Conspectus Technique - the best tool to be used in making a systematic assessment of the collection.

 ▪ Helps collection developers to set the desired collection goals.

 ▪ Serves as a guide in making decisions regarding acquisitions, collection development, resource sharing, fund allocations, budget requests, grants and preservation.

 ▪ Serves as a summary report to be presented to the accrediting agencies, consultants, candidates for positions, administrators and governing board members or legislators.

Factors Affecting Collection Development

 ▪ New topics

 ▪ New requests

 ▪ Influx of new technology

 ▪ Expanding curricula

 ▪ Changing roles of the library

 ▪ Finances

 ▪ Evolution of the library collection

Collection assessment is an “organized process for systematically analyzing and describing a library’ s collection.” Assessments are conducted to provide several kinds of important information to libraries:

 ▪ to help clarify the library’s goals in the context of its mission and budget;

 ▪ to supply data used to set funding priorities; and

 ▪ to build a base for long-range planning and administration.

 The basic premise underlying all assessment is that they will:

 ▪ Gather data for better collection development decisions.

 ▪ Assess how well the collection can meet the needs of present and future users.

 ▪ Allow librarians to see if the directives of a collection development policy are being carried out.

 ▪ Review the performance of current selectors.

 ▪ Reduce the subjectivity that is inherent in the selection process.

Assessment techniques that can be used by school and academic libraries include the following:

 ▪ Shelf list analysis

 ▪ List/Bibliography checking

 ▪ Shelf scanning

 ▪ Expert opinion (faculty or consultant)

 ▪ Client-centered analysis

 ▪ Computer-assisted analysis

Criteria for Selection:

1. All types of materials:

 ▪ Educational significance

 ▪ Contribution that the subject matter makes to the curriculum and to the interest of the students

 ▪ Favorable reviews found in standard selection sources

 ▪ Favorable recommendations based on preview and examination of materials by professional personnel

 ▪ Reputation and significance of author, producer, and publisher

 ▪ Validity, currency, and appropriateness of material

 ▪ Contribution that the material makes to breadth of representative viewpoints on controversial issues

 ▪ High degree of potential user appeal

 ▪ High artistic quality and/or literary style (Aesthetic considerations)

 ▪ Quality and variety of format

 ▪ Value commensurate with cost and/or need

 ▪ Timeliness or performance (lasting value of the material)

 ▪ Integrity/Moral values

2. Specific types of materials

Fiction. The library will not buy fiction that is anticipated to have only short-term interest among readers but will attempt to select established literary works and new works of promise in the literary field, especially works which would support literature course offerings. Evaluation will be based on the author’s earlier writings and current reader interest.

Foreign-language Materials. Except for dictionaries and materials required to support the foreign language programs and targeted collection strengths, the Benavides Library collects primarily English-Language materials. Literature and language materials needed to support the curriculum are collected as needed.

Non-print Materials. Non-print materials (such as electronic products {videotapes, compact discs, laser disks, and audiocassettes}, engineering drawings, slides, and other media) are considered research and/or institutional materials. Requests for non-print materials will be evaluated on the same basis as book materials unless specific criteria are delineated in the discipline policy statements.

Out-of-Print Materials. The majority of selections are current publications. The library recognizes need for some retrospective purchases, and systematically uses standard bibliographies and other evaluation tools to locate and fill gaps in the collection. However, in view of the difficulty and expense in obtaining rare out-of-print material, it is important to spend funds for valuable current publications of long-term worth, thus preventing a future need for retrospective buying.

The library recognizes need for some retrospective purchases, and systematically uses standard bibliographies and other evaluation tools to locate and fill gaps in the collection. However, in view of the difficulty and expense in obtaining rare out-of-print material, it is important to spend funds for valuable current publications of long-term worth, thus preventing a future need for retrospective buying.

Paperbacks. When making a choice between paperback and hardback, the long term value and expected use of the title will be considered. The library will always have to buy the hard back, not unless there is only a paper back edition.

Textbooks, Programming and Lab Manuals. Titles in these categories are not normally purchased. Exceptions are those which have earned a reputation as “classics” in their fields, or which are the only best sources of information on a particular topic. Such titles will be evaluated and added to the collection based on the above guidelines and are delineated in the discipline policies.

