Cline Library Collection Development Policy

Cline Library collections support the research, teaching and learning needs of the campus community and reinforce the mission of the University and of Cline Library. To achieve this goal, we seek to identify, evaluate, and develop collections in a variety of formats that meet our users’ needs.   

This collection development policy is a statement of the guiding principles used by Cline Library in the selection, acquisition, evaluation, and removal of library materials. It will be used both in providing consistency among those responsible for developing the collection and in communicating the library’s policies to faculty, students, staff, and other interested persons. As the programs and other information needs of the University change, so too the collection development policy will change to meet such needs.  

All resources selected for inclusion, whether purchased, donated, or free of charge, must support the mission and stated goals of NAU. Materials added to the collection must align with the following principles: 

• Provide resources that support curricular and research needs of NAU faculty and students. 
• Reflect diverse viewpoints, disciplines, scholarship, formats, and creative activities.
• Support the library’s commitment to enabling every person to engage in the lifelong pursuit of knowledge by supporting the open exchange of ideas, creativity, intellectual freedom, diversity, and equitable access to information.
• Support the library’s commitment to preserving and making accessible unique collections related to the human and natural history of the University, the Colorado Plateau, and the broader geographic region.

• Books  

• Journals 

• Archival Materials  

• Theses and Dissertations 

• Media (Audio and Video) 

• Scores 

• Government Publications 

• Databases 

• OER  

• Northern Arizona University research, including published and unpublished works 

Quality of content and fulfillment of curricular needs are the first criteria for selection of items to be included in the library’s collection. Specific considerations in choosing individual items include some or all the following: 

• The need for breadth versus depth depends on discipline.  

• Resources that provide interdisciplinary coverage.  

• Academic level of material. 

• Lasting value of the content. 

• Strengths of current holdings in same or similar subject areas. 

• Materials will be purchased in the format that promotes the broadest use. Preference will be given to materials in electronic format. 

• Authoritativeness of the author or reputation of the publisher. 

• Needs for immediate full-text access versus intellectual access (indexing/abstracting) or historical indexing. 

• The ability to obtain materials from other libraries. 

All decisions are made at the discretion of Cline Library 

• Traditional textbooks are not normally purchased. However, texts used in courses that can serve purposes outside the classroom will be considered. 

• Multiple copies are purchased only under unusual circumstances determined by usage statistics. 

• Lost, stolen, or damaged material will be replaced if it meets current selection criteria and usage warrants replacement. 

• Cooperative acquisition with other libraries or through consortia is encouraged and supported. 

• Materials should meet current accessibility requirements, and those requirements should be a part of purchasing and licensing negotiations and decisions. 

• Special Collections and Archives, in collaboration with the Dean and University Librarian, retains authority for decisions related to the collections held in that department. 

• IKDLL 

• OpenKnowledge@NAU collects, preserves, and disseminates as openly as possible the intellectual, creative, and scholarly output of the Northern Arizona University community. 

• Cline Library is a selective federal depository for US government publications. The preferred format for the collection is electronic.