Mission
The Hunt Library fosters the success of the ERAU Daytona Beach and Worldwide campus communities by providing access to information resources and services specific to the curriculum and research activities of students and faculty. Through its unique collections, dedicated staff, and welcoming physical and virtual environments, the library provides a vital resource for student learning, instructional effectiveness, and the support and dissemination of ERAU research.
Purpose Statement
The Hunt Library acquires, organizes, and makes accessible materials in a variety of formats that support the teaching, learning, and research needs of the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University community. This policy is a statement of the operating guidelines that the Hunt Library staff uses in the acquisition, preservation, and dissemination of information resources.
Audience
The primary audience for these guidelines is the Hunt Library staff and the university community of faculty, staff, students, and researchers.
Introduction
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) has been associated with some form of aviation education since 1925. Established as a flight school, it was accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) in 1968 and gained university stature in 1970. In addition to meeting SACS standards as a Level VI institution, ERAU is also approved by a variety of subject-specific associations and entities, including the Accrediting Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), Aviation Accreditation Board International (AABI), International Fire Service Accreditation Congress (IFSAC), and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). ERAU’s mission is to teach the science, practice, and business of aviation and aerospace.
ERAU is comprised of three campuses: Daytona Beach, Florida; Prescott, Arizona; and Worldwide, which offers courses both online and in classrooms at Centers throughout the world. The Prescott campus is primarily served by the Hazy Library, while the Hunt Library provides collections and services to students, faculty, and staff at the Daytona Beach and Worldwide campuses.
As part of its mission, the Hunt Library focuses its collection management activities on providing resources that promote discovery, research, and learning, and are responsive to the specialized academic degree programs and general education needs of the Embry-Riddle community. The library also acknowledges the importance of preserving and providing access to unique and historical aviation and aerospace resources.
Funding and Budget Allocation
Funds to purchase library resources are allocated yearly by the university budget office. The Head of Collection Management administers the materials budget with input from the Library Director, the Associate Director for Electronic and Technical Services, and the Library Management Team. The library allocates its materials budget by material type using a series of fund codes to track expenditures. The materials budget supports the purchase of materials of all formats.
Consortia agreements
In order to carry out its mission to meet the teaching and research needs of the ERAU community, the Hunt Library makes use of external organizations to cooperatively share the cost of resources. Current consortia arrangements include Lyrasis and the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida (ICUF). On occasion, the Hunt Library also works with statewide organizations, including the Florida Virtual Campus (FLVC) and the Florida Electronic Library (FEL), as well as with Florida’s multitype library cooperatives such as the Northeast Florida Library Information Network (NEFLIN).
Selection Guidelines
Intellectual freedom
The Hunt Library endorses the principles set forth by the American Library Association in the Library Bill of Rights (see Appendix A) and the Freedom to Read Statement (see Appendix B). The Hunt Library selects information resources that represent the widest range of viewpoints consistent with the library and university. Resources are selected based on their merit, regardless of their popularity, frankness of language, controversial treatment of issues, or the sex, religion, political philosophy, or national origin of the authors.
Copyright
The Hunt Library adheres to all provisions of U.S. copyright law and guidelines.
Objectives
The Hunt Library will acquire, preserve, and provide access to a variety of information resources necessary to meet its responsibility to the library mission. The Collection Management Policy is flexible and adaptive to the changing teaching, learning, and research needs of the Embry-Riddle community.
Subject areas and collection arrangement
The primary subject areas collected are those that support the curriculum and the instructional and research activities of ERAU. The Hunt Library uses the Resource Description and Access (RDA) cataloging standard and arranges the majority of materials by the Library of Congress Classification System.
Language
English, the language of instruction at ERAU, is the primary language of the collection.
Selection responsibility
The Head of Collection Management and the Collection Management Team actively participate in the selection of materials for the collection. The Collection Management Team meets regularly to formally review requests to purchase materials. Additionally, the Collection Management Team optimizes library holdings with respect to the curriculum, patron needs, library and university goals, materials availability, and budgetary resources. It receives input, both formally and informally from the entire spectrum of the university community. The subject expertise of the faculty is tapped through designated librarians who serve as liaisons to the academic departments.
General selection guidelines
Materials are evaluated under these general guidelines:
- Depth of current collection in the subject area,
- Lasting value of the content,
- Demand for and use by students, faculty, and staff,
- Suitability of format to content,
- Authoritativeness of the Author/Publisher,
- Price in relationship to the total budget,
- Ease of access (e.g., electronic resources available through the Internet), and
- Multiple materials. (As a general rule, the Hunt Library purchases single copies of most print items.)
All materials purchased with funds allocated to the library become the property of the library.
Selection and evaluation tools
When making selection decisions, librarians consult subject-specific and standard library reviewing sources such as Choice and Library Journal. In addition, librarians use faculty expertise as a resource for selection and evaluation of the collection. They also consider Interlibrary Loan requests, usage data, and student feedback.
Selection levels
Graduate Program subject areas: Advanced.
Undergraduate Program subject areas: Initial Study level
General Education subject areas: Basic
All other academic subject areas: Basic
General Interest/Leisure: Minimal Level
Collection codes
These codes were developed by the American Library Association.1
[1 Anderson, J.S. (1996). Guide to written collection policy statements (2nd ed.). Chicago: American library Association.]
Advanced study level. A collection which is adequate to support the course work of advanced undergraduate and master’s degree programs, or sustained independent study; that is, which is adequate to maintain knowledge of a subject required for limited or generalized purposes, of less than research intensity. It includes a wide range of basic monographs both current and retrospective, complete collections of the works of more important writers, selections from the
works of secondary writers, a selection of representative journals, and the reference books and fundamental apparatus pertaining to the subject.
Initial study level. A collection which is adequate to support undergraduate courses. It includes a judicious selection from currently published basic monographs (as are represented by Choice selections) supported by seminal retrospective monographs (as are represented by Books for College Libraries); a broad selection of works of secondary writers; a selection of the major review journals; and current editions of the most significant reference tools and bibliographies
pertaining to the subject.
Basic level. A highly selective collection which serves to introduce and define the subject and to indicate the varieties of information available elsewhere. It includes major dictionaries and encyclopedias, selected editions of important works, historical surveys, important bibliographies, and a few major periodicals in the field.
Minimal level. A subject area in which a few selections are made beyond basic works.
Textbooks
For the purposes of this policy, a textbook is a book specifically designed to be used as the basis of a course of study. As a general policy, the Hunt Library does not purchase textbooks. Textbooks become quickly outdated and acquisition would be in conflict with the library’s intention to develop a collection of lasting value.
Exceptions
Exceptions can be made for textbooks that are considered classics in their fields, have approached a “definitive” status, or when such items are the only or best sources of information for a particular topic.
To further the Hunt Library’s commitment to supporting student success, we also offer a small number of textbooks in electronic format. The purchase of these e-textbooks is based on availability, cost, and an access model that would support classroom use. In general, the library cannot provide e-versions of standard textbooks published by commercial textbook publishers due to licensing restrictions.
A faculty member may place a personal copy of a textbook on course reserve. For more information on course reserves, see the Reserves Policy.
The Hunt Library is aware of the high costs of textbooks and proactively support faculty adoption of low-cost or no-cost textbook alternatives. More information about the Open and Affordable Textbook Initiative and how Hunt Library can help is available on the library website.
Gifts
The Hunt Library accepts gifts of information resources (see Appendix C for the gift donation form). Gifts will be evaluated for inclusion in the library collections in accordance with all applicable sections of this Collection Management Policy, using the same standards applied to purchased materials. Gifts become the property of the library and may be displayed, housed, or disposed of in any appropriate manner.
The Hunt Library does not provide appraisals of the value of gift materials. Donors will receive a letter of thanks from the library. Where appropriate, special book plates noting the donor will be attached to the gift items. Desk or instructor's copies that are marked as such cannot be accepted as gifts.
Formats of Materials
Electronic resources
To ensure the widest possible access to information resources for members of the ERAU community, the Hunt Library acquires new information resources in electronic format wherever possible and appropriate. This reflects the growing trend of libraries to shift collections from on-site print access to electronic access, and it assists the library in meeting the needs of ERAU’s distance learners. The following guidelines are used when purchasing materials in electronic format whenever possible, with exceptions made as necessary:
- Provisions for Interlibrary Loan and reproduction of materials for educational use are included in the license;
- Access is available 24 hours, 7 days a week;
- Access is available off-campus.
Electronic databases
Electronic database purchase and cancellation decisions are made in cooperation with members from the Hunt Library Collection Management Team and the Hazy Library Database Collection Management Team. These decisions adhere to the Database Collection Management Policy.
