Library collection policies

The University of Melbourne Collection Policy 2006

6 Policies and Guidelines

6.1 Electronic Collection Policy

From 1999 the University has had a policy* (word, 61kb) that, where both electronic and print formats of journals are available, electronic access will be preferred, contingent upon acceptable licence and archiving conditions.  Electronic journals, reference materials and increasingly, electronic books (e-books), provide substantial advantages in terms of access, searchability and availability.  Information Services therefore makes a conscious effort to replace print serials with their electronic equivalents.  As a result, print serials subscriptions are reducing as more serials become available in electronic format.  Increasingly, electronic journals are available in interdisciplinary electronic journal packages, offering advantages of searchability, affordability and efficiency.  Information Services also acquires e-books if appropriate purchasing or leasing models are available.

* This policy is undergoing review in 2007.

At times, print subscriptions may remain the preferred option, for example if:

• The electronic back file content is not owned by the University for use in perpetuity. (Cancellation of print subscriptions is contingent upon satisfactory archiving and ongoing access to purchased electronic information, including publisher commitment to technological migration).
• The electronic back file is not equivalent in coverage or content to the print back issues, either because issues are missing, or content is selective rather than complete.
• The image quality of illustrative materials (tables, graphs, photos, illustrations, musical notation, scripts other than English, etc) is inferior and is not adequate for teaching, learning or research, or printing gives unacceptable results. Such instances are reviewed on an annual basis prior to renewal of the print subscription.

6.1.1 Archival Electronic Journal Collections

Increasingly, publishers are digitising backruns of print journals.  These archival collections of journals are evaluated for completeness, quality, and publisher commitment to digital preservation and perpetual access before purchase.  Examples of journals available in secure archival backsets include those of Nature Publishing Group, Wiley, Elsevier, and the American Chemical Society as well as the hundreds of titles available through JSTOR. 

JSTOR http://www.jstor.org/about/ titles are mostly the journals of scholarly societies.  Journals archived in these collections are the full online equivalent of the print journal. JSTOR has also undertaken to preserve full print sets of the journals it digitises.

6.2 Weeding Policy

A weeding policy is in place within University of Melbourne Libraries.  Weeding is the process of keeping collections usable and relevant by continually assessing material in terms of value to the collection, and removing it from open access shelves if necessary.  There are various outcomes from this process; material is relegated to off-site storage or deselected and removed from the catalogue. 

With a collection of over three million volumes, and over 60,000 new volumes acquired by the University each year, weeding is an activity that must take place regularly to ensure students and academics are able to find what they are looking for in the collections. Student feedback from the University of Melbourne Library Client (Rodski) Survey of October 2005 and the Quality of Administrative and Support Services for Students (QASSS) Survey 2005 shows that quality of the collections and ability for students to find what they are looking for in the collections are of prime importance. 

Weeding is particularly appropriate in large undergraduate collections where copies of outdated material can be mistaken for current editions; and new material can be difficult to find due to overcrowding and consequent slowness of reshelving.  It is also relevant in large research libraries where size of the collection and low levels of usage of older material is increasing the need to weed and relegate material from open access shelving to lower use locations, thus maximising the usability of the open access collection. 

Weeding policy guidelines - appendix 1

6.3 Donations, Gifts And Bequests Policy

A donations, gifts and bequests policy is in place within University of Melbourne Libraries. 

Donations, gifts and bequests guidelines - appendix 2

6.4 Collection decision-making framework

Information Services has developed a decision-making framework to guide materials relegation decisions as part of the Learning Hubs planning.

Collection decision-making framework - appendix 3

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