Policy #: 2014-01
Approved: 1/27/2014, 4/24/2014, 4/27/2015, 5/15/2018
Senate Library Committee Approval:
Responsible Administrator: Dean University Library
Responsible Office: Library Collection Strategies
Libraries provide access to collections sufficient in quality, depth, diversity, format, and currency to support the research and teaching mission of the institution.
ACRL Standards for Libraries in Higher Education. Approved by the ACRL Board of Directors, October 2011. Revision approved by the ACRL Board of Directors, February 2018.
The FGCU Library serves users at their point of need by collecting, conserving, and communicating information that supports the current and future teaching, research, study, and service needs of faculty, staff, and students and supports the University’s role in regional development of Southwest Florida.
The role of FGCU Library is to collect, provide access to, and preserve academic research materials, data, and information in various formats and in all disciplines offered by FGCU academic programs. Our primary clientele are the faculty, students, and staff of FGCU; however, we also provide, to the extent possible, library services to the business, professional, and scholarly community of greater Southwest Florida.
Florida Gulf Coast University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award associate, baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral degrees. The University is classified as an Undergraduate and Graduate Instructional facility by the Carnegie Classification of Secondary Schools.
The Library employs the latest acquisition technologies, the expertise of academic faculty, and the education and experience of professional librarians to assure materials collected meet programming requirements. Materials held in the physical Library Collections are locatable through our online catalog. Electronic resources are accessible through the Library web site and are available on an equal basis to all FGCU affiliates with currently active ID numbers.
All FGCU affiliates (FGCU faculty, staff and students) with currently active ID numbers have access to electronic resources through the use of on campus computing labs, the wireless campus network, remote access to library electronic resources and services, and access through mobile devices. We choose to purchase materials available electronically whenever practical and affordable.
The Library has resource sharing partnerships and cooperative acquisition initiatives with the other state university and college libraries. We can borrow materials from any library willing to participate, in the nation and beyond. We welcome the opportunities presented by the prevalence of new information technology, which enhances access to library resources for our users. It also allows us to support the demand of users, accommodate our off-campus users, and reduce the size of physical collections through the purchase of e-resources.
Special Focus: environmental sustainability, materials on subjects related to local and regional history, economic, and social conditions in Southwest Florida.
The purpose of this collection development statement of policy is to:
The collection development process supports the curriculum, program offerings, service and research of the University. Acquisition decisions are made and materials added to the collections in compliance with the laws of the State of Florida governing universities and colleges; regulations of the FGCU Board of Trustees, and tenets of the Library Bill of Rights of the American Library Association.
The FGCU Library building offers 135,000 square feet of space for collections, work areas, study spaces, computer labs, seating areas, service desks, and staff offices. All library physical materials are made available to its clientele and housed in this building.
The library materials are divided into distinct collections to facilitate maintenance and provide efficient access for library users.
Scope of Collection
The Library extensively acquires and provides access to scholarly materials in subject areas offered in the academic programs at FGCU. Both undergraduate and graduate level study materials are collected as well as materials supporting the research and scholarship needs of faculty.
Supplementary materials in support of the primary clientele’s personal or cultural interests, career information, current events, leisure reading, and recreational activities are also acquired, as funds are available.
General Collection: Primary physical circulating collection of mostly books, on all subjects and disciplines.
Media Collection: Based strictly on format, content includes all disciplines. Includes CDs and DVDs.
Periodicals Collection: Print editions of journals covering all disciplines offered in the academic programs of FGCU. Electronic journals are given priority purchase as funding allows.
Curriculum Collection: Sample textbooks and teaching aids for use of students in education academic programs of study.
Children’s Literature: Sample reading materials for children in pre-school – 6th grade for use of students in early childhood education academic programs of study.
Reference Collection: General and subject-specific reference materials covering all disciplines of study offered by FGCU. Print editions of handbooks, dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases, indexes, maps, laws, and statutes are held in the non-circulating Reference Collection.
New Books Collection: A small leased collection of leisure reading materials, primarily best-selling fiction.
Course Reserves: Supplemental reading materials from library collection, or personally owned materials of faculty. Held for students in specific courses at the request of faculty teaching the course.
University Archives & Special Collections: Special Collections houses rare, fragile and unique materials including manuscripts, early printed books, photographs, sheet music, and ephemera. The University Archives houses the historical record of Florida Gulf Coast University. Strengths of the collections include Southwest Florida history, forensic anthology, ichthyology, mid-twentieth century photojournalism, and regional environmental studies.
E-Resources: The Library purchases material supporting academic programs in electronic format whenever practicable and affordable. These include e-books, e-journals, newspapers, article databases, and streaming media. The advances in information technology, the changing nature of scholarly research, the increase in online course offerings, and the demands of our users have influenced the preference to acquire materials available in digital/electronic formats.
Types of Materials Collected
Monographs, journals, theses and dissertations, archival materials, microforms, government documents, maps, atlases, news sources, reference works, and media materials (CD, DVD).
The Library strives to provide the latest recorded information and knowledge for its students, faculty, resource partners, and Southwest Florida. The Library collection includes print books and journals, current print and electronic journal Subscriptions, audiovisual materials, digital reference sources, and microfilm collections.
The Library supports the research and informational needs of distance learners as well as students and faculty who travel to the campus. Consequently, library resources that can be made accessible remotely via electronic means are of high priority.
Beyond resources that enhance the University’s curriculum, materials related to local and regional history and the regional environment and sustainability are sought for inclusion in the collection.
Types of Materials Not Collected
Review copies of books, genealogy materials, realia, audio books, slides, e-resources outside of curriculum needs. (Occasional exceptions are made if extraordinary circumstances exist.)
Formats
The library collection includes recorded knowledge, data, and information in a variety of formats. Materials necessary to support undergraduate and graduate curricula, as well as sustained independent study, will be acquired in any format for which the Library can reasonably provide housing, maintenance, security, and access.
Languages
Primarily English language materials are acquired. Acquisition of non-English language materials is limited to core texts with consultation of faculty in the discipline, and foreign language students. German language materials on history and literature subjects were acquired through a major gift to the Library.
Chronological guidelines
Recent in-print materials are primarily acquired. Older materials, including back files of journals and significant book titles, may be purchased to fill gaps in subject areas, or upon the request of faculty. Often older titles are purchased to replace lost, damaged, or mutilated works.
Responsibility for Selection and Collection Development
Under the guidance of the Assistant Director for Collection Strategies, the primary responsibility for acquiring materials and implementing collection guidelines lies with the Subject Liaison Librarians with the assistance of the E-Resources Librarian and designated staff. Members of the teaching faculty are encouraged to initiate requests for library materials to meet teaching needs and to support student learning. University administrators, faculty, students, and staff may also submit recommendations for scholarly materials appropriate to the collection and to support administrative, professional, and academic pursuits.
The Library faculty create subject-specific profiles to facilitate the electronic acquisition services of book vendors. Publishers’ catalogs, e-mail advertisements, professional journals, booklists, and other publishing-related communications alert librarians and teaching faculty of new publications, updates, and revisions to significant works and electronic resources in various subject areas.
Selection Criteria for Print Materials
The following factors are considered in the decision to purchase a library resource (Criteria may differ based on subject area).
Selection Criteria for Electronic Resources
In the purchase of electronic resources, the following factors are considered:
Additional considerations:
Selection Criteria for Technology and Media Materials:
