College and Research Libraries Collection Development Strategies for a University Center Library Charlene S. Hurt, Laura 0. Rein, Maureen S. Connors, John C. Walsh, and Anna C. Wu Building a new library and developing an entirely new collection is al- ways a daunting task. When the intent is to make that library a uniquely integrated component within a university center for student life, and to make the collection a pioneering one combining multiculturalism, diver- sity, and core texts, the task becomes even more challenging. This pa- per examines in detail the processes, policies, and procedures used to develop the collection of just such a library. n 1990 the librarians of George Mason University (GMU) ac- cepted the challenge to de- velop a unique collection of materials for a new kind of library. The university proposed to build a combined library I student center which would both literally and figuratively become the cen- ter of campus. The University Center Li- brary (UCL) would combine a state-of- the-art electronic library and media cen- ter with a teaching library focused on re- sources for the general education require- ments of the undergraduate curriculum. This centrally located new building would sit just a block away from the ex- isting main library. GMU is a state-supported graduate- level university with nearly 24,000 stu- dents, more than 7,000 of whom are graduate students, and has more than 100 degree-granting programs. It is the only state-supported university in northern Virginia, which has a large, well-edu- cated, suburban population and a signifi- cant information industry base, as well as strong ties to the nation's capital. The university, founded as a branch of the University of Virginia in 1957 and char- tered as an independent university in 1972, is developing campuses with de- fined centers of excellence in the three largest counties in northern Virginia. The library system supports all of the cam- puses, primarily through provision of a wide variety of electronic resources and specialized librarian reference/ research assistance at each site. Given the rapid growth of its parent institution and the need to serve multiple campuses with limited resources, the li- brary system emphasizes access to infor- mation and provision of electronic, net- worked sources of information. It also Charlene S. Hurt is Director of Libraries at George Mason University (GMU), Fairfax, Virginia; Laura 0. Rein is Director of Eden- Webster Libraries, St. Louis, Missouri; Maureen S. Connors is Social Sci- ences Reference/Liaison Librarian at GMU's Fenwick Library; John C. Walsh is Associate Librarian for Collection Development at GMU Libraries; Anna C. Wu is Assistant Engineering Librarian at Purdue University's Siegesmund Engineering Library, West Lafayette, Indiana. 487 488 College & Research Libraries avoids duplicating the collection strengths of its various sites or of libraries with which it has resource-sharing agreements. The li- brary system is a founding member of the Washington Research Library Consortium and the Virginia Academic Library Con- sortium. A primary goal for the new library is the relief of overcrowding in the main campus library, Fenwick, as well as the expansion of Fenwick into a more re- search-centered library. The UCL would provide an attractive alternative for li- brary users not needing extensive access to print collections. The decision was made to design a library that combined elements of an undergraduate library, a media center, and an electronic library. Early in the design process, the largest part of the library became a "library with- out walls," a place where users could freely move among food and other auxil- iary services, student organization offices, library stacks, and seating. The guiding principle was that of providing an envi- A faculty task force on the library of the 21st century had recommended that the library system pursue a vision of an electronic library while simultaneously developing a library that could serve the needs of a growing research program. ronrnent in which students might expe- rience something of a microcosm of their lives at GMU. While there are many stud- ies on the development and administra- tion of undergraduate libraries, there are no eXisting models for designing a uni- versity center library, which will attempt to bring together all the various compo- nents of the college experience under a single roof. 1'2 Concurrent with the planning of the University Center was a re-examination of the general studies curriculum of the university, which led to the development of a set of core courses emphasizing November 1995 interdisciplinarity and diverse cultural perspectives. Librarians served on each of the curriculum development commit- tees, and helped identify materials in all formats necessary to support the core cur- riculum. Ultimately, this core curriculum was not adopted across the entire cam- pus, but the principles that went into its formation continued to illuminate collec- tion development decisions for the UCL. There were many factors considered in deciding what kinds of materials to col- lect for the UCL. The most important of these were that the materials: • support the general education com- ponent of the undergraduate curriculum; • be consciously selected to support the growing tendency toward interdisci- plinary and multicultural