Acquisitions and Collection Development
Decisions to acquire materials for, and management of, our collections are made through:
Liaison relationships and activities with students, faculty and staff to determine relevance to the curriculum.
Consulting reviews of information resources in professional publications.
Examining usage statistics, faculty opinion, and expense.
A five-year collection weeding cycle.
Technology
Decisions to add or remove computers or new technologies are made by:
Surveying faculty and students annually, to assess current needs.
Consulting with IT to determine feasibility and required specifications.
Instruction
The Library provides appropriate instruction and support for students, faculty and staff by:
- Participation in the AskWA 24/7 virtual reference program, which provides 24/7 access for students, faculty, and staff to an MLS-prepared reference librarian.
- Bibliographic instruction in classrooms, both virtual and in person.
- Instruction provided to students at the reference desk and via appointment.
- individual research assistance sessions.
- Link to the library and its services in every Canvas classroom
- Library Liaison program. Liaison librarian for specific disciplines contacts faculty for any new course approved through the Instructional Council for the purpose of identifying materials in support of the curriculum and to offer instructional sessions.
- Course Reserves system, for student check out of course textbooks or other supportive materials, placed on reserve by faculty.
Evaluation
The Library regularly and systematically evaluates the quality, adequacy, use and security of its information resources and services via:
- Annual surveys of both students and faculty. Changes to services and programs are made based on the outcomes.
- Liaison program, whereby faculty librarians consult with academic faculty to assure the availability of needed materials in the collection for support of the curriculum.
- Participation in two nationally recognized surveys: The Association of College and research Libraries (ACRL) annual survey and the American Libraries (ALS) biennial survey from the National Center for Educational Statistics.
- Usage statistics. Acquisition decisions are evidence-based.
- Staff and faculty evaluations
- Annual inventory of collections
- Participation in the campus wide single sign on credentialing system for use of computer technologies on campus.