Collection Development Policy

The library collection has traditionally maintained a strong emphasis in biblical studies.  This area is further enhanced by the Bushnell Rare Bible Collection.  The Collection demonstrates, through its first editions and other rare volumes, the development and history of the English Bible.  The Wright Memorial Bible Collection further augments the collection with Bibles in many languages of the world.  Missions and cross cultural studies have been strong areas of emphasis through the years as University alumni have been missionaries in all parts of the world since the early 1900’s.  These early missionaries gave the museum its fine collection of artifacts from Africa and Asia dating from the turn of the century. Other special emphases found in the collection include preaching, biblical archaeology, commentaries, women in ministry, hymnals, and Disciple of Christ church history and authors.

As the University has added new academic courses and programs to meet the present needs of the university, the library collection has expanded correspondingly.  Currently the library acquires and maintains materials in many formats in support of the curriculum and faculty teaching needs.  The collection now contains over 72,000 volumes including books, periodicals, microforms, media in a wide range of formats, computer software, electronic resources, as well as special collections and archives of the University.

In the interest of academic freedom and scholarly debate, the library collects varying viewpoints on controversial issues.  “Religious books are also about love, sex, politics, war, peace, ecology, theology, philosophy, drugs, race, dissent, ethics, technology, hippies, morality, revolution, rock, God, beauty, psychology, dogma, the underground, the establishment, death, and life.”—Religious Books.  Publishing Division of the Association of American Publishers.  The library recognizes the American Library Association’s Bill of Rights in attempting to provide a free exchange of ideas.

PURPOSE OF THE COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY

This policy seeks to:

1. Serve as a guide to librarians and faculty in selection decisions.
2. Effect long range planning and orderly development of the collection.
3. Provide continuity and stability when staffs change and budgets fluctuate.
4. Plan for budget allocation.
5. Free the library’s collection from individual bias and aid in defense against potential censorship efforts.
6. Facilitate resource sharing and coordinated collection development with other libraries.
7. Provide accountability to the library’s funding body, Northwest Christian University

MISSION OF THE KELLENBERGER LIBRARY

The mission of the library is:

 Growth, Guidance, and Grace…

The People of Kellenberger Library ardently nurture the passions, promise, and Christ-like potential of each member of our community, locally and globally, by providing abundant opportunities through exemplary resources and insightful guidance, modeling wise management of an environment that fosters Christian faith, service, and respect for all individuals.

The objectives are as follows:

• Obtain a strong up-to-date collection of monographs which support undergraduate instruction and research.
• Obtain current materials adequate to support most graduate instruction or sustained independent study pertaining to subject areas covered in the curriculum, including important reference works.
• Obtain those journals/periodicals, indexing, and abstracting materials essential to current academic programs.
• Obtain non-print resources appropriate to learning modes, including technical, media, and electronic.
• Obtain a selection of research materials for faculty.
• Obtain a selection of materials for cultural enrichment and recreation for users.
• Encourage active involvement by faculty in selection policies and collection development.
• Maintain an active deselection program in cooperation with faculty.
• Cooperate with other libraries in resource sharing through inter-library loan, cooperative collection building, and reciprocal use agreements.

MATERIAL SELECTION RESPONSIBILITY

Guidance for the library’s collection development policy is addressed by the Standards for Libraries in Higher Education, June 2004, which we and most academic libraries recognize and follow. 

