This policy provides guidelines for establishing priorities for collection development and the allocation of funds for the purchase and maintenance of library materials.
The purpose of the library collection is to support the curricular needs of students, the teaching and research needs of faculty members and the overall mission of the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Additionally, the library provides services to the general community, as described below.
The Monterey Institute of International Studies is comprised of four interdisciplinary graduate schools in International Policy, Translation & Interpretation, Language & Educational Linguistics, and International Business. It is also home to four research centers: the Center for East Asian Studies, the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, the Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, and the Center for Globalization & Localization.
Approximately 800 students are enrolled annually. International students make up nearly half of the student body. All students at the Institute have knowledge of at least one language other than their native tongue.
There are approximately 70 regular resident faculty. The Institute frequently hosts other guest faculty who teach specialty courses, which adds to the diversity of course offerings. There are as many as 95 faculty each academic year.
The Library also offers library cards to faculty and students of the Defense Language Institute (DLI) and Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), while other members of the community are permitted to use the library’s collection.
Monterey Institute Mission Statement
"An academic community committed to preparing innovative professionals able to provide leadership in cross-cultural, multilingual environments."
Library Mission Statement
The William Tell Coleman Library is an essential and vital component of the intellectual life of the Monterey Institute of International Studies, an affiliate of Middlebury College. It provides students and faculty with print and digital collections as well as research resources that enable the academic community to engage in collaborative instructional and research activities that contribute to student learning, knowledge, creation, and sharing.
Funding
The Monterey Institute is a private institution and the library’s annual budget is set by the Institute’s President and Executive Board. The library may also supplement its budget by applying for grants. The budget for library materials is allocated among the five graduate school departments generally based on enrollment in each department. The budget for serials and continuations is largely determined by the cost of ongoing serial subscriptions plus an inflation rate.
Collection Overview
The Institute library's specialized international collection has 98,000 volumes, more than 550 print periodical subscriptions, and 42 daily and weekly newspapers. One third of the collection is in languages other than English. Special subject strengths of the collection include bilingual and multilingual dictionaries and glossaries, international business, language teaching, international environmental issues, nonproliferation, international development and human rights.
The library subscribes to over 50 online databases as well as over 400 online academic journals. Students and faculty may also access approximately 15,000 electronic books through the library website.
Responsibility for Collection Development and Selection
The Collection Development Committee has primary responsibility for the selection and deselection of library material in print and electronic formats. The Collection Development Committee consists of the Library Director, Coordinator of Public Services, Coordinator of Technical Services, Acquisitions Librarian, and Reference /Subject Specialist. Teaching faculty are encouraged to make recommendations and collection suggestions from students and other library users are welcomed; however, the Collection Development Committee ultimately determines whether requested materials conform to the goals, qualitative guidelines, and the selection and acquisitions policies presented in this document.
Guidelines for Selection of Materials
Materials of lasting and scholarly value will be given priority. Other factors considered include existing levels and amounts of materials in the collection, academic program depth and breadth, and anticipated use. The Library evaluates materials through online circulation statistics, by demand experienced through the Library's reference and bibliographic instruction programs, as well as monitoring Interlibrary Loan requests. Generally speaking, multiple copies of monographic works are not collected. Materials priced over $1000.00 need Collection Development Committee approval prior to purchase.
Evaluation of publications through published reviews is the primary method by which materials are selected.
Languages
The library actively collects materials in the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian, and Spanish. Materials in other languages may be added as needed.
Cooperative Arrangements
The MIIS Library is a member of the Monterey Bay Area Cooperative Library System (MOBAC), a consortium of twenty-four public, academic and special libraries on the California Central Coast, and a member of the Statewide California Electronic Library Consortium (SCELC) established in 1986 to develop resource-sharing relationships among the libraries of private academic institutions in California.
Materials not owned by the library may be obtained through Interlibrary Loan. Materials which are frequently requested will be considered for purchase.
As the integration with Middlebury College goes forward, we anticipate greater cooperation with their library and collection development departments.
Audiovisual Materials
The library does not collect AV materials at this time. Items such as DVDs, CDs, or videos are obtained through the Audiovisual Department, currently a separate entity. CD-ROMS may be purchased by the library when they supplement monographs. Purchase is funded from the monographs allocation, when the purchase is one-time, and from the serials allocation when a subscription is required. For expensive products or for subscriptions, consideration involves previewing a sample or demonstration disk as well as evaluating accompanying software. Only those products constituting an improvement in searching the corresponding paper or online editions have been considered.
Electronic and Internet Resources
The Library has acquired a number of core print indexes and reference works in electronic format, as well as electronic resources that have no print equivalent. The Library plans to expand this collection of electronic reference databases, funds permitting, first by acquiring access to additional databases and second by migrating selective reference works from print to digital format.
