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Collection Development and Management Manual CSULB

Policy and procedures on collection development and management at CSULB

Books and Media

  • Budget Allocation Formula:  The University provides state- and lottery-based funds to the Library for the acquisition of Library materials.  This materials budget is allocated by formula to each discipline (department, program, and/or college) for the purchase of books and media, including Reserve materials. Each subject specialist Library Faculty member then decides how to use the allocated amount to support acquisitions. The formula is based upon:

    • The previous calendar year's circulation by LC class based on HEGIS. (The term “Hegis” originally came from the U.S. Department of Education, and stands for Higher Education General Information Survey.) X drive > Library Faculty Committees > CDMC > CDMC Documents > LC Hegis Files > Column Hegis;

    • The headcount course enrollment by discipline and by level (undergraduate/graduate); and 

    • The average academic book cost by LC class based on an annual report from the GOBI or comparable data.

  • Budget Reports: Subject specialists check regular reports, X drive > Library Faculty Committees > CDMC > Accounting Reports, on encumbrances and expenditures. It is important to note that taxes and fees for processing, shipping and making print books shelf ready need to be added to list price. These fees do not show up in encumbrances. They are not added until the invoice is received and a purchase moves from Encumbrance to Expenditure. These fees can range from about 4% for cloth books to 35% for paperback books. See Appendix I: GOBI fees.

Serials

  • The current academic year’s serials budget is based on the previous year’s expenditure for serials and may include adjustments based on budget, inflation, and usage considerations.

Interdisciplinary Electronic Products

  • Hegis 0016s is a fund established to support annual subscriptions and/or access fees for multidisciplinary subscription databases. [Note: originally miscategorized as 0016d, changed to 0016s in FY2024-2025.]  

  • The fund is the responsibility of the Collection Development Officer (CDO). 

Copyright and Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Fund

  • Hegis 0008 tracks how much the library spends on payments to the Copyright Clearance Center for journal articles and book chapters that we borrow from other libraries. NOTE: This does not show up in weekly accounting reports.

  • Copyright expenditures are tracked and used to help determine when the library should subscribe to journals (and sometimes purchase books) where the copyright costs meet or exceed the subscription cost. See Tab, Calendar.

  • Copyright invoices are paid annually, so the accounting reports do not reflect current ILL usage.

  • BeachReach (ILL) usage reports will be requested from Access Services when needed. Previous reports are found X-Drive > BeachReach 

Lost Book Fund

  • The lost book replacement fund comprises monies paid by patrons for lost books and other allocated funds. It is collected by the Cashier’s Office on behalf of the Library.

  • The funds are reflected in Hegis 0012d on the accounting reports, and are appropriated at various times of the year. For details on how these funds are spent, see Appendix B: Replacement of Missing Items.

Non-State Funds 

  • Non-State of California funds may be made available for the acquisition of Library materials.
  • These funds come from a variety of non-state sources, such as the Forty-Niner Shops, grants, named endowments, the Alumni Association, the CSULB Foundation, etc. 

  • The money in these funds resides in accounts managed by the CSULB Foundation and is disbursed at the direction of the Dean, in accordance with the wishes of the donors.

  • These funds have their own Hegis fund numbers for accounting purposes.

Library Faculty members are the primary selectors of materials to be acquired. Others, at the Dean’s direction, also may have selection responsibilities for particular collections in the Library. A list of Library Faculty member and staff selectors is found at X drive > Library Faculty Committees > CDMC > CDMC Documents > Librarian Assignment Sheets (Appendix K: Collection Development Assignments).

Purchase of books, media, music

  • Selectors choose titles, number of copies, and whether a book / media should be ordered as a physical or an electronic copy;
  • Books are generally chosen from a purchasing vendor specified by the Library Administration (e.g. GOBI), where the selector can put the books in a cart and approve the purchase. NOTE: The list price for print books do not include the added fees for taxes, shipping and shelf-ready processing. For more details see Tab: Appendices, GOBI Fees Appendix I.
  • Materials not available from our preferred vendor(s) (e.g. videos), or those needed on a Rush basis, can be requested by emailing the Director of Technical Services if they are not a subscription;
  • Technical Services staff [see CDM manual, Tab: Participants, Tab: technical services] will review and place the actual order, or advise selector if there is a duplicate if there are questions/issues; and
  • Purchases are charged to the “d” version of the appropriate discipline Hegis fund, unless the Collection Development Officer authorizes the purchase to be made from the Collection Development Hegis (0020). Library Faculty may charge the Hegis fund of a related discipline under their responsibility.

