Policy on the purchase of equipment and information resources supporting the University Libraries' College Librarians

The University Libraries are committed to an aggressive program of outreach supporting the specialized information needs of the campus community through the assistance of subject specialist librarians located on site in the colleges. Each Collegiate Librarian (CL) is entitled to have sufficient resources to perform this challenging work and is expected to have on-site resources relevant to research, instruction, and service in the disciplines being supported.

Each CL should be furnished with routine office furniture, supplies and telecommunications capability in a manner with the host college. Personal computers, adequate storage, and in most cases CD-ROM devices should be furnished from the Libraries' operating budgets. The basic software required for word processing and other routine office tasks should be supported in the same manner.

Collegiate Librarians are expected to acquire and make available for both the direct and mediated use of their clientele a variety of information resources supporting work in their disciplines. It should be clearly understood that the purpose of the Collegiate Librarian program is not to create branch libraries, and that the University Libraries remain committed to the maintenance of strong centralized collections supporting interdisciplinary work. Accordingly, on-site collections of serials and monographs will not be maintained.

After the elimination of core subject literatures from consideration for the expenditure of funds supporting the CLs, valid needs remain for materials which it is reasonable to expect the library materials budget to support. These resources can be divided into working tools and subject-specific reference or information resources, though some items with blur this taxonomy.

Among the working tools the materials budget should support are computer manuals and other office copies of books of a general nature such as dictionaries; subscriptions to a very limited number of journals supporting basic information needs such as advice and instruction on the optimal use of computing equipment; and access to general purpose online databases. The purpose of these resources is to enable employees remote from the main library to perform routine work without imposing on their hosts.

The library materials budget should also be expected to support subject-related information resources needed by the CLs in addressing the information needs of clients in the disciplines they support. Limited collections of subject-specific reference works such as database thesauri, topical dictionaries and encyclopedias, and professional directories should be supported. Such materials should nearly always duplicate holdings elsewhere in the Libraries, and CLs should consider recommending that Collection Development acquire any materials for which this is not the case.

Computer software needed for subject-specific applications should also be supported. There is precedent within the Libraries for funding storage upgrades or the procurement of operating systems ancillary to the use of such software: such purchases will be within the legitimate scope of the library materials budget on behalf of the CLs as well. The University Libraries should also fund subscriptions to appropriate subject-related online databases.

All processing of print materials and software acquired for CLIOs will be centralized in the University Libraries, which will generate orders, monitor checkin and claim missing issues, and process payment. Ordered materials will be paid for from the OFFC fund code. CLs will be expected to keep library-owned materials available, although it is recognized that it is sometimes difficult to account for office copies even in a more controlled setting than some of the CLs will enjoy.

Materials housed in the offices of the CLs will not be cataloged on Addison. This policy is routinely the case for those resources considered as tools within the main library and branches. It should be extended to the small collections held in the CLs' offices because, on balance, the public display of holdings for books and journals nearly all of which will duplicate publicly available holdings within the Libraries would tend to make holdings information confusing and to lead patrons to seek materials which at any time might well be unavailable for their use. The decision not to catalog materials housed in the CLs' offices will also serve to underscore the Libraries' commitment to strong central collections. Because materials will be uncataloged, it will be unnecessary to establish Addison location codes for the CLs' offices.

Revised 10/2000