Introduction
St George’s, University of London Library’s Collection Development Policy sets out principles and guidelines for developing and maintaining the Library's collections in all formats to support the teaching, learning (educational or workplace) and research needs of St George’s, University of London (SGUL) and our NHS partners.
The policy covers the following materials provided by the Library:
- Books (print and e-books) – current holdings c. 40,000 books and e-books
- Audio-visual material – current holdings include resources such as:
- Acland’s Video Atlas of Human Anatomy
- JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments)
- Journals and e-resources – current holdings c. 19,000 journal titles E-resources including:
- Abstracting and indexing databases (such as Medline and CINAHL)
- Evidence-based healthcare resources (such as BMJ Best Practice)
The Library is committed to providing information resources which support inclusive education and healthcare practice. Library staff will work in collaboration with colleagues across the institution to ensure the collection supports work being undertaken to address equality, diversity and inclusion at St George’s, University of London – for example, through the draft Inclusive Education Framework which defines inclusivity as creating equality for groups with the following characteristics: race, sex, sexual orientation, disability, religion and belief, and age.
This policy is also intended to support collaboration between the Library, SGUL staff (including researchers, teaching and learning colleagues, professional services and support staff), SGUL students, and staff employed by affiliated NHS Trusts. Library Services are responsible for the implementation and review of the policy and overall management of the collection. This work can be supported by:
- Staff engagement with resource planning for current and new programmes, research areas, and institutional priorities – including the preparation of reading lists using the My Reading List system where appropriate.
- Feedback and suggestions from students and staff to inform selection of resources to be added to the collection and developments to the library’s collection and services.
This policy does not apply to the Archive collection, which has its own Collection Development Policy. The Archive collection is on closed access, further information is available online: Archives and special collections.
This policy will be regularly reviewed, and updated as required to ensure the collection meets the changing needs of our users and the priorities of the institution and our partners
1. Key aims of collection development and management activities
- To provide access to information resources in support of:
- current teaching, learning and research needs of SGUL
- current education, training and research needs of our NHS partners
- institutional priorities of SGUL and our partners
- To regularly review these information resources to ensure they continue to represent value for money and remain relevant to the current needs and priorities of the University and our affiliated NHS Trusts.Responsibility for collection development and management.
Library staff are responsible for selecting materials, and managing the collection, including retention and relegation decisions. These activities will be undertaken in consultation with SGUL staff and students, and NHS staff and learners.
Library staff will:
- Evaluate recommendations/suggestions for their relevance to the curriculum, research, clinical practice and decision-making in healthcare according to the considerations detailed in section 3.
- Manage the Library’s collections via the Library Management System, Alma, and make the collections discoverable to our users via the following library systems:
o Hunter (Primo) – the library’s discovery tool/library catalogue and link resolver
o My Reading List (Leganto) – reading list system that integrates with Canvas o Libguides – library user guides platform
- Resources with NHS access will additionally be maintained in the NHS link resolver and OpenAthens interface to support discovery via nationally procured healthcare databases and the NHS Knowledge and Library Hub.
- • Manage and support access to purchased/subscribed resources through:
o Application of appropriate circulation policies and procedures for physical stock
o Setting up and supporting on and offsite access for electronic resources (usually through IP authentication, Shibboleth and/or Athens)
- Regularly review our collections and policies to inform decision making and planning.
- Make stock retention and relegation decisions informed by a number of factors, including but not limited to: usage, withdrawal notices from publishers, feedback from SGUL staff, age and currency of the stock.
- Consult on collection development decisions via key committees and groups such as: Research Publications & Data Management Steering Group, Education & Student Strategy Committee, Educational Technology Management Group, and NHS stakeholders.
SGUL staff and students, and NHS staff and learners can support this work through:
- Recommendations for new resources are welcomed from staff and students at SGUL and the NHS, although purchases cannot always be guaranteed (see sections 3, 6 and 7 for further information).
- Staff engagement with resource planning for current and new programmes, research areas, and institutional priorities – including the preparation of reading lists using the My Reading List system where appropriate.
- Feedback and suggestions from students and staff to inform selection of resources to be added to the collection and developments to the library’s collection and services. We particularly welcome suggestions of resources that meet the institution's inclusive education priorities.