The library should provide varied, authoritative and up-to-date resources that support its mission and the needs of its users. Resources may be provided onsite or from remote storage locations, on the main campus and/or at off-campus locations. Moreover, resources may be in a variety of formats, including print or hard copy, online electronic text or images, and other media. Within budget constraints, the library should provide quality resources in the most efficient manner possible. Collection currency and vitality should be maintained through judicious weeding.  http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlstandards/standardslibraries.htm

The library budget, including acquisitions budget is addressed thusly: The library director/dean should prepare, justify, and administer a library budget that is appropriate to the library's objectives. The budget should meet the reasonable expectations of library users when balanced against other institutional needs. The library should utilize its financial resources efficiently and effectively. The library director/dean should have authority to apportion funds and initiate expenditures within the library budget and in accordance with institutional policy. The budget should support appropriate levels of staffing and adequate staff compensation. Collection development and selection are fundamental responsibilities of librarians and depend on educated judgment and a series of decisions and choices which support the academic programs, goals, and priorities.  Faculty serve as subject experts and work with librarians to build a quality collection with the ultimate goal of providing quality service.  A significant portion of resource suggestions are made by faculty in relation to needs in courses they teach and academic programs.

Librarians make selections based on their knowledge of the collection, known areas of weaknesses, and reviews of materials which meet needs of NCU's academic programs and the library’s collections.  Librarians are responsible for ensuring that the collection maintains an overall balance and quality in all subject fields represented and is balanced in regard to various formats of information.  They are responsible for the overall quality and maintenance of the reference collection.  Librarians also ensure that the information needs of the university community are met equitably within the framework of the library budget. 

1. Suggestions or recommendations for various resources come from faculty, librarians, administrators, staff, and students enrolled at the university. The library has established a practice of encouraging new, permanent faculty to participate in materials selection by offering them up to $500 for individual purchases in their first year of teaching.
2. Materials selection covers print, media, and electronic resources.  The general guidelines encompass all aspects of collection building: authority, quality, duplication, withdrawal, replacements, and gifts.
3. Final authority for selection, collection building and quality, apportionment of funds, and initiation of expenditures rests with the library director and other professional librarians.

USERS

Priority in the use of the collection is given to the students currently enrolled in the university, faculty, and staff. 

The library offers free borrowing privileges to the students and the faculty of the University of Oregon and Lane Community College in accordance with mutual reciprocal use agreements.  Free borrowing privileges and interlibrary loan are also extended to participating Oregon NAPCU (Northwest Association of Private Colleges and Universities) faculty and students according to present use agreements within the group.  OPALL (Oregon Private Academic Library Link) members share a union automated catalog and library system with NCU and have special resource sharing agreements.

As part of the religious community of the area, complimentary patron cards are offered to employed clergy who are interested in using the resources.  University trustees and Friends of the Library members also receive complimentary patron cards.  Annual patron cards may be purchased by alumni, church lay people and townspeople who are interested in borrowing.

The library supports resource sharing and interlibrary loan to libraries throughout the United States as a member of the OCLC library network.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION

NCU has had a tradition of building a collection based on quality.  Current and commonly accepted criteria for intellectual content and format should be applied:

1. The resource should be of contemporary and/or permanent value.
2. The resource should fall within the scope of the collection and provide for curriculum and recreational needs of the university community.
3. The scarcity of material on the subject should be considered.
4. The reputation of the publisher for producing high quality materials in the subject area and the authority of the author to address the subject should be considered

New HARD COPY PERIODICAL SUBSCRIPTION selection should be based on:

1. A preference for journals of enduring worth which support curricular needs.
2. Indexing in standard print or electronic periodical indexes or abstracts which are carried by the library.
3. Consideration of shelving space and binding issues.
4. Consideration of whether a title is included in a full-text database to which the library already subscribes and how many retrospective years are covered.
5. Consideration of proposed usage of the title.
6. Consideration of scarcity of titles in that subject area.

ELECTRONIC RESOURCES

Electronic resources are covered in the Electronic Resources Collection Plan.  Electronic materials are selected using the criteria outlined in this collection policy, except where noted in the Electronic Resources Collection Plan.

GIFTS

Gifts of books, periodicals, media, museum or archival materials, or money to purchase materials are accepted and welcome.  The library has received many valuable materials and has greatly benefited from generous donations in past years.  Materials received as gifts will be evaluated by the same criteria as materials purchased.  Some duplicate copies may be used to replace worn ones in the present collection.  Books are also screened to determine if they are appropriate additions to the Disciples Historical Collection or other special collections.  Duplicates or unneeded materials may be added to the library book sale, traded on library exchange lists, or otherwise disposed of by librarians. The library does not provide a monetary value of the materials to the donor. 

