This collection development policy is for an academic medical sciences library serving a major state university. The library aims to provide students, faculty, health professionals, and the public with instant access to new resources and technologies through its collection. The collection focuses on fields of medicine, public health, pharmaceutical sciences, nursing, and kinesiology to meet the needs of students, faculty, and staff. Materials are selected based on relevance and authoritative references, and are primarily in electronic format, with some print reference materials. Donations are accepted but evaluated first to prevent duplicates. Replacement of lost materials depends on usage and relevance to the library's mission.

1. Collection Development Policy
Deidre Black - SLIS 5365.001
Type of library/information agency:
This collection development policy will be for an academic medical sciences library
at a major state university. The library collection and its resources will enrich
patrons’ studies and research in the fields of medicine, public health,
pharmaceutical sciences, nursing and kinesiology.
Mission Statement:
It is the medical sciences library’s mission to provide instant access to the newest
resources and technologies for students, faculty, coaches, health professionals and
members the public.
Vision Statement:
The academic medical sciences library’s vision is to facilitate excellence within the
university as well as the community and to help lead the way in education, health
and research. It is also the library’s vision that its physical space be utilized for
interactive learning and study among a diverse group of patrons.
The users of this library:
Members of the student body and their informationneeds – All library resources
will be available to university students who present their student IDs. There are,
however,certain roomsandequipment thatrequirereservations forusageandone
study room that is exclusive to graduate students. Students require relevant
materials and information that pertain to their particular career path or field of
study. They may also requirestaff assistancein order to learn search techniques to
find the materials or resources that best suit their needs.
Faculty members and their information needs – Professors and teaching staff at
the university have full access to the library and its resources. The library’s
collection will be valuable in faculty research and curriculum development. Also,
members of the faculty may reserve library space so their students can become
oriented with the library and its collection.

2. The general public and their informationneeds – The library’s doors are open to
the public, and nearly all resources are available to them. A valid picture ID must
be presented in order to use computers, per state policy. These patrons may be
healthcare providers, childcareworkers, people who are researching diseases and
treatments following a diagnosis—any member of the public that is not currently
enrolled at the university. Their informational needs are varied, but nearly all of
them will require staff assistance in getting started.
Give a general overview of the collection:
Information resourcesfor this collection havebeen chosen specifically to meet the
needs of our most prominent patrons—students, faculty and staff. Equal
developmental focus has been given to each area of study including medicine,
public health, pharmaceutical sciences, nursing, kinesiology and related fields.
Formats of materials in this collection:
Theformatfornearly all materials and resourceswithinthemedical scienceslibrary
is electronic (journals, eBooks, reference, databases), although there are small
number of bound reference materials available.
Describe the identification and evaluation of materials:
Materials in this collection were evaluated for relevancy to the library’s patronage
and also for their overall value. Bibliographic lists from similar universities were
studied and development tools such as MLA’s Master Guide to Authoritative
Information Resources in the Health Sciences, Brandon/Hill Selected List of Print
Books and Journals and Doody’sCore Titles were referenced in order to select the
most established, relevant and respected materials for the collection.
Electronic format:
 Harrison’s Online (eBook)
 Dynamed (clinical reference)
 The Cochrane Library (online medical database)
 Internal Medicine Journal
Print format (reference only):
 Human Physiology & Mechanisms of Disease 6th
Edition

3.  Textbook of Family Medicine Eighth Edition
 Current Practice Guidelines in Primary Care 2014
The handling of gifts:
Book and monetary gifts are accepted by the medical sciences library, but donors
are strongly encouraged to contact the Acquisitions Department before making a
donation. This is in an effortto reduceor eliminate duplicate titles or materials that
arenot in keeping with the library’smission.Booksthatare partof a series can only
be accepted if they fill out existing serial collections within the library’s collection.
Evaluation criterion for replacement of materials:
Missing, lost or damaged materials will not be automatically replaced, but will be
evaluated for replacement based on their usage, subject matter and relevance to
the library’s mission and needs of library patrons. Since the collection is almost
completely electronic, and reference materials are unavailable for checkout, this
replacement policy will only be relevant if items are damaged in-house.
Book or resource retention criteria:
 The resources or materials must be the latest edition or update
 Bound journals are reviewed in order to determine their significance or
importance, then will either be deselected or moved into storage.
Books or other print materials may be sent tostorage if the following criteriaare
met:
 If they’redetermined to have historicalor unique significance in the medical
field
 If they’re first editions
 If they were authored by alumni
Books or other print materials will be deselected if:
 They are not in keeping with the library’s mission
 They are duplicates
 Items’ physical condition is deemed irreparable or unsafe

4. References:
Gonzalez, K. (2014). Organization & management of collections [PowerPoint
slides]. Lecture conducted from University of North Texas, Denton, TX.
Schleicher, M.C. (2010). Assembling selection criteria and writing a collection
development policy for a variety of older medical books. Journal of Hospital
Librarianship, 10(3), 251–264.
William H. Welch Medical Library (2014). Gift and serial gifts. Retrieved from:
http://welchwebstaging.jhmi.edu/about/CDPolicy.html#gifts
William H. Welch Medical Library (2014). Duplicates/replacements/transfers.
Retrieved from: http://welchwebstaging.jhmi.edu/about/CDPolicy.html#dups
Personal Communications:
Interview with Margaret Foster, Assistant Professor, Systematic Reviews &
Research Coordinator, Texas A&M Medical Sciences Library. Conducted July 15,
2014.