Books
The Hunt Library purchases both electronic and print monographs. Electronic books are typically purchased in an unlimited or multiple-user format or with an extended access option for upgrading single-user licenses. Additionally, the Hunt Library purchases both current and archival collections of electronic books. For the print collections, hardbound (cloth) books are preferred due to their durability. Although the majority of books are purchased in order to meet the curricular needs of the university community, the library also leases a small popular fiction and non-fiction collection in support of leisure reading.
Serials/periodicals/newspapers
The Hunt Library subscribes to serial publications in a variety of forms including scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, proceedings, abstracts, indexes, annuals, and monographic series. The Hunt Library’s journal subscriptions are primarily available electronically with a small selection of scholarly journals and trade/popular publications still available in print. In addition, the Hunt Library purchases electronic archival collections of core journal titles (pre-1997).
The library holds a commitment to continuing the acquisition process for serials subscriptions that are currently in the collection, but will periodically reexamine their necessity based upon relevance to the ERAU mission, subscription price, and use patterns. New titles will be selected based upon cost, value to the subject area, reviews from available sources, and the availability of indexing to which the library has access.
Microforms
The Hunt Library acquires information resources on microfilm where these formats are the most cost-effective or the only method of acquisition.
Government documents/technical reports
The Hunt Library does not have federal or state government document depository status, but maintains a small collection of government documents and technical reports that support the ERAU mission.
Manuscripts/rare books/archival materials
The Hunt Library does not purchase manuscripts or rare books, although these items on aerospace-related topics may be welcomed as gifts. The Special Collection of historical aviation materials consists primarily of donations.
Maps/atlases
The Hunt Library does not maintain a separate collection of maps, nor does it actively collect in this area, although a small number of maps are kept for reference purposes. A representative collection of general and specialized atlases is maintained.
Pamphlets/brochures/etc.
The Hunt Library will purchase pamphlets, brochures, annual reports, reprints of articles, clippings, and other items that directly support the curriculum as needed. The Library collects only those materials that comply with copyright laws.
Works of art/photographs/models/realia
The Hunt Library does not actively acquire works of art, photographs, models, or realia, but donated items will be considered for inclusion in the collection based on the collection criteria outlined herein.
Films
The Hunt Library acquires media to support the curriculum. The preferred format of physical material is DVD NTSC Region 1. The Hunt Library also provides the ERAU community with access to several streaming video collections. Due to copyright restrictions, the library cannot provide access to streamed content that is only made available to the individual consumer market.
Computer software/CD-ROMs
The Hunt Library does not actively collect software.
Theses & dissertations
The university requires all graduate students to submit an electronic version of their master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation to the library for inclusion in Scholarly Commons, the university’s institutional repository, and in ProQuest’s Dissertations and Theses Global database.
Open Access (OA) & Open Educational Resources (OERs)
The Hunt Library supports alternative publishing models, such as Open Access, that intend to make access to research more affordable and available. The library provides direct access to open access items that are relevant to the collection and meet the standards set out in this policy.
Open Access items published through the university’s institutional repository, Scholarly Commons, are also available through the library’s discovery tool. This includes open educational resources (OER) that are created or adopted by ERAU faculty and have been published or hosted in Scholarly Commons. OER items may be removed from the collection if they are no longer in use by faculty.
Evaluation of the Collection
Deselection & withdrawal
Withdrawal, also known as weeding, is the permanent removal of outdated, damaged, or redundant material from the collection. Deselection is the decision-making process for withdrawal. Primary responsibility for organizing weeding initiatives and deselecting lies with the Collection Management Team, although advice can be sought from other library staff.
The following types of materials are routinely removed from the collection:
- Damaged materials,
- Obsolete/superseded items, and
- Older editions which do not have historical value in our collection.
Replacement
Items that are reported as missing or lost are reviewed by the Head of Collection Management for possible replacement. Factors including cost, availability, anticipated use, other holdings, and newer publications on the subject are used when making a decision for replacement. The Collection Management Team is consulted as necessary during this process.
Preservation & conservation
The Hunt Library makes an effort to preserve the physical condition of items through means like temperature, humidity control, and pest control. Other preservation measures, such as archival boxes or binding of materials, are taken on an as-needed basis.
Appendix
Appendix A: Library Bill of Rights
Appendix B: Freedom to Read Statement
Appendix C: Hunt Library Print/Media Material Donations
Revised September 2020.