Format Guidelines
Materials will be purchased as needed to support the curriculum in all formats for which the Benavides Library has equipment and facilities. The Library will not collect such items as:

 ▪ Article reprints, pre-prints

 ▪ Costumes

 ▪ Master theses and dissertations produced in other colleges and universities unless UST related

 ▪ Equipment manuals

 ▪ Medical instruments

 ▪ Models

 ▪ Specimens

 ▪ Collectibles

Obsolete Formats
Normally the Benavides Library will not add to the collection materials in obsolete formats to the collection. Any addition of such materials to the collection will be at the discretion of the subject liaison and Library Administrators. The primary criteria for consideration will be the availability of equipment for use of the material and the availability of storage space.

Decision to withdraw such items will be based upon the obsolescence of the format and the physical condition of the necessary equipment. If funds are available and the contents warrant preservation, materials may be transferred to another format instead of being deselected.

Microform. If the library already holds a title in microform, hard copies should not be purchased unless special need can be demonstrated.

Reserve Materials. The number of copies needed for the reserve shelves is based on both the number of students in the class and the length of the loan period.

Serials and Periodicals. The relatively high and continuing cost of serials and periodicals requires that duplication of these may occur only in unusual circumstances.

Course Textbooks. Since the library tries to avoid purchasing even single copies of textbooks used in University courses, but if there are requests, the library allows a maximum of 2 copies. For any multiple copies of these works will require special justification and the approval of the Library Administrators.

Acquisitions Policies

Acquisitions are based on :

 ▪ recommendation of the deans, heads of departments, faculty members and students through the respective library coordinator; and

 ▪ recommendation from the Prefect of Libraries, Chief Librarian, Assistant Chief Librarian and Head Librarians.

An Acquisition is done on the basis of curriculum development. Emphasis is laid on the needs of the students as well as faculty members. Weak areas in the collection are given priority. This is to ensure, if possible, a well-balanced collection.

The Benavides Library purchases library materials both from local and foreign publishers and bookstores. With the emergence of new technologies, acquisitions can now be processed online and by e-mail.

Library materials requested by a college/faculty/institute of the University are acquired by the library in the following manner :

 ▪ all requests for the purchase of books and additional titles of library materials are made according to the “request form” that is available in the library; and

 ▪ library materials acquired by the library are charged against the budget allocated to the College/Faculty/Institute that requested for them

Selection Tools

The Library provides a number of services to assist library coordinators with selection of library materials.

Promotion materials. Publishers’ catalogs, fliers and leaflets are received by the Acquisitions section and are distributed to the library coordinator of each college/faculty/institute for evaluation and recommendation for possible acquisitions.

New Title Information or Notification Slips. These are printed forms, which are received from the Library’s major book suppliers and match a subject profile which the Library has established with these suppliers. The slips are usually sent directly to the library coordinator for their evaluation.

Web Resources. Library suppliers’ databases which may be accessed for searching by registered selectors. Examples of these are YBP Book Services and Ambassador Book Service.

Internet Bookshops and other Sources of Information about New Titles. These resources may be used for title information and not for ordering. Examples of these are Amazon.com “Earth's Biggest Bookstore” offers a searchable database of over a million titles. Lists the books reviewed in the New York Times and on National Public Radio.

Types of Materials

Checklist use for the evaluation of electronic materials :

Digital Resources

 ▪ Effective collection development criteria should be considered and should be applied consistently across formats including digital resources.

 ▪ Principal considerations include :

 1. Establishing a consistent reason for the acquisition of each resource, meeting faculty and student information needs.

 2. Providing orderly access and guidance to digital resources, and integrating them into library service programs,

 3. Ensuring that the advantages of the digital resources are significant enough to justify the selection in digital formats.

 ▪

 ▪ Balance must be maintained among :

 1. Disciplines

 2. Information formats

 3. Instructional and research tools

 4. Different needs of departments, colleges and faculties

 ▪ Priority should be given to the acquisition of digital resources whose costs are offset by added value when compared to print in such ways as

 1. More timely availability

 2. More extensive content

 3. Greater functionality such as the ability to invoke linkages to local and/or related resources

 4. Greater access because they can be delivered rapidly, remotely, at any time

 5. Improved resource sharing due to the predominance of digital resources

 6. Ease of archiving, replacing, preserving

 7. Ease of measuring and evaluating usage and functionality.

 ▪

 ▪ Department heads, faculty members and library coordinators should retain authority for selecting and deselecting materials (content and format) and sound selection decisions should not be compromised by publisher-defined bundles of print and digital products.

 ▪ A digital collection must contain sufficient information to evaluate its utility and to justify its selection.

