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Collection Development and Management Manual CSULB

Policy and procedures on collection development and management at CSULB

Scope and Background: The Library’s University Award Recognition Program is designed to recognize those faculty honorees of the University Achievement Awards as announced each spring.  The Library will purchase a book or media title in honor of, and recommended by, the faculty honorees. The program has been active when the Dean decides that there are sufficient funds.

Responsibility: The Dean appoints an individual to contact the awardees and to convey their chosen title information to Technical Services for acquisition and processing in consultation with the Library Faculty member in that discipline.

Funding, Acquisition, and Processing: Funding is Determined by the Library Dean. Each item receives a special bookplate, and a local Subject Heading in the Library’s catalog:  In honor of Faculty Members Name, Award Name, YYYY {Award Year}. See example of congratulations letter in Appendix F: Awardee Letters.

Definition & Background: The CSULB Library Children's Collection is a tribute to Isabel Patterson’s generosity and interest in early childhood education. Isabel Patterson was a 1951 graduate of CSULB, who became a teacher in Long Beach and through investments she became a millionaire and a philanthropist. In 1973, she donated funds to create the Isabel Patterson Child Development Center, and in 1979 she funded the beginnings of the Children’s Collection through the Isabel Patterson Memorial Fund. Her work was enhanced and approved with the support of Sylvia Maxson, and associate professor of English and the wife of former CSULB President Robert Maxson (1994-2006). The focus of her work was children’s literature.

The Collection includes K-12 textbooks, children’s and young adult literature including award winners (Newbery; Caldecott; Coretta Scott King; ALA Notables; Boston Globe/Horn Book; Batchelder; NY Times Best Illustrated; and School Library Journal Best Books; and others), as well as reflecting the ethnic and multicultural diversity of CSULB community.

Responsibility: A selector designated by the Dean shall have responsibility for the collection.

Funding: The collection is funded as part of the regular book budget and is greatly augmented by gifts.  The Hegis for the collection is 0141.

Processing: All children’s books are cataloged with JUV on the spine label and with locations of Children’s Picture, Children’s Fiction, Children’s Non-Fiction, Children’s Poetry, Young Adult Fiction, Children’s Video,Children's Audiobooks, Children’s Readers, Children's Braille, Children’s Text, or Children’s Oversize.  All are located in the Children’s Collection on the 2nd floor except for select Critics’ Choice.  There is also a small Children’s Rare collection housed in the office within the Children’s Collection as well as locked glass cases, which includes older rare titles as well as delicate items such as pop-up books.  Also included in the children's collection is a K-12 curriculum collection of K-12 textbooks.

Critics’ Choice Collection [formerly Best Sellers and Audiobooks]

Scope and Background:  Critics’ Choice replaces the Best Seller print collection that has been part of the Library for a long time. The Best Sellers collection began as a leased collection. The Library automatically leased two copies of each title on the Los Angeles Times best seller list. This LA Times list was reviewed monthly. During difficult economic times the Library would buy a single copy of these best sellers. This collection was popular with the campus community and circulation rates were high.

Goals:  The goal of this collection is to acquire current fiction and non-fiction of interest to a broad base of campus users and that fit within the scope of an academic library. This collection includes titles that have been well-reviewed by respected publications or have won major awards. Titles are collected in print, e-book, and audio formats. While many of these titles may appear on best seller lists, the driving philosophy is to create a well-rounded collection of critically acclaimed current fiction and non-fiction that will have longevity in our General Collection.

A related Audiobooks Collection grew out of our awareness that we had a lot of students and University employees who were commuting long distances. At ALA we saw subscription programs for audiobooks and decided it would be a complement to our print Best Sellers Collection. The collection began with cassettes and then CDs and now is embracing the new technology of digital audio.

Responsibility: A selector assigned by the Dean.