curricula; • support the increasingly active role the library was playing in the develop- ment of courses using technology and multimedia; • be electronic and networked when- ever possible; • not needlessly duplicate the hold- ings of the main library but could do so when multiple copies were likely to be needed by patrons; and • mirror in format and content, whenever possible, the overall ambiance of the building: casual, multicultural, and student centered.3 The general description of the collect- ing philosophy became "what you would buy for the library of a 21st-century citi- zen of the world if you could create ali- brary of approximately 100,000 volumes." Additionally, a decision was made not to view the library as an archival collection, because security in the building would not support such a view and because that function would continue to be performed by the main library. On occasion, the phrase "disposable collection" has been used in order to emphasize the commit- ment of librarians and the university ad- ministration to the development of a working collection that would evolve with the needs of the university's pro- grams. Faculty of the university were involved in planning for the new library, even in its early, preconceptual stages. A faculty task force on the library of the 21st cen- tury had recommended that the library system pursue a vision of an electronic library while simultaneously developing a library that could serve the needs of a growing research program. Faculty have served on committees that developed the building program for the new structure, and continue to play an active role in de- cisions regarding the University Center's programming, organization, and mission. The library system was eager to bring faculty into the collection development process because there was substantial expertise available, and because the en- thusiastic support of the work of the library by faculty would be key to its success. Collection Development Plan and Strategies With support from the provost, the direc- tor of libraries chartered a faculty task force in 1992 to advise the library on the formation and implementation of a col- lection development policy. Faculty members were chosen based on their knowledge of various cultural areas and their expertise on regions of the world. A task force of librarians, with subject ex- pertise from the humanities, social sci- ences, and physical sciences, was also appointed to serve as a working group for the actual drafting of the policy and the development of the collection. Soon after the formation of the faculty commit- tee and working group, the head of col- lection development, who chaired both, determined that both groups would func- tion more effectively as a joint task force. The joint task force meets regularly throughout the academic year to discuss collection development strategies, while the working group of librarians meets fre- quently to monitor the process. Collection Development 489 Collection Development Policy Formation of the actual collection devel- opment policy statement began in the ini- tial meetings of the faculty advisory com- mittee and the working group. Utilizing both recent and current undergraduate education curriculum initiatives at the university, the working group drafted a preliminary document to share with the faculty advisory committee. This was a thorough presentation of the initial goals, detailing all of the areas of diversity, mul- ticulturalism, core and foundation texts, and general education guidelines that were pertinent. After two planning meet- ings with the faculty advisory group, the librarians decided to distill the official policy statement down to its essentials. This would avoid any possible miscon- ceptions that the collection would target any particular areas or disciplines. Through three or four subsequent drafts, the task force pared down the "Collection Strengths" section to its essential two components: 1) representative original texts and secondary materials that reflect North American, global, and thematic diversity; and 2) foundation texts in pri- mary fields of study. (Complete policy statements are available from the au- thors.) Instead of itemizing diversity by type or theme, or listing multiculturalism by regional ethnicity, the task force decided upon the first statement listed above. Similarly, the task force chose "founda- tion texts in primary fields of study" rather than list such areas as introductory texts, general education, and classic texts. The more detailed documentation, how- ever, still provided working guidelines for the task force. The "General Selection Guidelines" section of the policy was less difficult to conceptualize and included several com- ponents. The task force decided that origi- nal texts should comprise the majority of the collection. Languages taught at GMU would be well represented in the collec- tion, mostly in literary works, to comple- 490 College & Research Libraries ment the university's new initiative of teaching foreign languages across the curriculum. Strong emphases are being placed upon multimedia, including film and interactive discs, and upon electronic resources, particularly those that are full text. In fact, when the full strength of 100,000 volumes is reached by the end of the decade, it is envisioned that although the collection will continue to expand