Subscriptions and standing orders

  • Library Faculty and other selectors are encouraged to identify new products that meet the campus’ curricular needs, but because of the recurring budget implications of database, serial subscriptions, and standing orders, new subscriptions are generally initiated only when subscriptions of equivalent value are canceled in exchange for the new title, when additional permanent “s” funds are made available, or to meet exceptional curricular or faculty research needs. The Collection Development Officer must approve new subscriptions.
  • Database and serial/journal subscriptions are normally charged to the “s” serials Hegis fund for the discipline involved or to 0016s, for multidisciplinary databases. 
  • Standing orders are discouraged. Standing orders should not be initiated without discussion with Collection Development Officer (CDO). Standing orders should be reviewed on odd years. 
  • While there is an overall serials budget based on past expenditures, plus inflation where possible, Library Faculty and other selectors do not have an allocation per se. Most serials expenditures are in the form of database subscriptions or journal packages, with fewer individual journal subscriptions over time. For more see CDM manual, Tab: Procedures, Tab: Collection Assessment.

Patron/Demand-driven Acquisitions and Approval Plans

  • There are staffing, budget and accounting implications to patron- and demand-driven acquisitions and approval plans. Generally, they require a commitment of a set amount of funding, but those funds must be expended in the same fiscal year. These plans need to be approved by the Collection Development Officer.

Purchase recommendations generally come via the electronic suggestion form on the website, or directly to selectors.

  • Electronic form suggestions are forwarded from Library Administration to the Collection Development Officer (CDO), who consults with appropriate Library Faculty or other selectors. The CDO may occasionally discard those that are clearly sales pitches and reply without consulting selector.

  • Recommendations from departmental faculty and students often go directly to the relevant Library Faculty member who evaluates them along with other collection development criteria.

  • The Dean’s policy is that suggestions from students and faculty should be purchased unless there is a compelling reason not to (e.g. exceptionally tight budgets). If the selector has insufficient funds in their Hegis funds, the selector Library Faculty member should consult CDO, who might charge purchase to 0020.

The Wish List is a list of materials for purchase that are beyond a disciplines budget. The criteria is:

  • High ticket items that are exceed an allocated book budget.
  • ONE-TIME purchases only

A item for this list can be placed on the Wish List at anytime. Fill out the “Faculty Request Form for Wish List” in the X: > Library Faculty Committees > CDCM > Wish Lists Folder.

The Wish Lists folder, contains three spreadsheets:

  1. Faculty REQUEST Form for Wish List
  2. WishList Under CDMC REVIEW
  3. CDMC Wish list HISTORY

Process:

The CDMC will annually (See Tab: Calendar) place call for items to be added to the “Faculty Request Form for Wish List”. Then the Committee will evaluate requests from faculty:

  • Contact librarians regarding items left over from last year.  Is there still interest? Is there a newer product? Has the price changed?
  • Contact librarians for any clarity needed on new requests
  • CDO can contact vendors for clarity on pricing
  • Move valid Item requests from Request Form to “Wish List Under CDMC Review” File
  • Prioritize Purchases, and may request ranking by librarians and/ or create different priorities based on available funds (e.g. if there are very limited funds, lower price items way take priority)

Once the items status has been determined. CDMC will move items to the “CDMC Wish list HISTORY” file, one tab for purchased, one tab for not purchased (i.e. no plans to purchase in the future). Items that are still under consideration for next year (should funds be available), should be left on the “Wish List Under CDMC Review” spreadsheet.

Periodic Collection Review

Selectors should review the collections for which they are responsible on a systematic and regular basis to ensure that currently available materials in the collections are appropriate to the current and anticipated curricular needs of CSULB and the larger academic community. Review criteria may include (but are not limited to): use, relevance to curriculum, currency, type of material, physical condition, location, and external availability.

  • Use: For circulation statistics, contact the Library Management System and Electronic Resources Coordinator. For see electronic usage statistics and contact CDO. Allow at least a week for report to be generated;
  • Relevance to curriculum;
  • Currency, which differs by discipline;
  • Type of material: Preferences for print or electronic should be considered. Other considerations include preferences for books or media or reference materials;
  • Physical condition; and
  • Location: Some considerations include whether materials should be moved into or out of the ORCA robotic storage system (see  Appendix E Online Remote Collection Access (ORCA)) or into or out of Reference.

For a list of resources available for collection assessment, see Tools for Collection Development Appendix D.

 

Review of Subscriptions, Standing Orders, Patron/Demand-driven & Approval Plans 

  • Regular review of subscriptions, standing orders, patron/demand-driven plans, and approval plans is required to assure that there is sufficient usage relative to cost and that materials remain relevant, especially because inflation funding is not automatically built in to the budget.  
  • The Collection Development Officer (CDO) and Collection Development & Management Committee (CDMC) take the lead in this review process and provide needed usage statistics and other necessary information.
  • Subscriptions, patron/demand-driven acquisitions, approval plans and standing orders should be reviewed every two years, and annually in tight budget times. The deadlines are found in Tab Calendar and Appendix C: Serials and Databases Review Procedures for guidelines, criteria, and procedures.