Funding: The funding for this collection is determined annually. The collection tools that will be consulted include: The New York Times Editor’s Choice weekly lists, The Sunday Times (London) and the Los Angeles Times Book Review, and winners of major book awards such as the Pulitzers and the National Book Award. In addition, the bibliographer for this collection will note those exceptional best seller titles that rise to the level of popular culture and purchase those titles. Librarians are invited to make recommendations to the bibliographer of this collection. The circulation of each title in this collection is reviewed every six months to determine when that title can be withdrawn or moved to the General Stacks.  The circulation of these titles is used by the Collection Development Officer to determine annual funding.

Acquisitions: In the spring of 2014 a subscription was set up for eBooks and eAudio. The bibliographer of the collection uses that website to place orders. Print books are ordered through Technical Services, and may be purchased from a variety of vendors.

Definition & Background: Faculty publications are those separately published, produced, or presented items written or created by members of the faculty of CSULB, such as books, films, websites, and databases (but not journal articles).

Responsibility: Library Faculty may acquire those faculty publications in their areas of responsibility which are appropriate to the needs of the University community.

Funding: Faculty publications are purchased with normal departmentally assigned funds; there is no separate funding for them.  The Library may also accept the gift donation of a faculty publication.

Processing: Library Selectors will notify Technical Services that an item is a faculty publication. In the Library’s catalog, each faculty publication acquired will be identified by the local subject heading:  California State University, Long Beach.  Faculty publications.

Definition & Background:  The Government Documents collection includes U.S. documents and California state documents:

  • Federal: CSULB University Library, as a selective depository in the FDLP (Federal Depository Library Program), is adapting to a major shift in the FDLP program toward a comprehensive digital framework. This transition significantly impacts the distribution and availability of print documents across the nation, underscoring a move towards more accessible and efficient electronic formats. As of 2024, with the GPO's initiation of a Digital First Program, CSULB University Library is now focusing on acquiring only digital formats, although it continues to maintain its existing collection of print, microform, CD-ROM, and DVDs. Government materials are accessed primarily through our subscription to Marcive’s Documents Without Shelves, which offers records for electronic U.S. documents provided by the Government Printing Office. The government materials collection profile at CSULB University Library is developed through the FDLP, utilizing a list of item numbers from the List of Classes (ISSN 0882-4045). The electronic List of Classes can be found at: https://www.fdlp.gov/file-repository/763/list-classes. The University Library’s Item Selection Profile is reviewed on an annual basis for additions and deletions. 
  • State:  The California documents are not acquired through the FDLP. The Government Documents Librarian reviews the monthly California State Publications List found on the California State Library web site at the following address: https://www.library.ca.gov/government-publications/ca-publications/. Only electronic publications are chosen from this monthly list. The selected items are then forwarded to the Government Documents staff person in Technical Services for addition into the catalog.

Responsibility: Primary responsibility for the selection of U.S. and California state documents is under the appointed Government Documents Librarian.  Technical Services processes all items.

Funding: Marcive’s Documents Without Shelves is an annual subscription service. Other funding for the collection comes from the annual monograph and media allocation. The Government Documents Hegis is 2203.

Processing and Location: The U.S. and California documents collection can be accessed through the CSULB online catalog, OneSearch. All of the physical, U.S. and Calfornia documents are housed on the 2nd Floor of the University Library. All locations are reflected in OneSearch. A large part of the collection is openly accessible electronic materials.

Disposal and Weeding: The mandated disposal instructions for all State and Federal documents are created by the California State Library, Government Publications Section. See the following link: https://www.library.ca.gov/government-publications/federal-depository/disposal-instructions/. Also, the Federal Depository Library Program Instructions for Weeding a Depository Collection: https://www.fdlp.gov/guidance/weeding-depository-collection

 

Background: The curricular needs of various department and childhood education create a need for this literary format. 

Acquisitions: This collection is purchased by librarians, as any other collection, and charged to the appropriate departmental hegis. This collection includes comics, Manga, and other visual arts books from our collection, housed together for enhanced browsing capabilities. Current information can be found on the graphic novels LibGuide: https://csulb.libguides.com/graphicnovelscollection

Scope: Printed (flat, folded, bulky) maps and oversize or reference atlases and supplemental items (indexes, booklets), that due to browsing, shelving and retrieval use, are not amenable to traditional book stacks or storage. It only pertains to the items that require the Map Collection as a particular location and not to electronic/online selections or maps/atlases selected for other areas of the library.

