Collections: Collections Home

Circulating Print Collection

The intent in building the main, circulating collection is to support the teaching, learning, and research activities of students as well as faculty.

The Library aims to build a vibrant collection which meets the needs of an undergraduate student population and whenever possible, the faculty.

The Library follows the selection guidelines (page 3) and deselection guidelines (page 5) in the collection development policy in making decisions as to which titles to add or to remove from the collection.

• The Library is actively building the print monograph collection and welcomes recommendations from faculty and staff for new acquisitions, purchase requests, as well as communication regarding subject areas which are not adequately covered by the available titles in the collection.
• The Library is not actively collecting new DVDs, CDs, or microfilm unless one of these physical formats is the only format available for a given title or the only format available at a price that is not cost prohibitive.

Donations

Donated materials which fit the Selection Guidelines found on page 3 of the collection development policy and do not duplicate content already available in the collection will be considered for accession.

Donated materials that do not meet the Selection Guidelines and/or duplicate content will not be added to the collection and will be given to another organization or returned to the donor.

The Library does not accept art works, print journals, magazines, newspapers, CDs, VHS, audiobooks, reference material, or textbooks.

Prospective donors are encouraged to contact the head of collection management, Alana Nuth (nuth@geneseo.edu), if they intend to donate a large number of items, or if there is any doubt that the material is a good fit for the main circulating collection.

Purchase Requests

In the case that the Library does not own or license a resource that is needed for teaching and/or research and for which IDS (Interlibrary Loan) will not suffice, faculty are welcome to submit a purchase request. Requests for print and electronic books and streaming film access are usually honored unless the Library cannot locate a vendor for the item or the cost is prohibitively high. The person who submitted the request will receive an email confirmation that the purchase was made or an email with an explanation as to why the item was not purchased within a couple of business days.

Purchase Request Form for Books & Films
 

Journals, Databases, and Other Electronic Resources

The Library licenses, and in some cases has purchased perpetual access to, electronic resources to provide current students, faculty, and staff with access to a variety of electronic material, including ebooks, journal articles, newspaper articles, abstracts, book chapters, book reviews, primary source documents, images, and streaming films.

Collection Development Strategy

Most electronic resources require an annual subscription payment for continued access. The Library routinely evaluates its current collection of journals and databases to determine if the resources which make up that collection continue to support the teaching and research needs of the College; if alternative, more cost effective options exist for the same or similar content; and if the Library is getting an acceptable return on its annual investment based on usage. Decisions to add or remove electronic resources from the collection are made in concert with the Library Collections Team, librarian liaisons to academic departments, and with faculty and staff.
 

Purchase Requests

In the case that the Library does not own or license a resource that is needed for teaching and/or research and for which IDS (Interlibrary Loan) will not suffice, faculty are welcome to submit a purchase request.

Requests for subscription resources (i.e. journals and databases) will be followed up with an email from the head of collection management. Subscriptions require an ongoing annual payment for continued access so the Library evaluates requests for these types of resources more closely.

For journals, the Library will compare the estimated cost effectiveness of a subscription versus the cost to fill requests for articles using IDS (Interlibrary Loan) and the anticipated need for access (how often and by how many faculty members and students will IDS requests be submitted for articles if a subscription is not pursued). In some cases, it will be more cost effective and better service to faculty and students for the Library to subscribe to a journal. In other cases, it may be more cost effective and acceptable to ask faculty and students to submit IDS (Interlibrary Loan) requests for needed articles.

Purchase Request Form for Databases & Journals