To make a purchasing suggestion, please fill out the online Medical Collection's Purchasing Suggestion Form or reach out via email to the medical department email at librarymed@health.fau.edu.  

The department follows the Libraries policy for accepting donations, which can be accessed here in web page format: FAU Libraries Gift/Donation Policy

I. INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this Collection Development policy is to provide guidelines for selection, acquisition,and maintenance of current, authoritative, and relevant information resources in support of the CharlesE. Schmidt College of Medicine (CoM). The Medical and Health Sciences Collections & User Services Department (MHSC&US) is an integrated library department within the S.E. Wimberly Library (Library) with reporting structures to both the Dean of University Libraries and the CoM Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education and Faculty Development. Given the integrated nature of the department, the policies guiding collection development for the overall Library, electronic resources, reference, and other policies regarding selection and deselection, when deemed appropriate, are used in conjunction  with this policy.

II. OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

A. Subject Areas and Collection Arrangement
Primary subject areas collected are those that serve to support curricular, instructional, research, and programmatic needs of the CoM. The majority of materials are organized by the Library of Congress Classification System. Print books and journals are largely integrated into the circulating
collection housed in the main library. Core required and recommended textbooks are kept on reserve. Electronic resources are generally available through library online collections. As an integrated library most resources are purchased for general FAU use, however, some specialized resources may be purchased with restricted access due to cost or licensing restrictions. (See Section III POLICIES BY TYPE AND FORMAT OF MATERIALS for specific policy.)

B. Selection Responsibility
Ultimate responsibility for the development and maintenance of the MHSC&US’s collection rests
with the Dean of University Libraries. The Dean’s authority for routine decisions is delegated to the
Department Head in consultation with librarians from the Library’s Collection Development
Committee and the CoM curriculum committees.

C. Languages
The main language of the collection is English. Requests for non-English language materials may
be considered by the Department Head and determined based on the usefulness to the primary
mission of the policy.

D. Suggestions and Materials Requests
Suggestions for the purchase of specific titles may be submitted using the electronic form Suggest an Item to Purchase available on the MHSC&US web portal. Requests for materials submitted by faculty, affiliate faculty, students, staff, and non-affiliated users are reviewed by the Department Head. Orders for materials that are designated as "Essential for a class" by the requestor will be submitted for ordering. All other materials will be ordered by priority levels dependent on funds and if they support the curricular, instructional, research, and programmatic needs of the CoM. Trials of electronic resources may be requested for evaluation by librarians, CoM faculty, affiliates or students for the resources’ appropriateness and value to the curriculum. Although suggestions are accepted on a continuing basis, the FAU Libraries follow a strict timetable for ordering library materials. Orders are routinely submitted between July 1 and April 1 of the fiscal year. Requests received after April 1 will be reviewed and submitted for ordering when funds
become available after July 1 the following fiscal year.

III. POLICIES BY TYPE AND FORMAT OF MATERIALS

A. Books, Monographs
Books and Monographs are purchased with prioritization given to those directly supporting the curriculum. Due to the community and Practice-Based Learning focus of CoM, electronic resources will be given purchasing priority when available and financially plausible.

B. Textbooks
Policy for acquiring First and Second Year Core Curriculum books
Purpose: Within the context of limited funds to state the priority of curriculum based book purchases to support CoM undergraduate medical student curriculum. Policy authority: The policy was determined within CoM curriculum committee based on student needs and is entirely subject to budgetary constraints.

1. One copy of each core curriculum book will bought by the Library. When possible, an electronic copy will be bought or subscribed to so that students may access it on and off campus, at any hour. When this is not possible, a hard (print) copy will be bought and placed on “reserve” in the Library. It should be noted that some e-books have limited concurrent usage access (1-5 users).
2. When a book is already in the collection and found to be currently “checked out” by a patron, a “recall” notice will be placed on the book. When the book is returned, it will be placed in the “reserve” section.
3. Students will be able to borrow books on reserve for a period of 3 hours to use within the Library.
4. Books that are returned late will incur fines consistent with the current FAU Libraries’ policy.
5. Books on reserve will be reviewed each semester to determine if they are still in use; their status as a reserve book will be renewed each semester while the book is being utilized.
6. NEW: “Desk” copies must be requested by the instructor or by the course directors. The Library will help in obtaining contact information for publishers, but it is the responsibility of CoM faculty to obtain their own desk copies in a timely manner.
7. There is currently no funding for purchasing additional desk copies not provided by the vendors. Until/unless funds become available, faculty who  want an additional copy or books not on the core curriculum list will be required to purchase their own copies. Faculty should consult the office of medical education for queries regarding desk copies or to request additional purchasing of books.

