Collection Development Policies - Applied Health

1. Introduction
   1. Purpose of the policy statement
      The purpose of the policy statement is to provide guidelines and parameters for the development and maintenance of resources in the Public Health Library at Indiana University Bloomington. It serves the collection manager in making collection decisions and in the disbursement of funds. As an academic library, the Public Health Library collections mirror the course offerings and research interests of students and scholars in the School of Public Health. The collection development policy therefore stands as a dynamic framework which will likely change and be modified as courses and research change.
      
      
   2. Audience
      The Public Health Library serves primarily the students, staff, and faculty of Indiana University, as well as the citizens of Indiana, visiting scholars, and the general public.
      
      
   3. Description of institution/department and clientele
      The Public Health Library supports undergraduate and graduate instruction and research in the Department of Applied Health Science. Degrees offered are B.S., A.S., M.S., M.P.H., and Ph.D. and the department is consistently lauded for its top U.S. ranking. The 28 faculty are prolific researchers and they rely on the Public Health Library for scholarly resources. The library collections reflect the department's emphases in comprehensive school and college health education, public health education, health administration, personal and environmental health, occupational safety and safety management, emergency medicine, obesity studies, eating behaviors, alternative and complementary medicine, human development/family studies, aging, grief counseling, sex education, nutrition science, dietetics and food service. In addition, the library serves other programs and projects associated with the department: the Center for Health and Safety Studies, the Driver and Traffic Safety Education Center, Hazard Control Program, Middle-Level Grades Comprehensive School Health Education Project, Rural Center for the Study and Promotion of HIV/STD Prevention, The Indiana Prevention Resource Center, and the Indiana University Institute for Drug Abuse Prevention.
      
      
   4. Brief overview of the collection
      
      1. History of the collection
         The collections of the Public Health Library are an outgrowth of the original Weir Reading Room for graduate students, located on the first floor of the School of Public Health building and comprised of donated books and journals. In 1978, the Public Health Library was officially established as a Campus Library under the auspices of the Indiana University Libraries' vast network, and moved to the ground level to a larger room. Expansion and renovation took place again in 1996, taking over another classroom on the ground level. Currently the library holds approximately 19,000 volumes and over 250 periodical subscriptions.
         
         
      2. Collection strengths and weaknesses
         Strengths: Public health, nutrition, tobacco use, drug abuse. Copies of all IU Doctoral dissertations and Master's theses from the Department are retained.
         
         Weaknesses: Safety, ergonomics.
         
         
      3. Subject areas emphasized or deemphasized
         See strengths/weaknesses.
         
         
      4. Collection locations
         Circulating materials and Reference books are located in several call number ranges in the Public Health Library. The B call number range contains books on birth, death, grief counseling, developmental psychology; the H's contain books on Industrial Hygiene, family life, sexual life, parenting, accident prevention, child abuse and protection, alcoholism, tobacco use/abuse, and drug abuse; most materials are found in the R's: Medical education, medical research and technology, public health, toxicology, medical emergencies, cancer, occupational therapy, drug abuse, child abuse, AIDS/STDs, Nutritional Diseases, and nutrition. Related collections may be found in the Main Library, the Life Sciences Library, and the Business/SPEA Library.
2. Scope of Coverage
   1. Languages collected and excluded
      English is the primary language of collecting, with very few exceptions. A small number of gift books are written in Chinese. Canadian journals are bilingual, in French and English.
      
      
   2. Geographical areas covered and excluded
      Most geographic regions of the world are included in the collections.
      
      
   3. Chronological periods covered and excluded
      All periods are covered, from antiquity to modern times.
      
      
   4. Dates of publication of materials collected; current vs. retrospective coverage
      Materials from early and mid-twentieth century are scant; most titles date from the 1960's to the present. Occasionally a book may be purchased retrospectively, either to fill in a historical gap or to replace a classic that has gone missing.
      
      
   5. Formats collected and excluded
      Books, periodicals, monographic series in print; videos, DVDs, microfilm/fiche; electronic resources such as E-Books and E-Journals, databases. There is a healthy balance between print journals and E-journals; both are heavily used.
3. Collecting Responsibility
   The Head of the Public Health Library is responsible for collection development.Faculty and graduate students from the School of Public Health make requests and recommendations.Cooperating librarians include: managers for comparable call number ranges inthe Main Library, including the History of Science collections; the Life SciencesLibrary, the Education Library (health education), Business/SPEA (public health).
   
   
4. Related Collections
   In addition to the collections and libraries mentioned in III, related collections arefound in the IU Life Sciences Library (?pageId=87) , the Government Information, Microforms, and Statistical Services Department (?pageId=285) , the Monroe County Public Library (http://www.monroe.lib.in.us) , the Bloomington Hospital Library (http://www.bhhs.org) , and the Indiana Prevention Resource Center (http://www.drugs.indiana.edu).
   
   
5. Principal Sources of Supply and Major Selection Tools
   
   Faculty recommendations; Reviews from Choice; Approval Plans; publisher's catalogs; publications from Professional Associations and academic presses; gifts.
   
   
6. Preservation
   1. Criteria for selection for preservation and/or mass deacidification
      Torn spines, pages falling out, soiled or damaged books.
      
      
   2. High-priority areas of the collection for preservation review and treatment
      None at present.
7. Selection Criteria for ALF
   Monographs published prior to 1980; low circulation; duplicates. Periodicals: only last ten years are kept in the Public Health Library, remaining issues are at ALF. 11th year is transferred each summer.
   
   
8. Digital Projects
   
   1. Criteria for selection for digitization
      No digital projects as yet.
      
      
   2. Priorities for collections to be digitized
      None at present.
9. Other Resources and Libraries
   The Life Sciences Library, Government Information and Statistical Services Department, the Indiana Prevention Resource Center, the Business/SPEA Library, the Education Library, the Monroe County Public Library, the Bloomington Hospital Library, the IU Medical Center in Indianapolis.
   
   
10. Consortial Agreements
    The Public Health Library has no official consortial agreements. On occasion, donatedbooks may be sent to an international college or University with which the School of Public Health has an established relationship. The Public Health Library also receives a small quantity of gift books from these institutions.
    
    

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    Applied Health Home Page
    
    Revised April 2012