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COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICIES: Basic Principles

BASIC PRINCIPLES

Revised and ratified by Library Faculty, April 7, 2008. Endorsed by Library & Information Resources Committee, May 2008.

Library Mission and Collection Goals

Library Mission Statement:

Our Mission and Vision:

Sharing the university's mission to provide its diverse student body an education of the mind and the heart, the Whitworth Library serves students, faculty, and staff with information resources and related services that support learning, teaching, scholarship, and intellectual, professional, and spiritual development.

To advance this mission, we strive for excellence in

• presenting an attitude and atmosphere of user-centered service
• acquiring, maintaining, and facilitating access to collections and online resources that best support Whitworth's mission and goals
• providing personnel, services, facilities, and instructional programs that promote effective use of information resources
• connecting the Whitworth community as needed with the resources of other libraries and information providers.

Collection Goals

The foremost aim of collection development is to provide resources that directly support the curricula and educational programs of the university. A secondary aim is to provide a selection of resources that serve the broader goals of intellectual, professional, and spiritual development of students and faculty - for example, offering alternative avenues of learning to students who are unable to pursue a subject in a regularly scheduled course or are interested in a subject not taught at Whitworth.

With regard to faculty, primary attention in collection development must be given to meeting the information resource needs for their teaching and class preparation and to support the assignments they give their students. Specialized research needs of faculty may receive some consideration in collection development, but these are likely to require greater reliance (more so than on some other campuses) on alternate avenues such as interlibrary loan or visits to research libraries. Students, too, may have research needs that are out of the ordinary and cannot reasonably be met through our own collections.

The library does attempt to provide basic resources that can serve as effective springboards for faculty or student research entailing information needs beyond the bounds and limitations of the library's own collections. Examples of such resources include bibliographies, indexes and abstract services, union catalogs or serials lists, and directories of libraries or other information providers. They also include subject encyclopedias and key source or survey texts for a field or on a given topic. The library staff will strive to maintain a sound balance between local collection building and the library's role as a gateway to external resources, as well as to complement collections and collection building with effective and efficient procedures for interlibrary loan or direct borrowing from other libraries.

A tertiary aim of collection development is to serve the information needs of Whitworth administrators and staff in carrying out their responsibilities, insofar as meeting such needs through centralized library holdings or library-coordinated online access is warranted by considerations of effectiveness, cost-efficiency, and opportunities to share resources among administrative departments or with academic programs. Resources used exclusively by a specific administrative department , office, or support services unit should normally be supported by that department, office, or unit.

Primary and Secondary Clientele

The primary clientele of the Whitworth Library are the university's students and faculty and, to a lesser extent, its administrative and support staff. Secondary clientele include visiting users of the collections, various categories of guest borrowers as provided by applicable policies, and patrons of other libraries served through interlibrary loan or direct borrowing arrangements.

Only the needs of primary clientele are ordinarily considered in collection development. The needs of secondary clientele are not considered except

(a) occasionally as a supporting factor (for example, as a supporting reason for adding a title not otherwise available in local or regional libraries), or

(b) if dictated by a cooperative collection development agreement with one or more other libraries, or

(c) in the case of additions to one of the Defined Special Collections aimed at developing a coherent, focused research collection in a narrowly defined area and intended to serve outside researchers as well as the Whitworth community (see Special Collections Policy).

Diversity of Viewpoints and Intellectual Freedom

Originally adopted by Library Committee ca. 1980; revised and re-ratified April-May 2008.

In keeping with the university's commitment to the ideals of liberal education, and in the spirit of the Library Bill of Rights adopted by the American Library Association (see Appendix), the library collection will attempt to provide for the free exchange of ideas. Collections will be available to all patrons of the library and will offer a wide range of viewpoints, regardless of the popularity of these viewpoints or of the religion, political philosophy, gender, or national origin of their authors. In areas where there is disagreement about particular ideas, issues, or beliefs, the library, in the interests of reasonable economy, will attempt to see that the views of the best or major spokespersons are represented.

No censorship will be exercised on the basis of frankness of language or the manner, even when controversial, that an author may use in dealing with religious, political, sexual, social, artistic, economic, scientific, or moral issues. The test for the acquisition of a controversial item will be its contribution, direct and indirect, to the academic program of the college and to the educational needs and interests of the students.

Nothing in the preceding sections should be understood to preclude special emphases in collection development on topics or points of view that are particularly supportive of Whitworth's mission as a Christian university affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A), or especially appropriate to its identity, heritage, or specific constituencies. On the contrary, the library recognizes a particular obligation to foster such emphases, notably in supporting the commitment to integration of Christian faith and learning expressed in the Whitworth University Mission Statement.

Copyright

It is the intent of the library to adhere to all applicable provisions of current U.S. copyright laws. We will not knowingly add to the collections materials that have been created, copied, or reproduced in violation of such laws. If on occasion the library makes, or obtains from another library, a copy to replace an item that is damaged, deteriorating, lost, or stolen, it will observe the requirements and limitations of Section 108 of the current copyright law (U.S. Code Title 17).

Challenges and Reconsideration

Originally adopted by Library Committee ca. 1980; revised and re-ratified April-May 2008.

There may be occasional challenges or objections, by individuals or groups, to materials or electronic resources included in the library collections, whether on the grounds of controversial content or on other grounds such as academic unsuitability, generally recognized factual errors, copyright infringement, etc. Complaints or challenges received by library staff members shall be referred to the library director.

In handling criticism of materials, or requests for reconsideration or censorship, the library director will contact the complainant and attempt to resolve the issue informally. The above policies or other relevant collection development policies will be referenced as appropriate. If a resolution does not result, the complaining party may submit a written request for reconsideration. The library director, having received such a written request, may consult with the library faculty, the Library and Information Resources Committee, and/or university administrators as deemed appropriate. Requests for reconsideration that present bona fide issues shall be given thoughtful consideration. The library director shall then reply in writing to the complainant within six weeks. Pending resolution, and barring extraordinary circumstances, challenged materials or resources shall remain accessible to library patrons in the normal and appropriate ways.

Persistent or repeated criticism from persons or groups may be referred to the Library & Information Resources Committee, the Faculty Executive, or officers of the administration as appropriate.

Library resources that have been or might be challenged (for whatever reason) shall not ordinarily be marked in any special way - for example, to draw attention to their controversial character, to correct alleged errors, etc. Erratum notices issued by a publisher, however, may and generally should be inserted. In the rare event that a book or other resource has been declared libelous in a court of law, or recalled by the author or publisher for whatever reason, notice to that effect may be included at the library staff's discretion if the item is retained in the collection for historical or other reasons.