Forbes Mellon
Library & Lipstein Law Reading Room
e
Collection Policy
Policy
statement
The purpose of the collection
policy is to provide guidelines for the maintenance and development
of the Library's collections by indicating priorities and establishing
acquisition and de-selection criteria. It is intended as a guide
to working practices for the Library staff, and to provide information
about the principles on which future development should be founded.
Purpose
of the collection
The primary function of the
Forbes Mellon Library and the Lipstein Law Reading Room is to support
the information needs of the undergraduates in all subjects, particularly
in Part I of the Tripos.
The University Library and
its dependant libraries, and the Faculty and Departmental libraries
provide the more specialist material required by Part II and III
students and graduates.
All members of the College
are entitled to use the Library. Members of other colleges and external
visitors may consult material by arrangement with the staff, but
they have no borrowing rights.
Acquisitions
The annual budget for
books and periodicals is agreed by the beginning of the financial
year on 1 July. No formal apportioning of funds between the subjects
is made, but the Librarian monitors spending to ensure that the
budget is spread between subjects as fairly as possible.
Paperback copies of recommended
texts are bought in preference to hardback due to cost, but standard
reference books are often purchased in hardback. In general the
Library's policy is to acquire only one copy of a book. However,
multiple copies are purchased if demand for the one copy is noticeably
high and for key texts in some subjects, mainly the Sciences and
Medicine.
Departmental and Faculty
booklists arrive annually during the summer months and are checked
against the catalogue. Almost all titles which are not already in
stock are purchased, and orders are placed for multiple copies of
those books for which high demand is anticipated. If any list is
excessively long, or any title is excessively costly, then advice
is sought from the relevant Director of Studies.
Directors of Studies are
invited to make recommendations for purchase. Students are also
encouraged to suggest new titles by completing the paper or online
book recommendation forms. Student recommendations are usually bought
at the discretion of Library staff, but requests for expensive or
specialised texts are passed to the relevant Director of Studies
for endorsement.
Standing orders are placed
for certain series when it is clear that every volume, or almost
every volume, would be useful. New editions are purchased when there
has been a substantial revision or when the previous edition has
been heavily used.
Because of financial and
space constraints, and the proximity of the University Library,
the Library subscribes to very few periodicals. Almost all periodical
subscriptions are for the Lipstein Law Reading Room. A small number
of popular titles are purchased for general interest and the weekend
editions of two foreign newspapers are bought during Term.
The Library purchases general
reference books such as dictionaries, style guides, grammars, atlases
and encyclopaedias, across all subjects. These are updated when
necessary.
Other desirable titles, such
as those advertised in publishers' catalogues, works by well-known
Cambridge authors and works about the city and the university are
bought at the Librarian's discretion as funds permit. A small collection
of books on librarianship is maintained in the Library Office.
Non-book material, for example
compact discs, DVDs, microfiche, and medical models, is also purchased
by the Library. Many electronic datasets and journals are available
free-of-charge via the University Library, but subscriptions to
online resources such as the Cambridge e-books project are made
if the cost can be justified.
Worn books will be replaced
if they are still current and considered to be useful. Some missing
books are replaced after due consideration. Generally replacement
is deferred for a while as lost books often return in time. Individual
books may be replaced earlier, if requested, depending on financial
constraints.
Evaluation
and disposal of stock
It is impossible for the
Library to retain all the material that it acquires, and the evaluation
and disposal of stock is an essential part of collection management.
Usually when new editions are added the previous one is retained,
but any earlier editions are disposed of; the exceptions to this
are Law books and reference books where superseded editions are
generally discarded. Books which are no longer relevant to the Tripos
are also considered for disposal. Directors of Studies are periodically
invited to review the provision in their subject area to assess
the relevance, usefulness and currency of the Library's holdings.
Items in poor physical condition are removed and a decision made
on replacement or disposal. Library staff can provide lists extracted
from the catalogue ordered by criteria such as usage or dates of
publication to assist in de-selection.
Donations
The Library is pleased to
receive gifts of individual books or pamphlets written or edited
by current and past Fellows of the College. However, offers of other
books or collections of books are usually only accepted if they
are relevant to the Tripos. It is helpful if those wishing to donate
books to the Library contact the Librarian in the first instance
with a list of the items on offer for consideration.
All donations have bookplates
inserted to identify their source, they are prioritised for cataloguing,
and are then incorporated within the existing stock as time and
space permit. Unsolicited donations that are not required will be
offered to other Cambridge libraries if appropriate or will be sold
or otherwise disposed of.
Details about the Clare College
Family Book Fund with information about how to make a financial
donation can be found at: http://www.clare.cam.ac.uk/alumni/Friends.html
Endorsed
by the College Council 29th January 2007
This
policy is subject to review after five years.
Anne
Hughes
Forbes
Mellon Librarian
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