Through its collection and
services, Gill Library fully
supports and endorses the mission of
the College as stated in the
catalogs of the four Schools.
PURPOSE OF STATEMENT/PHILOSOPHY
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The purpose of this policy
statement is to provide guidelines
for the selection of library
materials for Gill Library and to
communicate these guidelines to all
members of the College community,
including library staff, faculty,
students and administration.
The
primary goal of the library is to
provide information resources needed
to support the instructional
programs of the College. In
addition, the library makes a
special effort to acquire materials
for general information in areas not
included in the curriculum and
materials needed for research by
faculty and administrators which
will be of long-term value to the
College. The library’s commitment
to collaborative resource
development within the region is
taken seriously as the need to work
cooperatively becomes critical in
light of the explosion of scholarly
information, rising costs, and the
increasing demand for adequate
access to all types of information
by faculty and students. Informed
selection, in distinction to
comprehensiveness, is the major
collection development goal. The
library collects at the 3a (basic
study) and 3b (intermediate study)
levels of the Research Libraries
group (RLG) Conspectus. These
levels support all courses of
undergraduate study and masters’
degree programs as well as more
advanced independent study needs.
The library seeks to keep
current with curriculum changes,
closely monitors trends in advancing
library technologies, and
aggressively supports evolving
cooperative library networks. In
response to these objectives, it is
intended that this collection
development policy statement be
flexible and reviewed regularly by
the library. It is further intended
that this policy statement be
limited to general goals of
selection policy and not to specific
procedures.
Gill Library endorses and
promotes the American Library
Association’s documents on
intellectual freedom as set forth in
The Library Bill of Rights,
The Freedom to Read
Statement, and The
Intellectual Freedom Statement.
Items will not be removed from the
collection at the request of those
who disagree with their content
unless it can be shown to be in
violation of this policy statement.
The Dean is available to discuss the
interpretation and application of
the selection guidelines. Forms for
a request for reconsideration of
library materials are in the Library
File on permanent reserve, in
addition to the above mentioned ALA
Documents.
The library supports the
intent of the September 30, 1994
revision of the copyright law, Title
17 of the United States Code and the
1998 Digital Millennium Copyright
Act. The library retains the right
to reject any request if it is
judged in violation of these
copyright regulations. A copy of
the copyright law is also in the
Library File on permanent reserve.
SELECTION
POLICY
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The library materials
budget is allocated according to
departments, divisions, programs,
and Schools using such factors as
number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE)
students or majors, levels of
programs, costs of imprint, and the
number of books and serials actually
published in a field.
Selection of books and
other library materials, including
electronic resources, is based
primarily on faculty recommendations
and those of librarians assigned to
specific subject areas. Faculty
recommendations are approved first
by the chair of the department,
program director, Dean or other
authorized person. Final authority
for selection rests with the Library
Dean. Factors influencing selection
of both materials and electronic
resources are based on commonly
accepted criteria for quality of
intellectual content in works of
contemporary significance and/or
permanent value as they relate to
the curriculum, to the already
existing collection, and to the
long-range goals of the library’s
collection development.
Systematic collection
development and evaluation insure an
outstanding library collection. A
review judged against qualitative
standards provides the necessary
information in planning for the
development and effective management
of the materials selected.
LIBRARY SERVICES TO THE BRANCHES
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Gill Library supports the
delivery of full library services
for all programs at branch
campuses. Effective services for
these programs are characterized by
a high degree of diversity; these
services are subject to rapid change
and often differ from traditional
practices. The collection at the
branch campuses vary according to
the requirements of the
instructional programs and the needs
of the students. Textbooks may be
added to these collections in
response to defined needs. All
materials are selected by the
librarians at each campus in
consultation with the teaching staff
and with the approval of the Library
Dean. Each campus has online access
to the complete holdings of Gill
Library and other academic and
public libraries in the Westchester
area. Online databases and
information services, in addition to
InterLibrary Loan services,
effectively meet the wide range of
different information needs for
students and faculty at branch
campuses.
