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Table of Contents | Introduction | Mission Statement | Circulation | Audiovisual | Reference | Bibliographic Instruction | Access Services | Unique Collections | Evaluation Statement

Section V.  Access Services Department

Section V.  A. Collection Development

Section V.  A.  1. Collection Development Mission Statement

The Collection Development Policy for the Ethel K. Smith Library is integral to the Library's main mission. The Library collects books, audiovisual materials, and computer-related items, which support the curriculum of the University.

Section V.  A.  2.  Collection Development General Policies & Procedures

Most materials are selected according to requests from faculty members and staff and are intended to support a particular class or subject area.  Faculty input is crucial to the selection of materials appropriate for use by the Wingate University community.  However, final decisions regarding additions to the Collection remain with the Library Staff.  The Reference Department staff, with faculty input, selects reference materials.  Systematic evaluation of the Collection by Faculty Departments and Library Staff exists in a three-year rotation in an attempt to weed out-of-date or unnecessary items from the Collection.

Presently the allocation is comprised of five factors:  A) the average cost of a book in the particular discipline (data provided by reputable Library trade journal), B) the total hours taught in the department (Registrar’s Office), C) number of majors enrolled in the discipline (Registrar’s Office), D) the number of full time faculty in the area (Office of Academic Affairs), and E) the percentage of the allocation encumbered by the deadline of the previous academic year (Collection Development Office).

These five factors combined create a total percentage.  That percentage denotes the department’s allocation.  All figures represented in the formula are taken from the previous academic year:  A+B+C+D+E (converted to average) / 500% = allocation percentage.

This policy, approved by the Library Committee, exists as a fair and equitable distribution of funds. 

Departmental chairs or Deans will prioritize selections within given budget limits.  It is expected that 100% of a Department’s budget will spent by the last class day of the Fall semester. Departments that fail to spend the percentage may lose that remaining portion of their allocation. 

Final decisions regarding acquisitions and purchasing will remain with the Collection Development Librarian.  The main focus of materials collected will be on the support and enhancement of teaching in specific areas, primarily on the undergraduate level.  Given budgetary limitations, some faculty research may be better supported using Interlibrary Loan or other alternative means.

Section V.  B.  Serials Collection

Section V.  B.  1.  Serials Collection Mission Statement

The Serials Department exists in order to provide access to various types of research mediums in journal publications for all of the University’s disciplines.  Collections are maintained in a variety of formats:  print, electronic (online), and microforms.  Regarded as a cohesive collection, the Serials Department falls under the supervision of Collection Development.

Section V.  B.  2.  Serials Collection General Policies & Procedures

It is the responsibility of the Collection Development Librarian and his/her team to evaluate serials holdings.  Subscription decisions are based upon the presented justification by a faculty member, Department, the research needs of the patron base as observed by usage, requests, and Interlibrary Loan statistics.  Subscriptions are maintained based upon usage statistics tallies and other academic requirements, such as departmental accreditation constraints.

Section V.  C.  Interlibrary Loan Department

Section V.  C.  1.  Interlibrary Loan Department Mission Statement

Interlibrary Loan or ILL is a resource-sharing service that permits patrons of the Ethel K. Smith Library to have access to almost any magazine or journal article, newspaper article, or book that is owned by any library in the United States.  The Ethel K. Smith Library is a member of a network of libraries that agrees to loan these items to each other on a reciprocal basis.  Attempts to borrow videos and other audiovisual items will be made, however, many libraries do not loan this category of materials.

Section V.  C.  2.  Interlibrary Loan Department General Polices & Procedures

• Interlibrary loan is available to Wingate University students, faculty, and staff only.
• FOL members may request items through their local public library branches.
• Paper copies of request forms are available at both the Circulation Desk and the Reference Desk. 
• Electronic forms are available under the heading Reference on the Wingate University Library’s homepage.
• There is no charge to borrow books. 
• The charge for articles is $.075 per page for faculty and $.10 per page for students.  For articles not retrieved within 30 days of notification, the Business Office will bill the student’s account for the price of the article plus a $5.00 processing fee.
• Borrowed materials must be returned on time.  Students, faculty, and staff will be assessed an overdue charge of $5.00 for materials which are more than 30 days overdue.
• Certain categories of materials are not loaned by Wingate University. 
• New Book shelf items
• Audiovisual materials
• CMC materials
• Reference items

Section V.  D.  North Carolina Documents

Section V.  D.  1.  North Carolina Documents Mission Statement

The Ethel K. Smith Library at Wingate University is a depository for North Carolina Documents, one of twenty-two such libraries in the state.  Various state agencies make available their publications for distribution by the State Library to regional libraries in order to facilitate public access.  As a selective Library, Wingate University receives between 25% and 75% of all annual publications, which are collected, cataloged, and distributed by the State Library.  Some documents are available in print format, but most are preserved via microforms. 

Section V.  D.  2.  North Carolina Documents General Policies & Procedures

The Ethel K. Smith Library complies with all North Carolina State Library requirements for depository libraries.

Section V.  E.  Catalog Department

Section V.  E.  1.  Catalog Department Mission Statement

The Catalog Department is responsible for all aspects of cataloging service for books and materials added to the collection of Ethel K. Smith Library. Its mission is to organize and provide bibliographic access to the collection in order to promote their fullest possible use. Responsibilities include: descriptive, subject and copy cataloging; maintenance of bibliographic records, including the addition, correction, and deletion of records; and the preparation of library materials for use.

