Libraries

Collection Development Policy

A. Background

Guiding Principles

Our collections inspire, and are inspired by, the interests, needs, and expertise of the educators, researchers, and learners whom they serve, as we advance workforce development skills, academic excellence, urban impact, and the innovation agenda to prioritize student success. As stewards of these resources, we affirm open strategies and academic freedom as fundamental values that demand innovative and sustainable approaches to accession, preservation, digitization, curation, and engagement.

Academic Freedom: We curate diverse and comprehensive collections aligned with the University’s curriculum and mission, supported by evidence-based and open strategies that reflect underrepresented voices and protect our community’s privacy.

Access: We dismantle barriers to our collections, empowering the community to discover, navigate and synthesize scholarship in all its forms.

Collaboration: We work together to address users’ needs, model responsible fiscal stewardship and build collections and community inside and outside of the university.

Engagement: We invite the community into our collections to inspire new knowledge.

Innovation: We build proactive collections and champion responsive processes and technology.

Sustainability: We preserve the scholarly record by advocating for perpetual resource ownership, actively maintaining our physical and digital collections, supporting shared and open strategies, engaging in systematic deaccessioning, and ensuring sound fiscal management through data-driven decisions.

Informed and inspired by:

B. Policy and Procedures

1. Introduction and Purpose

The collections of the University of Cincinnati Libraries (UCL) support the curriculum of the University of Cincinnati’s undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs as well as the research and scholarly interests of its academic community by providing access to authoritative and scholarly resources. UCL includes the Walter C. Langsam Library, the Archives and Rare Books Library, the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library, the Albino Gorno Memorial (CCM) Library, the College of Engineering and Applied Science Library, the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services Library, the John Miller Burnam Classics Library, the Robert A. Deshon and Karl J. Schlachter Library, and the Science Library.

Libraries not included under this policy: Robert S. Marx Law Library, UC Blue Ash Library, and UC Clermont Library.

This policy establishes guidelines to support the University of Cincinnati's curriculum and research needs and to assist UCL faculty and staff in making decisions about library resources.

2. Institutional Context and Mission

2.1 Institutional Mission

UCL collects and provides access to physical and digital materials in support of the University’s mission, which is to serve “the people of Ohio, the nation, and the world as a premier public, urban research university dedicated to undergraduate, graduate, and professional education, experience-based learning, and research.”

2.2 Library Mission

This policy is further informed by the mission of the University of Cincinnati Libraries, which is to empower discovery, stimulate learning and inspire the creation of knowledge by connecting students, faculty, researchers and scholars to dynamic data, information and resources.

3. Intellectual and Academic Freedom and Bias

3.1 Intellectual and Academic Freedom

UCL collections support the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, the American Library Association’s Bill of Rights, the Freedom to Read Statement, the Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries, and the Freedom to View Statement.

In support of intellectual and academic freedom, UCL intentionally curates and maintains collections that respond to the diverse educational and research needs of the university community.

Academic and intellectual freedom foster open inquiry and the pursuit of truth and resist censorship and ideological control. They are essential to democratic societies and to vibrant universities and research environments.

This section aligns with the Association of College & Research Libraries’ Standards for Libraries in Higher Education principles:

  • 2.1 The library resists all efforts to censor library resources.
  • 2.2 The library protects each library user’s right to privacy and confidentiality.

3.2 Statement of Bias

UCL acknowledges that its collections may contain language, perspectives and content that are harmful or offensive. While the Library strives to create collections that are representative of the diverse communities it serves, it also recognizes the importance of preserving and studying historical and contemporary materials as evidence of the contexts in which they were created. Materials containing harmful or offensive content may therefore be retained for their contextual, documentary or research value. Their presence in the collection does not reflect UCL’s, or the University’s institutional values or goals.

Many of the Library’s materials are created by and/or represent marginalized or underrepresented communities. UCL does not take this responsibility lightly and is committed to describing all individuals and groups as accurately, respectfully and transparently as possible while working to address and remediate biased or harmful description practices.

4. User Communities

Primary user groups of UCL collections include:

  • Students, faculty and staff affiliated with the University of Cincinnati’s academic, research and professional programs
  • Members of Ohio’s academic library consortium, OhioLINK, and other regional, national and international resource-sharing partners
  • Community learners

5. Budget, Funding and Stewardship

5.1 Budget and Funding

UCL receives an annual collections budget from Academic Affairs, supplemented by endowments, grants, and gifts. Endowments, grants and gifts are governed by explicit conditions that prescribe how funds may be expended. These funds are used to acquire resources in alignment with this collection development policy and in accordance with the University’s purchasing policies, Board of Trustees rules, and applicable competitive procurement requirements. Funds are divided to cover current costs for one-time purchases and serial resources. Resources are evaluated when alternative sustainable and authoritative open content is available. The appropriate library administrator manages the collections budget, including library faculty and the associate dean of collections. Library acquisitions are processed through approved University procurement systems and established supplier records to ensure appropriate review, competition, and financial controls.

5.2 Cost of Stewardship

UCL acknowledges the full lifecycle costs of stewardship, including identification, acquisition, description, preservation, storage, access, repair, and potential future deaccessioning. Guidance on these considerations can be found in Total Cost of Stewardship: Responsible Collection Building in Archives and Special Collections.

6. Scope of Collections and Collecting Priorities

6.1 Collecting Priorities and Scope

UCL collects and provides access to physical and digital materials in support of the University’s and Libraries’ missions. Library selectors make collection development decisions and implement them. Library selectors make acquisition decisions based on a variety of factors, including university student and faculty interest, anticipated use, relevance to the curriculum, and advisement from university departments.

6.2 Cooperative Collection Resources

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) supplements local collections by providing requested materials from external libraries for local users to borrow. As a contributing member of OhioLINK, the state’s academic library consortium, UCL prioritizes OhioLINK collections and requests. For materials not available through OhioLINK, UCL requests them from partner libraries at the regional, national, and international levels. Articles and items that cannot be borrowed through ILL may be purchased, subject to cost and relevance. Purchases made in lieu of interlibrary loans are subject to the University’s procurement policies.

UCL likewise shares its resources with the broader community by lending materials and providing reproductions to other libraries via ILL and OhioLINK resource sharing.

Borrowers are responsible for replacement costs or fees assessed by lending libraries for lost, damaged, or unreturned materials.

6.3 Course Reserves

UCL provides course access to electronic resources through UC’s learning management system when available through appropriate copyright and licensing procedures.

Physical items can be put on reserve for a class by semester and accessed at any chosen location.

7. Selection, Evaluation and Responsibilities

7.1 Selection Responsibilities

Library selectors, in collaboration with university faculty, students and staff, are responsible for identifying and acquiring resources based on a variety of factors, including alignment with UC’s curriculum, faculty research and other considerations appropriate to the university’s disciplines. While library selectors determine resource needs and priorities, final procurement activities follow University procurement policies and delegated authority thresholds.

Library selectors also work in collaboration with library administration and staff to systematically and responsibly deaccession or remove materials from collections.

7.2 Faculty Publications

Publications by University of Cincinnati faculty, researchers and affiliated authors are collected and retained at the discretion of library selectors based on relevance, disciplinary significance and available resources.

7.3 Textbooks

Textbook acquisitions are made at the discretion of library selectors. Considerations may include cost, licensing models, digital rights management, alignment with curriculum and the availability of alternative or open educational resources (OER).

7.4 Open Strategies

UCL supports open access initiatives through the adoption and promotion of OER, open access publishing and open data practices that align with institutional and disciplinary standards. In support of open access, UCL commits to the following:

  • Investing, when advantageous and appropriate, collections dollars in emerging licensing models, such as read and publish agreements and subscribe to open (S2O). This may also extend to supporting other initiatives that advance UC and UCL’s open access goals, including those that do not result in specific resources being acquired (e.g., memberships in organizations that aggregate or provide open access content or support).
  • Inclusion of open resources in selection and deaccessioning activities as either alternatives or complements to commercial resources
  • Ensuring that all licensing and acquisitions agreements made by UCL consider how terms might be negotiated to better support sustainable open access engagement. This includes ensuring that agreements do not prevent the UC community from engaging in self-archiving practices.

8. Vendor Evaluation, Accessibility and Security

The Library utilizes existing approved suppliers when possible and coordinates with UC Procurement Services prior to establishing new supplier records. When evaluating vendors and platforms, UCL considers factors such as system stability, usability, security, accessibility, interoperability and privacy practices. Priority is given to vendors that demonstrate:

  • Stable and reliable platforms
  • Responsive and knowledgeable support
  • Commitment to innovation and continuous improvement
  • Transparent and responsible data, artificial intelligence and privacy practices
  • Accessibility

9. Authentication, Accessibility, Community Use and Privacy

9.1 Authentication

Library-licensed electronic resources are generally accessed via institutional IP authentication and/or other approved authentication methods. Off-campus access may be limited by publisher licensing terms and geographic or technical restrictions.

UCL adheres to all license agreements and informs users about appropriate and lawful use of licensed resources.

9.2 Accessibility

UCL is committed to making its electronic and information technologies accessible to individuals with disabilities. We design, procure and maintain our digital assets in accordance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. § 794d), as amended.

9.3 Community Access

Please see the UCL Borrowing page.

9.4 Privacy

Patron privacy is protected; UCL collects and retains only the minimum personally identifiable information necessary to provide services and troubleshooting support. UCL reports usage data in aggregate whenever possible.

10. Location, Lifecycle and Collection Maintenance

10.1 Location and Housing of Collections

UCL makes resources available (1) digitally through digital repositories and licensed online platforms, and (2) physically through its various locations and storage facilities. Librarians and library directors/heads decide where to house resources, in consultation with library administration, based on use, preservation needs, accessibility, and space.

10.2 Lifecycle

UCL manages the lifecycle of its collections across multiple dimensions, including:

  • Location and assignment within UCL
  • Preservation, including environmental and format considerations
  • Digitization for access, preservation and discovery
  • Deaccessioning

10.3 Collection Maintenance

Lost or damaged materials are repaired or replaced when justified by factors such as user demand, continued relevance to the curriculum or research and cost.

Deaccessioning is conducted regularly to ensure that collections remain current, impactful and space efficient. Deaccessioned items may be donated, recycled or redistributed in accordance with library and institutional guidelines.

Deaccessioning is systematic, value-driven and defensible.

10.4 Collection Evaluation and Assessment

UCL conducts periodic assessments to ensure our collections align with the University of Cincinnati’s academic priorities. Indicators may include usage statistics, relevance, cost-per-use, age, condition and duplication.

11. Digital Preservation and Perpetual Access

UCL operates an institutional repository to preserve and disseminate selected digital content. For licensed electronic resources, UCL seeks publisher terms that provide perpetual access rights to content, facilitate auto-archiving and meet current accessibility standards.

Locally created digital files are preserved in accordance with institutional information technology backup, security and retention practices.

12. Gifts and Donations

Donated materials are evaluated using the same selection criteria applied to purchased materials. UCL reserves the right to determine the final disposition of all gifts, including whether they are added to the collection, redirected, deaccessioned or otherwise managed. Considerations include time, processing capacity, and more.

When appropriate, UCL coordinates with partners at the University of Cincinnati Foundation regarding in-kind gifts of collection materials in accordance with university policies and established gift acceptance procedures.

UCL complies with all applicable copyright laws, fair use provisions and licensing agreements in the acquisition, sharing, creation, storage and hosting of resources. UCL informs users on responsible and lawful use of copyrighted and licensed materials, supporting fair use under section 107 of the Copyright Act and the TEACH Act. Publications produced with the support of collections investment in emerging publishing models must be published under open licenses.

14. Policy Governance, Review and Version Control

This policy is reviewed every three years, or more frequently if institutional priorities, technologies or the information environment changes significantly. The university librarian and the provost approve revisions. Archived versions of the policy are retained for historical and reference purposes in the UCL File Repository.