Policy for acquiring Third and Fourth Year Core Curriculum books

1. Copies of core text books will be bought by the Library when funds permit. When possible, an electronic copy will be bought or subscribed to so that students may access it on and off campus, at any hour. When this is not possible, a hard copy will be bought and placed on “reserve” in the Library. It should be noted that some e-books have limited concurrent access usage (1-5 users). 
2. When a book is already in the collection and found to be currently “checked out” by a patron, a “recall” notice will be placed on the book. When the book is returned, it will be placed in the “reserve” section.
3. Students will be able to borrow books on reserve for a period of 3 hours to use within the library.
4. Books that are returned late will incur fines consistent with the current FAU Libraries’ policy.
5. Books on reserve will be reviewed each semester to determine if they are still in use; their status as a reserve book will be renewed each semester while the book is being utilized.
6. “Desk” copies must be requested by the instructor or by the course directors. The Library will help in obtaining contact information for publishers, but it is the responsibility of CoM faculty to obtain their own desk copies in a timely manner.
7. There is currently no funding for purchasing additional desk copies not provided by the vendors. Until/unless funds become available, faculty who want an additional copy or books not on the core curriculum list will be required to purchase their own copies. Faculty should consult the office of medical education for queries regarding desk copies or to request additional purchasing of books.

C. Review Books, Study Guides, Test Prep Books
The MHSC&US Department will only purchase or subscribe to electronic versions of review books, study guides, and test prep books, should funds be available. Print copies will not be purchased due to their susceptibility to be damaged, stolen, or constantly checked out; thus, unavailable for the majority of borrowers.

D. Serials and Journals
Electronic access is the preferred format for serials and journals when available. Duplication of the print and electronic versions of a resource are generally discouraged but will be considered on a case-by-case basis. MHSC&US follows the collection development guidelines specified in the FAU Libraries Collection Development Policy: Electronic Resources.

E. Databases and Other Electronic Resources
When possible, librarians, faculty, and sometimes students will review the recommended products via trials prior to purchasing/subscribing. User feedback is a major factor when making decisions to subscribe to or purchase databases. Approved purchases or subscriptions will be ordered from properly established vendors, dealers, or publishers. Consideration will be given to the databases uniqueness, functionality, patron access, licensing
requirements, and cost of simultaneous users. Site license and remote access availability is preferred. The electronic resources policy is generally followed, but there are some resources collected for the specific user population, and so restricted access is accommodated when necessary.

F. Audio-Visual Materials
Audio-visual materials are acquired with priority given to curriculum and research support. Considerations of suitability of format, quality of production, availability of equipment, facilities, and means of access assist in the selection. Considerations in the selection of audio-visual materials include but are not limited to curriculum, individual needs of faculty and students, quality of production, region codes, viewing facilities, availability of equipment, and technical support.

G. Dissertations, Theses
The FAU Libraries collect electronic copies of all dissertations and theses completed at the University. They can be accessed here: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection FAU libraries also provides access for our users to the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database.
Dissertations and theses completed outside of Florida Atlantic University are requested through Interlibrary Loan when available. International dissertations and theses are not usually acquired, but some may be available through the Libraries' membership in the Center for Research Libraries.

H. Out-of-Print Materials
MHSC&US will attempt to acquire out-of-print materials only when directly required for curriculum or
funded research and deemed “Essential.”

I. Rare Books and Manuscripts
Rare books and manuscripts may be acquired in support of the instructional and research programs
of CoM. Those received as gifts are evaluated for retention in the collection with consideration given
to requirements for special housing, care, access, security, and environment.

J. Reprints
Reprints are acquired only on a highly selective basis.

IV. BUDGET
The materials budget supports the purchase of all formats designated in the collection development
policy. The budget supports expenditures for the following:

• All resource types stated in the policy including platform and access fees, and continuing resources to the extent that funding is available with first consideration given to continuing obligations;
• Cooperative programs with other libraries;
• Access to and preservation of purchased and donated library materials;
• Membership in consortia, bibliographic access charges; and
• Florida Virtual Campus (FLVC) centralized purchasing of a shared college and university libraries collection.

