Collection Development Policy Statement

School of Management:
Business Statistics

University of Northern Virginia Library
Dr. Dastmalchi, Dean of School of Management
Linda Nainis, Dean, Learning and Instructional Resources

Antje Mays, Consultant (email)

I. Purpose

The purpose of the Business Statistics collection development policy is to guide the library's support of UNVA's present needs and anticipate future program growth and changes. As the programs continue to evolve, the policy is designed to provide strategic direction while remaining adaptable to future program evolutions.

II. Scope

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

Geographical Areas
Emphasis is on both U.S. and International Business. Material with a strictly local emphasis, other than the Virginia/D.C. area generally is not acquired.

Chronological Periods
Material from the twenty-first century predominates. Earlier centuries' imprints related to specific industries and companies and pre-1800 business history are collected only when they support undergraduate history courses or specific research or teaching interests of UNVA faculty.

 
III. Types of Material and Formats
Given the geographically dispersed locations of UNVA, subject-supporting scholarly e-book collections and full-text databases of journals, trade magazines, and business profiles & data are the best way to ensure that all students from all campus have access to equal library resources. As business statistics students are enrolled on-site in Virginia and in distance programs worldwide, the primary emphasis should be on in-depth electronic resources to serve the business statistics research needs of UNVA communities, including distance learners. Through electronic resources the library can provide more recent business statistics and research methods. Electronic products are generally preferred 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.

Print may be purchased selectively, as appropriate, on a small scale, mostly for reference materials such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, and certain types of directories and handbooks. The most appropriate scenario which could occur that might justify campus-specific exclusivity of materials not available to other locations would be materials of strictly local importance.

IV. Strengths & Weaknesses
The online collection supporting Business Statistics is strong; over 110,000 e-books are provided by EBL and ebrary. Of these, about 13% support Business including Business Statistics as a well-represented subset. In addition, mathematical and research methodological aspects of Statistics are covered in e-books on the Sciences, Mathematics, and Social Sciences. A rich collection of databases includes ABI Complete, Business Source Complete and its subset DataMonitor, IbisWorld, and General Business File ASAP. Additional databases may be added in the future.

The library's policy of not collecting microfiche (because microform is only accessible to any one holding campus) has led to a gap in statistical information. Some microfiche collections of a statistical nature, such as the American Statistical Index, have been considered in the past. Since the Statistical Universe from  Lexis-Nexis provides the same data online, subscribing to Statistical Universe could provide meaningful support for hands-on research projects in business statistics. Company annual reports, 10-Ks, and other company information, also historically available in microform, are now available online through Mergent Online, which might also be a useful addition in the future.

The print collection is small, but in light of UNVA's multi-campus research environment, the collection-building emphasis should continue to be on electronic resources.

V. Related Resources
Additional library collections pertaining to other aspects of business are described in the all-encompassing General Business library collection development policy as well as collection-development policies for the separate programs within the School of Management.

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. May include some resources for faculty course preparation and research. 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.

Pertinent LC Call Number Areas:

Although UNVA's library does not actively pursue print collections where call-numbers are traditionally emphasized, the Library of Congress (LC) call-number classification system has great value in drilling down with precision to the curricular areas to be supported, even with e-book collections. Similar to a taxonomy, the LC call numbers classify knowledge consistently. This systematic language for coding subjects supports several important library roles: (1) retrieving library holdings by classification ranges of e-books from the online catalog to assess where collections need to be enhanced or pared down; (2) coding curriculum-support profiles for e-book vendors and approval plans; (3) teaching students an additional way to search with precision for library resources on their research topics.

Titles pertaining to Business Statistics can fall into the following LC call number ranges:

H

HA -- statistics (some very focused coverage within all these call# areas):

HA1-28 Statistics (general methods, also applicable to business)
HA29-32 Theory and method of social science statistics
HA36-37 Statistical services. Statistical bureaus
HA154-4737 Statistical data (including demographic data used for context-sensitive applications)