Collection Development

The Harrisburg University Library enhances the educational experience of students by facilitating seamless access to research material that supports the University’s mission. The collection's focus is on sciences and technology, and related cultural, political, economic, and social issues. Librarians manage this process by evaluating, selecting, and maintaining information resources needed in the university’s curriculum. These guidelines lay out the principles by which material is selected for inclusion in the Library’s collection and models how the library’s budget allocation is spent.

The Library’s collection management goals are to:

• Collect instructional resources as appropriate to the University curriculum. 
• Provide fast, equitable, convenient, and cost-effective access options for needed material.
• Maintain access to core library collections within the allocated budget.
• Facilitate discovery and access of information sources not available immediately available through the library.
• Promote student and faculty work.

To achieve these goals, librarians continually assess new products and offers from relevant providers of information and perform annual collection reviews to determine which resources should be retained, upgraded/downgraded, acquired, or removed. While librarians are ultimately responsible for building and maintaining the library’s collection, they work collaboratively with the Harrisburg University community to identify material that best supports the continually evolving university curriculum. Librarians make collection management decisions based on their knowledge of the library’s budget and collection as a whole, expertise with tools and resources, and understanding of the work of the University’s community of users.

These values apply to library collections and their use at the Harrisburg University Library:

• The Harrisburg University Library is committed to intellectual freedom as noted in the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights.
• The Harrisburg University Library abides by copyright laws of the United States and emulates ethical use of resources and the principles of academic integrity.
• Purchased material should be accessible in terms of format, availability of assistive reading, and general Universal Design principles.
• In balance, the library collection should present diverse viewpoints and support current as well as historical models of research and scholarship.
• In general, no more than one copy of a resource is purchased permanently for the collections.
• As appropriate to the educational mission of the Harrisburg University Library, librarians will market and promote open access resources so that students will have access to research material, including their own work, even when they are no longer matriculated.
• To the extent that it is advantageous, the library will join consortial initiatives for product discounts and resource sharing.
• Serving a University that teaches quickly-evolving disciplines, the library maintains flexibility by tending toward an “access” model of collection development vs. an “ownership” model. 

The “access” model means that many resources are available only so long as the library pays annual subscription fees, and that we usually do not have rights to retain any content once an agreement expires. The access model has potential drawbacks, which include a low risk of permanently losing access to material, the long-range cost savings of outright purchase with annual maintenance fees vs. annual subscription fees, and maintenance fees that rise at a higher rate than items purchased outright. However, it is the most cost-effective option for Harrisburg University's dynamic curriculum.

A selection of information resources are evaluated annually and during significant milestones such as program reviews to determine ongoing necessity and identify opportunities for collection improvement.