The budget is ultimately the responsibility of the Dean of University Libraries with delegated
responsibility for day-to-day administration residing with the Department Head and Assistant Dean for
Technical Services.

The materials budget is allocated according to available funds and established institutional priorities. Expenditures are tracked by the assignment of a fund code within established expenditure categories. The extent of tracking is dependent upon the limitations of the library management system of the FLVC and staffing levels within the Technical Services Department. The Acquisitions staff is responsible for placing all orders of library materials, recording the receipt of materials, processing invoices and credit
memos, and claiming materials not received.

The Acquisitions staff also handles orders, payments, and receipt of library materials funded by outside funding such as foundation or grant funds, and provides the tracking of expenditures dependent upon system constraints, staffing limitations, and cooperation from any outside agency involved. Unsolicited materials that are received with invoices will not be accepted and will be disposed of, or returned if the vendor will provide return postage. Materials received without invoices will be routed to the Assistant Dean for Technical Services.

V. COLLECTION MAINTENANCE
Weeding or deselection, preservation and conservation, and replacement are all important aspects of collection maintenance and evaluation. Ultimate responsibility for the preceding activities are the responsibility of the Dean of University Libraries.

A. Weeding or Deselection
Deselection or weeding is an essential, continuing library practice in which materials are removed permanently from the Libraries’ collections. Whenever possible, both faculty and library staff participate in the weeding process to ensure that publications of historical or research significance are not discarded. Additionally for print materials, members of the wider Florida Consortium of Academic Libraries of Medicine (FCALM) are consulted. The FAU Libraries Deselection Policy should be consulted for more detailed guidelines.

B. Preservation and Conservation
Preservation is the activity to prevent, eliminate, or retard deterioration of library materials, as well as to improve their condition or to change their format as necessary in order to preserve the intellectual content. The Libraries endeavor to protect the physical integrity of materials in the collection through conservation measures, such as temperature, humidity and dust control. Where preservation of content is more important than the retention of the physical format, items are preserved by binding, micro-reproduction, or the acquisition of microforms or electronic versions. The primary activity of the Digital Library is to create and make accessible digital collections from Florida Atlantic University scholarly content and the unique resources of FAU Libraries. Associated activities can include the digitization of deteriorating materials for preservation purposes. Through the Florida Digital Archive (FDA), FAU Libraries’ digital objects can be preserved and assured future format migration in the FDA repository. 

C. Replacements
Materials in various formats that are missing, lost, damaged, or withdrawn are not automatically replaced. Potential replacements are evaluated using the same criteria for selection as regularly purchased items. Depending on the availability of funds, heavily used materials determined to be necessary for teaching and research will be replaced as quickly as possible, if the materials are available.

D. Gifts
The library does accept gifts that are in good condition and follow the following criteria based on the Library’s gift’s policy. 
We would like to emphasize that although we are grateful for donations we do not accept medical and health sciences books published more than three years from the current date. Books are also not appraised by the FAU libraries and if an appraisal is required it must be determined or obtained by the donor done before gifting. All donors will receive a letter noting the total number of items donated but not the value of the gift. If you have any questions or concerns about the policy, please contact one of our gift coordinators listed in the link above for further information.

VI. COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCE SHARING
The MHSC&US department cooperates in the purchase or leasing of library materials such as electronic databases, journals, and monographs or books, etc., with Florida Virtual Campus and other library cooperative arrangements when possible. The MHSC&US participates in national, regional, and statewide resource sharing programs. As an integrated department within the FAU Libraries the MHSC&US shares the benefits of being a member
of Docline, Consortium of Southern Biomedical Libraries (CONBLS), Florida Collaboration of Academic Libraries of Medicine (FCALM), OCLC, Lyrasis, the Southeast Florida Library Information Network (SEFLIN), and the Florida Library Information Network (FLIN). The Libraries share their resources free of charge with other member libraries through interlibrary loan and reciprocal borrowing agreements. The Libraries maintain an associate membership in the Center for Research Libraries. The Center provides access to a large collection of rarely held research materials which can be  obtained through interlibrary loan and document delivery.

VII.POLICY REVIEW
This policy will be reviewed at the end of each fiscal year by the MHSC&US Department Head and in consultation with FAU’s Collection Development Committee. This policy may also be revised as necessary to reflect changes in the curriculum, educational or research needs, and to participate in cooperative collection development agreements.

SOURCES
FAU collection development policy
FAU electronic resources collection development policy