Revised: 10/5/05
INFORMATION RESOURCES
DEVELOPMENTPOLICY
Faulkner University
Thomas Goode Jones School of Law
September 2005
INTRODUCTION
The Information Resources Development Policy (the “Policy”) of the Jones School of Law Library provides the blueprint for building, maintaining, and expanding the Library’s multi-format collection. The creation and implementation of this Policy are guided by the Law School’s mission. The primary goal is to create a collection of information resources adequate to support the research and educational needs of Jones School of Law (“JSL”) faculty and students. A second goal is to provide a community resource for use by alumni, bar members, and the general public. The guidelines set forth in the Policy help JSL librarians to achieve consistency in the selection and deselection processes, shape a responsive collection, and allocate funds effectively in support of the Library’s goals and its patrons’ needs.
The Policy expresses the present needs of the Law School community. Because academic programs grow and change, the statement will be reviewed periodically and revised as necessary to meet anticipated needs. It is expected that the needs of the Library and its patrons will change as the Law School continues to grow and develop. Changes in specific segments may be made on a continuing process. Additionally, a formal review of the entire Policy will be done at regular intervals.
PHILOSOPHY AND GOALS OF LAW SCHOOL AND LIBRARY
JSL is committed to providing a quality legal education within the context of a caring Christian environment. The academic program for all students offers a focus on practical skills and values through course work, co-curricular activities, and the background of faculty members, and provides opportunities for non-traditional students through the part-time division. This program is designed to prepare students for their roles as competent and ethical practitioners.
The Library seeks to be a responsible, relevant, and active force within the educational life of the Law School. Its overarching goal is to support the academic endeavors of the faculty and students. The Library also is designed to be a resource for local alumni and bar members. In order to serve these needs, the Library is building and maintaining a collection around the Law School’s curriculum, the faculty’s research interests, and the practice-oriented needs of its patrons. In developing its collection the Library emphasizes the provision of efficient and timely access to information.
SELECTION GUIDELINES
Information Resources Development Responsibility
The Library Director has primary responsibility for developing the Library’s Information Resources policies and procedures and for developing the collection. This development is done with the assistance of the other librarians, in consultation with the faculty and dean, and with consideration given to recommendations from students and other patrons. The Library Director has final authority in determining the appropriateness of materials to be added to the collection.
General Principles
1. The Library’s collection decision begins with and are guided by the ABA/AALS core collection requirements as stated in Standard 606, and accompanying Interpretations, of the ABA Standards for Approval of Law Schools and Interpretations.
2. In making selection decisions, librarians give primary consideration to acquiring materials that support the basic Law School curriculum, including areas of special emphasis. These areas of emphasis presently are alternative dispute resolution, family law and domestic violence, land use and planning, and professional responsibility.
3. Additionally, librarians consider the Law School mission of preparing students to be competent practitioners. Consequently, special effort is made to collect practice-oriented materials in selected areas such as civil and criminal litigation.
4. Finally, librarians consider areas of particular interest to faculty members in fulfilling their scholarly responsibilities.
Criteria for Evaluating Prospective Purchases
1. Faculty or student interest. Faculty interest is a significant factor in purchasing decisions. Faculty members are encouraged to request materials and are consulted about possible purchases in their respective subject areas. Unless the cost is prohibitive or the material is outside the parameters of the subject matter the Library collects, faculty requests for purchases typically are honored. Students also are encouraged to suggest additions to the collection.
2. Probability that the material will be used on a regular basis. Because the Law School is relatively small, a primary goal is to purchase material that will be used by the patrons. Less emphasis is placed on collecting historical or arcane materials. The Library ordinarily acquires new publications before purchasing older material, unless the older material has recognized value to current users.
3. Quality of the authors and publishers. The Library’s objective is to acquire only those items that meet a level of quality based on the selector’s knowledge of authors and publishers. Faculty assistance in gauging author and publisher quality may be requested. Other evidence of quality include reviews of the item and the appearance of the title in important bibliographies.
