Library Policies: Reference Collection Management Policy

Chronology: The reference collection will place emphasis on materials of current value.

 

The primary criteria for selection of reference materials are: (1) to meet the immediate informational and research needs of the Library=s clientele and (2) to support the curriculum by providing bibliographical access to materials in and beyond its collection. Materials will be evaluated in terms of purpose, scope, authority, and, when relevant, timeliness. The reference collection shall be defined as a working collection which includes a selection of works which will best enable the reference staff to meet the above goals.

 

Reviewing Sources: Relevant professional literature will be consulted to ensure that important reference works within the subject scope of reference are in the collection. Sources regularly reviewed for selection include Choice, RQ, College & Research Libraries, and Library Journal. Other sources include: publishers= leaflets and catalogs, annual lists of reference books such as American Reference Books Annual, and retrospective bibliographies.

 

Subject Scope: Reference works on specific subjects generally will be selected with the present curricular levels in mind. Because the reference collection must cover such a large number of disciplines if it is to support the curriculum, it must be selective if it is also to remain a functional collection.

 

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF REFERENCE WORKS

 

Generally speaking, works placed in the reference collection will have the follow characteristics:

 

Be comprehensive or broad in scope

 

Be condensed in treatment

 

Be arranged in such a manner as to facilitate the rapid finding of accurate information

 

Offer current information in areas in which currency is of utmost importance

 

Have a potential for heavy or intensive use

 

WEEDING

 

Periodic evaluation of the reference collection is important as it must be a working collection of important frequently consulted publications. Careful, regular, and systematic weeding removes older, less desirable works from the reference collection. Reference librarians follow the same principles and guidelines in weeding as in acquisition of new materials. Since each discipline covered by the reference collection requires different types of materials, it would be difficult to establish absolute standards to be followed in weeding. For some disciplines, the reference collection should provide current material only; for others it must also provide retrospective and

 

historical works. However, some general criteria which should be considered in weeding are: significance of the publication, age and currency of the publication, availability of later editions,

 

physical condition of the publication, duplication of the contents in more recent works, and language of the publication.

 

The reference collection is to be reviewed periodically by the Reference Collection Librarian in consultation with the subject librarians. At that time, materials that are not automatically removed from reference when a later edition arrives should be looked at carefully and superseded or dated material should be transferred to the stacks or withdrawn. At the same time, subject librarians should make note of items that are not on standing order but need to be updated on a fairly regular basis. Items of this nature should be updated at the time of the review or, if it is not yet time for an update to be ordered, notation made for future updating.

 

TYPES OF WORKS INCLUDED IN THE REFERENCE COLLECTION

 

ABSTRACTS AND INDEXES

 

Abstracts and indexes have gradually been replaced by electronic versions or substitutes.  Any that remain will be housed with the main reference collection or transferred to the circulating collection on the second floor. 

 

ALMANACS

 

Copies of the latest editions of almanacs will be housed in reference. Earlier editions of these almanacs will be housed in the stacks or withdrawn at the discretion of the appropriate subject librarian. Complete runs of volumes will be housed in reference. Older editions may be transferred to stacks according to the appropriate subject librarian.

 

ANNUAL REVIEWS

 

As a general rule, annual reviews will not be included in the reference collection.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

 

Subject bibliographies may be included in the reference collection on a selective basis.  Those on narrow topics, those with superficial coverage, and dated bibliographies that have been updated by later works will not generally be placed in the reference collection.

Subject bibliographies included in reference will be broad in scope and as current as possible. Exceptions may be made if the subject of the bibliography is regularly emphasized in the curriculum.

 

Single-author bibliographies will not generally be included in the reference collection.

 

Exceptions may be made if the subject of such bibliographies is regularly emphasized in the academic curriculum.

 

BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES

 

The reference collection will include general and national bibliographical tools, both current and retrospective in coverage. The collection will also include biographical dictionaries in specific disciplines.

 

CONCORDANCES

 

Only concordances for selected major authors and works (e.g., Shakespeare and the Bible) will be housed in the reference collection. Concordances for most authors will be housed in the stacks.

 

DICTIONARIES

 

            Current English-language dictionaries, and bilingual and polyglot dictionaries that include

English with other languages, will be housed in reference.

 

The latest edition of the Oxford English Dictionary will be housed in reference.

Dictionaries devoted to specific disciplines as well as dictionaries of slang, idiomatic expressions, and other aspects of language will be included the reference collection.

 

Dictionaries devoted to specific disciplines as well as dictionaries of slang, idiomatic expressions, and other aspects of language will be included in the reference collection.

 

DIRECTORIES

 

General directories as well as those important to specific disciplines will be housed in reference.  Some general categories of directories that will be housed in reference include:

 

Local directories: The Springfield telephone directory is included in this category.

 

Institutional directories: directories of schools, colleges and universities, foundations, museums, libraries, etc., are included in this group;

 

Trade and business directories: directories of manufacturers, corporations, etc., are included in this category;

 

Professional directories: directories listing professional organizations and individuals are included in this category.

 

The most current editions of directories will be housed in reference; earlier editions will be either withdrawn or transferred to the stacks at the discretion of the appropriate subject librarian. ELECTRONIC RESOURCES

 

Electronic resources certainly should be considered part of the mix of reference resources/tools.  While libraries generally utilize online reference resources (both subscription and free) with varying degrees of emphasis, they do have an important role to play. Examples in this library include full text databases such as Country Watch, Literature Resource Center, and eHRAF Collection of Ethnography. Other electronic resources include the Reference Resources and Subject Resources pages located on the library’s home page. Search engines such as Google sometimes are particularly useful for fact finding and checking and thereby serve this reference function.

 

ENCYCLOPEDIAS

 

The Reference Collection will include major general English-language encyclopedias, some foreign-language encyclopedias, and authoritative subject encyclopedias. General English-language encyclopedias (e.g., Britannica, Americana, etc.) will be purchased on a rotating basis.  Current editions of encyclopedias will replace older ones, which will be withdrawn or transferred to the stacks. The decision to withdraw or transfer will be made by the appropriate subject librarian for more specialized encyclopedias. The Reference Collection Librarian will make the decision for general encyclopedias. If an earlier edition of an encyclopedia is considered a classic (the ninth and eleventh editions of Britannica are examples), it may be retained in reference despite its date of publication. Superseded subject encyclopedias will be transferred to the stacks or withdrawn unless the older edition has unique qualities that make it vital to the reference collection.

 

GEOGRAPHICAL SOURCES: MAPS, ATLASES, AND GAZETTEERS

 

The geographic sources as part of the reference collection operate under some constraints. These are imposed by formats and locations and are given here below.

 

Atlases: the reference atlases are kept on a stand near the reference desk and in the reference stacks. They include works such as the National Atlas of the United States of America, the Oxford Atlas of the World, the latest comprehensive edition of the Time Atlas of the World, and the Rand McNally Commercial Atlas and Marketing Guide.

 

Gazetteers: the gazetteers are ready reference works by nature and are kept in the reference collection. If a gazetteer is published as part of an atlas, it accompanies the atlas.

 

HANDBOOKS AND MANUALS

 

Only those handbooks and manuals that are compendia of facts, standards, definitions, or tables for quick referral will be included in reference. The more recent editions will be maintained in reference with prior editions being housed in the stacks or withdrawn at the discretion of the appropriate subject librarian.

 

LEGAL MATERIALS

 

The reference collection shall include major legal dictionaries and encyclopedias, and other selected legal resources that support specific programs or courses on campus. Access to a complete electronic legal library shall be provided through WESTLAW Campus. (In addition, Lexis-Nexis provides a more limited electronic legal library). A legal collection, including state and federal materials, is maintained on the upper level of the library.

 

LOOSE-LEAF SERVICES AND STANDARDS

 

Those materials requiring frequent and/or irregular updating will be housed in the reference collection. Superseded sheets or editions will be withdrawn as determined by the records manager.

 

PLOT SUMMARIES

 

The reference collection may include major, comprehensive collections of plot summaries.

 

QUOTATION BOOKS

 

A collection of quotation books will be housed in the reference collection.

 

STANDARDS (see LOOSE-LEAF SERVICES)

 

STATISTICS

 

Comprehensive national and international statistical sources written in the English language will be included in the reference collection. Older volumes will be withdrawn or transferred to the stacks.

 

STYLE MANUALS

 

A copy or copies of the latest edition of representative style manuals will be housed in reference or placed on permanent reserve. Heavily used superseded editions of the various style manuals such as Publication Manual of the American Library Association and MLA Handbook may be either retained in the reference collection or transferred to the general collection.

 

Rev. 10/26/06

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

REFERENCE ITEM CHECKOUT POLICY

 

Reference item checkouts must be approved by a librarian. Student assistants can checkout reference items in the evening. The librarians or student reference assistants fill out the Reference Item checkout slip with all the pertinent date, including:

 

<                    The full title of the reference item

<                    Accurate call number, and if a piece of a multivolume set, include the volume number

<                    The date and time checked out and time due. Checkout period should be for two hours only; however, a longer checkout period is allowable if the situation warrants (example: a student’s class is three hours long; a staff or faculty person presents a situation that warrants a longer checkout period).

<                    Full name of the person checking the item out

<                    Drury identification number of the person checking the item out (verified by the librarian actually reading the identification card). If the student does not have a Drury identification card on hand, a driver’s license will suffice. In that case, the student must be verified as a currently-enrolled student at the Circulation Desk.

<                    The telephone number of the person requesting the item

<                    Signature of the librarian making the checkout

 

Once a reference librarian has allowed a checkout and filled out the checkout slip, he/she or the student reference assistant will walk the item(s) and the patron over to the Circulation Desk.

 

Checkout is to be allowed primarily for the purposes of scanning images within the item, to use in a class lecture, or for research. Items should not be checked out just to be photocopied elsewhere, unless all public photocopy machines in the building are inoperable.

 

The checkout period is strictly held to a two hour checkout period for students. No weekend checkouts should be allowed, except for faculty and staff who present a situation that warrants a longer checkout period.

 

Although stated above that the checkout period is to be two hours, faculty may have research needs that require that longer checkout periods be negotiated. A suggested maximum limit should be three days. This would include weekend and holiday checkout periods.

 

Reviewed and revised 08/28/08

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

APPENDICES

 

CHECKOUT OF CRITERIA FOR ACQUISITION OF NEW REFERENCE MATERIALS

 

1. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the existing reference collection in the subject area in question?

 

2. Is this topic an important one in the curriculum?

 

3. Is this topic a current or popular one?  Is it likely to be a passing fad or to be of continued importance?

 

4. Is the topic likely to be important in the future?

 

5. Has the work received favorable reviews?

 

6. Is the work included in one or more basic reference collection guides?

 

7. What are the author’s qualifications and reputation?

 

8. What is the date of publication? (In general, order works with recent publication dates if possible. Exceptions are made if the publication is a standard reference work in its subject or it the older material is of current value to the collection).

 

9. How much does the publication cost?

 

10. Does the work duplicate material in titles already in the collection?

 

11. What is the language of the publication? (Preference is given to reference works in English and selective ones in major foreign languages).

 

12. Is the work a serial? If so, what commitment is required—all editions (standing order), alternative editions, or only occasional editions? A retention decision will be specified for each new standing order.

 

 

CHECKLIST OF WEEDING/REFERENCE REVIEW CRITERIA

 

1. How important is the publication?

 

a. Is it included in a general guide to reference works such as Walford, Winchell, or Sheehy?

 

b. Is it listed in a subject bibliography, produced here or elsewhere?

 

c. How do teaching faculty members and/or the subject bibliographers rate it?

 

2. How comprehensive is this publication? Are its scope and depth such that it belongs in the reference collection?

 

3. Is the discipline one which requires a large group of reference works? If not, is this work truly essential or is it a marginal one which could be sent to the general collection?

 

4. What is the language of the publication? If it is not English, will its use be very high?

 

5. How frequently is this publication likely to be used in the future?

 

6. Is there a later edition which supersedes this publication?

 

7. How old is the publication? If an older work, is the subject matter such that current information is required by the vast majority of patrons?

 

8. Is the work a continuation? If so, should some or all of the older volumes be sent to the stacks?

 

9. Is the material in this work lengthy or entirely duplicated in other reference works?

 

Reviewed 08/28/08