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| Encarnación
Valdés Library Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico |
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The Encarnación Valdés Library of the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico is dedicated to meeting the diverse information, curricular and research needs of students, faculty, staff and other customers. In an environment of free and open inquiry and with a commitment to excellence, the Library participates in the scholarly communication process to promote lifelong learning skills and continuous educational achievement. Valdés Library is dedicated to the preservation and dissemination of information, while supporting and promoting plus searching and research. The Library collection development policy stresses electronic access to information resources that support the curriculum, research, and service needs of the faculty, students, and university community (our primary users), as well as those of the Ponce area residents and others The Federal Depository Library Program
(FDLP) was established by Congress to ensure that the American public
has access to its Government’s information (Title 44, United States Code,
Chapter 19). For more than 140 years, depository libraries have supported
the public's right to Government information by collecting, organizing,
and preserving it, and by providing assistance to users. The collection supports the curriculum and research in all areas, from the undergraduate level to the doctoral level plus information provided for the learning community surrounding the institution. The Federal Depository Program provides access and
service to the community and public as required by law (44 Code). The
Encarnación Valdés Library is a selective federal depository
library. The primary users of the federal depository are the residents
of the Ponce, Puerto Rico District, and t9+he students, faculty and staff
of the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico. The other selective
depository library in the area is the Law Library of our institution.
The collection is maintained in accordance withthe guidelines
and requirements as set forth in the Instructions
to Depository Libraries. |
GENERAL BACKGROUND The Encarnación Valdés Library has participated since 1966 in the Federal Depository Library Program, administered by the US Government Printing Office (GPO). It currently receives an item selection ratio of approximately 26%. These documents are integrated into the various collections in our library. Through them, general and specialized information in all fields of knowledge can be found. The following types of materials were targeted
for deselection: ephemeral publications such as newsletters, fact
sheet, briefs, etc.; transmittal publications; serial titles of which
no issues had been received during the past five years; serial
publications which had an erratic distribution history, including
random receipt between paper and microfiche format; and monographic
series in which the majority of publications distributed were considered
of little or no lasting research value. Many otherwise useful
serial titles were dropped because they had been converted to microfiche
format for library distribution.
Great care was taken during the review not to reduce acquisitions in historically strong areas of the federal depository collection. Item numbers comprising congressional and statistical publications, for instance, were left intact. |
COLLECTION MANAGEMENT AND HUMAN RESOURCES The Library's depository collection is maintained in accordance with the guidelines set out in the Instructions to Depository Libraries, and will review it at least once a year to update the collection according to the official rules and regulations. All tangible documents are clearly marked with the depository property stamp, shipping list date, and the SuDoc number. Superseded documents are withdrawn. Other documents may be reviewed for retention after five years. Collection review is an ongoing process. Since 1975 the federal depository collection has
been subject to the types of development practices routinely conducted
in other areas of the Library.
Responsibility for acquiring depository
federal documents has been delegated among the Coordinator and
other librarians. Just as each librarian is responsible for
collection development in specific portions of the Dewey classification
schedule, so will individual information librarians be responsible
for collection development in certain parts of the Superintendent
of Documents (SuDoc) classification schedule.
The Federal Depository Coordinator is a professional librarian and responsible for the coordination of all depository activities within the library. In order to ensure an efficient and effective depository operation, depository staff members should attend local and national meetings devoted to depository related issues. |
COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES 1. Collection Scope and Selection Standards Subject strengths include congressional and executive historical materials, economics, agriculture, energy, health, water, international relations, labor, military history, and social issues. Documents are selected at a comprehensive level from the following US Federal Government agencies: Agriculture Department; Commerce Department, particularly the Census Bureau; Department of Education; Interior Department, particularly the United States Geological Survey; Health and Human Services; and the Justice Department. The Library's current selection ratio is 26% through the Federal Depository Library Program. Electronic versions of documents, especially web-based, are strongly preferred. The percentage of selected documents may change annually due to decisions to add or deselect categories based on the following factors.
The federal collection is a "general level" collection. That is, it includes supplementary material beyond depository items. Nevertheless, the collection should be comprehensive particularly in areas supporting the curriculum and research of the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico. 2. Selection Responsibility The Librarian assigned as Coordinator of the Federal Depository documents holds a master degree in library science. The Coordinator, although responsible for the overall selection process receives feedbacks both from other librarians as well as faculty members of the learning community.
Each year item number selections are reviewed. While a zero-based item number review is recommended each year, or every 2-3 years by the GPO, this is very difficult in a depository with a small group of librarians. Collection development activities pertaining to federal depository documents include:
All government publications are selected in the most appropriate available format, taking into consideration content, user needs, and library facilities. The Library's preference is to select resources in e-format and to develop a virtual Federal depository library collection. The Library is a strong supporter of Federal virtual depository program and its policy supports virtual depository program for Federal publications. The Library collection policy is to select resources only in one format. As a virtual Federal depository library, we will continuously modify our item selection profile to replace tangible format resources with e-format, with the exception of maps, tangible electronic products that contain large data sets, and highly used resources.