 ▪ Initial collection should focus on disciplines in which a substantial quantity of electronic content is available and on user groups that are willing and able to accept such content.

 ▪ Both collections that support undergraduate instruction and those that support faculty research should be included.

 ▪ Electronic materials should increase access to the installed base of UST Library collection and build on the investments already made by the University in digital resources.

CD-ROM
(the following questions need to be considered when selecting CD-ROM products)

 ▪ Collection Development Issues

 ▪ Collection Development Issues

 ▪ Does the product support the instructional and research needs of the University?

 ▪ Is there a demonstrated need for this product?

 ▪ Does product duplicate materials in other formats?

 ▪ Does product provide materials not otherwise available in the collection?

 ▪ Will materials be needed for more than ten years or semi-annual? At present, the stability of the disks is guaranteed for about eight years?

 ▪ Is cancellation of other formats a possibility?

 ▪ Is access improved?

 ▪ Does usage or condition of print source merit duplication in another format?

 ▪ Is updated frequency sufficient?

 ▪ Is the publisher reputable?

 ▪ Are similar products available from different vendors?

 ▪ Are subscription and maintenance costs reasonable when compared with the cost
of comparable print or on-line sources?

 ▪ Please consider the cost of the database or text, access software, auxiliary software and hardware.

 ▪

 ▪ Search Engine and User Interface

Compare a complete citation from the CD-ROM product and a comparable print product or with another version of the same product by a different vendor.

 ▪ Do some sample searches meet publisher claims?

 ▪ Is the product readable?

 ▪ If the abbreviations are used, are they logical for the average user?

 ▪ Is the use of color, windows, and other artistic qualities appropriate and valuable?

 ▪ Are the screen layouts logical?

 ▪ Do the commands make sense?

 ▪ Are access points adequate?

 ▪ Is the number of indexed field adequate?

 ▪ Are the instructions and the help menu clear? Is the order of events in the search process logical?

 ▪ Are the numbers of keystrokes minimal?

 ▪ Are printing and downloading available and easy to perform?

 ▪ Will it be necessary to provide staff to assist patrons?

 ▪ Are screens, commands, and prompts easy to understand?

 ▪ Is the system user-friendly, i.e, can an inexperienced user sit at the terminal and begin a search from on screen aid?

 ▪

 ▪ Search Engine and User Interface

 ▪ Collection Development Issues

 ▪ Does the product support the instructional and research needs of the University?

 ▪ Is there a demonstrated need for this product?

 ▪ Does product duplicate materials in other formats?

 ▪ Does product provide materials not otherwise available in the collection?

 ▪ Will materials be needed for more than ten years or semi-annual? At present, the stability of the disks is guaranteed for about eight years?

 ▪ Is cancellation of other formats a possibility?

 ▪ Is access improved?

 ▪ Does usage or condition of print source merit duplication in another format?

 ▪ Is updated frequency sufficient?

 ▪ Is the publisher reputable?

 ▪ Are similar products available from different vendors?

 ▪ Are subscription and maintenance costs reasonable when compared with the cost
of comparable print or on-line sources?

 ▪ Please consider the cost of the database or text, access software, auxiliary software and hardware.

 ▪

 ▪ Search Engine and User Interface

Compare a complete citation from the CD-ROM product and a comparable print product or with another version of the same product by a different vendor.

 ▪ Do some sample searches meet publisher claims?

 ▪ Is the product readable?

 ▪ If the abbreviations are used, are they logical for the average user?

 ▪ Is the use of color, windows, and other artistic qualities appropriate and valuable?

 ▪ Are the screen layouts logical?

 ▪ Do the commands make sense?

 ▪ Are access points adequate?

 ▪ Is the number of indexed field adequate?

 ▪ Are the instructions and the help menu clear? Is the order of events in the search process logical?

 ▪ Are the numbers of keystrokes minimal?

 ▪ Are printing and downloading available and easy to perform?

 ▪ Will it be necessary to provide staff to assist patrons?

 ▪ Are screens, commands, and prompts easy to understand?

 ▪ Is the system user-friendly, i.e, can an inexperienced user sit at the terminal and begin a search from on screen aid?

 ▪

 ▪ Purchasing and Contractual Obligations

 ▪ Purchasing and Contractual Obligations

 ▪ Are products leased or purchased?

 ▪ What does a subscription include?

 ▪ Must superseded disks be returned to vendor?

 ▪ Are software enhancement included in the purchase or lease price?

 ▪ Does the vendor provide replacements for lost or damaged product at nominal or no cost?