Background: Since the beginning of the University, the Collection has been built from Federal and State government depository items, commercial purchases and user donations and transfers from other academic departments (e.g. Geography)

Goals: It is the intention that the Map Collection shall:

  • support the instructional mission of CSULB Faculty;
  • support research needs of students; and
  • support some of the associated interests of the local community.

Responsibility: The Library Faculty member who is the Geography/Cartography subject specialist primarily selects maps for the Collection. Library Faculty whose departments have an interest in such materials may also select items and have them located in the Map Collection, but should consult with the Geography/Cartography subject specialist.

Funding and Donations: Maps are purchased from the Hegis fund designated by the Library Faculty member ordering the material. Donations follow the usual library procedures.

Materials Acquired: 

  • Maps and atlases concentrating on a local, regional or national emphasis and thematic atlases are selected based on CSULB research and instructional needs.
  • Also continually acquired are select Automobile Club maps of California and a decreasing flow of US GPO Depository items including USGS topographic maps of the western U.S. states, CIA maps, State Department maps.

Review: Per purchasing subject specialist purview.

Bookplates: Per Library procedure for Atlases; and a case-by-case basis for maps if it does not hinder access to content.

Scope:  The Charles E. Masback Memorial Collection (Masback Collection) is a collection of English language books and periodicals of science fiction (SF) and fantastic literature, including what is marketed or described as science fiction, fantasy, dark fantasy, horror, terror, and ghost stories. Contained within the designation of the “Masback Collection” are two separate collections:

  • Recreational Collection:  Contains mass market paperbacks, currently housed in one of the Library’s reading rooms, shelved by author.  Some volumes of this collection may be located in ORCA.
  • Special Collections: Includes both the Masback Periodical Collection, containing SF periodicals, mostly post-World War II digest size; and as well as certain monographic titles, especially identified following the Library’s collection development policies on Special Collections materials.  These materials are supplemental to those in the David N. Samuelson Science Fiction Magazine Collection.

Background:  The collection, a memorial to Charles E. Masback, a CSULB graduate, was established by his father Dr. Frederic J. Masback, Professor Emeritus of English, and his late wife Leona.  Dr. Masback and his family and friends continue to support the collection's maintenance and growth.

Goals: 

  • To support the instructional curriculum, such as science fiction, fantasy, and bestsellers courses in the English Department, and as well as other courses.
  • To supplement and expand upon the regular, circulating collection of this type of fiction found in the Book Stacks.

Responsibility: General responsibility is usually assigned to the English subject specialist librarian or a knowledgeable and interested selector.  If the selector is not the English specialist, he/she will consult with the subject specialist for English to insure that the collection development decisions correspond with curricular needs.

Funding and Donations:

  • The CSULB Foundation account (Hegis: 6030d) for monetary donations for this collection supports the purchase of materials chosen by the Masback bibliographer. 
  • Donated titles, approved by the Masback bibliographer or the Collection Development Officer, also support the development of this Collection.

Materials Acquired

  • Mass market paperbacks.
  • Bound and unbound rare or fragile periodicals (Special Collections).
  • Donated hardcover and trade paperback books or media materials are included in the Book Stacks, the Masback shelves, or the Media Collection as appropriate.
  • Occasionally the Masback bibliographer will use Masback collection funds to purchase hardcover copies of significant titles for inclusion in the General Collection. 
  • Usually, a maximum of two (2) copies of a particular title will be retained in the Masback Collection. Exceptions may be made for heavily used titles. 
  • A Masback bookplate will be placed in all volumes in the recreational reading collection, and for all items placed elsewhere in the Library’s collections which either have been purchased with Masback collection development funds or have been donated in memory of Charles Masback.

Review:  The Recreational Reading Collection will be reviewed regularly by the Masback bibliographer for repair, withdrawal, or, when possible, replacement.

Scope:  Media refers to various formats, including but not limited to, streaming and downloadable media, DVDs, video cassettes, compact discs, LPs and audio cassettes. As new media technologies become available, the Library will evaluate them for appropriateness to our goals and mission.

