Dartmouth Libraries are responsible for the long-term curation and stewardship of Dartmouth's collections in support of current and evolving academic needs. The policy outlines storage standards, strategic collections analysis and review, criteria for retention, relocation or deselection, and the Libraries' adherence to conservation and preservation best practices.
Dartmouth Libraries ensure the preservation and long-term accessibility of Dartmouth's collections. Collection management decisions are guided by Dartmouth's evolving research and curricular needs, as well as institutional storage capacity.
Dartmouth Libraries maintain appropriate storage environments for both physical and digital collections to protect materials from deterioration caused by environmental conditions and time. On campus and at the Library Collections & Services Facility, environmental conditions are closely monitored, following best practice and industry standards. Dartmouth Libraries also manage the lifecycle of its digital content.
Routine collection analysis and review are critical to the ongoing relevance and usability of academic collections. Engaging with stakeholders, understanding current usage patterns, and forecasting future trends ensures that Dartmouth Libraries' collections remain current, diverse, and responsive to the curricular and research needs of the Dartmouth community.
Dartmouth Libraries' experts take a data-informed approach to evaluating, updating, and refining its holdings, with an emphasis on improving access to high-quality resources and removing outdated, redundant, and unused materials. The benefits of a regular collection analysis and
review process include improved access to the physical collection and an increased capacity to acquire and maintain new publications and resources.
Demonstrated ongoing use is typically the primary criterion for maintaining a physical resource. Considerations that inform retention decisions include:
Low-use materials that are retained may be relocated to Dartmouth's Library Collections & Services Facility (LCSF), a high-density, industry standard storage environment that optimizes collection storage while preserving efficient and rapid on- and off-campus access. Relocation
decisions are guided by:
Large-scale transfers of physical material to the LCSF require approval of the Head of Collection Management & Preservation and the Associate Dean of Libraries, Collections, & Content Strategies.
Space is a finite resource, therefore a sustainable approach to collection management depends upon decisions to permanently remove material. The deselection and withdrawal of materials is a nuanced process and varies according to subject, call number range, and material type.
Criteria for deselection include:
Subject librarians typically make decisions about individual titles and may consult faculty and the Associate Dean of Libraries for Collections & Content Strategies if needed.
Any plans for large-scale withdrawals require the approval of the Dean of Libraries, and the support of the Council on Libraries and the Associate Dean of Libraries, Collections, & Content Strategies.
Conservation focuses on the treatment and repair of rare, valuable, and fragile items as well as the care of circulating print materials, in service of long-term preservation and current access needs. Conservators follow the standards set by the American Institute of Conservation. Work includes:
Preservation encompasses the work involved in protecting materials from deterioration caused by environmental factors, handling, or time. Adhering to best practices in preservation, library professionals:
"Collections" are resources acquired and stewarded by the Libraries and include books, journals, and media in physical or digital format, as well as new and emerging formats supporting scholarship and teaching.
"Collection management" is the systematic, efficient, and economic stewardship of library resources and collections.
"Conservation" primarily encompasses the repair of items that have been damaged or degraded.
"Dartmouth Libraries" or "Libraries" means a library belonging to, or under the administration of Dartmouth, including the Baker-Berry Library, Dana Biomedical Library, Feldberg Business & Engineering Library, the Library Collections & Services Facility, Matthew-Fullers Health Sciences Library, Rauner Special Collections Library, and Sherman Art Library.
"Digital Content" are information resources that are either born digital or that have been digitized from their original format
"Ivy Plus Library Confederation (IPLC)" is a voluntary union of 13 sovereign academic libraries who work together to leverage their collective efforts to improve discovery of and access to information.
"Preservation" The professional discipline of protecting materials by minimizing chemical, physical, or digital deterioration and damage to minimize the loss of information and to extend the life of library materials.
"Retention Agreement" is a library's declaration that it will retain and maintain in usable condition a resource in its collection for a defined period of time. Typically articulated in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or other related policy documents.
"Trusted Digital Repository" is defined as a repository that provides reliable, long-term access to managed digital resources to its users, now and in the future.