Collection Development Policies - Theater and Drama

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 Theatre and Drama collection at Indiana University Bloomington. It serves the collection manager in making collection decisions and in the disbursement of funds. As an academic collection, the Theatre and Drama resources mirror the course offerings and research interests of students and scholars in the Department of Theatre and Drama www.indiana.edu/~thtr. 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 intended audience is comprised of Libraries staff and administrators, faculty and students at Indiana University, and colleagues at other research libraries with comparable collections.
      
      
   3. Description of institution/department and clientele
      The Theatre and Drama collection supports undergraduate and graduate instruction and research in the Department of Theatre and Drama, as well as University-sponsored research by 18 faculty members. The library collections reflect the department’s emphases in Directing, Acting, Stagecraft, Lighting, Costume design and construction, Theatre History, criticism, stage managing, set and scene design, playwriting, oral interpretation, puppetry, Voice and Diction, Stage Movement, Dramaturgy, and technical theatre. In addition, the Theatre and Drama collection in the Wells Library serves students, faculty, and scholars in related areas of dramatic literature, music, dance, Fine Arts, and film studies.
      
      
   4. Brief overview of the collection
      1. History of the collection
         Materials in theatre and drama have been collected since the library’s inception, and thus the collection has grown and become more diverse through the twentieth century. At present, it consists of some 45,000 print volumes, nearly 40 periodical subscriptions, a large collection of videos and DVDs (in the Media Resources Center in the Wells Library), and several subject specific databases which are enhanced by many other interdisciplinary electronic resources.
         
         
      2. Collection strengths and weaknesses
         Strengths: Acting, monologues, directing, theatre history. Copies of all IU Doctoral dissertations and Master’s theses from the Department are retained.
         
         
      3. Collection locations
         The collections in Theatre and Drama are generally located in the Research Collections (east tower) of the Wells Library at IUB. Most printed materials may be found on the 9th and 10th floors, though many are also found in the Music Library and the Auxiliary Library Facility (ALF).
2. Scope of Coverage
   1. Languages collected and excluded
      English is the primary language of collecting on the Theatre and Drama fund. Many theatre-related materials in other languages are acquired by collection managers in area studies (African Studies, Central Eurasian Studies, East Asian Studies, Chicano-Riqueno Studies, Latin American Studies, Slavic Studies, West European Studies).
      
      
   2. Geographical areas covered and excluded
      Materials are generally published in the U.S. and UK. A few titles may come from European countries, Africa, South America, and Asia.
      
      
   3. Chronological periods covered and excluded
      There are no exclusions on a chronological basis.
      
      
   4. Dates of publication of materials collected; current vs. retrospective coverage
      Some materials from early and mid-twentieth century; most titles date from the 1950s to the present. Retrospective purchases are made if there is a gap in a specific area, or if a book is missing from the collection.
      
      
   5. Formats collected and excluded
      Formats collected are: Books, periodicals, monographic series in print; videos, DVDs, microfilm/fiche; slides; electronic resources such as e-books and e-journals, databases. Occasionally videos and DVDs may be purchased by the Media Collection Manager. Most journals in the theatre and drama discipline are in print; a handful are available online.
3. Collecting Responsibility
   The Librarian for Theatre and Drama is responsible for selection and collection management. Cooperating librarians include: area studies collection managers in the Wells Library and the collection manager for English and American Literature.
   
   
4. Related Collections
   In addition to the collections in the Wells Library, related collections are located in the Music Library, Fine Arts, Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center Library, Archives of Black Film, African American Archives of Music and Culture, and the Lilly Library. The Department of Theatre and Drama maintains a Script Library of some 4,000 titles in the departmental offices in the back of the IU Auditorium, for check-out to theatre and drama students only. The websites for Theatre and Drama collections is http://www.libraries.iub.edu/index.php?pageId=1000141
5. Principal Sources of Supply and Major Selection Tools
   Faculty recommendations; reviews; approval plans; publishers’ catalogs; publications from professional associations and academic presses; gifts.
   
   
6. Preservation
   1. Criteria for selection for preservation and/or mass deacidification
      • Pre-1800 publications
      • Nineteenth-century materials
   2. High-priority areas of the collection for preservation review and treatment
      • Pre-1800 publications
      • Nineteenth-century materials
7. Selection Criteria for ALF
   Journal runs that are duplicated in electronic form; low-use monographs published prior to 1990; low circulation; duplicates.
   
   
8. Digital Projects
   1. Criteria for selection for digitization
      No digital projects as yet. Three digital databases of full length plays are available for use: Asian American Drama, Black Drama, and Women's Drama of North America.
9. Other Resources and Libraries
   The IUL provides access to all major research collections in Theatre and Drama, such as the Harry Ransom Research Center http://www.hrc.utexas.edu, the Billy Rose Theatre Collection http://www.nypl.org/research/lpa/the/the.html, and the Harvard Theatre Collection http://hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/houghton/collections/htc/index.cfm