- Staff engagement will collection development discussions/consultations via key committees and groups
2. Criteria for selection
The following general criterial will apply to resources regardless of format:
- Relevance to teaching, learning and research needs of SGUL
- Relevance to the patient care, training, educational, research and management needs of St George’sUniversity Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and other NHS partners
- Relevance to the draft SGUL Inclusive Education Framework
- Suggestions/recommendations from SGUL staff and students, and NHS staff and learners• Journal content: peer-reviewed and indexed in databases (such as Medline and Hunter)
- Currency of content (where subject information dates rapidly)
- Affordability/represent good value for money
For electronic/online resources (e-books, journals, other e-resources) the following criteria will also be reviewed:• Meet digital accessibility requirements
- Well designed (user-friendly interface, suitable administrative functionality)
- Complement existing content in terms of subject and host platform
- Support access via Shibboleth and/or NHS OpenAthens authentication
- Comply with data protection requirements
- Comply with industry standards to support interoperability with existing systems (for example: metadata,Counter usage data, LTI (Learning Technology Interoperability))
- Licence terms (for example: permits multiple concurrent users, associated post cancellation access terms)
- Supports the transition to Open Access, in the context of library collection development this means:
o Identifying relevant Open Access content and sources, and supporting the discovery of Open Access content via the library’s discovery tool and link resolver
o Participation, where funds permit, in relevant transitional/read and publish agreements (agreements where the fee supports a publishing services element in addition to the read access provided by a conventional journal subscription)
Priority will be given to resources in the following circumstances:
- Are required for a course or module
- Are requested for specific research needs
- Support evidence-based clinical and management decision making
- Meets resource requirements of draft SGUL Inclusive Education Framework
High value purchasing decisions will be made in consultation with stakeholders via key committees: Research Publications & Data Management Steering Group, Education & Student Strategy Committee, Educational Technology Management Group, NHS stakeholders.
3. Books and e-books
This section provides advice specific to:
- Book purchases and loan status
- Relocation and withdrawal of books
- Retention and disposal of books
3.1 Material for Reading Lists
Please read this section in conjunction with the My Reading List guidance: My Reading List.
3.1.1 Core or recommended items
Core or recommended items are those books which teaching staff recommend to students for a specific course or module.
As a guideline:
- The Library has an electronic-first policy for all reading list items. If an electronic copy is available we may consider purchase of a small number of supplementary print copies which will normally be available on 1- week loan
- Where no electronic copy is available the Library will purchase 1 copy of these books (1-week loan) for every 10 students where possible
- The Library will monitor the number of holds placed on titles and purchase additional copies where feasible
- The Library will normally purchase an e-book version of a title where available/ if affordable
3.1.2 Supplementary resource list items
These are items are supplementary titles on student reading lists
- The Library has an ‘electronic-first’ policy for supplementary reading where available and affordable, but will purchase 1 copy of these books in print format where required (for example, if the publisher does not have the electronic format available or the cost is prohibitive).
- Additional copies can be purchased if demand for the single copy is high (for example, high usage; high number of holds placed)
3.2 Wider reading
Wider reading refers to those books which are not on reading lists but can be used by students or by NHS staff to underpin their knowledge and development needs. NHS titles will be selected according to the clinical specialties and services provided by our NHS partners and from recommendations from user surveys and book requests. They are normally available on 3-week loan.
- If electronic versions of items are available and the costs not prohibitive they will be purchased.
- Normally only single copies of titles regarded as wider reading will be kept in the Library.
- Additional copies can be purchased if demand for the single copy is high (for example, high usage; high number of holds placed).
- We will keep the current edition only in most cases.
- We will withdraw older editions of books when new editions are received in most cases.
- Where older editions are still currently heavily used these should be replaced with new editions. Where this is not possible (for example, due to high cost of replacement), the older editions may be retained.
3.3 Reference books and specialist collections
3.3.1 Reference books
- The Library will provide access to a small range of up-to-date, general and subject-based reference books that directly support the teaching and research activities of the University and NHS needs.
- Normally only single copies of titles regarded as reference books will be kept in the Library.
- The Library generally does not purchase information in book format if it is freely available online, but will link to it in the Hunter library catalogue if it is on a reading list.
3.3.2 Specialist collections
In order to respond to user needs and institutional priorities, the Library may purchase titles for specialist collections of books in areas such as fiction and reading for pleasure, well-being and mental health - where budgets allow or additional funding is secured.
3.4 Replacement of missing and out-of-print books
The Library will replace lost or damaged items where appropriate and possible. The criteria for replacing an item are as follows:
- Amount and frequency of use
- Number of copies in stock
- Number of holds placed
- Availability of a newer edition
- Currency of content
3.5 Criteria for relocation and withdrawal of books
Library staff manage the relocation and withdrawal of books according to the following considerations:
- Withdraw superseded editions
- Withdraw books in poor physical condition that cannot be repaired
- Regularly assess book circulation figures and withdraw infrequently used books or books no longer in demand
- Withdraw books which:
o no longer support SGUL’s research and teaching objectives or
o which are not relevant to NHS practice or o which are no longer current, reliable, or safe should also be withdrawn
- The Library will consult with academic departments and the NHS before undertaking any major disposals
- Duplication of low-use books should be avoided
- All withdrawn items will be made available to users, offered to charity, or disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner.
4. Audio-visual material
The library can support access to audio-visual material where required and subject to the selection criteria outlined in section 3.
Audio-visual material is now primarily provided through online resources, not in physical formats such as CDs/DVDs, and these resources are therefore managed as e-resources according to section 6 below.
5. Journals & e-resources
Journals and e-resources will be selected with reference to the selection criteria listed in Section 3. This section provides advice specific to:
- The purchase, retention and withdrawal/cancellation processes for journals and e-resources
- E-resource trials
- Departmental-funded subscriptions
E-resources include:
- Bibliographic databases (such as Cinahl, Medline and Web of Science)
- Evidence-based healthcare resources (such as BMJ Best Practice)
- Other teaching and learning e-resources (such as Anatomy resources, BMJ Learning)
5.1 Purchases/subscriptions
- The Library’s policy is to subscribe to current journals in electronic format.
- Budget permitting the Library aims to maintain the collection where the journals/e-resources remain relevant, well-used and good value for money.
- The Library participates in a number of agreements for journal collections, this means that in some cases subscription decisions are made at the collection level rather than on the basis of individual journal titles.
- Requests for new journal or e-resource purchases/subscriptions can be made via the Resources for new courses/modules process described in section 7 where relevant, or via the Journal and e-resource requests process outlined in section 8.2.
5.2 Cancellations
Cancellation decisions for subscription journals and e-resources are made by the Library Management Team in consultation with SGUL and the NHS. We will communicate any cancellation decisions to relevant SGUL committees and NHS groups.
- The Library's information resources budget is fully committed each year, so the funding of new journal and e-resource subscriptions can only be achieved by the cancelling of existing titles/resources of similar value, unless additional funding is secured.
- Cancellation decisions are normally based on usage, value for money, and relevance to the teaching, learning and research activities of SGUL and the NHS, and the availability of suitable alternatives or mitigations.
- Where there is an Open Access publishing element to the agreement, publications data will also be reviewed to inform retention/cancellation decisions.
- If a journal title is transferring to another publisher resulting in a potential loss of access, the decision on whether to maintain access to the title (budget permitting) will be informed by the same considerations.
- Cancellation decisions will be informed by consultation with stakeholders via key committees: Research Publications & Data Management Steering Group, Education & Student Strategy Committee, NHS stakeholders.
5.3 Retaining print journals
The Library will retain the print copy of a journal only if:
- It is of relevance to SGUL’s and the NHS’s teaching, learning, clinical and research needs
- It is not available in electronic format
5.4 Withdrawal of print journals
Where the Library can do so, print copies of current journals will be withdrawn if the title is available electronically. All withdrawn items will be disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner.
5.5 Journal and e-resource trials
The Library will consider trials of journals and e-resources in the following circumstances:
- If sufficient funds are available, or appropriate budget uplift can be secured, for the resource to be purchased either as a subscription or as a one-off purchase.