greatly, it will do so mainly in electronic formats. Faculty Involvement A key strategy in building a collection is, of course, to involve faculty as much as possible. First, the task force sent memos to all faculty requesting reading lists to allow selectors to benefit fully from the instructors' subject expertise and knowl- edge of sources. The task force encour- aged faculty to add or delete items and to make notes regarding materials. In addition to reading lists, it was helpful to examine reserve lists from undergradu- ate courses to identify titles for purchase, since these items already had been deemed core items. A similar strategy is planned to examine supplementary read- ings for sale in the bookstore for under- graduate classes and to collect those that fit the collection emphases. These strate- gies closely involve faculty, either directly or indirectly, in the selection of materials and ensure that the collection is relevant to university teaching. The task force also wanted to seek input from other campus groups, including students and commit- tees concerned with undergraduate edu- cation. Foremost of the groups currently in- volved with expanding undergraduate educational options is a zero-base curricu- lum task force. This task force is charged with totally redesigning the undergradu- ate learning environment, beginning with 200 students in a self-paced learning track.4 Composed of three divisions, this program will offer units on higher edu- cation, the tangible world, society, and the November 1995 individual and self. In addition, learning communities will be formed to study and teach various themes, e.g., utopias, vio- lence. A final division will be closely tied to the majors and involve internships and cooperative and site-based learning. The UCL will offer integral support to this new program, through both its collection and its teaching mission. The collection will be augmented and changed as the curriculum changes, and staff will offer intensive bibliographic instruction to help students meet their research require- ments. As noted earlier, a great many teaching faculty and librarians were in- volved in a former general education task force, identifying several hundred core titles appropriate for undergraduate study. All of these items are now part of the main library's collection and are likely candidates for transfer to the new library. Other campus groups representing cur- ricular innovations such as the PAGE (Plan for Alternative General Education) Program and Mason Scholars (program for exceptionally gifted students) will also be consulted. In addition to faculty reading lists and input from other campus groups, core bibliographies need to be examined in order to build up a strong retrospective collection. Books for College Libraries is still the most important single source for un- dergraduate collections. It does have limi- tations in that it is dated and somewhat weighted toward the humanities, but it can also be very useful in identifying core foundation works that may then be pur- chased in their latest editions. Faculty in- volvement in the process ensures that se- lections are relevant. A recent, extensive bibliography for ethnic studies collection development is the Choice Ethnic Review Series, including African American Studies, Latino Studies, and Native American Stud- ies. More reviews are slated for publica- tion and should prove beneficial. Multi- cultural Review is also useful, as are such various handbooks as African American Masterpieces and The Reader's Adviser, to help identify ethnic literature and re- gional or country studies. In combination with other strategies, selections from ba- sic bibliographies fulfill an important role in developing a balanced collection. Key Series and Sets Identification Another excellent strategy is the identifi- cation of key series and sets. Series and sets may be customized to the collection development policy, but might include such standards as the Cambridge history sets; Cambridge thematic, literary, and philosophy sets; the PBS NOVA videotape collection; Great Books of the Western World; Encyclopedia of World Cultures; Library of America; Annals of America; and Modern Library. Series may include such titles as Feminist Press's Cross-Cultural Memoirs, Smithsonian Studies in the History of Film and Television, MacMillan Modern Novelists, G.K. Hall's Critical Essays on British Litera- ture, Hill and Wang's Critical Issue Series, and the Virago Press series of women writers. A particularly interesting project for this collection was the collecting of works of all Nobel Peace and Literature Prize winners in both the original language of the author and the English translation. For many of the most significant litera- ture prize winners, this included all cur- rently available works. The task force treated other writers somewhat more se- lectively, though usually including a large majority of their works. Unfortunately, for many of the early prize winners, there is very little still in print. For the Peace lau- reates, there is much less available, since many had not written for publication or had published research too advanced for undergraduate study. However, there is still a rich body of literature to choose from, and the resulting collection is an excellent selection of culturally diverse works of literature in several languages that encourage