Collection Development Roles and Library Liaisons

Collection Development Roles

The librarians are responsible for the overall development of the Seminole State Library's collections. Determination of the educational resources of the library is a professional consideration of great magnitude, requiring the cooperative efforts of librarians and faculty members, along with the dean of learning resources.

Librarians are assigned subject areas to develop in conjunction with faculty from those respective areas in the selection of current and retrospective resources. They review the selection of materials requested by faculty members and may question the appropriateness of selections. Librarians also select materials for their assigned subject areas and make recommendations to faculty members for their consideration. Faculty members are requested to make recommendations for additions and withdrawals on an ongoing basis and to provide lists of materials to be used in support of their courses one term ahead of anticipated need.

Library Liaisons

Librarians serve as liaisons to the faculty to determine the depth and breadth needed for each collection area. Recommendations are accepted from Seminole State students, as well as faculty and staff members, for library collection additions. 

Contact the appropriate librarian (listed below) for assistance with adding materials to or withdrawing them from the collection.

Levels of Development

Levels of development will be reviewed annually.

• Minimal: Few selections are made beyond basic works and reference sources. Material is difficult to departmentalize but is of general interest and significance to the library. The material is interesting, provocative, challenging or innovative.
• Basic: A collection of up-to-date library materials, which serves to introduce and define a subject and to indicate the varieties of information; is available elsewhere.
• Instructional Support Level: Materials are selected that adequately support the curriculum needs of the institution. Materials may include required reading, suggested reading or reading that is useful for student research. It includes a wide range of basic monographs, a selection of representative journals, access to appropriate databases and the reference tools that pertain to the subjects. The materials are useful for faculty course preparations and the development of new courses.
• Faculty Research Materials: The library will acquire faculty research materials for the study and teaching of a subject but will carefully review faculty requests that are deemed highly specialized, excessively expensive or inappropriate for the research or teaching of a community college curriculum. In lieu of acquiring these definitive materials, the library will make every effort to locate and borrow the needed books and serials through interlibrary loan.

Recommendations are accepted from faculty and administrative staff members who are researching institutional or instructional development or improvements. The library will acquire materials if their addition to the collection will be of value for longer than the life of the project. These research materials will be evaluated by the same criteria as other requested titles. Attempts to meet the researcher's need with borrowed books or serials will be advised if requested titles are excessively expensive or of an ephemeral nature.

Did you know?

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