The selection and acquisition of serial literature has changed dramatically. Criteria for their selection in terms of electronic format are described in the section treating electronic materials below.
When a serial in paper format is considered there are issues that affect selection that aren’t part of the selection process for electronic serials. They are:
1. Retention. Will the serial be kept ad infinitum? If so, will back issues be bound? At present, the Library does not acquire back issues on film or fiche.
2. Will back issues be acquired, for instance, to complete a volume before binding?
3. If the subscription is cancelled, will the backfile be retained?
4. Since, unlike electronic journals, print journal subscriptions are selected and paid for individually, librarians can judge for an individual title how large a price increase will be tolerated without cancellation.
5. Space. Backfiles particularly occupy space, and the space necessary for storage increases from year to year. This increase needs to be planned for, along with the cost of binding..
As a rule, the total of a serials invoice will be 10% higher than the previous year. Therefore, to maintain constant expenditure for serials, titles representing 10% of the total for any year must be cancelled in order to maintain a constant serials budget.
The Library has in its collection sound recordings (cassette and CD), video recordings (DVD, online data file) and VHS), and computer files.
1. Sound recordings are not, as a rule, collected by the Library. There is a small collection of music CDs that were acquired in the past as support for music courses. There are very few music cassettes. The Library is not currently seeking to expand its sound recording collection, and has no plans to do so in the future.
2. Computer files, in the form of CD-ROMs, arrive from time to time to accompany books. Books are not selected on the basis of the books that contain them; therefore the Library is not collecting computer files in this format.
3. VHS tapes are not currently being added to the collection in number, due to their having a lower shelf life than DVDs. Occasionally a film is not offered in DVD; this is the only condition in which VHS tapes are purchased. DVDs are collected in number to supplement lectures in nearly all disciplines. Selection of videos in all formats is made in the overwhelming number of cases by faculty members who intend to make use of them in class.
4. The Library has access to Films on Demand, a database of movies made available online. Selection of titles here, like selection of DVDs and VHSs, is done in response to Faculty request.
Electronic materials are selected using the same criteria as those used for print. However, the nature of this material makes it fundamentally different from print. Therefore, other important considerations must be taken into account.
1. Obviously, since both electronic monographs and serials are often bought in bundles, any assessment of their suitability for the Library must be made on the basis of the entire content of the bundle. It would not, for example, be prudent to acquire an entire collection from Science Direct to provide access to a few titles that would support a subject at the University that is taught at the minor level only. On the other hand, a collection such as Safari Books Online, although it also supports a minor subject, would be considered for purchase since the entire database is devoted to that subject.
2. Whatever the database / title, it should be licensed so that it is accessible to both campuses and the homes of the University community.
3. The database must have an interface that is clear and easy to use.
4. In the case of serials, the access allowed by the vendor/publisher is a matter of concern. Access to as long a run as the vendor permits is desirable, though unfortunately not always possible.
5. Databases that index periodicals held by the Library are of two types- generic, that is, that cover content as broadly as possible (like Academic Search Complete, which should be comprehensive and cover as much of the University’s periodical content as possible), and specific (that focus on content of the major subjects, such as CINAHL with Full Text.). Although titles will overlap from one type to the other, articles indexed by specific databases should focus on scholarly and refereed publications.
6. The vendor should be committed to making the material available into the future.
Subscriptions to databases, like their paper counterparts, must be renewed annually. Ideally, patron use should determine at least in part whether a subscription should be renewed. It has been difficult to determine level of usage with paper subscriptions, but with databases the vendor can supply use statistics regularly. Of course, a drawback to cancelling a database means potentially losing whatever backfile the vendor provides.
It should be noted that the Library strives to make serial literature available to its users in whatever format best meets their needs, within the limitations of the collection budget.