Responsibility:  Library Faculty are responsible for selection and review of media in their respective subject areas; however, the College of the Arts Library Faculty member selects the majority of music media and popular films. 

Acquisitions:  Media purchases must meet or exceed university policy, and/or state and/or federal law regarding accessibility. Materials designated for educational use may be purchased as “personal items” if they are available new from a general purchase vendor, e.g., Amazon. Items purchased from specialized media vendors may include public performance rights which are noted in the cataloging record, however, normally public performance rights are not needed.

Review:  Library Faculty will regularly review media in their areas for repair, withdrawal, or, when possible, replacement and for conversion to of streaming format.

Definition & Background: Microformats refer to materials in microfilm, microfiche or micro-card formats.  Historically, the CSULB Library collected materials in microformats.  Over the years we have acquired fewer items in microformat as digital options have become available, thus, the collection is becoming archival in nature and appears to be used primarily by interlibrary loan or researchers. Microformat are primarily journals, magazines, newspapers, theses, and government documents.

Responsibility: The Library Faculty are responsible for subject-specific microformats. The CDO is responsible for purchasing General Works (see LC/Hegis Table). Since the collection is not growing, this pertains more to deselection or replacement of the items in the collection.

Funding: As of now, we are not actively acquiring materials in microformats.

Scope: The Mystery Collection is a recreational reading collection of contemporary English-language books and periodicals of mystery, detective, spy, and thriller fiction.  It includes hardcover, trade paperbacks, and mass market paperbacks, currently located in one of the Library’s reading rooms, shelved by author, and circulating for normal circulation periods. Due to space limitations, some volumes of this collection may be located in ORCA.

Background: The Mystery Collection was started in 1994 with donations from CSULB Library Faculty, departmental faculty, staff, and others.

Goals: To provide a genre-oriented recreational reading collection for the use of students, faculty, and staff of CSULB for their recreational reading interests and to supplement the regular, circulating collection of this type of fiction found in the Book Stacks.

Responsibility: Either the English subject specialist librarian or a knowledgeable and interested individual appointed by the Dean as Mystery Bibliographer.

Funding and Donations

a. The collection is developed through donated books, selected by the English librarian or the Mystery collection selector. Usually, a maximum of two (2) copies of a particular title will be retained in the combined Mystery Collection and the Book Stacks. The Mystery bibliographer will monitor the number of copies of these titles available in the Library.

b. Purchase, from a CSULB Foundation account, when funds specifically designated for the collection are provided by donors.

Review

a. The Collection will be reviewed regularly by the Mystery collection selector for repair, or withdrawal.

b. Replacement trust funds will not be used to replace books in this collection.

Scope: Playscripts are purchased for the General Collection, and inexpensive playscripts are purchased for a separately located collection, in title order with abbreviated cataloging. 

Responsibility: The Theater Arts subject specialist Librarian orders the playscripts, which are charged to the Theater Arts Hegis fund (1007).  

Definition & Background: The Library maintains both print and electronic reference collections, which include resources such as dictionaries, general and specialized encyclopedias, directories, citation manuals, handbooks, and more. In the past the print Reference Collection was very large, but with reduced usage and space, the materials have been weeded over time, most recently at the time of the 2006 remodel.  Print reference materials are designated “Library Use Only.”

Responsibility: Subject specialist Library Faculty and other selectors choose Reference materials in their disciplines. Other librarians may suggest reference materials outside their own disciplines. The CDO or a selector is designated by the Dean to select materials of general reference interest. If the reference work is also available online, the selector makes the decision whether to purchase electronic version or in print (or both). A few select titles, mainly style manuals (e.g. MLA, ALA etc.) are placed in the limited space available at the Research & Information Desk and designated “Desk Reference.”

