Introduction

There are many challenges facing academic libraries, such as responding to flexible learning approaches, new technologies, product pricing, and the volatility of the Australian dollar. The correct identification of key and emerging areas of research requires the close monitoring of organisational directions.

Making decisions about the purchase of individual items for library collections requires a clear understanding of the various needs of library users and the determination of overall priorities.

The purpose of this document is to outline collection development at The University of Queensland, and to identify general principles for shaping the Library's collection. These principles will change over time, requiring the policy to be updated on a regular basis. In addition, special collections are identified and described. Some principles of collection management are noted.

Also included are assessments of collection subject areas, with areas defined by the Australian Research Council's Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) Field of Research (FoR) codes. The Library's Collections Priority Directorate had subject descriptions rewritten to reflect the Library's support of the University's current research and teaching goals, using the ERA framework.

The development of the collection is an activity which involves both Library staff and Library users. The academic schools and research centres participate in the selection of specific items related to their disciplines. The Collection Development Policy provides guidelines for all.

Library-wide collection coordination is the responsibility of the Library's Associate Director of Collections and Information Resources. This role chairs the Library's Collections Management Group, which reports to the Library Policy and Planning Group.

Requests for resources should be submitted to the appropriate librarian. Physical material acquired using Library funds must be housed in the relevant Library location.

This policy is updated as required, with a major review conducted at the start of each calendar year. Last updated: August 2013.

Principles of Collection Development

Based on the current collection development environment operating at The University of Queensland, the following general principles apply:

1. Selected resources will support the teaching, learning and research needs of the University.
2. An appropriate balance between teaching and learning requirements and research needs will be maintained.
3. The Library's expenditure on its collections will be no less than 45% of the Library's recurrent budget.
4. Where possible, the Library will supplement expenditure on its collections with funds provided from research infrastructure, bequests and endowments, as well as other income.
5. A balance will be maintained between subscriptions and monographs. The general aim is that no more than 80% of the Library's collections budget will be spent on the subscriptions.
6. Subject to negotiation of suitable licensing agreements, preference is to acquire resources in digital rather than print format. Specific disciplinary requirements will be taken into account.
7. Consultation with the University's research and teaching community will determine the levels of collecting for each disciplinary area, primarily in relation to need.
8. In general, resources purchased or otherwise obtained by the Library will be housed in the Library's collections. Exceptions include electronic resources only available via suppliers' servers; datasets; standards, inter library loans and document delivery.
9. Wherever possible, the Library will avoid unnecessary duplication of resources.
10. The Library's collections will be supplemented by providing University students and staff with access to inter-library loan and document delivery services on a predominantly free basis, for academic purposes.
11. Given the finite space for physical collections in its on-site libraries, the Library will move lesser-used material to closed-access facilities.
12. The level of collecting and the effectiveness of the collections will be regularly assessed using a variety of mechanisms.
13. Materials deemed to fall outside criteria outlined in the subject retention schedules will be withdrawn from the collection, and will be offered to Alumni Friends of The University of Queensland Inc. for their biennial book fair.

Library Collections Budget

The Library Collections Budget is develped early in the year, and operates from January to December.

Funds

Library funds are drawn from a number of sources. The main source is the University's operating grant to the Library. Other sources include government research infrastructure grants, institutional and library donations and bequests, and library income.

Historically the library has benefited from annual increases to the operating grant, but these are never taken for granted. As the information resource inflation factor is typically in the range of 5-8%, annual increases in the Library Collections Budget are necessary to maintain existing subscriptions and to allow for the purchase of new material.

Approximately 80% of resources are published overseas, resulting in significant exposure to fluctuations in the currency market, particularly the US dollar, the Euro and the British pounds. Senior Library management engages in a number of strategies to minimise the library's financial exposure.

However, as the majority of the Library's subscription renewals fall due in the last quarter of the year, these strategies may be tempered by circumstances beyond the Library's control. Any shortfall in funding must be covered by other sources of income, the cancellation of subscriptions, or reductions in the amount available for non-recurrent expenditure.

Allocations

The allocation of funds to purchase materials to support research, and teaching and learning activities of the University is guided by the principles of collection development outlined above. Some degree of adjustment to the division of funds may be necessary on an annual basis, depending on the circumstances and restraints already mentioned.

The current division of funds:

• 73% is allocated to journal and database subscriptions
• 20% to monographs and multi media
• 5% as contestable funds
• 2% to document requesting; binding and repairs; and global processing.

Print and electronic subscriptions

The allocation for subscriptions is used to fund database, print and electronic journal and ebook package subscriptions. This category includes abstracting and indexing resources as well as research support tools and datasets. The Collections Management Group meets ten times a year and assesses all new subscription requests.

Monograph and multimedia purchases

This allocation is used for the purchase of material to support research and teaching and learning needs. It includes ebooks and dataset purchases, as well as print books and multimedia. As required by the University's Policy & Procedure Library (PPL), the library purchases copies of textbooks, required readings and other course materials.

The allocation for ebooks is further divided into individual title by title purchase, package or subjection collection purchase and an amount to support patron driven acquisition of material. Submissions for substantial ebook collection purchases are assessed by the Library's Collections Management Group.

Contestable resources

Divided into subscriptions and one-off purchases, contestable funds are used to support University initiatives such as new courses and emerging research strengths. The Collections Management Group assesses submissions for expenditure against this fund.

Document requesting

An allocation is made for the procurement of material not held by the Library. This may be by borrowing books from other libraries (inter-library loan) or by electronic document delivery of journal articles (from other libraries or commercial suppliers).

Binding and repairs

An allocation is made for binding, mainly for journals to be retained for an extended period, and for the binding of music scores.

Global processing

An allocation is made for processing costs associated with postage, customs, and shelf-readying materials (e.g. security inserts, cover reinforcements, spine labels).

General History of the Collections

The Library grew not as a single unified collection, but as a group of subject-based libraries and departmental collections. The unified collection was begun in 1911. Until the appointment of the first University Librarian, Richard Pennington, in 1939, the Library was managed by the Library Committee.

There was no allocation of money to the Library. Selection was in the hands of academic department heads. Orders were placed no more than four times a year, initially through a local bookseller, and eventually via Blackwells, particularly for overseas material. At this stage, the Main Library was virtually the Library for the Faculty of Arts, though largely devoid of material in the humanities and Australiana.

By 1939, there were eight departmental libraries and a number of smaller collections, all in the areas of science, medical science and engineering. These libraries contained up to half the total book stock. The enduring emphasis on departmental libraries has been ascribed to by former 1960s Acting University Librarian Barry Scott as being the result of the fact that:

The University did not buy, and could not afford for the Library, anything other than the day to day reference books and periodicals needed for undergraduates and for academic staff to prepare lectures. It is not surprising then that there was a strong demand for the few standard works in engineering or chemistry to be kept in the departments where they were vital to the lecturers concerned and little used by anyone else.

Donations of material, while not great in numbers, still constituted a significant proportion of the collection. Overall, the collections grew very slowly. The size of the budget remained fairly static, even after the appointment of the first University Librarian. The funding situation changed in 1951, when the Commonwealth Government began to provide substantial support for Australian universities. This was followed by the recommendations of the Murray Committee report on Australian universities (1957) being accepted. It was as a result of this latter injection of funding, that there was a serious attempt to purchase research material.

The great bulk of the Library's older material was acquired from the late 1960s onwards by retrospective purchase (second hand, microform, and reprint) and donation.

For more information, see John East's Brief History of The University of Queensland Library.