General medicine, science and technology
Statement of programs and library needs
While there are no departments directly associated with the areas covered in this collection development policy, researchers from many disciplines, as well as the general reader, require access to medical information and to a body of literature about science and technology. The medical collection in particular supports scholars and students in a variety of academic areas, including human nutrition, biochemistry, human factors engineering, and biology, and from such research centers as the Center for Gerontology, the Center for Toxicology, and the Biotechnology Center. The medical collection also serves as a resource for the local community.
I. Collection areas
A. Area: General Science, Technology and Medicine
B. Classes and Levels
Q Science (Levels as indicated in more specific policies.) R Medicine S Agriculture T Technology
C. Chronology
Emphasis is placed on selection of current materials.
D. Geographic Guidelines
None.
E. Languages
English is the primary language of the collection.
F. Treatment
Emphasis is on monographs and periodicals about science and technology and various areas in medicine which are suitable for the general reader, informed layperson, and other non-specialists.
G. Formats
Primarily print for monographs and most journals, though electronic full-text is also of growing importance for journals. Bibliographic databases are available through the Internet. Videos are rarely acquired and only through faculty request. The libraries support access to key bibliographic databases in medicine and science and technology.
H. Multiple copies
Multiple copies (usually one extra copy) are occasionally purchased for heavily used titles as funds permit.
II. Acquisition Strategy
The majority of materials are selected by the bibliographer for general science and technology and medicine, with priority given to requests from faculty, students, and staff, and suggestions from library staff and faculty. Monographs and periodicals for use in the science reference collection are selected by the bibliographer for science reference, with input from other librarians, faculty, and students. The libraries maintain an approval plan for books from many university press and significant trade publishers and standing orders for many important serials. The libraries also receive a good number of general scientific, technical, and medical periodicals indexed in the major abstracting and indexing publications. Gifts are not an important means of acquisition and there is no systematic retrospective purchasing. General publications from appropriate domestic government agencies are received on depository.
III. Collection Notes
Juvenile books, textbooks, theses and dissertations from other institutions, biographies, and studies of the history and philosophy of medicine and science and technology are generally not selected (there is a separate fund for science in society). In the case of science and technology, many books appropriate for inclusion in this policy are purchased under the policies of the specific subject areas. Thus, this policy is used primarily in obtaining materials which either fall between specialized subject areas or which encompass several specialized subject areas. In the case of general medicine, emphasis is placed on selecting books to satisfy the needs of researchers in other departments, as well as laypeople seeking general medical information. Basic reference-type texts, guides, and handbooks that provide background information on major areas of medicine and on particular diseases and syndromes are collected and/or updated as funds permit. In general, collection in the following areas is extremely selective: nursing, health care reform, holistic medicine, pregnancy/childbirth, psychiatry, surgery, dermatology, and dental information. In recent years selection has covered a range of topics including AIDS information and immunology, drug information, first aid/emergency medicine, and Parkinson's disease.
Revised 10/1995