LIBRARY
MATERIALS: SPECIAL AREAS
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Reference Materials
The Library’s reference
collection is designed to meet the
basic research, verification,
location, and information needs of
the college community. An attempt
is made to provide basic reference
works in subject areas contained in
or overlapping the curriculum areas,
as well as those subject fields
common to general information
requests. Specialized types of
reference materials collected by
Gill Library include: encyclopedias,
dictionaries, handbooks, indexes and
abstracts, bibliographies,
directories, guides, statistical
sources, and compilations insofar as
they support the coursework of the
four Schools of the College.
Verification and location tools are
also collected to facilitate
InterLibrary Loan activities.
Electronic
Resources and Services
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The Library utilizes a
variety of electronic information
resources. These include materials
on CD-ROM as well as access to
online services such as abstracts or
indexes, full-text databases,
document delivery, and the Gill
Library Catalog. The Library offers
selected Internet Resources on the
Library Homepage.
Periodicals, Newspapers,
Microforms
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Periodicals and serials
are selected to meet the needs of
the curricula for all four Schools
of the College. These materials
include specific titles related to
the undergraduate and graduate
programs of the College and other
titles relating to current affairs
and areas of general interest. In
addition, the collection supports
some research needs of faculty and
staff.
The newspaper collection
reflects the need for current
information on a local and national
basis within the budgetary
restraints of the department.
Titles in foreign languages are
included to enhance the learning
experience for the students.
The microform collection
is intended to replace the paper
issues of newspapers, to enhance the
runs of titles through the inclusion
of back runs, and to supplement
paper copies where heavy usage,
loss, and mutilation is incurred.
Where appropriate, other titles are
acquired in microforms.
Continuations
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Continuations, together
with Periodicals, provide the core
collection of serials, or
publications which are issued more
than once. Continuance at Gill
includes monographic series,
supplements, yearbooks, proceedings
of conferences, and reference-type
publications such as bibliographic
and periodical indexes. Because
continuations represent a
substantial commitment of future
funds, selection must be
discriminating in relation to other
publications in the same subject
area. There will be periodic review
for purposes of reevaluation.
Media
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In consultation with the
teaching faculty in all subject
areas, the library acquires media in
accordance with the guidelines
established for the selection of
printed materials. With such
guidelines, the library selects or
responds to faculty requests for
audiocassettes, videocassettes,
DVD’s, slide sets, media kits, and
other multi-media instructional
materials.
Special Collections
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Special book collections
of Gill Library include the Thomas
More, James Joyce, and Ursuline
Collections; also included is a
miscellaneous group of rare or
unusual items which comprise the
"Special Collection." These special
book collections were acquired
through purchase and donation and
include many pre-1800 imprints and
numerous first, signed, or limited
editions. The special book
collections are supplemented by
on-going purchase of materials, as
well as by gifts. The Thomas More,
James Joyce, and Ursuline
Collections are maintained as
special-subject book collections
with significant research value.
Acquisitions include both new
publications in the subject areas
and rarer items, which will fill
gaps in the three collections.
Gifts
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The library encourages
gifts of useful materials with the
understanding that the Dean
determines their ultimate
disposition. This agreement is to
be made known at the time the gift
is accepted. Upon request, gifts
are acknowledged in writing with a
copy kept in the Dean’s office.
Legally the library cannot provide
official appraisals of gifts for tax
or inheritance purposes.
Archives
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The College Archive is the
depository of the permanent official
and non-official records of the
College. These records have been
judged by the Archivist to be worthy
of preservation for their
administrative, fiscal, historical,
or legal value. The College Archive
promotes knowledge and understanding
of the origins, aims, programs,
growth and development of the
College; provides information
services to assist the operation of
the College; and serves the purposes
of research and scholarship by
making its collections available and
encouraging their use. Gill Library
also houses the Zierer Archive which
is a special collection in art
therapy.
Conservation/Preservation
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Given the inherently
fragile nature of books and other
library materials and the hazards of
environmental conditions (both
general and particular), a major
challenge facing all library
collections is planning for
long-term conservation/preservation
and for unforeseen disasters. Gill
Library holdings have undergone both
general and specialized
conservation/preservation surveys.
A written College disaster plan is
on file. Gill Library is committed
to the best possible
conservation/preservation policies
and measures appropriate to the
collection.
Revised
and Approved October 2001