When the Library subscribes to a reference resource in both print and electronic format, or when the Library proposes to subscribe to an electronic resource that it already has in print format, the print subscription will be canceled unless continuation of the print subscription is considered necessary for at least one of the following reasons:
a. Print is needed for day-to-day Reference service
b. Print is necessary as a back-up to the electronic edition
c. Print is needed for archival purposes
d. Print edition affords searching capabilities not possible in the electronic version
e. Print edition presents information in a superior way to that of the electronic version
f. The Library realizes significant monetary savings on the electronic version by continuing to subscribe to the print edition
The Library's Web site and its subject guides collect and organize information which may be more experimental, ephemeral, and fluid than that described in the Collection Development Policy. Electronic resources will be selected using the same guidelines as for other library materials outlined elsewhere in the Collection Development Policy. Evaluation of Web sites may be done by using the resource itself or by arranging for a free trial period in the case of resources for which a fee is charged. Additionally, the presentation of internet resources should be clear and easily readable on a variety of computer monitors.
The use of illustrations, color, sound and motion pictures should fulfill a purpose in the presentation of the information or work. The publisher or producer of the resource should be an institution, organization, company, or an individual having respectable credentials with high standards of quality and a good reputation in regard to the subject matter of the resource.
Microforms
Microforms are not actively selected. Students, faculty and staff have access to Interlibrary Loan services for obtaining materials in microforms.
Newspapers
The Library's collection of domestic and foreign newspapers serves as a current awareness service for users. Current foreign newspapers are selected on the basis of their geographical, political, and journalistic importance in a language emphasized in the curriculum. Current domestic newspapers, including those providing local coverage, are selected on the basis of their standing as important representatives of a region, state or major city, or of a significant special interest or political view.
Where distance is great and timeliness of news relatively important for curricular support, newspapers will be received by airmail. As airmail editions, due to high cost, will preclude the purchase of additional but less important newspapers, the decision to assume these added costs will be made with care.
A. Content quality
The materials acquired should present data accurately and responsibly. Emphasis will be given to titles authored by authorities in their fields or by those representing a consensus of expert opinion. In order to allow for the widest diversity of views, including those unorthodox or unpopular with the majority, as expressed in the appended American Library Association's Freedom to Read Statement, the Library will acquire works which will enrich the quality and diversity of thought and expression in its collections. The literary style should be readable and the author's meaning clear. Non-fiction titles should have accurate and complete bibliographic references and indexes.
B. Physical quality
Materials to be acquired should have evenly spaced print and a typeface that is large enough to be easily legible. Bindings should be sturdy, attractive, and easy to open. Margins should be wide enough to allow rebinding and to allow reading and photocopying without breaking the binding. Illustrations should be appropriate to the content of the book, and conveniently positioned within the printed text. Art reproductions, maps, and photographs that complement printed text should be in focus and have consistent and accurate color tones.
C. Publishers
Materials should be the products of publishers with high standards of quality in general and reliable reputations specifically with respect to the subject matter and type of print materials to be acquired.
Serials
Because of the on-going budgetary commitment carried from year to year, requests for publications issued in successive parts at regular intervals continued indefinitely are reviewed with special care. This applies to the following types of materials that are considered serials: newspapers, periodicals, annuals, and proceedings and transactions of societies. Primary considerations include the serial’s application to the curriculum and the Library's collection, the appropriateness of subject matter to the collection, whether it is at an appropriate intellectual level for a graduate collection, and anticipated use as reflected by the title's relevance to courses frequently offered on campus.
Special Collections
The library has a large collection of multilingual dictionaries and reference books. Textbooks are not actively selected.
Theses
Copies of Monterey Institute student theses are collected in the library.
Gifts
Selection criteria for gifts are essentially the same as for purchased materials. The library accepts gifts of materials only if they are determined to be of value to the collection. Gifts are retained or disposed of according to the discretion of the library staff. All donations or gifts become the property of the library and may be disposed of as the library sees fit. The library is under no obligation to include any or all gifts in the general or other collections.
Deselection
In order to maintain a current, active, and useful collection, materials that no longer reflect the goals of the Library are removed from the collection. Consultation with faculty is important as a safeguard against the withdrawal or cancellation of materials with special qualities or significance.
Withdrawal criteria are based on several of the following characteristics: Appropriateness of subject matter to the collection; obsolescence; the language in which material is written; quantity and immediacy of past use.
Procedures for complaints
Questions, complaints or concerns about items in the collection can be forwarded to the Collection Development Committee for consideration.
Policy Maintenance
Revisions and amendments to this policy may be made annually or as needed.
Acquisitions Librarian
Monterey Institute of International Studies Library
460 Pierce Street
Monterey, CA 93940
Phone: (831) 647-4138
FAX: (831) 647-3518
Policy Adoption Date
Policy approved by the Collection Development Committee on June 10, 2008.
The Library supports a series of policy statements by the American Library Association concerning the responsibilities of librarians and libraries in making materials available to the public. Copies of these documents are included in the Appendix: Library Bill of Rights; Freedom to Read Statement; Policy on Confidentiality of Library Records; Statement on Professional Ethics.
Appendix A
American Library Association
Library Bill of Rights
Appendix B
American Library Association
Freedom to Read Statement
Appendix C
American Library Association
Confidentiality of Library Records
Appendix D
American Library Association
Statement on Professional Ethics
