Collections
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Content
The library collection will include biomedical resources that support TSOM's academic programs, research and patient care, as well as other resources in the basic, social and behavioral sciences.
The library collection will contain eventually print, electronic, audiovisual and 3-dimensional resources. Print, audiovisual and 3-dimensional resources will be housed in the library facility, while electronic collections will become accessible via the library's online catalog and/or website.
Selection/Acquisition
The initial core collection of books and journals will be selected utilizing the following lists of book and journal titles deemed essential for inclusion in medical libraries:
- the Abridged Index Medicus (AIM) core clinical journals
- Doody's Core titles.
Additionally, the TSOM Chief Librarian will seek suggestions from the Library Committee, and interact with faculty to ensure that library resources meet the evolving demands of the curricula.
Textbooks
The library collection will include at least one print copy, but no more than three print copies and the e-book edition whenever possible of the most recent editions of all required and recommended textbooks of the Trinity School of Medicine.
Weeding the Collection
Weeding is the removing of materials from a library collection in a systematic and deliberate way. It is an ongoing part of collection development. The aim of the exercise in the TSOM library is to create a collection which is “cutting edge”, enticing, relevant, reliable, and well used. The criteria for determining which materials should be removed or retained include the following:
- Currency - When was the item published? Has it exceeded the standard shelf life for medical literature of 5-10 years?
- Content - Is the content reliable, relevant, supportive of the curriculum?
- Authorship - Is the author still read or likely to be read in the future? Is the resource a lesser work?
- Condition - Is the material in poor condition, i.e. dirty, shabby, warped, bug infested, or otherwise marked up, mutilated, or ‘edited’ by patrons? Are there any other factors that make the item unattractive? Can the item be repaired? Is there sufficient time and staff to complete major repairs?
- Usage - Is the item well-used? When did it last leave the library? How long has it sat on the shelf without circulating?
- Superseded editions - Are there more than one previous edition on the shelves?
- Expense of replacement
- Historical or other value, e.g. classics, TSOM publications, Titles on current textbook lists, medical biographical sources.
- Space constraints
Weeding will take place annually during the August term break. Resources which are discovered to be in very poor condition will be removed from the collection immediately.
Procedures for weeding resources will include the removal of records from the circulation system, and a notation in the accessions record.
Resources removed from the collection may be disposed of by:
- giving away
- selling to raise funds for the library, e.g. in a used book sale, or
- dumping.
Gifts
The library is grateful for the number of donations that have extended and enriched our collection. Gifts often supply the library with additional copies of heavily used resources or replacement copies of damaged or missing items.
Works published within the last 5 years in the health sciences, in good physical condition and without markings are welcomed.
The library reserves the right to add to our collection only those items that meet our current needs. Gifts not added to our collection will be passed on to other students, donated to other libraries, agencies or individuals, sold, or discarded at the library’s discretion.
Donors are asked to bring their gifts to the Library Office. However, individuals requiring documentation of their gifts for tax purposes must take their donations to the Deanery. The gifts(s) will be forwarded to the library in due course.