The Library also supplements the depository
collection with mostly online commercial services such as indexes,
bibliographies, and full-text products. Some services are, by contract,
available only to the University community, while others are available
to all users. A list of these resources is available
on the library's webpage. 4. Deselection/Weeding Publications which no longer fit the selection standards and policy are withdrawn from the collection by Information Resource Managers as permitted by the US Government Printing Office's Instructions to Depository Libraries Those titles that are no longer needed and meet the 5-year GPO retention rule are offered first to the regional depository, the Florida State Library, and then to depository libraries throughout the United States, either through postings to GOVDOC-L or through submission to the national "Needs and Offers List." Unneeded titles not claimed by another depository library are discarded with the permission of the regional depository. Specific materials to be weeded include:
5. Gifts Generally the Library accepts gifts, but retains the power to weed, if necessary. 6. Preservation In order to preserve the collection, the
Library staff selectively binds currently received printed materials.
The Library policy is to collect in one format and electronic is
preferred. The Library staff makes every effort to replace badly
damaged or deteriorating materials with online available products.
7. Materials on Academic reserve Some high use Federal depository documents may be placed on Reserve in our library and will be available for in-library use to the general public. Circulation/Reserve staff may ask the borrower to leave an ID upon their borrowing, but the borrower is not required to show or leave an ID for the use of the Federal documents. 8. Substitution of Depository Materials Since permission is granted to all designated depositories, our Federal Depository will substitute purchased microcopies and CD-ROMs for any depository holdings prior to the expiration of five years, provided that they are properly referenced, can be readily located, and are easily accessible to users. Proper reading equipment is available for their use. With approval from the regional depository library, our institution may substitute electronic-only versions of some publications in tangible form. The Federal Depository have issued guidelines for electronic substitution and can be reviewed at http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/coll-dev/subguide.html The substitute copies will then be treated as depository materials for the period of time that the library would have retained the original publications and they will be subject to the same rules and regulations that govern the care, treatment, and public access to depository materials during that time period. As all depository materials remain the property of the United States Government, the original depository holdings replaced by acquired copies will be offered to the regional library per Chapter 4, Section I of these Instructions. Substitute copies may be removed or disposed of only by following established procedures for all depository holdings. Libraries may not barter or exchange the original depository paper copy for a substitute. If disposition is by sale, the proceeds of that sale must be returned to the Superintendent of Documents. |
BIBLIOGRAPHIC CONTROL AND ACCESS Technical Services and Archival Processing/Docs staff mainstream bibliographic access to federal documents by providing MARC/AACR2-formatted record on Horizon. The Library purchases bibliographic records
from OCLC and the Library Corporation since 1990. To date, nearly all
post-1976 publications have been edited and merged with existing
holdings records, or deleted and replaced with more accurate records
on our online catalog (Horizon) along with other materials purchased
by the Library. Thus, all depository materials are represented in
Horizon and available for circulation (if appropriate) shortly
after arriving in the Library.
All selections will be reviewed regularly to ascertain their appropriateness and to adjust sections to the changing Federal government information needs of patrons. In order to identify and remove the superseded materials, the Coordinator will look up at the Superseded List.
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1. Public Access Policies The primary circulating collection, reference materials, microfiche, CD-ROM’s, current periodical and maps are available to the Library users during the hours the Library building is open. Most circulating materials are located on the second floor of the Library. There is no restriction for public using this collection. There are fifty one public computer stations with access to Internet, government documents page, and other links and other software designated as priority for use of government documents resources. Depository maps are housed in the Reference area (compact shelving). Reference is provided from the main reference services areas of the Library. Most federal documents circulate to registered borrowers and are lent via interlibrary loan. 2. Internet access The Library depends increasingly on Internet
access to government information. US government agencies are in
the forefront of publishing in electronic formats, including documents
available on the Internet. Now that documents are increasingly posted
on the Internet and federal agencies rely even less upon GPO for
procurement and distribution, and not at all for bibliographic control,
so we attempt to provide online and remote access via the Library's
information gateway.
In addition, we also select depository items
based on a combination of anticipated usage, format, ease of access,
and timeliness. One concern for not selecting an item that is available
in paper as well as on the Internet is that if the item is not selected,
then it is not represented in our online catalog. On the other hand,
if an online version is available at the time GPO catalogs a document;
our catalog record will include a link to the Internet version in
the online catalog.
Patrons wishing to access government information from the Internet are welcome to use any of the public workstations in the library and computer laboratories across the campus thru the library's webpage. |
Federal Depository Selection Tools and Policies
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| Revisd on May 13, 2004 |
COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY