There are many challenges being faced by academic libraries. Teaching and learning strategies are changing, becoming more problem-based and learner-centred and using flexible learning approaches. New technology and telecommunication developments are shaping both teaching and learning, and the production of information. New formats of information resources are appearing, adding to the panoply available. The prices of newer formats are adding to the costs, and in the last few years, the costs of library materials have risen at rates higher than the consumer price index. Library budgets have not expanded at the same rate as costs of materials. The funding situation has been exacerbated by the volatility of the Australian dollar. Effective research demands an expanding infrastructure, including wide information access.

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. What should be purchased for on-site location for everyday use and what should be acquired in anticipation of use? How much should be held in print? What is the appropriate balance in relation to journal and monograph collections? How much multimedia should be acquired and in what formay? What level should material be collected in each disciplinary area? How are interdisciplinary matters covered? What duplication is appropriate considering the distributed nature of the Library's collections and the existence of multiple campuses? Given space requirements, how is a steady-state collection maintained?

The purpose of this document is to outline the background to collection development at The University of Queensland and to identify general principles for shaping the Library’s collections. These principles will change over time, requiring the policy to be updated on a regular basis. Also included are overviews in each disciplinary area, outlining the general approach to the discipline and the emphasis in collecting. In addition, special collections are identified and described. The ongoing management of the collection is related to its development and some principles of collection management are outlined.

The development of the collection is an activity, which involves 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 involved in the selection of specific items. The Library Advisory Committees for each branch library provide a focus for implementing the Policy at the branch level. Library-wide co-ordination is the responsibility of the Library’s Collection Development Advisory Group, which reports to the Library Management Group. This Policy has been endorsed by the Library Committee of the Academic Board (14 December, 2000).

Based on the environment in which collection development at the University of Queensland is currently operating, the following general principles apply:

1. Material will be selected for the Library's collections that support the teaching, learning and research needs of the University.
2. Maintaining an appropriate balance between teaching and learning requirements and research needs will be a priority.
3. Wherever possible, allocation of the library materials budget will be driven by needs and related to use, using a formula including:
   • Number of academic staff and research higher degree students
   • Usage of materials as demonstrated in loans and access statistics
   • Average price of books in the discipline over the last three years
4. The Library's expenditure on library materials will be no less than 45% of the Library's recurrent budget (currently at 6.5% of the University's budget)
5. Where possible, the Library will supplement its expenditure on library materials with funds provided from research infrastructure, bequests and endowments, and other income.
6. Journals are regarded as the lifeblood of a research collection. While it is difficult to determine an appropriate percentage, a general aim is that no more than 82% of the Library's materials budget will be spent on subscription-based resources.
7. Subject to negotiation of suitable licensing agreements, the Library will endeavour to provide access to electronic versions of journals.
8. Use of particular formats of materials varies from discipline to discipline. The appropriate mix will be determined in each disciplinary area.
9. The levels of collecting for each disciplinary area will be determined primarily in relation to needs at the University of Queensland. However, the Library's role as the largest library in the state and one of the largest in Australia will also be borne in mind when determining collecting strengths.
10. The collection's strengths will be enhanced by purchasing material, in general, for permanent retention by the Library.
11. All material purchased or otherwise obtained by the Library will be housed in the Library's collections, except electronic resources that are only available via suppliers' servers.
12. Wherever possible, the Library will avoid unnecessary duplication of material.
13. Budgetary constraints inevitably mean that the Library is unable to satisfy all the information needs of its users from its own collections, particularly to support research. The Library's on-site collections will be supplemented by providing the University's researchers with access to inter-library loan and document delivery services on a predominantly free basis.
14. Given the finite space for physical collections in its branch libraries, the Library will maintain a steady state in its open-access collections, with lesser-used material stored in closed-access facilities.
15. The level of collecting and the effectiveness of the collections will be regularly assessed using a variety of mechanisms.

The Library grew, not as a single unified collection, but as a group of subject-based libraries and departmental collections. The collection was begun in 1911. Until the appointment of the first University Librarian 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 heads of academic departments. 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, with an increasing number of departmental libraries. 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 one half of the total book stock. The enduring emphasis on departmental libraries has been ascribed to by 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 lectures 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, Richard Pennington, in 1939. At the time of his arrival, there was Main Library, plus 11 departmental libraries. The collections were still largely devoid of material in the humanities and Australiana.

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. However, subscription to major serials initiated by long-established academic departments means that collections such as chemistry, geology, several branches of engineering, mathematics and agriculture, have long runs of journals matched by only a few libraries in Australia.

For more information, John East has written a Brief History of The Universty of Queensland Library.

Collections Budget

The Library collection development budget is normally issued early in the year and consists of 6 components:

Subscriptions fund:

A single allocation is used for subscriptions and covers all formats, including databases, print and electronic journals, as well as electronic books. The Collections Priority Group asseses all subscriptions requests.

Non-subscriptions fund:

The fund supports the purchase of all non-subscription resources, including material on course reading lists, as well as other print books and multimedia. The fund is divided by branch library using historical data such the number of students and staff, as well as the average cost of monographs by discipline.

Contestable fund:

Funds are set aside to support University initiatives such as new courses and emerging research strengths. There is a nominal division of 80% non-subscriptions and 20% subscriptions. In the second and subsequent years, the cost of new subscriptions must be met by the standard subscriptions funds. In practice, this may mean the cancellation of other subscriptions in order to stay within the bounds of the collections budget. All requests for contestable funds are assessed by the Collections Priority Group.

Document delivery fund:

A small allocation is made to each branch library to obtain material not held by UQ Library. This may either be by borrowing books from other libraries (inter-library loan) or by electronic document delivery of journal articles (form other libraries or commercial suppliers).

Binding fund:

A small allocation is made to each branch library for binding, mainly for journals that are to be retained for an extended period and for the binding of music scores.

Requests for resources should be submitted to your liaison librarian. All physical material acquired using Library funds must be housed in the relevant branch library.