Section V.  E.  2.  Catalog Department General Policies & Procedures

Section V.  E.  2.  a.  Library Purchases

The purpose of this policy is to guide the catalog staff and to inform the public about the principles upon which decisions are made.  Objectives:

1. To select classification numbers which best identify the subject content of the material at hand, using the Library of Congress Classification system as prepared by the Library of Congress Cataloging Policy and Support Office.
2. To select subject headings, according to the Library of Congress guidelines, making every effort to determine accurate, unbiased terms as established by the latest edition of The Library of Congress Subject Headings.
3. To treat print and non-print materials equally, cataloging all items according to Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, second edition, 1998 revision, using the USMARC format and supplying MARC coding and tagging, as documented in  MARC 21: Bibliographic format.
4. To consult regularly with the Public Services Staff and acquisitions staff on cataloging policies, procedures, and proposed changes.
5. To maintain holdings information in the OCLC database in order to facilitate interlibrary loans.
6. To give priority status to items identified as needed for immediate use; items shall not be loaned before cataloging is complete without the permission of the Cataloger.
7. To review gift books donated to the Library for consideration for the collection. (Please consult the Donated Materials Policy Section V.  E.  2.  b.  of this document).
8. To select and prepare books for binding purposes. The Library cannot send personal copies not belonging to the collection to the bindery; however, information about binding resources will be provided on request.
9. To perform all of the above tasks as efficiently and quickly as possible to ensure that materials are available in a timely manner.

Final responsibility for the Catalog Department lies with the Library Director. Unusual and/or potential problems will be referred to the Director for resolution.

Section V.  E.  2.  b.  Donated Materials

The Ethel K. Smith Library is pleased to receive donations of books, periodicals, or other appropriate materials from faculty, students, alumnae, and members of the community. Gifts appropriate for the collection should support the curriculum or build the general academic stature of the Library. The following guidelines have been formulated to describe current gift procedures for donors.

1. Before giving materials to the Library, the donor should understand and agree with the following:
   1. The Library will have full ownership of the gift.
   2. The decision to add gift materials to the Library collections will be made following the same guidelines as those governing purchase of materials. The Library reserves the right to dispose of duplicates and unsuitable material as necessary. Textbooks, defined as books designed primarily for instruction in a specific subject, which are general in coverage and reflect no original scholarship, and books stamped "Free/desk copy: not for sale" will not be accepted. Items not added to the collection will not be returned to the donor.
   3. Gift materials may be classified, cataloged, processed, housed, and circulated in the same manner of books purchased by the Library; however, in terms of the order of cataloging, they will receive a lower priority that materials purchased by the Library.
   4. The Library reserves the right to determine the retention of all items in a donation. Items not added to the collection will be sold, given to other libraries, placed in the Library book sale, or discarded. All requests for special treatment of the material must be approved before the donation is accepted. Standard treatment does not include book plates or insure that items will be kept together or non-circulating. A set time for accepting, processing, and evaluating donated materials cannot be guaranteed.
   5. The Library reserves the right to refuse materials which are musty, mildewed, water-damaged, and/or insect-infested. These items will be disposed of immediately.
   6. It is the responsibility of the donor to make arrangements for the transportation of materials to the Library.
   7. The Library will acknowledge all donations with a letter from the Library Director with a general description of the donation. Unusual or unique items will be acknowledged publicly unless the donor requests anonymity.
   8. The Library does not generally accept periodical issues as gifts unless they fill in gaps in existing titles or add significantly to the collections.
   9. Offers of periodicals should be referred to the appropriate Collection Development staff member.
   10. Items concerning local history will be directed to the University Archivist.
2. In order to protect both the donor and Wingate University, the Library will not appraise gifts since the Library is an interested party. The appraisal of a gift for tax purposes is the responsibility of the donor who claims the tax deduction.
   1. The donor pays for an appraisal, if any.
   2. The Library may offer to help the donor by
      1. providing the names of professional bookdealers who are qualified to appraise books
      2. providing current Internal Revenue Service publications which describe how to claim a tax deduction for gifts
      3. Providing verification for the quantity of materials donated and acknowledgment in writing upon request.
   3. The Library's acceptance of a gift, which has been appraised by a professional bookdealer, does not imply that the Library officially approves of the appraisal.
3. Donors will be asked to sign a statement of the above policy to signify acceptance of donation guidelines. All exceptions to this policy must be agreed upon in writing prior to the receipt of the donation.

Section V. E. 2. c. Weeding/Deselection

The goal of consistent and routine weeding is to ensure that the library collection remains useful, authoritative, and relevant to a changing curriculum. The collection should reflect the development and currency of knowledge in a discipline. Regular weeding of the circulating collection not only makes the resources more accessible to the campus community but also promotes the most efficient use of valuable library shelf space. The EKS Library wants to ensure that the collection meets current curriculum and research needs. Weeding is a process that, while decreasing the quantity of items in the collection, actually improves its quality. Focusing on the quantity of materials available will not improve the quality of the collection; in fact, it could actually harm the collection as a whole by reducing the impact of the most useful materials.

The process of weeding is a collaborative effort between the library staff and the faculty. Faculty involvement in deselection of materials is essential. Faculty, being authorities in their fields, would more likely recognize major works considered core materials in their discipline. The review of a subject area by faculty may uncover gaps in the collection which need to be addressed.

The library will provide departments with a five-year rotation schedule. The process must be completed based on the timetable and guidelines provided by the library staff, in the timeframe allotted.

The decision to withdraw an item from the collection may be based on one or more of the following criteria: usage, currency or reliability, current curriculum, and physical condition.
Items which should automatically be weeded from the collection are outdated editions or formats, duplicate/redundant copies, and damaged materials.

No item shall be removed from the library without first being processed through Technical Services, where the item’s information will be removed from the online catalog. Each item will be clearly marked as withdrawn from the collection and will either be placed in the library book sale or discarded, at the library staff’s discretion.

Updated October 12, 2007