-saving format is held. Many retrospective sources of inestimable research value are now available only in this form. The early backfile of many periodicals is held only in microfilm. The Periodicals Librarian is consulted prior to the purchase of costly microform sets. It should be noted that federal documents (see Government Documents) are increasingly issued only in this format.
Maps/Atlases:: The WKU Libraries collects contemporary, historical and thematic atlases, predominantly in English- language editions. Housed in the Helm Reference Room, atlases support a range of instructional and research needs, particularly for area studies, study abroad programs, and for the Department of Geography and Geology. The reference map collection highlights topographic and geologic maps of the Commonwealth (received as U.S. depository items) and maps of surrounding states but also holds several other types for the United States, the world, and selected regions. The ERC also holds a collection of maps which circulate for use in elementary or secondary classrooms.
Non-Print:: The Libraries adopted an audio-visual collecting policy in 1991 which for the first time legitimized the acquiring of non-print materials to be cataloged for the collection. (See the Appendix). Videotapes, audio-tapes and sound recordings in a range of formats (e.g., compact disc) and microcomputer software programs are judged in terms of their support of the Libraries' mission and purchased in the same manner and from the same budget lines as are books. The profiles of the Art and Music departments set forth their priorities in obtaining such materials. The ERC collects the widest array of non-print items. The ERC, Science Library, and the Circulation Unit in Cravens will oversee shelving and circulation of these materials in their respective buildings.
Electronic Formats:: Sources in this fast-evolving format already have had an impact upon the reference collection (and service). An ongoing expense of this new technology is the investment in and maintenance of new hardware (not acquired via materials funds). In the 1980's electronic sources could be divided into two categories: (1) online database searching of offsite computerized files mainly to create specialized bibliographies. Performed by librarians free of charge to faculty, the demand for this service dwindled as the popularity of another technology, (2) the searching of CD-ROM indexes by patrons arose. The popularity of CD-ROM indexes among retrievers of information and the Libraries' fixed costs for subscriptions to them insure that the Libraries will increasingly prefer them as alternatives to both their print and online counterparts. If the quality, ease of access, and currency of CD-ROM indexes surpass print versions of the same or similar tools, the Libraries will in many cases replace the print version if cost-effectiveness can be demonstrated. In the 1990's, full-text systems of periodicals on disc and electronic and electronic delivery services for articles identified on disc will compel our attention. Such systems are developing rapidly. Also, journals may increasingly be in electronic format only.
Reference Materials:: The main reference collection in Helm-Cravens Library supports the academic needs of the university community. the definitions of collecting intensity as applied to departmental programs also apply to the reference tools supporting those programs. Thus, support ranges from "basic or minimal" for subject tangential to the curricula here all the way to "Research" level for those programs whose level of collecting intensity warrant. The research, general and recreational needs of patrons willalso be addressed at appropriate levels. The language of materials will be primarily English (even foreign language dictionaries will emphasize those English-language definitions). The Science library will house the major reference apparatus for Agriculture, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Engineering, Industrial Technology, Mathematics, and Physics/Astronomy. Only Ready-reference tools for those disciplines will be kept in Helm Reference. The major reference collection for all other Ogden College Departments will be held in Helm-Cravens because the entire circulating collection (and periodicals) for those disciplines are held there. Medical reference tools will continue to be split between the two locations to facilitate the needs of Biology and the Allied Health disciplines, respectively. The ERC houses most of the reference works used by Library Media Education faculty and students in the study of school media librarianship.
Government Documents:: The University has been the site of a federal selective depository library since 1934. The depository collection received a rating of Good in an early 1992 federal inspection. Items are selected if they are anticipated to fulfill the curricular and informational needs of students, faculty and staff of the university and residents of South Central Kentucky (2nd Cong. District). Currently, the library selects about 48% of the Federal item numbers offered. Over 20,000 paper and microfiche items are added each year. More and more, items are made available to us only in microform or electronic format. If items are available in multiple formats, selection will be dictated by usability and space considerations. Recommendations for selection from the academic and local community are encouraged. Access to the materials is facilitated by a CD-ROM index of the Monthly Catalog and other specialized indexes. No documents are at present cataloged into TOPCAT 2000. Kentucky state and local documents are collected and displayed as are statistical series from adjoining states. United Nations documents are not collected. Some commercially produced titles to supplement Federal and state-level collections will be acquired, as funds permit. Documents are housed in Helm Ground Floor.
Law Collection:: This collection was a joint venture of the WKU Law Collection and Western Kentucky University from 1965 to 2001, and continues to serves both constituencies. The primary focus of the collection is the statutory, adminisrative, and case law of Kentucky and the United States (case law of other states may be found in the regional reporters, however). The American Digest System provides access to case law and Shepard's citators give subsequent judicial and legisative histories. As funds permit, secondary source material (e.g., law reviews) is collected along with topical materials and treatises in order to support curricular needs or as recommended by the Warren County Bar Association Library Committee. These latter materials are placed in "Law Reference" and are accessible via TOPCAT 2000. The collection is supplemented by WESTLAW and made available to WKU faculty and students for educational use only. Other finding tools may be obtained but not textbooks or international law materials.
Juvenile Collection:: The ERC maintains a large Juvenile Collection of books collected over a long number of years. Selections for this circulating collection will give even representation to all categories of books for pre-College readers (from books for the young to young adult) as recommended by ALA's Booklist and other sources. The collection is accessible on TOPCAT 2000.

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SPECIAL POLICIES

Gift Materials:: The University libraries will accept donated books and other materials from individuals or organizations. If these materials match areas of research and instruction within the University, they will be considered for cataloging into the collections. If already held or not deemed suitable for the Libraries' collections, donated works will be surplused. One valued source of support is the Friends of WKU Libraries. Membership monies may be designated by a Friend of the Libraries for a work in a specific collection, and in so doing, underwrite the Libraries' costs. A bookplate is inserted in a book or periodical volume in honor of the donor, or as the donor stipulates, as a symbol of this gift.

Inter-Library Loan:: Because no one facility can hope in this age to house the text of all desired materials, the exchange of publications with other libraries will increase (at least until electronic means eliminate the need for hard copy transfer). The OCLC Inter-Library Loan system serves to rapidly identify the most expeditious loan sources for materials needed by WKU faculty, staff and students at no charge. ILL policy is based on state, regional, national, and international codes which govern our procedures. Particpation in SOLINET, the Center for Research Libraries, the British Lending Library and other consortia open up the entire world of information to serve the research needs of an active academic community. Commercial delivery of articles via electronic means (e.g., via fax) is being explored as a service to quicken access to needed materials.
Community College Materials:: Materials are currently obtained in support of Associate Degree programs only via allocations to the departments most closely affiliated with the programs. This practice will undergo review in the near future to determine if a separate account line is needed.
Leisure Reading Collection:: The Libraries participates in a McNaughton Leisure Reading Plan with Brodart, Inc. in which, as of Summer 1992, we receive approximately 40 popular new fiction and nonfiction books per month for an annual subscription fee. These books serve the recreational reading interests of our patrons; circulation periods are for two weeks. After one year, the Libraries can decide to add some of the books to the regular collection at a minimal cost; the remainder are returned to Brodart. Approximately 600 titles may be held at any one time. Circulating videotape and leisure magazine collections will be initiated in 1992-93.
Withdrawal and Replacement Policies:: Just as evaluation of the present collection is not addressed in this statement(see p. 2), neither will be review of the condition of the existing collections. Weeding of "obsolete" or of brittle, unusable materials is acknowledged as important and a policy statement addressing this concern is currently under review. WKU Libraries will be guided by the Guide to Review of Library Collections: Preservation, Storage and Withdrawal, adopted by the American Library Association in 1991. Currently, funds are budgeted by the Libraries to replace copies of lost, missing, and damaged books.
Preservation:: Serious consideration of preservation of the collections must similarly be given soon so as to retard natural processes of deterioration, especially in print-on-paper materials.Currently, funds for repair are allotted in the Libraries' budget, but preservation is a broader concern.

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