The Library's primary function is to provide informational material to support the University's instructional program. Those charged with the development of the collection must consider a number of factors, including:
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Last reviewed: 20230413
The selection of library materials is the joint responsibility of the teaching faculty and the library faculty. Every faculty member is encouraged to participate in the materials selection process in areas of his/her particular expertise. Consideration will also be given to requests from other members of the University community.
Academic faculty should not only assist in the selection of materials in their fields, but also confer with their departmental library representatives to review strengths and weaknesses of the collection, and special needs arising from new and changing programs in their disciplines.
The library faculty will assume responsibility for the overall development of the collection. They will supplement and improve those areas not receiving adequate attention and coordinate the collection development of the library as a whole.
Final responsibility for development of the collection rests with the Library Director, and all requests for materials must be cleared through that office.
The University administration is responsible for setting the monetary amount allocated each year for the library materials budget. The librarians evaluate upcoming expenditures of all library funds including funds for the purchase of materials.
That portion of the materials budget reserved for use of the academic departments will be determined by the librarians in consultation with the university faculty. In determining the allocation of funds to each department, the director will consider such factors as total funds available, materials essential to the instructional needs of each department, number and level of courses taught, new courses offered, deficiencies in the existing collection, number of credit hours generated by each program, and average prices of materials in each subject area. Funds reserved for use of the academic departments remain at all times part of the Library budget. All materials purchased with such funds become the property of the Library, available for use by the entire campus community. It is inappropriate to use library funds to acquire materials for the exclusive use of any group or individual. The library seeks to maximize its expenses by purchasing resources that reach the broadest number of students.
The money allocated for electronic periodicals is a separate line in the library budget and allocations are not made to individual academic departments. Moody Library faculty members carefully review all new subscription requests (E-journals or databases) so that expenditures will be fairly distributed among academic disciplines.
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Last Reviewed: 20230413
Material of lasting and scholarly value will be given priority. Current publications will be given priority over older and out-of-print material. Criteria considered will include:
Generally, library materials are acquired only in those languages in which academic programs are taught. Library emphasizes the acquisition of English-language material.
The following categories are not normally purchased:
Duplication of copies will be limited to those justified by heavy and continuous use. Variant editions (except updated editions) of a title will be acquired only if they are "standard" editions or contain substantial changes needed for research purposes.
The Library is committed to the goal of making diverse viewpoints freely available without restriction. Materials will not be excluded because of the social, political, or religious views they express. The Library is committed to sustaining a balanced collection -- one that has resources supporting both sides of an issue to increase student critical thinking. The Library is committed to purchasing items based on the curriculum needs as expressed predominantly from professors.
Due to shelf space and staff limitations, the library no longer is able to accept regular gifts except under extreme significance to the HCU curriculum in coordination with the HCU faculty or administration.
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Last reviewed: 20230413
The reference collection is meant as a non-circulating collection of material designed to provide quick access to factual information in all subject fields. Many physical reference works formerly used by the library have been relocated to CredoReference.com. All reference materials are especially selected for:
The responsibility for selection of reference materials lies primarily with the library faculty; however, the teaching faculty are encouraged to suggest reference materials deemed important for the collection.
Today, most periodicals are available via database subscription or individual purchase. In almost all cases, these will be digital and available via the library’s proxy server for off-campus access and use. The selection of periodicals is based on the same basic criteria as that for other materials. Periodicals are selected to cover, as broadly as possible, all fields relating to the curriculum of the University and vetted with the faculty liaisons (as with databases). In addition, the Library subscribes to a number of general interest journals and professional journals in the fields of library science and higher education.
Because periodicals represent a significant commitment of annual funds and shelf space, new subscription requests are carefully reviewed. Ideally, new recommendations will serve a wide variety of courses instead of a single course. Priority is assigned to those journals that are more frequently cited and indexed in indexes owned by the Library, and that are likely to be utilized by more than a few readers. New periodicals may be acquired in paper copy to be bound, in paper copy to be replaced by electronic format, depending upon the frequency of use, loss or mutilation rate of the material, space requirements, availability, and price. Usage statistics generated by new journal subscriptions will be monitored closely. Subscriptions for doctoral programs will be given a wider latitude of usage evaluation. Otherwise, any new journal not being well-used within two years is subject to deselection (removal).
