The offices of the University Librarian and Technical Services and E-Resources Librarian are responsible for the purchasing of selected materials and the financial management of the resources budget. The office of the Technical Services and E-Resources Librarian will order materials in a timely manner, giving priority to purchase requests and materials needed for accreditation. Ordering, shipping, and receiving materials can take up to three weeks. The library is not able to honor rush requests. In exchange for the discounts, shipping and receiving materials may take between one and three weeks. If materials are not available through library supply vendors, the library will purchase titles directly through the publisher or reseller but will ultimately select the vendor with the largest discount, which may also impact delivery time. Ordering materials for the Rebecca Crown Library is limited to the library selectors outlined in this policy. Commencing in January 2022, faculty librarians serve as subject liaisons and selectors for the following areas: Popular Literature, Juvenile, Reference, General Collections, Rosary College of Arts and Sciences, Borra College of Health Sciences, Brennan School of Business, and the College of Applied Social Sciences. The preferred method of selecting and requesting print and electronic books is through Rialto, a cloud-based selection and acquisition system that is integrated with Rebecca Crown Library's integrated library system (ILS).
Non-Library Suppliers/Vendors
The library selectors may order from outside vendors under the following conditions:
• The materials are not available in Rialto
• Materials ordered are only available through the publisher; or discount offered is equal to or better than Rialto
• The copyright to the material is limited to one or a few people
Hardback vs. Paperback
For reasons of economy, the paperback edition will be purchased in preference to the hardback edition whenever possible. Due to the higher costs of hardback books, mylar dust jackets will
be added to the covers for longer durability. Exceptions to the paperback preference may include: collected or major works, popular subjects which will get continued or heavy use requiring durability, and oversized or thick books whose bindings can easily break. Damaged dust jackets from gifts, donations, or shipping may be discarded.
Print vs. Electronic Resources
Library selectors will carefully assess the current print and electronic resources while considering budget limitations and access equity when selecting print or electronic materials.
For electronic materials items that are DRM-free with perpetual access for an unlimited number of users are preferred. However, as costs of electronic materials are typically higher than print and online resources have limited licenses by publishers, the library selectors will weigh
choosing print or online materials with the following criteria:
• Material is needed for print reserves
• Online titles with access limitations
• Online resources that have a limited timeframe license or if they are purchased with perpetual access
• Determine if materials are part of a larger subscription or a single cost
• Access needs of the academic program
• Weigh the online vs. in-person classes being offered in a particular subject
• Physical space available in the stacks or other locations
• Urgency of need as electronic items may be available quicker than print materials
• Electronic or print materials request
Languages
The library will primarily collect materials published in the English and Spanish languages. Other appropriate materials will be collected in those languages which are offered as majors or minors.
Textbooks
Because of the large cost that would be incurred, the Rebecca Crown Library will only purchase copies of textbooks required for currently offered courses at faculty request. Please allow three to five weeks for textbooks to be ready when the library needs to purchase the item. All textbooks will be placed on reserve for equal access for all stakeholders.
Government Documents
The Rebecca Crown Library is a selective depository library participating in the Federal Depository Library Program. After a significant analysis of the government documents collection and deselection, the library is prepared to transition to an all-online depository program.
Faculty Publications
The Rebecca Crown Library and the University Archives will collect one copy each of faculty authored books, chapters, and articles which meet the following criteria:
• The faculty member must be full-time.
• The faculty member is tenured, adjunct, associate, assistant, clinical, or lecturer status.
• The faculty member must be employed at Dominican University when the book is published.
It is highly encouraged that faculty sign the title page for the University Archives copy. The Rebecca Crown Library will have a running display of faculty-authored items on the first floor of the library.
Audio-Visual Materials
Audio-visual materials are purchased for the general collection when requested by faculty, for university or library events, or when merited for university curriculum. Faculty are highly encouraged to utilize the library’s online movie and online media resources such as Kanopy or Alexander Street Press.
Analog and DVD materials are located at the library’s circulation desk. The library has minimal equipment available for watching or listening to these materials. The scope of selection of audio-visual materials follows the same outline as the general selection criteria mentioned above.
Equipment & Technology
Currently, the Rebecca Crown Library does not acquire for circulation technology or equipment resources. The Rebecca Crown Library does have an active Learning Commons where students and the Dominican University may utilize state-of-the-art technology on campus. For questions about the Learning Commons, please contact the Learning Commons Librarian.
