Collection Development Policy Statement

Reference

University of Northern Virginia Library

Linda Nainis, Dean, Learning and Instructional Resources

Antje Mays, Consultant (email)

I. Purpose

The Reference policy is designed to guide the library's selection of reference materials. Reference materials provide topic overview, information look-up, and starting points for further research for UNVA's graduate and undergraduate courses in Business, Health Care Administration, Technology, Education, Social Sciences, and Liberal Arts. The Reference collections also support various professional certification programs in areas such as computer science and programming, technology, and environmental health and safety. The library's continued vigilance is needed to ensure that the reference collections keep up with the ever-expanding and evolving mix of programs.

II. Scope

Language
The materials are almost exclusively English or translations into English.
 

Geographical Areas
Emphasis for reference materials is on Europe and the Americas, with additional international coverage.

Chronological Periods
Material from the twenty-first century predominates for reference resources supporting disciplines in need of current knowledge. Some historical reference material could support UNVA's programs. An example might be a reference set on the history of financial crises.
 

 
III. Types of Material and Formats
Typical reference publications are dictionaries, encyclopedias, directories, handbooks, and statistical tables.

Given the geographically dispersed locations of UNVA, academically well-rounded scholarly e-book collections and full-text databases with broad reference coverage are the best way to ensure that all students from all campus have access to equal library resources. As students are enrolled both in Virginia and worldwide (distance programs), the primary emphasis should be on electronic reference resources to serve the reference needs of UNVA's communities, including distance learners. Through electronic resources the library can provide current topic overview and data lookup, conveniently accessible to on-site and distance students. Electronic products may be selected over print equivalents, all else being equal. There is an ever increasing demand for online resources with remote access. This is an area with unlimited growth potential, and the library will meet that challenge. Thus, electronic resources are actively purchased.

For online materials, the purchasing preference is the subscription basis. Perpetual use purchases are generally discouraged. Given a choice between similar databases when selecting new content, it is preferred to stay with the same vendor, unless there is a strong reason such as truly unique content which only another vendor can provide. Many databases from few vendors keeps the database interface more consistent for students and faculty.

The mix of print / online reference materials will continue to evolve, as electronic techniques of presenting and delivering information continue to improve and more content becomes available in electronic form. Since the library must provide equal access to students (on site and online), the print/online ratio should be continually evaluated.

Print may be purchased selectively, as appropriate, on a small scale, mostly for reference materials such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, certain types of directories and handbooks, and statistical tables for various research contexts. The most likely scenario for purchasing reference works in print is when a comparable counterpart of the needed information is not available in a database or e-book (for example, the Encyclopedia of Associations is only available in print, and no comparable compilation exists online).

IV. Strengths & Weaknesses
The online reference is strong and includes many special-topic encyclopedias in the e-book collection. A rich collection of databases includes Credo Reference, Research Library Complete, ABI Complete's reference portion, Encyclopedia Britannica Online, Student Resource Center Gold, Business Source Complete's Datamonitor company reference, and Literary Resource Center. Additional databases may be added in the future. For example, Oxford Reference Online could be a meaningful addition to the reference mix; Statistical Universe could fill a gap in online statistical data.

The print Reference collection is largely outdated. It should be updated where print is the only available version of the necessary knowledge base. Any print reference collection must be current in order to impart to students a general understanding of the subject based on current knowledge. Quick lookup of data, facts, figures, and overview is only meaningful with the latest version of the information. The considerable expense of keeping a reference collection up-to-date must be considered an investment in current knowledge to prepare UNVA's future graduates to become well-informed leaders.

V. Related Resources
Additional library collections pertaining to UNVA's programs are described in the collection policy statements for for the Schools of Education, Management, Technology, Liberal Arts, and Social Sciences; they are served by separate collection development policies.

VI. Subjects and Collection Levels:
Subject collecting is characterized by levels 1-5, with Level 1 representing the most intensive buying, and level 5 representing the lowest level of buying.

1. Research Level: Advanced and comprehensive collection supporting doctoral dissertations and independent research, as well as support for faculty in their doctoral-level course preparation and specialty-related research. Materials at this level should include research reporting, new findings, scientific experimental results, and other primary documents and/or original research dissemination. Other resources at this level include all important reference works, a wide selection of specialized books, e-books, instructional videos and/or streaming web-based instructional A/V materials, an in-depth collection of journals, e-journals, major in-depth full-text databases for indexing, abstracting, and full-text journal content.

2. Study Level: Thorough collection supporting baccalaureate and master's level coursework, master's theses, and project-based independent study, as well as support for faculty in their baccalaureate and master's level course preparation and specialty-related research. This level supports general subject overview and some specialized knowledge, but is not as in-depth as the Research level. Materials include a wide range of books, e-books, workbooks (for example teacher's workbooks, lab manuals), A/V materials where appropriate to the academic discipline, core journals, e-journals, electronic full-text databases, and reference works providing study foundations.

3. Basic Level: Introductory collection to provide a basic subject overview. Materials include major encyclopedias, dictionaries, important bibliographies, a few major journals / e-journals and possibly drawing from general academic full-text databases already purchased for other subject areas.

4. Minimal Level: Few selections of either very basic works or occasional selections of specialized works in a narrow sub-field, but no systematic support of the subject area.

5. Not collected.
 

Subject emphasis: Materials should be primarily chosen for their emphasis by subject, keeping in mind that English is a second language for most undergraduate and graduate students. The subject list below is a starting point for selecting new materials and a guidepost in case of withdrawal projects.

Subjects:

UNVA's programs focus most strongly on Business and Technology. Reference collections support graduate and undergraduate programs in Business, Technology, a Master of Education program, a variety of certification programs, undergraduate courses in Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, and general awareness of current events. The library collection development policies for the individual programs describe the subject coverage in depth. The Reference policy's philosophy is to mirror the mix of academic programs.

The Reference collections will concentrate mostly on these subject areas: