Library Resource Additions

The University of South Florida Libraries work with faculty to acquire new materials for research and teaching.  New resources may be selected as replacements for existing collection items being cancelled. As a result of the university’s strategic budget realignment process, the libraries are unable to purchase additional resources at this time.  We will obtain a quote from the vendor and retain your request until we are able to return to active collection development.  Please see our Notice to the University Community (9/1/2020) and our Revisioning Collection Management.

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Requests for New Library Resources

The USF Libraries collect materials in a variety of formats, including electronic, multimedia, print, and microform.  Online access to scholarly materials is preferred. The Library uses the most effective and economical methods possible for its collection acquisitions, licensing, and contracting procedures following the ARL Principles for Licensing Electronic Resources.

The scope of these acquisition guidelines does not include special collections, digital collections, government documents, or health and medical sciences as these are documented separately.  The libraries do not collect audio books, leisure reading, or other unspecified types of material.  The libraries do not license content made available for individual license only.

New items considered for inclusion in the collection are reviewed in accordance with the general collecting principles. Non-recurring items such as individual monographs are processed via request or demand-driven acquisition as funds allow and balanced across disciplines as needed.  Requests for new subscriptions requiring recurring annual payments must be carefully evaluated against existing content. Funding typically comes from cancellations in years that the library budget is flat or declining.


New Subscription Resource Evaluation Criteria

Potential subscription resources are reviewed similarly to current resources but without the experience component.  New funding must be available for new acquisitions.

Content and Scope

New resources should fill a specific unmet need or replace an existing resource that is no longer useful or effective.

  • Content and scope of resource
  • Relevance to research and program needs
  • Collection level for discipline(s) to be met
  • Overlap with existing content
  • Currency of data
  • Library liaison input
  • Faculty requestor comments

Quality and Usability

Observed behavior, actual usage statistics, product satisfaction and usability factors are all unknown.  Trials may be conducted before purchase to supply some of this data.  External data such as vendor literature and demonstrations, other university experience, rankings and reviews can help determine quality and usefulness.

  • Quality, rankings and reviews
  • Usability
  • Accessibility
  • Trial results

Access and Pricing

Technical methods of access including authentication and discovery, pricing, licensing model, and contract terms are considerations.

  • Distribution, discovery, and access method
  • Perpetual or leased licensing model
  • Contract terms
  • Pricing and cost

Affordability

Are funds available to support this resource?

  • Availability of funds
  • Recurring or one-time cost