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Selecting Materials for the UTSA Library

Factors Affecting Selection and Ordering

Awareness of materials. Bibliographers rely on reviews, catalogs, word-of-mouth, suggestions and recommendations, bibliographies and recommended reading lists, visits with vendors, and visits to book and library materials exhibits to learn about new resources. It is more art than science to keep aware of new resources. Selecting often requires a lot of time and energy on the bibliographer to stay on top of the output of domestic and international scholarly publishing and to make selection decisions appropriate for UTSA.

Cost of materials. Some books, especially in the sciences and technology, but even in the humanities, can cost hundreds of dollars or more; most journal subscriptions in the sciences and technology are expensive; electronic subscriptions usually cost at least thousands of dollars per year. Whether the book is in-print or out-of-print may also affect cost. Finally, whether or not discounts are available will affect the price of the item.

Quality of the materials. Is the material from a reputable publisher? Is it suitable for academic-level research and instruction? At which level-Instructional? Undergraduate? Graduate? Faculty research?

Physical format of materials. Is this material in a format that is usable by UTSA Library patrons? Is the technology available to use this resource? Will patrons want to check out the resource from the Library? Is it preferable to have this resource in print? In electronic format? Should it be available over a wide area-e.g., on and off campus?

Physical condition and age of the materials. The Library will not purchase purchase materials that are in poor physical condition.

Duplication of materials readily available from other sources. Do we have this resource in another format? In another work?

Availability of materials from vendors that supply to libraries. Is the resource easily ordered from a standard library vendor? Is it available from a society or association? Is it available from a non-U.S. vendor? Do we need to purchase this material directly from the publisher? Is the material out of print or in print? Can we purchase the material with a purchase order or a library credit card?

Availability of materials through consortial purchase. Will the resource be less expensive to acquire through consortial purchase?

Availability of materials from area libraries. If another area library has similar items, do we necessarily need it for UTSA? Or is it so critical that it is a must-have?

Legal issues. Is there a license agreement, contract, usage agreement, fair use/copyright restriction, or some other legality involved in making the materials available?

Gifts. Gifts are considered for addition to the collection using the same criteria as purchased items, particularly in terms of condition of the items.

In addition, for electronic resources the following are also taken into consideration:

• Ease of use of the database (speed, reliability, display, printing/downloading/email)
• Overall database design
• Coverage in other databases
• Contract terms
• Software requirements
• Type of access (user name/password, IP, campus availability)