MULTIPLE COPIES

Multiple copies are not encouraged in order to provide the broadest possible range of materials needed to support the curriculum within the limited budget and limited space.  However, more than one copy of a title may be needed to meet special needs of the instructional program.  The purchase of duplicates may occur in the following circumstances:

• Heavy demand and continual use as demonstrated by circulation statistics and a large class.
• Reference titles that are also needed in the circulating collection.  This is particularly true of commentaries.

TEXTBOOKS     

Most textbooks and their accompanying manuals, workbooks, and other auxiliary materials are by nature introductory and become outdated rapidly.  The library will not normally purchase textbooks and related materials.  Exceptions to the policy are the purchase of classic textbooks which have become recognized standard references in a field.  Purchase of a textbook may also occur where there is limited information available.  Textbooks used in biblical studies often are not typical textbooks and may be added to the collection due to their intrinsic value.  A serious effort should be made to avoid purchase of textbooks currently used in classes and designated to be purchased by students.

PAPERBOUND BOOKS

Generally the library prefers to purchase hardcover editions of books which are selected for their value to the collection.  However, because of the considerable difference in price between hardcover and paper editions, a paper edition is often elected.  In some cases a title may be only available in paperbound.  If a duplicate copy is purchased, the paper edition is seriously considered.  Paperbound books are preferred for the Browsing Collection for recreational reading.

FACULTY AND NCU ALUMNI PUBLICATIONS

Books, theses, and journal articles written by faculty are acquired.  Many of these items are kept in the archival collection.  In some cases a duplicate may be acquired for the circulating collection.

Alumni publications are collected according to the general book and periodical policies.  They may be placed in circulating or archival collections.  A subject heading “Northwest Christian University Authors” is made for titles added to the library catalog.

GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS

Government publications are not acquired on a consistent or regular basis.  However, if a specific title is requested by a faculty member, is appropriate to a specific topic being taught, and relates to materials in the collection, it is considered for purchase.

The University of Oregon library is a major depository for U.S. government publications and Oregon state publications.  In most cases NCU students and faculty are well served by consulting those resources.

NEWSPAPERS

The following newspapers are received by the library:  EUGENE REGISTER GUARD, SPRINGFIELD NEWS, OREGONIAN, a Portland regional newspaper, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, WALL STREET JOURNAL, and NEW YORK TIMES.  The library also gets copies of the DAILY EMERALD, the University of Oregon student newspaper.  These newspapers are generally kept for a three month period and then discarded.  A variety of other small newspapers come as gifts.  The NCU student newspaper is kept permanently in archives.

State church newspapers are received as gifts from regional offices.  They are retained for the Archives.  The OREGON DISCIPLE and INDIANA CHRISTIAN are permanently bound.  Local church papers are not kept in the library. These are retained in the Development Office, if at all.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE PUBLICATIONS

Generally library materials are acquired only in the English language.  Greek and Hebrew texts are purchased to support teaching in biblical languages.  Bibles may be acquired in the various languages of the world.  Dictionaries of foreign language/English are purchased.

A Spanish language children’s collection has been started. This collection supports the Spanish language curriculum as well as ESL and TESOL. These materials are shelved with other children’s books in the Kendall Collection, but are not interfiled.

BROWSING COLLECTION

The purpose of the browsing collection is to provide recreational materials in a wide range of genres that will appeal to the diverse campus population.  Various genres may include literary classics, Christian literature, best sellers, biography, historical fiction, mysteries, westerns, romance, humor, science fiction, etc.  The collection consists mainly of paperback books for leisure reading and is not intended to support the curriculum.