independent and collabo- rative study, as well as both breadth and depth of research. Similar projects could be undertaken to identify groups of great Collection Development 491 thinkers/writers of certain areas of the world, both past and present. Approval Plans To capitalize on the collection develop- ment efficiency of approval plans, the task force looked at the possibility of using ap- proval plans in the initial planning stages. Though the efficiency of approval plans was appealing, there were legitimate con- cerns about the limited subject terms in existing plans, particularly in the areas dealing with diversity. At the outset, sev- eral questions arose. Should approval plans be used at all? If so, would more than one vendor be used? Would the ven- dors be willing to use GMU-selected sub- jects rather than limit the selection to their . subject terms? Key to the decision was the determination that librarians, rather than the vendors, would select the gen- Faculty involvement in the process ensures that selections are relevant. eral areas and the specific subjects of any possible approval plan. The task force ex- plored two components of a potential approval plan. A cultural diversity com- ponent of the plan would ideally include literature; political, social, cultural, and economic issues; geographic areas; and thematic studies. The task force's vision of the literature collection is one of original works of au- thors representing North American cul- tural diversity as well as authors repre- senting world cultural diversity. The po- litical, social, cultural, and economic is- sues of diversity include collecting works on cultural studies, ethnic relations, civil rights, human rights, racism, sports and leisure studies, separatist movements, genocide studies, and intercultural rela- tions. Wide representation of geographic areas including North America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, the Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, Russia, and Eastern Europe is a major tenet of the col- 492 College & Research Libraries lection. However, the overall emphasis of the collection will be on works represent- ing North American cultural diversity in all of its multicultural and multiethnic facets. Thematic studies include works on indigenous peoples, gender studies, and religions of the world, as well as other themes relating to the multifaceted sub- ject of cultural diversity. The challenge for the task force in- volved translating its vision of these themes to the vendors of approval plans. Representatives of two approval plans met with the committee to outline their proposals. During the course of these meetings, the task force began to focus on which vendor could 1) best match the cri- teria for both the general themes and spe- cific subjects, and 2) provide a person who would supervise the assessment and evaluation of titles selected. Both vendors presented attractive plans, and the task force considered a combination of plans In the case of multimedia, new and different criteria and selection sources will need to be established and consulted to ensure coverage of this rapidly developing and prolifer- ating medium, especially in the area of full-text materials. by using the best of each alternative. However, chiefly because of the real pos- sibility of much duplication, the task force decided to use one vendor. The guarantee of personal supervision of the plan and flexibility in meeting the request for titles matching the general thematic approaches convinced the collection de- velopment committee that a unique ap- proach to collecting for the UCL was pos- sible, and an approval plan was imple- mented. The diversity portion of the plan provides the titles envisioned by the col- lection development task force to form the basis of a unique collection based on the many facets of cultural diversity. A second component of the approval plan was necessary to cover the founda- November 1995 tion or "core" texts in the major disci- plines of the undergraduate curriculum. For the purpose of focusing the approval plan, the task force consulted with selec- tors to arrive at a working definition of core texts: foundation or core texts are books that have generally been recog- nized or accepted as providing funda- mental knowledge about a discipline or part of a discipline, giving interpretation and context. They may be written by theorists, practitioners, or key writers, and should be appropriate for nonspe- cialist readers, specifically under- graduates. Foundation texts in the fields of science, engineering, and tech- nology may or may not include prob- lem sets and exercises. This plan was set up to include intro- ductory titles such as Introduction to Com- puter Engineering or Elementary Differen- tial Equations. With this definition, a copy of the course catalog, and a copy of the collection policy statement, the vendor started sending slips for selection, which initially included retrospective titles dat- ing back to 1990. The working group as a whole reviewed the forms, and support for the approval plan has been over- whelmingly positive. The working group quickly remedied a few minor problems, such as elimination forms for children's titles. The foundation text portion of the plan has been instrumental in building up core titles from 1990 to the present. Procedures have also been implemented to coordi- nate the library's main approval plan with the smaller plan. Subject specialists routinely review books on the main plan to determine whether a foundation text belongs in the UCL or in Fenwick Library. In many cases, a title may be chosen for both libraries, and procedures for this are in place. Duplication The issue of duplication between the two collections arose early in the deliberations and generated much discussion. A certain amount of duplication is both necessary and desirable, but these considerations must be made at each step in the process. Initially, with limited funds, the task force focused on ordering unique titles for the UCL. As more funds became available, however, the task force developed guide- lines for the selectors to help them decide when to order duplicates. It was decided that Fenwick Library, as the archival re- search library, should have a copy of all titles most appropriate for advanced un- dergraduate and graduate research study. The UCL would be the choice for all titles that fall within the scope of its collection development policy and are expressly targeted to beginning researchers. In the many cases that are not clear cut or may overlap, selectors are instructed to choose the title for Fenwick Library and to order a second copy for the UCL if the title is deemed important. The notable excep- tions to these guidelines are the UCL' s massive reserve component and certain areas of literature, which will be largely composed of duplicate titles. To take ad- vantage of existing duplicate titles within the Fenwick collection, the systems office generated a list of titles in the collection that have two or more copies. This list, divided by call number, was reviewed by the selectors, who selected titles to be tagged and transferred to the new collec- tion. In addition to using existing re- sources, this strategy has the advantage of tp.itigating space problems in the main library. A closely related strategy involves reviewing books that are donated to the library for possible addition to the new collection. Media Selection Another strategy involves selecting me- dia resources. Though the entire media collection will move from the main library to the UCL, it will still be necessary to en- sure that the new library has a balance of formats covering those areas outlined in the collection development policy. Selec- tors chose hundreds of films from na- Collection Development 493 tional and oppositional cinemas through- out the world for purchase in VHS or la- ser disk format, as well as many docu- mentaries and experimental films deal- ing with areas of diversity. Recordings of ethnic and indigenous music and dance, representing cultures around the world, are being identified for purchase as well. In the case of multimedia, new and dif- ferent criteria and selection sources will need to be established and consulted to ensure coverage of this rapidly develop- ing and proliferating medium, especially in the area of full-text materials. A final strategy involves selecting elec- tronic databases and full-text resources for the UCL, which means that the new library must keep abreast of the many text-encoding initiatives and projects rap- idly developing and proliferating today. Most, if not all, of the selected databases would duplicate what is already available in the main library, and the task force plans to expand existing networking li- censes to include the new library. These electronic resources will include a vari- ety of bibliographic, full-text, and image databases that will make the integrated scholar workstation a reality. Statistical Profile To monitor the selection process and en- sure balance among subject areas and for- mats, the working group developed a detailed record-keeping system in order to provide an accurate, ongoing statisti- cal profile of the collection. The working group assigned each item ordered to one of eighteen categories within North American, global or thematic diversity, or to one of three areas under foundation texts. Each item then was also assigned to either humanities, social science, or sci- ence materials, and listed as either book or nonbook. Large sets of materials in pa- per (Great Books of the Western World) or in electronic format (Library of the Future) were counted as many individual works. Keeping this snapshot view of the collec- tion allows the committee to concentrate 494 College & Research Libraries on the development of certain areas of the collection from year to year. After developing initial strategies, set- ting priorities, and putting policies into place, collection development for a new library is easily incorporated into exist- ing procedures. It was recently decided, after much discussion among the librar- ians in the working group (particularly with the newest member, the University While the real test will occur only after the library opens, the collection development plan appears to support the library's response to the new educational challenges of the 21st century. Center librarian) to mesh much of the se- lection process with that of the main li- brary. This would allow the bulk of the selection to be done by the subject spe- cialists, many of whom are part of the working group. The selection areas that remain separate from the main library's collection development process include the diversity approval plan and a media fund. Conclusion This paper outlines the basic strategies that a task force developed to build a core collection of multicultural, foundation, and multimedia materials for a state-of- the-art electronic University Center Li- brary. The basic strategies pursued by the task force in designing and implement- ing the collection development plan can be summarized as follows: • drafting a collection development policy that lays out the fundamental ob- jectives and sets up essential guidelines for the collection, • involving faculty members in the collection process to guarantee that the collection meets the demands of univer- sity curriculum and campus teaching needs, • examining core bibliographies to construct a solid retrospective component ------- - ---- --------- - - - -, November i995 of the collection, especially in the humani- ties and social sciences, • identifying key series and sets to keep the collection up to date and to pur- chase the most relevant new publications, and • establishing an approval plan to take advantage of subject profiling and timely notification. Planning a collection for a new library requires a full and thorough understand- ing of the mission of the new library and the clientele it will serve. Preliminary use of the collection indicates that the initial collection development policy and pro- cedures have been successful. According to a recent ARL study, "seventy-four per- cent of responding libraries said that eth- nic materials are in demand." 5 Both the multicultural and foundation portions of the collection are currently stored in closed stacks until the opening of the li- brary. Statistics for patron requests, which are filled within twenty-four hours, indi- cate that a large portion of the collection is heavily used. While the real test will occur only after the library opens, the col- lection development plan appears to sup- port the library's response to the new educational challenges of the 21st century. As Larry Hardesty and Collette Mak point out in "Searching for the Holy Grail," there is little consensus among li- braries on core undergraduate collec- tions.6 However, thanks to the joint efforts of the task force and faculty members, and the full support of the library adminis- tration, the collection development strat- egies mentioned above are working very well for the new University Center Li- brary at George Mason University. These strategies could be customized to meet the needs of other institutions undergoing similar developments. Preparing for the future in higher education is always a challenging and intricate process, but with careful planning and widespread involvement of the campus community, it may be a rewarding one as well. Collection Development 495 Notes 1. For additional information see, Roland Conrad Person, A New Path: Undergraduate Libraries at United States and Canadian Universities, 1949-1987 (New York: Greenwood Pr., 1988); Patricia Tarin, "The Good, the Undergrad, and the UGLi," Library Journal115 (Oct. 1990): 51; Carla Stoffle, "ANew Library for the New Undergraduate," Library Journal115 (Oct. 1990): 47-50; and Larry Hardesty, Faculty and the Library: The Undergraduate Experience (Norwood, N.J.: Ablex Pub- lishing, 1991). 2. For additional information on the University Center Library, see Charlene S. Hurt, "A Vision of the Library of the 21st Century," Journal of Library Administration 15 (Mar./ Apr. 1991): 7-10. 3. See for example, Otis Chadley, "Addressing Cultural Diversity in Academic and Research Libraries," College & Research Libraries 53 (May 1992): 206-14; Karan Parrish and William Katz, Multicultural Acquisitions (New York: Haworth Pr., 1993); and Donald Riggs and Patricia Tarin, Cultural Diversity in Libraries (New York: Neal- Schuman, 1994). 4. See the following for more information on similar efforts to restructure the curriculum: Paul Astin, Interdisciplinarity: Education for Social Consciousness, ERIC Document Reproduction Service, no. ED 283450 (1986); Leon Botstein, "Structuring Specialization As a Form of General Education," Liberal Education 77 (Mar./ Apr. 1991): 10-19; Renewing Undergraduate Education: Rec- ommendations from the Irvine Group, ERIC Document Reproduction Service, no. ED 328194 (1990); and William Toombs and William Tierney, Meeting the Mandate: Reviewing the College and Depart- mental Curriculum ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report, no. 6. ERIC Document Reproduction Service, no. ED 345603 (1991). 5. Chadley, "Addressing Cultural Diversity," 211. 6. Larry Hardesty and Collette Mak, "Searching for the Holy Grail: A Core Collection for Undergraduate Libraries," Journal of Academic Librarianship 19 (Sept. 1993): 362-71. lJseiNTERNETto U ( n over ... UnCover UnCover UnCover UnCover 50S 6 million articles from Reveal Complete Order articles by fax, 20,000 multidisciplinary Electronic TOC Pre-1989 journals phone, e-mail or post periodicals delivered by service with can be ordered from UnCover's Single fax in 24 hours or less user profiling online Order Source service The UnCover Company E-mail: uncover@carl.org 380 I East Florida Avenue, Suite 200 0 Denver, CO 8021 0, USA Phone: 1-800-787-7979 0 Fax: 303-758-5946 Readmore, Inc. unea..r . .. Articles 22 Cortlandt Street New York, NY I 0007 Phone: 1-800-221-3306 UnCover is a service of Readmore, Inc. 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