Funding, Acquisition, Processing, and Maintenance: Librarians use their respective Hegis to purchase items for reference or if expensive can add these to the Wish List [see Tab Procedures, Tab Wish List]. Foundation or endowment funds may be used to acquire reference items in special circumstances. The CDO or a selector also has limited funds for general reference materials, and is also the sponsor of electronic reference collections. Library Faculty initiate removal of items Reference Collection items in their disciplines, in consultation with colleagues. These materials may be relocated to the General Collection stacks [either noncirculuating or circulating], to ORCA, or withdrawn.

Scope: Reserve Materials are faculty-requested, course-specific materials that that can either be physically or electronically checked out. They may be faculty-owned, acquired through interlibrary loan, or library owned.

  • Physical reserves.Typically these are books or videos that are either shelved near the Reference Collection or at the Circulation Desk. They can be checked out for periods from one hour to 14 days at the faculty member’s discretion, with the most common check-out time three hours. Faculty-owned items, textbooks and other high-use items are stored in the Circulation Desk office. Others are placed on shelves next to the Reference Collection.

  • Electronic reserves.Typically these electronic copies of journal articles or book chapters are searchable in the OneSearch, Advanced search, under Course Reserves (CSULB), these require a faculty-supplied password (available on course syllabus).

Background: Reserves have been around for decades. Typically we receive 300-400 reserve requests a semester, usually multiple requests from the same faculty member. The same items are frequently renewed from semester to semester, and the requests come from the same faculty over and over. Faculty are limited to 25 requests per semester. To stay within Copyright rules, only 10 percent of a book can be put on reserve, but as a practical matter, usually only one chapter is put on reserve. If faculty want more, then a purchase request should be sent to the Library Faculty member.

Responsibility: Faculty members make requests via the Library’s electronic reserves system. If a faculty member contacts a Library Faculty member, the librarian should get a sense of the approximate cost to make sure it is within budget, then refer the faculty member to Reserves lib-ereserves@csulb.edu for expedited handling. The Library Faculty member should let Reserves know they have approved the purchase. Reserve staff and Technical Services process the requests, including obtaining journal articles through interlibrary loan when necessary, and they are responsible for keeping track of copyright costs. Requests that come in near the beginning of a semester are usually labeled Rush Reserve.

Funding: Reserve materials are purchased from the same book/media Hegis funds as other materials. Librarians are expected to stay within budget and to set aside funds for spring and summer session requests. There is no guideline for how much of a Hegis fund should be reserved because the number of reserve requests varies widely by discipline. If faculty member requests a large number of titles, it is ok to ask them to prioritize. Proposed disapproval for budget reasons should be discussed with the CDO.

Maintenance: Reserve staff are responsible for removing materials from Reserves on a regular basis. Electronic materials will typically be left up for two to three years.

Usage Statistics: Statistics on physical reserves can be obtained by asking Technical Services to pull a report on Reserve checkouts, including whether the material is faculty-owned. This will allow Library Faculty to gauge whether additional copies should be purchased, especially if the material is faculty owned.

Scope: The Special Collections includes rare and valuable publications such as first editions, limited editions, autographed copies, portraits, and miniatures.  The collections also include Fine Art prints, Fine Art Photography prints, artifacts, memorabilia, significant papers/correspondence, and Oral Histories on a variety of topics.  Prominent items and collections are listed on the Library website under collections.

The University Archives is the repository for student publications such as the Forty‑Niner (student newspaper), non-circulating copies of CSULB theses, photographs of campus events, syllabi and catalogs, files of past university presidential administrations, as well as thousands of reports and other papers documenting policies and personalities of the institution.

Background: The core materials found in Special Collections were acquired with the interest and support of Charles J. Boorkman, founding Library Director, reflecting his love of rare books and fine art. The University Archives collections were established in 1977.

Goals: The major goal of Special Collections and University Archives [SC&A] is to house the official records of CSULB and safeguard rare, unusual and valuable materials.

Responsibility: The Special Collections and University Archives Librarian is the primary individual responsible for the Special Collections and the University Archives. Subject Specialist Library Faculty are responsible for reviewing materials, at least annually, that are appropriate to their areas and recommending relocation or conservation when appropriate.  Such reviews should be coordinated in advance with the SC&A librarian.  In the acquisition of materials, acceptance of gifts, or the re-assignment of materials from the General Collection to Special Collections, subject specialists consult with the SC&A librarian in the application of the rare and special materials criteria.

Funding and Donations: Items may be purchased from the Special Collections Hegis fund (0027), or from discipline-specific Hegis in consultation with the SC&A librarian.

Materials Acquired & Processed: General criteria for Special Collections materials:

  • Materials specifically purchased for Special Collections

  • Original books with an early imprint:

    • All pre‑1801 imprints

    • U.S. and Latin American imprints before 1850

    • California imprints before 1880

    • Los Angeles County imprints before 1900

  • Maps printed before 1910.

  • Materials known to be bibliographically unique or otherwise irreplaceable.

  • Materials not covered by the above criteria but whose research value would be enhanced by inclusion in Special Collections’ collections may be reviewed on a case by case basis, e.g., other 19th century imprints, aesthetically noteworthy editions, “association” copies, livre d’artiste, books with fore-edged paintings.

Maintenance: Items selected for inclusion in Special Collections and University Archives will be housed in the Library's Special Collections & University Archives.  Rare volumes are made accessible through the library's online catalog, OneSearch.  Other materials can be located using digital repository software or printed indexes available in Special Collections.

Scope: As of September 2014, only digital copies (PDFs) of theses, project reports, and dissertations written by CSULB students for master’s or doctoral degrees are automatically added to the Library’s collections via the University’s Thesis and Dissertation Office. Any supplemental material (such as scores, audio, video or images of students’ creative work or large data files) will be digital as well.

Access: Digital copies (PDFs) and supplemental materials (scores, audio, video, images, and data files) will be found in two versions of ProQuest’s Dissertations and Theses database: the limited access database available to CSULB students, faculty and staff and the open access PQDT Open database available to all Internet users. Catalog records are created for each thesis, project report, or dissertation. The record contains a link to the digital copy of the student’s work in the limited access ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. No call number is assigned. Also, in the Library’s catalog, each thesis, dissertation or project report will have a locally added series title:  California State University, Long Beach.  Master’s Thesis Collection, Department of [name of department]; or California State University, Long Beach.  Dissertation Collection, Department of [name of department]. Note: Due to variations in cataloging rules, the word Department is sometimes written out and sometimes the abbreviation Dept. is used.

Background: Paper copies of theses and project reports written by CSULB students for master’s degrees from 1952 to 2009 are stored in the Library’s Thesis and Dissertation Collection; microform copies of theses, project reports, and dissertations from 1972 to August 2014 are held in Special Collections & University Archives. Electronic copies of theses, project reports, and dissertations began in 2010 and are included in the ProQuest database. In the Library’s catalog, each thesis, project report, and dissertation has the call number: (theses) AS 36 .C25 [year] .[Cutter for author], or (dissertations) AS 36 .C252 [year] .[Cutter for author].

From 1963 to August 2014, the work of students that is supplemental to the thesis, project report, or dissertation (such as slides, scores, audio, video, or images of a student’s creative work or large data files) is stored in two locations: (a) the Thesis, Project Report, and Dissertation Collections and (b) the Special Collections & University Archives. The same call number is assigned to the supplemental material as to the manuscript.

Goals: As funding and staffing allows, digital copies for all theses, project reports and dissertations will be transferred to the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database.

Responsibility: Thesis Evaluator, Archivist & Special Collections Librarian, and Associate Dean

Acquisition: The University requires all master’s degree and doctoral candidates to publish their manuscripts in both versions of the ProQuest database. Once the content of the manuscripts is approved by the student’s advisory committee and the format is cleared by the Thesis and Dissertation Office, students upload their manuscripts onto the ProQuest website. Students are required to pay a fee during the upload process.

Copyright: According to University guidelines, copyright privileges reside with the student immediately upon creation of the work. Embargoes for delayed online release of the PDF (via ProQuest database) for up to 2 years can be requested by the student at the time the PDF is uploaded. The request for an embargo requires a letter of permission (it can also be an email from a “csulb.edu” address) from the student’s thesis committee chair.