Other format materials such as CD’s, videos, and DVDs may be purchased for recreational viewing and listening purposes.  Media purchased for recreational purposes are interfiled with other appropriate formats in the Media Center.

Suggestions for titles to purchase come from staff, faculty, and students.  Final title selections should be based on the quality of writing.  They should also be judged on the basis of the work as a whole, not on a part taken out of context.  Review materials can be used for gathering information on recommendations.  Some titles are also acquired through gifts and should be judged for selection on the same basis as those purchased.

Funds for browsing and recreational materials are obtained from the annual library book sale that is outside the normal library budget.

MEDIA MATERIALS

In consultation with teaching faculty, the library acquires media for classroom instruction in the most commonly accepted current formats (e.g. DVD, Compact Disc, computer software). Collections in older or less common formats (e.g. audiocassette, sound filmstrips, slide sets) are available for use, but not actively collected. Posters, art prints, and maps are occasionally acquired for use by the NCU community.

Chapel speakers and other special events are recorded by the Media Resource Center for the library.  Some audiotapes and other audiovisuals are selected for archives.

Gifts of media are entered into the collection if they meet the same criteria as book selection.

WEEDING

Weeding is the withdrawing of damaged or obsolete materials from the library’s collection.  This process is an integral part of collection development and management.  It maintains the vitality and current interest of the collection.  Librarians are responsible for weeding the collection on a continuing basis.  Faculty are often consulted for advice on withdrawing specific titles and are encouraged to recommend titles which should be withdrawn in their subject fields.

Materials which may be considered for withdrawal include those:

• Containing outdated, misleading, or factually inaccurate information.
• Worn, mutilated, badly marked and beyond mending or rebinding.
• Superseded by a new edition.
• Multiple copies which are no longer needed to support curriculum.
• Old titles which have not circulated in at least 10 years.
• Titles which do not fit into our general collection and have had little use.

 Books selected for withdrawal may be removed to a storage area, Disciples Historical Collection, placed in the library book sale, or discarded. See subsequent section for collection development policies for the Disciples Historical Collection.

Before discarding, books should be checked in standard bibliographies such as BOOKS FOR COLLEGE LIBRARIES or Gorman’s THEOLOGICAL AND RELIGIOUS REFERENCE BOOKS

In 1986-1988, faculty and librarians engaged in a thorough assessment and weeding of the book collection.  Some subject areas have been revisited in subsequent years in relation to establishing new academic programs, doing retrospective conversion in preparation for the automated catalog, and barcode problem resolution. Another thorough examination of the collection should be done no later than 2008, perhaps in conjunction with the 2008 self-study process.

The librarians retain the right for final decision in withdrawals, as in any collection development matter.

BIBLICAL STUDIES AND CHRISTIAN MINISTRIES

Biblical studies and theology are the historical strengths of Kellenberger Library.   Materials can support an advanced or graduate study level.

The library strives to collect the major modern versions of the Bible.  Biblical and theological dictionaries, encyclopedias, concordances, handbooks, and other biblical reference tools are collected.  Volumes are cataloged to the Reference collection, and then circulating copies are also purchased as funding is available. Commentaries on the Bible are also a specialty and major new commentaries are purchased for the reference area. Materials in the following areas receive special emphasis in collecting:

• Practical books for the ministry and youth ministry
• Missions and church growth
• Preaching
• Applied or practical theology (worship)
• Women in ministry
• History of the English Bible and rare Bibles.

Some of these areas have not been kept current in recent years and need a reemphasis to rejuvenate them. Librarians are working with faculty to improve this status.

PSYCHOLOGY

Materials should support a basic study level for undergraduate students.  It should have basic authors and core works.  Areas that should be updated include motivation, emotions, stress, perception, psychology of learning.  Materials on dreams, the unconscious and subconscious should be updated.  A priority should be given to materials on human development.  Child psychology, adolescents, and aging need updating.  Other focuses should be on materials for values and behaviors and abnormal psychology.

PROFESSIONAL COUNSELING GRADUATE PROGRAM

Materials should support courses in theories of counseling, skills and techniques, ethics, diagnosis and treatment.  Special social issues and topics which will be discussed in rotating seminars include women and violence, domestic violence, substance abuse, eating disorders, post traumatic stress disorders, play therapy, multi-cultural issues, and careers in professional counseling.

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS

Librarians and business administration/management faculty determined that the Kellenberger Library should concentrate its collecting efforts in collecting materials in management, leadership, organizational behavior, marketing, and business ethics.  Outstanding core business titles, “best business titles of the year”, reviews in business journals, and other library bibliographic selection tools should be consulted for relevant titles to meet classroom needs.  In addition, the collection should contain other well-chosen books, reference materials, and media to support the curriculum.

The collection should have a strong emphasis in selected recommended core journals as well as carefully chosen current interest business journals.  Back issues of current business news and general interest journals such as Advertising Age, Business Marketing, Forbes, Fortune do not need to be bound and kept beyond five years since the University of Oregon Library keeps a permanent collection.

COMPUTER INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Librarians met with Dr. Tim Bergquist Jan. 2001 to determine collection building for a new Computer Information Systems degree program.  The CIS degree program began fall 2001 is focusing on practical applications, networking, web design, and databases.  It is emphasizing networking and the technical and management side of computer systems.  Purchase of materials should emphasize these aspects.  The program will not be emphasizing programming languages.  Access to the following magazines and journals were suggested; Infoworld, PC Computing, Computer World, MIS Quarterly, PC World.

TEACHERS EDUCATION: this area needs review as they are adding high school

The education collection should emphasize and build in elementary and middle school areas, specializing in practical materials for teachers.  Materials should include:

• A basic core of up-to-date books and reference related to the elementary learner, instructional methods, classroom organization, etc.
• Increased focus should be on language arts, reading, science, math, and social studies.
• Hands-on teacher books and curriculum design.
• Essential journals for elementary and middle school teaching.
• Computer software programs as the need arises and the “use of technology in teaching” aspect of the program develops.
• The Kendall children’s literature collection should focus primarily on the elementary and middle school levels and continue to be updated with current “best books” and “award books,”  The collection should be further developed to support thematic units (such as inventors, biographies, etc.) for students use in the classroom and field experiences.
• The media collection for teacher’s education should reflect students and teachers in action or presentation by exemplary education professionals.
• We have chosen not to buy “state adopted” elementary and middle school textbooks at this point, relying on the University of Oregon and Lane ESD.

Early childhood (birth – 8 years) was added to teacher’s education in spring 2001.  New courses emphasize child development, teaching early childhood, and guidance and management of kindergarten to grade 3.  Added materials should cover these topics.

SCHOOL COUNSELING GRADUATE PROGRAM

Materials for the School Counseling Program should focus on the following areas as determined in a meeting February 9, 2000:

• Basic authors, core works and theories.
• Foundational studies and therapeutic processes.
• Assessment and improvement of academic achievement.
• Behavior interventions.
• Accommodating diversity in the school setting.

CENTER FOR LEADERSHIP AND ETHICS

In fall, 2005, the Center for Leadership and Ethics was established. At that time, the librarians, working with the director of this new department, decided to create a separate section in the library to shelve books specifically purchased for this area. In addition, several items which main topic was leadership were relocated from the stacks to this new section of the library. All items in this section have the prefix of CLE in the call number to distinguish them from other collections in the library.

CAREER COUNSELING

The staff in charge of career counseling for students and the librarians decided in fall, 2005 to shelve a portion of the career counseling books together as circulating resources. This makes these resources a lot more accessible and traceable. Each book is labeled with a prefix a CAR so that the books can be collocated.

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

Rare Bible Collection/Vault materials

The Rare Bible Collection consists of two smaller collections. The Bushnell Rare Bible Collection contains rare Bible translations and editions which trace the history of the English Bible.  Included also are texts of the Bible in Greek and Hebrew.  The Wright Bible Collection contains bibles in many languages of the world.  . 

Also stored in the vault are other old and rare titles, including works by Erasmus. And the Voyages of James Cook. Additionally, some historical Disciples of Christ titles by Alexander Campbell reside in the vault.

Other items that are in the vault are stored there because of the fire resistance of the structure. These include Trustee Minutes and financial records, family Bibles and registrar records.

The Friends of the Library have the mission of helping the library restore the Bibles in its collection and add to the Bible and Christian Ministries resources for students. Several years ago the Rare Bible collection was evaluated for both value and condition. Don Etherington was the expert who assisted in determining the condition of each Bible. He and then director, Sue Rhee, created a list of each book, charting what it was made of and what repairs it needed. Further, they evaluated the collection according to which books should be repaired first by rating the books from 1 to 5, 1 taking highest priority. . The goal is to finish all of the 1s, then move on to the 2s, next in priority. This list resides in a few places, one of them being the vault itself (on the left in a folder on the waist high shelf). The Friends pay for all of the shipping and restoration work.

Disciples Historical Collection

This collection resides in the closed stacks on the second floor and consists of cataloged materials, both old and new, that tell the story of the Disciples of Christ/Church of Christ or are authored by someone of that tradition. Each item is marked with a DHC prefix on its spine so that the items will be shelved together. Many items which are not cataloged reside in the Archives. It is said that Kellenberger Library has the largest collection of “Discipliana” than any other library except for the Disciples Historical Library in Nashville, Tennessee.

Northwest Collection

This collection is comprised of many older books documenting the history of Oregon, Washington, Idaho and other western states. These books are marked with an overstamp of NW and shelved in the closed stacks. The library does not actively collect in this area. New books documenting the history of the Northwest are placed in the circulating collection.

Hymnal Collection

The Hymnal Collection is shelved in the closed stacks. Most of these books were given to the library. The hymnals are not cataloged and this is not a growing collection.

Archives

The Archives houses all items that tell the story of Northwest Christian University, including books authored by NCU authors. As such, it could contain everything that the university produces. In reality, the librarians try to save major publications of the university such as the Bulletin, the catalog, academic planners, the Mishpats, etc. What used to be collected, which is no longer collected, are photographs. Since these are all done digitally now, they are not stored in the Archives, but are kept in electronic files maintained by the person or department who took the photograph. Because of the proliferation of all things digital and electronic., it has become very difficult to acquire records for the Archives. Until there is an all-campus policy of how to store records and information generated by all university departments, NCU is in danger of losing certain records.

Museum

The museum consists of items given to the university by people with links to the university. Principal collections are the Congo collection and the pioneer/native American collection, The Congo collection consists of many items brought back to the U.S. by missionaries to the Congo. These include leg and ankle bracelets, beheading knives, and spears, among many other items. The pioneer/native American collection consists of rifles, cavalry gear., and mortar and pestles.

All of the items in the museum are being inventoried and described by former director Sue Rhee and another volunteer.

Picture Archives

The picture archives appear to consist of many paintings and prints given to the library by people connected to the university. Some of these are quite lovely and some of them are very historic, relating to the history of the university. They are sorted and shelved according to “seasons” and some by “topic” such as religious. The room they are in is connected to the museum and archives heating and cooling system, which means that they should remain in good condition. However, some of them are obviously not valuable except for potentially display purposes and this collection deserves some evaluation and clearing.

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CHALLENGES TO THE COLLECTION

There are times when a patron objects to an item in the library collection. When this happens, there is a procedure to follow which can be found at Reconsideration and complaint policy.  This procedure and accompanying policy were created to offer an opportunity to the patron to have their complaints heard and acknowledged without branding the library with an individual’s bias. These documents were created after researching established library practices in other libraries and according to American Library Association Guidelines.

Revised June 15, 2006 MTC