- If there is an identified need and anticipated demand, and the trial can be expected to generate engagement and feedback from users.
Please note: If these two conditions are not met a trial will not be progressed.
- Where publishers/providers provide individual e-inspection copies/access for teaching staff, the library may be able to facilitate this for staff wishing to review a potential new resource. Please contact your liaison librarian with your request in the first instance: liaison@sgul.ac.uk
5.6 Department-funded subscriptions
Departments may offer to fund a new journal or e-resource if the Library cannot afford to do so. Where this is practical, the Library will offer to manage the subscription on behalf of the department.
6. Resources for new courses/modules
As part of the development and approval process for new courses and changes to existing courses (such as new modules), the programme team are required to prepare a Business Case. The cost of any additional information resources required to support the new course or the proposed change to an existing course should be included in the business case so that appropriate funds can be allocated to the library budget if the new course or change is approved/validated. Academic staff can contact their liaison librarian to discuss these resource needs in the first instance: liaison@sgul.ac.uk
7. Recommendations
This section provides guidance on how to request books, journals or electronic resources the library should consider purchasing or subscribing to.
7.1 Book requests
Suggestions for new books may be submitted to the Library via the book request form on the Library webpages:
Suggest a Book
Book suggestions can be submitted to the library at any time. Most book requests will be purchased, budget permitting, if they are relevant to the collection and in line with this collection development policy. On occasion the library may run book request campaigns to support co-creation of collections with staff and students.
7.2 Journal and e-resource requests
Suggestions for new journal and e-resource purchases/subscriptions can be submitted to the Library at any time via an online form:
Suggest a Journal
When submitting your request please be aware that subscriptions usually run from the 1st January to 31st December each year.
In most cases suggestions will need to be received before 1st June each year to be considered for the following year.
Completed forms are forwarded to the Liaison Librarians for an initial evaluation, you may be contacted for further supporting information.
Items recommended for purchase are then added to the Library’s “Wishlist” for consideration by the Collection Development Group which meets quarterly. The Collection Development Group will evaluate the request using the selection criteria outlined in this policy, and feedback to the person that submitted the request.
The final decision on purchases/subscriptions for the following year can only be confirmed in July and August when budgets are confirmed and relevant stakeholders have been consulted.
8. Accessing material not in our collections
If the library is unable to purchase a requested item, then the following options can be used to request materials not in our collections. Please be aware that charges apply for some of these services.
8.1 For individual use
Books, book chapters, journal issues and journal articles can be requested via our Interlibrary Loans service:
Interlibrary Loans (sgul.ac.uk)
Allowances and charges do apply for this service, please see full detail on the webpage.
8.2 For teaching and learning
The library offers a Scanned Reading Service to enable the copying (subject to copyright limitations) of material held in print only for use in Canvas or via My Reading List, details of this service are available on the following webpage:
Scanned Readings Service (sgul.ac.uk)
Please note a minimum of 4 weeks’ notice is required for the processing of these requests.
If you require scans of material not held by the library in print or electronic formats for use in your teaching the Interlibrary loans service may be able to request the material through the Enhanced Higher Education Supply Service. These requests can be placed through the Scanned Readings Service (sgul.ac.uk), you can also discuss your resource requirements with your liaison librarian: liaison@sgul.ac.uk . Digitisation requests can also be made through the My reading list system, please see the My Reading List guidance: My Reading List (sgul.ac.uk).liaison librarian: liaison@sgul.ac.uk.
9. Theses
The Library currently holds copies of PhD and MD theses in print format only.
10. Donations
Offers of donation must first be emailed to acquisitions@sgul.ac.uk including the following details: author, title and publication date, and any other details you have available.
We will not accept donations at the Library Helpdesk without prior arrangement.
Space constraints and processing costs mean the Library cannot automatically accept offered materials.
- The Library will not normally accept outdated textbooks (not older than 5 years) or materials in obsolete or inaccessible formats.
- The Library will not usually accept bookplate donations.
- The Library will normally not accept donations of print journals.
- Unfortunately, the Library is unable to bear the cost of transportation.
- Donations are accepted at the discretion of the Library on the understanding that they may later be withdrawn in accordance with the Library’s Collection Development Policy.