The Libraries develops collections in support of the curricular and research programs of the University. As with the Libraries' Distinctive Collections, its general collections have been built over many decades and include an impressive variety and wealth of material. However, the Libraries does not have sufficient resources to comprehensively acquire everything published in all areas pertinent to the University’s scholarly endeavors. 

Librarians and curators apply the following general principles and criteria when evaluating items for acquisition or removal from the collections. Each of these criteria will represent greater or lesser significance depending on the discipline/subject area and the resources available to support the total cost of acquisition. Adhering to these principles and criteria further ensure that the Libraries’ collecting decisions are made with purpose and intentionality. Please refer to subject-specific collection development policies to see how these principles and criteria are applied in context.  

Immediate and enduring value

Investing in particular titles or collections is evaluated within the context of the Libraries' mission to serve the current needs of the University’s programs, and as a long-term steward of cultural and scientific heritage, including such factors as:

• positive impact on and relationship to current research and teaching needs (those represented by existing collection strengths, by established and emerging curricular programs, and/or those needs communicated by faculty and student researchers);

• authoritativeness or reputation of the author, editor, publisher, producer, etc.;

• unique or rarely-held by other libraries or cultural/scientific organizations;

• artifactual interest, such that the item in its original published format, or marks of former use/ownership it carries, enables distinct opportunities for scholarship and teaching;

• quality of the physical condition of the item (collections in tangible formats must meet the Libraries' Preservation Policy).

   

Print/physical formats vs. electronic formats

The Libraries recognizes that the shift from print to electronic publication formats is different across disciplines and communities of practice, and is sometimes different for monographic literature than it is for serial/journal/periodical literature even within a discipline. For some areas of scholarship, print publications remain primary and critical to supporting the work of students and faculty. In many areas of the world, print is not merely the most reliable but is often the only available format. Some areas, while slower to move to electronic formats, are seeing a gradual but steady move in that direction; the Libraries carefully monitors this evolution for its impact on collecting decisions, and will be responsive over time to changing needs and preferences of students and faculty. For yet other areas of collecting, the shift to electronic has been well established by both publishers and scholars alike, and preference is given to monographic and/or serial collections in electronic format. 

When electronic access becomes available in sustainable, affordable, and persistently-accessible platforms, the Libraries will weigh carefully whether or not to move to e-only access. The Libraries will generally continue to acquire the print format when there are demonstrable and substantive differences in content, when canceling the print would negatively impact scholarship and/or stewardship, or when faculty have expressed important reasons for the Libraries to continue to support acquisition and/or retention of the print (or other tangible, physical formats, including microfilm) in certain disciplines. Consideration of the constraints of space and financial resources will also be important factors in determining which formats to acquire and/or retain from existing collections over time.

Because disciplines within and across the humanities, social sciences, and the sciences can be quite different from one another, please refer to subject-specific collection development policies to see how these principles and criteria are applied in context.

Data-informed collections decisions for licensed electronic resources

The Libraries evaluates collections against data that can characterize the impact the resource might have on users. Specifically, and wherever possible, the Libraries arranges for trials of new electronic resources to gauge interest in and usage of collections in advance of possible acquisition. Turn-away statistics from vendors are also gathered, when available, to assess potential interest.

Accessibility

As our investment in electronic resources grows over time, it is incumbent on the Libraries to ensure that the information and communication technologies it acquires with Columbia resources are accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities. The Libraries makes every attempt to ensure that the technology platforms we invest in, and the content provided within them, follow evolving national standards for accessibility. Vendors should adhere to the U.S. Access Board’s final rule on accessibility requirements for information and communication technology, covered under Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act, and follow guidelines set forth by the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Accessibility Initiative.

Ownership vs. access

The Libraries is cognizant of its dual responsibility to use the University’s funds judiciously and to serve the needs of its users over time. To these ends, the Libraries strives to acquire collections that result in perpetual ownership of those products. In some cases, perpetual ownership is either not available or not affordable, but leasing options exist. Leased access will be considered when resources are important to scholarship at Columbia. In all cases, the conditions of access (e.g., read only, ability to make copies of extracts, download of full content) will be weighed carefully by librarians in the context of the users’ needs.

Comprehensive collecting

While comprehensiveness may be a characteristic of some distinctive collections, comprehensive collecting is not the aim of the general collections. The strengths or weaknesses of current holdings in each subject area—relative to the University’s priorities, the available funding, the national reputation of and reliance on Columbia as a steward of collections in particular areas, and the scope/scale of collections available in the marketplace—are continually evaluated by librarians and curators. While building on established collection strengths is important, the Libraries is also cognizant of the need to evolve the collections alongside the evolving University profiles of research and teaching; in this way, collection weaknesses may be as significant a factor in acquisitions decisions as collection strengths.

Consortial holdings

The Libraries partners in programs that enable research libraries to achieve more comprehensive subject coverage across a network of libraries, in order to serve the diverse needs of users across those networks, and in ways that can only be accomplished collectively, not by one library alone – both through resource sharing (e.g., Borrow Direct; interlibrary loan) and shared purchasing of collections. The holdings of libraries with which Columbia has strategic shared collections and/or cooperative borrowing agreements must be considered when making selection decisions. Consortial opportunities may override local requests for ownership when economies of scale provide compelling reasons for doing so (e.g., purchase price; storage requirements or impact; anticipated usage). See also Shared Collections & Collaborative Collection Building.

Textbooks

The library does not explicitly maintain a collection of textbooks as a general collections area. However, in support of campus student success initiatives, the library facilitates access to course materials through the reserve collection, the First-Generation Low-Income Partnership (FLI) program, operated out of Butler Library, and some Open Education Resources (OER), the latter of which is not covered under this collection development policy.

Collections/items for individual researchers or departments

By default, the Libraries acquires collections for access and use by the entire Columbia community, and enters into all collection development activities and negotiations with this aim in mind. The Libraries does not acquire materials (via either purchase or gift) for which access or use would be restricted to specific individuals. In extremely rare cases, licensing terms for an electronic resource may limit access to specific Columbia University departments or communities when those departments are financing its acquisition.