Juvenile Collections
The Juvenile collection supports the curriculum of the Schools of Education and Information Studies as well as personal endeavors for the Dominican Community. The collection format is print, reading levels are from pre-K to high school, and contains picture books, fiction, non- fiction, folk tales, young adult/teen literature, and graphic novels. Titles receiving awards such as the Caldecott Medal, Coretta Scott King Award, John Newberry Medal, and other reputable awards are prioritized for the collection. The Juvenile collection is cataloged in the Dewey Decimal system in order to simulate a school and public library. The library selector responsible for selecting juvenile materials collaborates with the Butler Children’s Literature Center as they cycle out materials which are added to the Rebecca Crown Library collection. For Juvenile materials, hardcover items are chosen over paperback due to durability.
Popular Literature Collection
The popular literature collection supports the curriculum of the Schools of Education and Information Studies as well as personal endeavors for the Dominican Community. The collection is primarily best sellers and various award winners in fiction, but some non-fiction may be added to this collection. As popular collections tend to be timely and fall out of popular circulation after several months, the collection will be analyzed on a semesterly basis. The
popular collection will utilize the McNaughton selection system to keep the collection fresh and updated for the Dominican Community.
Aggregated Databases & Online Periodicals/Serials
Aggregated databases and online resources are typically the largest operational resource investment made by the library. Due to the large financial commitments to these resources, the University Librarian and Technical Services and E-Resources Librarian will continuously analyze usage data, cost-per use information, and relevancy to current academic programs.
Electronic access to the full-text of journal and newspaper articles will be provided largely through subscriptions to aggregated journal or newspaper databases, whether supplied at no cost through library consortium agreements or purchased with library funds. For those purchased with library funds, priority will be given to those databases that augment, support, and are needed for the curriculum, especially to meet program accreditation requirements. The overlap of titles with current database subscriptions will be considered before a new database subscription is purchased. After purchase, usage statistics will be used to help determine whether subscriptions should be renewed. These statistics may be shared with the faculty to assist with purchase decisions. Price increases will also be factored into renewal decisions.
The following additional criteria apply to the selection of online databases:
• Ability to access titles through an index which is discoverable through the Library’s ILS.
• Number of other titles currently held in the subject area.
• Ability to access full-text materials.
• Purchasing journal resources in multiple formats (e.g., print and electronic access) is no longer fiscally responsible. The library will migrate its journal collections from print to electronic format wherever possible.
• Commitment must be made to support new online serials on an on-going basis.
• Remote access must comply with the library’s single sign-on system.
• Preference is given to online resources that provide COUNTER statistics reporting and unlimited user access.
• Donations of personal print journals will not be accepted to replace a current subscription or to add a new title.
• The Rebecca Crown Library will take advantage of consortia pricing or multi-year discounts whenever possible.
• Online resources that auto-renew or have unreasonable cancellation polices are not accepted by the library.
Other Criteria for Online Resources
Interlibrary loan and I-share librarians and staff will provide a list of highly requested materials the University Librarian and other library selectors on a semesterly basis. The Rebecca Crown Library reserves the right to discontinue subscriptions to online databases and periodicals with low usage, low access, programs no longer need the resources, the vendor does not support the mission of Dominican University, or due to annual price increases.
Microform/Microfiche
The Rebecca Crown Library no longer collects microform/microfiche. The University Archives will collect these materials on a limited basis. Exceptions can be made on a case-by-case basis and must be approved by the University Librarian.
Theses & Dissertations
All dissertations and theses are first to be submitted electronically through the student’s department for deposit into the ProQuest EDI: https://www.etdadmin.com/main/submitting. A second electronic copy should be deposited into the University Archives. The electronic copy will be uploaded to the current repository, Constellation. A new online repository is currently under review by stakeholders at Dominican University as Constellation is reaching its end-of- life.
Reference Collections
The purpose of the Rebecca Crown Library's reference collection is to provide students and faculty with the information necessary to fill specific research needs. This information may be located in either print or electronic resources. While reference collections are intended to serve the curriculum needs of the students and faculty, they also serve the general reference needs
of the entire university community. As such, these collections must consist of a broad variety of reference tools that enable the reference staff to answer questions accurately and efficiently. The Rebecca Crown Library's print reference materials circulate and are interfiled and located within the general collection of the library and in the Noonan Reading Room.
Whenever possible, the library will purchase or subscribe to reference materials available electronically. On a regular basis, the library selector for reference will review the collection’s statistics to determine deselection of print titles, renewal or non-renewal of print reference materials.