 

Review of Materials not in our Collection but Request via Interlibrary Loan

  • The Collection Development and Management Committee (CDMC) will annually review borrowing data and ILL copyright costs to determine materials to be acquire for our collection.
  • Access services will provide data on borrowing via BeachReach, Link+ and/or CSU+, etc. See Tab: Participant, Tab: Access Services.
  • CDMC will review the heaviest used materials to determine if purchases should be made. Note criteria on purchases stands as is set in Principles of Collection and Appendix D: Tools for Collection Development.

 

Program Reviews, Accreditation Reports & Program Proposals

  • Departments may ask Library Faculty for a written assessment of collections in a discipline for program reviews and reports for outside accrediting bodies. The report should assess the collection needs as it meets the curriculum of the program. Although no official format is used, the Department may have specific items for the report based on their reviewing body. This review should discuss size and range of collection in relation to the program, as well as gaps in the collection. Other, non-collection items may be included like instruction and services provided by Library and Library Faculty to meet the needs of the program.
  • New program proposals require a report written by the relevant Library Faculty member assessing what Library resources might be needed to support the new program. These reports are a mandatory part of the University’s review of the resources needed to support new programs. Determining what resources are needed is a collaborative process between the Library and departmental faculty However, the ultimate responsibility for the report rests with the Library. Library resources include materials and instruction.

See New Program Proposals Appendix G for the wording in the Program Proposal template that asks for the Library report, and for a template to use in preparing the Library resource assessment.

The Electronic Resources Coordinator and Lib WebGroup, in consultation with Library Faculty, are responsible for maintaining access to electronic resources, including updating the A-Z Database list as subscriptions are added or removed, and facilitating discovery of e-resource content in the library’s discovery system, OneSearch.

It is the responsibility of Library Faculty to promote subscriptions to their students and departmental faculty and to create links to them in Research Guides, as appropriate.

When asked, refer the public to the Gifts to the University Library policy

Gifts of Materials

Faculty, staff, students, and others frequently approach the Library with proposed donations of materials. These proposed donations may come to the Dean, Library Administration, to Library Faculty, to Special Collections, to the Collection Development Officer (CDO), to Access Services, or to Receiving. The Gift Policy lays out the policies and procedures for gifts of materials. In brief, here are the procedures:

  • The person talking with the potential donor asks the donor to provide a list of titles and years of publication for books, volumes/issues for serials, or information that allows the appropriate Library Faculty member to evaluate the proposed donation.

  • Library Faculty/selectors review the list of materials to decide what they want to add to the collection.  We do not accept most print periodicals, unless they fill gaps in the existing print collection, or are at least a complete two-year run.

  • Because most donation proposals come through the CDO, it is usually the CDO who communicates with potential donors, but it is not necessary. The CDO, the appropriate Library Faculty/selector(s) and/or the Library’s development director will confer in the case of large or unique gifts.

  • Generally, the CDO/Library Faculty/Selector emails the potential donor with the titles we would like to add to our collection, asking the donor to print out a copy of the email and to include it, along with the donor’s name and address, when they bring in the donation. 

  • Occasionally, after consultation with the CDO, the library will pick up donations from faculty offices or make other arrangements to acquire the donated materials.

  • Staff in Receiving log the donation, and Library Administration prepares acknowledgement letters for the CDO’s signature. The letter gives a count and brief description of what has been accepted, but no monetary value. Gifts receiving acknowledgement letters must be kept in the collection for at least two years to meet IRS regulations.

  • Donated materials are noted as gifts in the acquisition record.

In general the Library cannot use and will not accept:

  • Damaged or infested materials
  • Most textbooks
  • Most mass market paperbacks (Exceptions: Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror, or Mystery/Detective).
  • Outdated editions
  • Superseded legal, medical, and other professional books
  • Specialized collections on subjects not taught at CSULB
  • Most foreign language publications that are not in languages not included in the curriculum
  • Most periodicals (magazines, professional journals) (Exceptions: Issues which fill gaps in our collection of print journals; to determine gaps, please the online catalog holdings
  • Media in obsolete or obsolescent formats

Gifts of Money

There are several options for those wishing to contribute funds to help the Library. They are outlined in the Gift Policy on the Library web site. 

  • If a Library Faculty member is contacted regarding a potential gift of funds he/she should confer with the CDO who will work with the Library administration and staff to handle any details or conditions of the gift or proposed gift.  Small donations can be made through the University web site
  • When funds have been donated through the development office for the purchase of Library materials on a particular subject, the CDO will consult with the appropriate Library Faculty/selector(s). For substantial gifts of funds, see below, Endowed Collections.
  • Funds can be donated in honor of an individual or an organization. Make a donation to purchase a book or media in honor or in memory. Such items can bear a bookplate naming the honoree.