4. Format. The Library acquires key primary materials in print or microform. Additionally, essential treatises are collected in print. Web-based electronic resources are preferred for other areas of the collection and for purposes of duplication. The Library uses the same criteria in acquiring instructional audio and video recordings as when acquiring print, microform, and electronic materials.
5. Cost. Cost is an important factor to consider in every acquisitions decision, but cost rarely is controlling in and of itself. Generally, an acquisitions decision is based upon a consideration of cost and one or more of the above factors.
Criteria for Acquiring Duplicates of Library Materials
1. The Library acquires duplicate copies of materials based on use patterns and primary patron demand.
2. The Library may acquire duplicate runs of research material necessary to support JSL’s legal writing and legal research courses. Also, the Library may purchase multiple copies of hornbooks or similar materials that students use in connection with their courses.
3. The Library will acquire duplicates of Alabama legal materials that are in high demand.
4. The Library uses electronic database subscriptions to provide duplicate access to much material. This means of duplication, however, may not suffice when the material is heavily used.
SUBJECT AREA COLLECTION INTENSITY
· Comprehensive. This collection endeavors, so far as is reasonably possible, to include all significant works in a defined field of study or defined geographical area. The aim of the comprehensive collection level is exhaustiveness. Older material is retained and preserved for historical research.
Alabama Law
· Research. These collections include all material required for independent research. This collection includes a broad selection of primary and secondary sources, retrospective materials, an extensive collection of journals, and wide range of reference tools and bibliographies.
Dispute Resolution
Family Law and Domestic Violence
Ethics and Professional Responsibility
Jurisprudence
Land Use and Planning
Legal Analysis, Research, and
Communication
Mediation
Negotiation
· Instructional Support. These collections are adequate to support the J.D. program. The emphasis is on building current and representative collections adequate to maintain knowledge of a subject at an in-depth level, but less than that required for scholarly research. This collection includes significant primary and secondary sources, classic retrospective material, key journals, reference tools, and bibliographies.
Administrative Law
Admiralty Law
Bankruptcy
Business Organizations
Children’s Rights
Civil Liberties
Civil Litigation
Civil Procedure
Conflict of Laws
Constitutional Law
Contracts
Creditors’ Rights
Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure
Environmental Law
Evidence
Estate Planning
Federal Income Taxation
Federal Practice
Florida Law
Georgia Law
Health Law
Insurance Law
Intellectual Property Law
International Law
Labor and Employment Law
Legal History
Legislation
Medical Malpractice
Mississippi Law
Negotiable Instruments
Personal Injury Trial Law
Products Liability
Property
Remedies
Sales
Secured Transactions
Securities Regulation
Sports Law
Tennessee Law
Torts
Trusts and Estates
Workers Compensation
Basic Information. These collections are up-to-date general materials that introduce the reader to the subject, aid the reader’s understanding of the subject, and provide references to other sources of available information. Such a collection usually includes dictionaries, encyclopedias, and handbooks. A basic information collection is not sufficiently intensive to support instruction in that subject area.
Career Services Resources
General Reference Works
Legal Dictionaries
Legal Directories
Legal Encyclopedias
Legal Thesarui
• Out of Scope. The Library does not collect the following.
Non-legal materials, except in the areas of reference or law-related subjects.
CONSIDERATION OF SPECIFIC MATERIALS
Monographs. The Library purchases print monographs according to the collection intensity levels set out above for the various subject areas. The Library has an approval plan agreement with YBP, automatically receiving monographs that fit the pre-selected profile and receiving approval slips for books in related subject areas. The Hein “Green Slips” are also used in selecting monographs. The Library acquires e-books through a cooperative effort with the main campus library.
Periodicals. The Library acquires one print copy of all general, student-edited law reviews and selected subject specific law reviews that relate to the curriculum of the Law School. The Library acquires commercially published law reviews as needed to strengthen subject areas. The Library uses Hein-On-Line to provide access to older issues of law reviews.
Loose-leaf Services. The Library acquires and maintains high quality loose-leaf services from reputable legal publishers that foster, contribute to, and facilitate high-quality teaching and research activity. The Library will acquire important loose-leaf sets, although typically only one loose-leaf set per subject area is acquired. Where available, electronic database subscriptions are preferred to all but classic or essential print loose-leaf sets.
Electronic Resources. The Library is committed to providing access to legal materials published in electronic format. Web-based products are acquired through purchase or licensing. Generally, the Library does not collect CD-ROMs. With the exception of some primary law materials, classic treatises and loose-leafs, most monographs, and major law journals, electronic versions of serial titles are preferred.
Casual Reading. The Library acquires selected local, national, and legal newspapers and selected popular magazines for leisure reading, current awareness, and educational purposes.
Federal Government Documents. The Library is a Government Depository. Both print and electronic documents are selected. Selection decisions for government documents are based on the same criteria used for other types of materials in the collection.
Annual Reports and Proceedings. Generally, the Library does not collect annual reports and proceedings.
Casebooks. Generally, the Library does not collect casebooks.
Shepard’s Citators. The Library collects print citators to support the instructional goals of the Legal Research and Writing program. Only Alabama Citations and Southern Reporter Citations will be maintained in print. Faculty and students may rely on Westlaw and Lexis to access KeyCite and Shepard’s, respectively. A KeyCite account for public patrons provides a citator for alumni, bar members, and the general public.
West Digests. The Library collects only selected digests because of the availability of Westlaw and LexisNexis for faculty and students, the Library’s primary patrons. The Library will add additional titles only as justified by use. For instructional purposes and for the benefit of public patrons, the Library subscribes to West digests that include: Alabama Digest; Decennial Digest; Federal Practice Digest 5th; Florida Digest 2nd; Georgia Digest 2nd; Mississippi Digest; Tennessee Digest 2nd; and United States Supreme Court Digest.
Microforms. Microforms are acquired for the following reasons:
· To reduce the amount of shelf space needed to house materials
· To preserve fragile materials
· To collect materials that are otherwise unavailable, such as “out of print” items
· To provide a backup for a printed item that is frequently used
· To acquire historical collections of important but infrequently used materials
Examples of materials purchased in microfiche include back runs of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, U.S. Statutes at Large, federal legislative materials, and U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs, bar journals, and the English Law Reports.
Audiovisual Materials. The Library will acquire audiovisual material primarily to assist in classroom instruction. Typically these materials are acquired upon faculty request.
Audio recordings. The Library ordinarily does not collect audio recordings.
Rare Books. Generally, the Library does not purchase rare books. The Library will accept donations of rare books.
Foreign Law Materials. Presently only English-language materials are purchased.
GIFTS
Gifts of money or library materials are accepted provided there are no conditions attached and the materials conform to existing selection guidelines. Commitments to accept gifts will be made by the Library Director.
The following guidelines apply to gifts:
1. The Library determines the classification, housing, and circulation of all gift items.
2. The Library will not appraise the value of any gift for the donor.
3. A list of items donated to the Library will be supplied to the donor as part of the letter of acknowledgment.
WEEDING POLICY
Judicious and systematic discarding of library materials is important to keep the collection as current and relevant as possible. The librarians evaluate the collection regularly in conjunction with the selection of new and replacement items. Weeding is done by the librarians. Works to be discarded may include:
1. Materials containing obsolete information
2. Superseded volumes and editions.
3. Surplus copies of works no longer in demand by patrons.
Specific weeding and archiving guidelines are compiled in the Library’s separate “Weeding and Archival Policy.”
REVISION OF INFORMATION RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT POLICY
This Policy will be reviewed on a regular basis by the Library Director and the librarians to determine if the existing guidelines are being followed and if they remain relevant to the mission of the Law School. Modifications will be made as appropriate.