This document outlines the principles and guidelines used by the Librarians at the Lebanese American University (LAU) to evaluate and select materials in support of the University’s mission (http://www.lau.edu.lb/general-info/mission.html) and the curriculum founded upon it.
The Lebanese American University is a liberal arts institution of higher education established by the Presbyterian Church (USA) and chartered in the State of New York. Founded in 1924, the University has now two campuses, one located in Beirut, and another in Byblos, a student body of over 6,000 students, out of whom 82% come from Lebanon and 18% come from 65 countries of the Middle East and beyond. It is nationally recognized for its excellence in preparing students for graduate studies and careers.
The University has 4 faculties (undergraduate and graduate): Arts & Sciences, Business, Engineering & Architecture, and Pharmacy. Special programs are also offered such as Education. LAU has an average number of 600 full-time faculty and staff, and more than 29000 alumni worldwide.
The University Libraries consist of 2 main libraries, the Riyad Nassar Library (Beirut) which was established in 1934 and the Byblos Library which was established in 1986. The collection compromises monographs, serials, dissertations, pamphlets, maps audio/visual materials and electronic resources. The bulk of the collection in both Libraries is in English, yet some Arabic materials are also available.
The mission of the LAU Libraries is to acquire, organize and disseminate information resources that support the academic curriculum and research needs, and, to cater to the intellectual and cultural pursuits of the University community.
The guidelines serve as a communication tool to all those involved or interested in collection development. It emphasizes adherence to the University’s mission and to the Bill of Rights stated by the American Library Association. “Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation… Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.”
Collection development is the ultimate responsibility of the Directors of the Libraries. They have to ensure the availability of proper and balanced collections that meet the needs of the University. In this regard, the professional librarians are responsible to plan and monitor the growth of the collections and to provide resources that are in step with the mission assigned in these guidelines statement. Their duties are to acquire and provide access to onsite/offsite resources responsive to the curriculum and its implications on faculty and students in their course assignments, class performance, research needs, academic and cultural self-development. Collection development is also a shared responsibility between faculty members in every department; Library Councils; University staff; Alumni and professional librarians. Therefore, library resources should meet their academic needs or their intellectual aspirations.
The Directors of the Libraries should propose the budgets and allocate the funds needed for every fiscal year. Once the proposals are approved by the concerned administration the Directors must oversee the expenditure of the budgets as committed or as needed in collaboration with the faculty and the professional staff.
In order to provide support for a well-rounded liberal arts education and for future curriculum changes, the Libraries will always attempt to maintain at minimum a basic collection of materials in all disciplines according to the Collecting levels (see page 7). To this end the following criteria should be taken into account when trying to acquire any resource:
In addition to the above selection criteria the following materials require specific guidelines:
Criteria adopted for monographs are applied on serials as well. Yet since serials imply continuous financial obligations, high level of scrutiny in selection is practiced as follows:
In case of newspapers selecting current coverage of geographical areas is emphasized. Specialized newspapers will be selected on a title by title basis.
Pamphlets are acquired on a selective basis and their retention should be commensurate with their viability. Preference is given to free items. Pamphlets of long term value and that are unique in their subject content or treatment are added as monographs.
Maps, atlases and other related materials are also acquired according to the selection criteria stated in these guidelines.
Electronic resources, i.e., reference or indexing sources, fulltext, abstract or citation only, requiring computer access, are purchased or licensed by the Libraries from commercial sources, non-profit organizations, professional organizations and others. It is the primary responsibility of the Electronic Resources Librarian to select e-resources for both campuses. Yet, input from faculty, professional librarians, and consortial agreements, is also accounted for.
The selection of information in electronic formats is a collection development decision not conceptually different from the selection of information in print or other standard library formats. In general, the same criteria are applied. However due to their nature, specific considerations should be taken into account:
Formats:
LAU Libraries may provide access to selected resources in CD-ROM format when the electronic version is poorly supported by the vendor or when it is not available.
User-Friendliness:
Access:
Price:
Technical criteria:
License Agreements:
Subscribing or purchasing of e-resources involves signing license agreements. It is the responsibility of the Electronic Resources Librarian to negotiate these licenses to ensure that they address LAU’s needs and recognize its obligations to the licensor. However each license should be approved by the University General Council and then signed by the Libraries Directors.
In general, the license agreements should be standard and describe the rights of the Libraries in easy-to-understand and explicit language.
Trials:
Additions of new e-resources require trials for a short period of time. All trials should be coordinated through the Electronic Resources Librarian, who will solicit feedback from the LAU community to evaluate the product(s). Trials could be individual for LAU Libraries only, or collective through library consortia in which LAU Libraries are members.
Cancellation:
Decisions for cancellation or replacement should be made in collaboration with the Directors and the Chairs or faculty concerned. A subscription to a product may be cancelled if:
Materials added to the collection are primarily in English. However materials in other languages are only acquired if they fulfill at least one or more of the following criteria:
Translations into a more accessible language are often preferred to the original language, if no English translation exists.
Selection of reference materials is the basic responsibility of the Reference Librarians assisted by other librarians and faculty. Reference materials will be selected not only on matters of curricula interest, but also for variety of factual information they offer. In case of dictionaries, diversified languages are highly recommended. Updating the Reference Collection is an ongoing task. Superseded resources could be removed from the Reference Collection and added to the general circulating collection conditional the validity and need for the information they provide.
Gifts are accepted within the criteria stated in these guidelines. No gifts are acceptable if coupled with restrictions from the donor as to readership or preservation conditions or any demands that contradict intellectual freedom. The Libraries Directors preserve the right to accept, reject or dispose of gifts in compliance with the mission of the Libraries or availability of space.
As for exchange the institutions that donate any type of information resources on regular basis to LAU Libraries are given priority in our exchange list. If needed exchange agreements could be drafted between LAU Libraries and the concerned institutions.
With regards to donations, the criteria below should be prioritized:
Missing or worn out resources are replaced based on the following:
The LAU Libraries are committed to full compliance to copyright laws. Photocopying or reproduction is limited to out-of-print materials or those not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship or research”. No photocopy or reproduction will be made in excess of “fair use” as stated by the laws.
Binding decisions will be made regarding worn out books. Each decision will be based on the actual condition of the book, the number of duplicate copies in the collection, the current validity of the contents, and the cost of mending versus the cost of replacement plus the availability of the same or of alternative titles. If the book damaged is beyond repair or mending, it must be discarded. The majority of serials titles are automatically bound.
Though the library staff are primarily responsible for collection weeding, seeking feedback from the relevant faculty is highly recommended.
The collecting levels set by these guidelines may not be met in some years because of shortfalls in the Libraries resources budget. As a result, the collecting levels noted below which are based on the definitions specified in the Guidelines for Collection Development of the American Library Association/Resources and Technical Services Division (Chicago: ALA, 1979), should be applied.
Date: December 2006.
The said guidelines should be reviewed and updated as need arises in order to reflect the fast growing and dynamic institution it serves.