Requests for back files of periodical subscriptions will be reviewed separately. The following criteria will be used in determining their purchase:
When back files are acquired, they will usually be acquired electronic format because of space and cost considerations. They will also be subject to usage monitoring.
As is the case with periodicals, serial items which are added to the classified collection and other standing orders represent a continuing budgetary commitment beyond the initial year of purchase. For this reason, these purchase requests should be carefully reviewed by both the teaching faculty and the library faculty. This was used in the past and the library no longer practices this method.
A collection of juvenile books suitable for students in grades K-12 will be maintained for use of education students. The Library will attempt to collect outstanding children's books, especially those winning awards or highly recommended by reputable reviewers. This collection should contain only books that would meet the standards of good school libraries. The Library will not attempt to collect non-book materials in this area.
The Library purchases and makes available for use a number of resources that must be accessed by a computer. These include electronic indexes and abstracts, full-text resources, computer programs on specific sources, and Internet resources. These items are purchased using the same general criteria as for other library materials, but, because of the high cost of some items the following factors need to be taken into consideration:
The library no longer acquires physical audio-visual. Streaming services are possible contingent upon the budget and other priorities. When considering streaming services, the Library will follow the guidelines established for the purchase of print materials. Because of the special nature of these types of materials, consideration should be given to the following:
The Library has a small microform collection and formerly acquired microform materials when requested resources were not available in any other format. Due to bankruptcy, microform companies are hard to find. If companies begin to sell microform products again, the library will consider their cost and space requirements when seeking to add resources to the collection.
The library collection does have rare books which contain valuable historical materials. Usage is restricted to the library building only. Please contact the library faculty for further information.
The Library and HCU faculty will include carefully selected Demand-Driven Acquisitions (DDAs) in the collection. Librarians and faculty select Ebooks to add to the catalog. They are available for briefly for free (five minutes or less to evaluate). If patrons stay longer or download the Ebook, then the library will purchase it. Whether a book's purchase will be physical or electronic will primarily be determined by cost but will also be governed by Paragraph F criteria above. The librarians will work with faculty to determine needs based on the university curriculum and the library's budget. If a requested title is available and affordable, they will include "DDA" in the subject heading of the Ebook and will be available for use via the library catalog. If DDA usage triggers are met, invoices are auto-generated and invoices are sent to the library for purchase, which will come from the library’s book budget.
The Library will work with faculty to determine an affordable amount of licenses (a.k.a. concurrent user limit). Approvals will depend on the availability of the library budget.
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Last updated: 20230413
Weeding, or the removal of obsolete or unneeded material to be discarded, is an integral part of the total collection development procedure. Weeding is primarily the responsibility of the library faculty, but input from the teaching faculty may be requested. The following material should be systematically weeded:
Titles that are lost or damaged beyond repair are considered for replacement. The Library does not have the staff or resources to repair damaged books. Decisions to replace an item will be based on the following considerations:
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Last updated: 20230413
Collection space, general workspace, and librarian availability are at a premium and Moody Library can no longer accept a donations of books and other library materials from personal collections.
Your gift of $25 or more may be used to purchase one or more books on the subject of your choice as a memorial or a tribute to an individual or to commemorate a special occasion. Once your donation is received, the Library will send a letter to the family of the honored person(s), notifying them of your thoughtful gift. Each book purchased through a memorial/tribute donation will bear a personalized bookplate commemorating the person or the event.
Moody Library greatly appreciates your consideration of donating monetary contributions of any amount. Donors wishing to support the library and its mission should contact Dr. Tristan Fernandez Cablay, Director of Academic Support and Resources at 281-649-3425 or the University Office of Advancement at 281-649-3222. All donated funds will be used in accordance with the wishes of the donor subject as directed by the Advancement Office.
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Last updated: 20230413