 ▪ Is there a back file copy? What is the coverage? What is the cost? How long is it guaranteed to last?

 ▪ Is downloading available?

 ▪ What are the copyright and multi-use restrictions?

 ▪

 ▪ Equipment and Space

 ▪ Is equipment included as part of the subscription? Is it required? What are the specifications?

 ▪ If equipment is provided as part of the subscription, can it be supported?

 ▪ Is a reduced subscription price available if equipment is not included?

 ▪ Does vendor provide maintenance for equipment included in a subscription?

 ▪ Does vendor provide assistance with installation?

 ▪ Are help screens available?

 ▪ Is there an easily accessible toll-free customer number?

 ▪ Can currently available equipment be used or upgraded for use?

 ▪ Are the storage and memory of currently available equipment sufficient?

 ▪ Does currently available equipment have required color and graphics capabilities if required?

 ▪ Can multi-station use be supported?

 ▪ Is additional wiring, furniture, renovation, or reconfiguration of space required?

 ▪ Is additional space required?

 ▪

 ▪ E-Resources

    E-Journals :

 ▪ Importance of the periodical - is it included in the standard bibliographies and/or recommended lists?

 ▪ Subject matter - its relation to the university’s educational goals and curriculum

 ▪ Inclusion of the periodical and therefore access to its articles in indexes and abstracts maintained by the library

 ▪

 ▪ Equipment and Space

 ▪ Purchasing and Contractual Obligations

 ▪ Are products leased or purchased?

 ▪ What does a subscription include?

 ▪ Must superseded disks be returned to vendor?

 ▪ Are software enhancement included in the purchase or lease price?

 ▪ Does the vendor provide replacements for lost or damaged product at nominal or no cost?

 ▪ Is there a back file copy? What is the coverage? What is the cost? How long is it guaranteed to last?

 ▪ Is downloading available?

 ▪ What are the copyright and multi-use restrictions?

 ▪

 ▪ Equipment and Space

 ▪ Is equipment included as part of the subscription? Is it required? What are the specifications?

 ▪ If equipment is provided as part of the subscription, can it be supported?

 ▪ Is a reduced subscription price available if equipment is not included?

 ▪ Does vendor provide maintenance for equipment included in a subscription?

 ▪ Does vendor provide assistance with installation?

 ▪ Are help screens available?

 ▪ Is there an easily accessible toll-free customer number?

 ▪ Can currently available equipment be used or upgraded for use?

 ▪ Are the storage and memory of currently available equipment sufficient?

 ▪ Does currently available equipment have required color and graphics capabilities if required?

 ▪ Can multi-station use be supported?

 ▪ Is additional wiring, furniture, renovation, or reconfiguration of space required?

 ▪ Is additional space required?

 ▪ E-Resources

    E-Journals :

 ▪ Importance of the periodical - is it included in the standard bibliographies and/or recommended lists?

 ▪ Subject matter - its relation to the university’s educational goals and curriculum

 ▪ Inclusion of the periodical and therefore access to its articles in indexes and abstracts maintained by the library

 ▪ Authoritativeness - recommendation or adverse criticism by respected authorities must be considered

 ▪ price

 ▪ E-Books

 ▪ Timeliness

 ▪ Ease of use

 ▪ Accessibility

 ▪ Availability

 ▪ Usefulness

 ▪ Flexibility

 ▪ Uniqueness

 ▪ Accuracy

 ▪ Authority

 ▪ Consistency

 ▪ Permanence

 ▪

Duplications of Materials

 ▪ The Library provides single copy for most works and duplicate titles only when
there is a reasonable expectation that these will receive higher than average use.

 ▪ Requests for multiple copies can originate from library patrons. Subject specialists are responsible for requesting duplication of materials using the guidelines listed below. Exceptions are possible but require approval of the Prefect of Libraries.

 ▪

 ▪ The following are situations when duplication is not possible but another action must be taken:

 ▪ When the in-demand book is out-of-print, photocopy duplication may serve as a solution.

 ▪ When the dilapidated book is about Philippine history, culture, arts, etc. and
finding a duplicate copy is not possible (scanning or digital reproduction may be allowed).

 ▪ Consult the Philippine Copyright Law.

 ▪

 ▪ The following are possible high demand situations that require title-by-title review and duplication decisions :

 ▪ Theology books needed in the Ecclesiastical Library and Religion Section.

 ▪

 ▪

 ▪ The following are possible high demand situations that require title-by-title review and duplication decisions :

 ▪ Theology books needed in the Ecclesiastical Library and Religion Section.