Endowed Collections

  • Endowed Collections are comprised of materials acquired through the support of substantial endowments provided for their support by individuals, families, and organizations. 
  • Substantial gifts of money (over $5K) are recognized on the Library's Donor Wall in the main lobby.
  • They may be either separately housed or integrated into the General Collection as appropriate.  
  • Items in these collections may carry an endowment bookplate, and they may be recognized in the Library’s online catalog with a local subject heading, e.g., Gift of the Arnold T. Schwab Endowment Fund. 
  • The Director of Development has overall responsibility for the expenditure of endowment  funds in concert with the CDO and the relevant subject Library Faculty member or other selector.
  • A list of named collections appears on the Library website.

 

New Items Notification

Monthly, the Lib WebGroup will post lists of newly received titles on the Library’s website.

Missing Items Notification

Review for missing items replacement will be done semi-annually. For process see Appendix B. Replacement of Missing Items.

Budgetary constraints can affect the renewal/cancellation of any resources. This document outlines the recommended order of operations for either renewal or cancellation. Please note that while the following steps should apply in the majority of cases, there may be situations that require an alternative order of operations. The CDO and the subject librarian will periodically review the assessment of usage and value before each resource renewal.

 Resource Renewal Steps 

Step 1 - Assessment of value (includes the following factors):

  • Usage/cost-per-use
  • Resource’s importance to CSULB curriculum & programs (i.e., accreditation)
  • Budget availability and priorities
  • Inclusion in standard library and subject disciplinary collection-evaluation resources
  • A resource’s availability via Interlibrary Services
  • Accessibility/Technical Support/User Experience  

Step 2 – Librarian consults with department faculty to inform them of alternative options if available (OA, ILL, freely available databases): Librarian and CDO agree to retain, monitor, or cancel. 

Step 3 - Decision making (decision will be communicated to affected departments and vendor): CDO advises CDMC of new renewals and/or cancellations.

Step 4 - The subject librarian is responsible for informing their assigned departments of the renewal/cancellation decision and the reason(s) for the decision.

 Step 5 – For cancellations, the CDO advises TechServices, ERM and the Lib-Web group to remove from A-Z list. 

 

 Approved LFM June 9, 2023

There are two basic ways to get usage statistics on electronic resources. Below are the current ways as of September, 2016. Some of this will change in 2017 as we migrate to Alma. If neither of these methods work, ask Sharlene. Some vendors are not COUNTER compliant and you might not be able to compare those vendors’ stats with those from COUNTER-compliant vendors.

ProQuest InTota for Usage Statistics

  • http://intota.proquest.com/
  • Log in: carol.perruso@csulb.edu
  • Password: 
  • Click on Reports at top of page
  • Choose the report you want. (Definitions of what each COUNTER report includes). If you need a JR5 report that includes the year of publication of the journal articles downloaded, you need to go to the Vendor. See below.
  • Select date range
  • Choose provider (e.g. Annual Reviews)
  • Click Apply
  • Results appear on screen, and you can Export them to Excel (button at bottom of page)

How to Retrieve Statistics from Vendor

See Counter Statistics folder, X: > COUNTER statistics, look for the spreadsheet labeled Username and Passwords for Statistics. Internal URL: X:\COUNTER statistics\Username and passwords for statistics.xlsx  (Copy and paste URL into address box and spreadsheet will download, if you are on campus.)

  • You will find the URL, user name and password
  • Log in
  • Look for something that says Usage or COUNTER to find the types of reports that the vendor keeps.
    • Choose the report you want. (Definitions of what each COUNTER report includes)
  • Usually you can download them into Excel.

How to Get BeachReach/Link+ Statistics

  • Usage reported to Copyright Clearance Center. Head of Access Services puts the annual reports to the Copyright Clearance Center in the X-files: X: > BeachReach. We pay CCC when we use more than 5 articles from a given journal title in a given year. So you can add 5 to these numbers to get the total articles requested. These stats are uploaded each January for the previous year.
  • Raw BeachReach requests. Head of Access Services adds the raw data on BeachReach requests every couple months. Some of these requests will be to titles we already have. Most of the time, we will not receive 5 requests over the year and so we won’t be paying CCC for articles from these journals.
    • The Collection Development Officer (CDO) usually evaluates this list before Head of Access Services actually pays CCC in January of the following year, in case there is a title that it makes more economic sense to get a subscription retroactively. Or the CDO reviews the list right afterward to see what subscriptions should be added.
  • Link+
    • Link+ stats are also kept in the X-files X:/BeachReach/
    • The CDO usually organizes these annually to look for books that we might purchase. Because textbooks are often the most requested and we don’t have sufficient budget for most textbooks, you have to be cautious in your use of these stats.