Library Policies: Resource Selection Policies

General Criteria:

• Accuracy of information and data
• Appearance of title in important bibliographies, lists, and recognized reviewing media
• Authoritativeness of publisher or producer
• Budget and space limitations
• Current and/or permanent value
• Format (Electronic preferred)
• Importance of author or film maker
• Importance to total collection
• Literary merit or artistic quality
• Patron needs as expressed through reference questions
• Price
• Recommendations of other members of the professional library staff
• Reviews
• Scarcity of materials on the subject
• Scholarly value and reputation
• Significance of subject matter
• Strengths and weaknesses of the collection

Specific Criteria:

• Inclusion in Resources for College Libraries core lists of books
• Choice reviews: book must be either 1) Highly recommended or 2) Essential
• Requested by a Saint Leo faculty member

EBooks are the preferred format for materials.  Reasons for exceptions include licensing terms or superiority of print quality.  For other titles, the following factors are considered: interface, interoperability, need for a proprietary reader, availability of an archival copy, licensing issues (including ILL), and use statistics.  Perpetual access to content (i.e., purchase) is preferred over leasing.  Paperback editions of all monographs are purchased whenever possible.  These monographs are then bound when needed.

Faculty Purchase Request form