 ▪ Major literary awards, such as Nobel Prize or Pulitzer Prize.

 ▪ Materials on current “in topics” or questions received repeatedly at reference
desks are likely candidates for purchasing a wide-variety of single-copy titles and multiple copies of the better titles.

 ▪ Materials developing long hold queues on the automated circulation system are reasonable candidates for duplication.

 ▪ When the two high school libraries need the materials.

 ▪

 ▪ Cataloging This operation includes determining access points, description of the item, assigning subject headings and call number. Cataloging also includes the physical preparation of materials for their use such as placing call number in the spine of the book, putting book jacket, book card and date due slip. The maintenance of the library’s catalog is also part of the cataloging services.

 ▪ Serials Management Serials control has several processes. These are the following:

 ▪ check in issues received

 ▪ claiming undelivered issues

 ▪ cancellation of subscriptions

 ▪

 ▪ The serial management module is designed to handle the receipt and claiming of serial issues. Claiming letters can be printed under this module. It allows checking of the current status of serial orders and titles.

Cataloging and indexing of serial publications are fully integrated with the serial management. Cataloging is done at the processing section and indexing is delegated to several head librarians.

Indexing has become increasingly necessary because it serves as a guide to the contents of periodicals. In indexing, one must determine the scope of the index, the Benavides library follows the selective indexing.

We index articles with permanent reference value; very brief items of temporary interest are omitted. We use specific subject headings and cross-references to keep similar subjects together. We consult subject heading lists from accredited indexing services such as H.W. Wilson indexes, Library of Congress List of Subject Headings and the Sears List. Periodical indexing involves a stricter discipline, a wider knowledge and unswerving consistency.

 ▪ It provides the researchers information such as the title of the article, authors name and affiliation, serial/proceeding title, volume, issue number, page and date of the journal, thesaurus terms, classification number, subject headings and added title key.

Periodical researchers may use the printed indexes and abstracts and the CIPPA for local journals.

 ▪ Gifts and Exchanges

Gifts to the Library are encouraged but will be added to the collection only after the items have been evaluated to determine if they meet the collection development requirements. Generally, the Library accepts only books and journals as gifts. Gift serial subscriptions are encouraged. Donors should contact the Gift and Exchange librarian if they have materials they wish to donate or with questions about the appropriateness of their gifts. The Benavides Library will acknowledge the number of items donated but cannot legally provide an appraisal or estimate of the value of donated materials. Gift materials that are not added are donated to other libraries.

The Benavides Library maintains an active exchange program as part of its acquisitions strategy. The exchange program seeks to meet three fundamental goals: acquisition of materials not otherwise available; cost-effective acquisition of materials also available by purchase and dissemination of publications produced by the University.

An exchange program is maintained, whereby copies of selected journals published from the University of Santo Tomas Australia are exchanged with other universities for their publications. Materials received on exchange are selected for inclusion in the collection in accordance with the guidelines established in the collection development policy for the relevant subject.

 ▪

 ▪

 ▪ Rare Materials

 ▪

 ▪ General

 ▪

 ▪ The Antonio V. del Rosario Heritage Library contains a collection of almost 30,000 volumes with a total of less than 5,000 titles covering a broad spectrum of knowledge like treatises on Philosophy, Civil and Canon law, Theology, Sciences, History, Music and the Arts from the 15th to the 19th century. Many of these books are written in Latin, while some are written in vernacular languages like Italian, French, German and Spanish. The collection came from the old University. Other books were donated by Dominican priests, private individuals, and gifts of missionaries who worked in the Philippines. Majority of the books were published and printed in Europe.

 ▪

 ▪ Filipiniana Rare

 ▪

 ▪ The Filipiniana rare collections are books, periodicals and other materials about the Philippines printed as early as 1600s, 1700s, 1800s and 1900s regardless of authorship, language used and the place of publication. Filipiniana materials of limited edition published during the Spanish , American and Japanese occupations until the year of the liberation, 1945.

 ▪

 ▪ Spanish Collections

 ▪

 ▪ The Spanish collections are housed in the Spanish section located at the 4th floor of the Central Library building. Its main objective is to preserve the collection in the Spanish language (mainly 20th century). The collection includes books on the Arts, Humanities, Philosophy, History, Literature, Law, Pharmacy and Medicine. Although students of Spanish are the main users of this section, it also accommodates all bonafide students of the University and other qualified researchers.