Biology

Purpose

The Collection Development policy is used as a guide to shape relevant collections and to ensure consistency in collection development. The decision to purchase library materials is primarily the responsibility of the Collections Librarian in consultation with faculty in the Department.

This policy has been developed by Carol Stephenson, the Collections Librarian, in cooperation with and endorsed by Dr. Matthew Smith, the Department Faculty Library Liaison for the Department.

Focus

• To support teaching, study and research up to the graduate Master level, as well as to support faculty research.
• Areas of special interest must include: anatomy, bioinformatics, cell biology, ecology, genetics, genomics, microbiology, molecular biology, plant and animal physiology, taxonomy/systematics. Within each specific area individual faculty members may make recommendations for items to be included in the collection.

Scope

• Language: primarily English language materials are collected.
• Place of Publication: priority is given to materials from North American, European or Northern Asian publishers.
• Dates of Publication: emphasis is placed on recently published works. Works, both serial and monograph with a publication date older than ten years may be selected for transfer to the Annex for long term storage or withdrawal.
• Chronological Period: works with a focus on current research will be emphasized. Those works having a historical overview may be considered.
• Geographical Areas: priority is given to works with a North American focus, with secondary emphasis on the British Isles, Europe and Northern Asia. Other areas of the world will be considered as the need arises. Publishers: works from scholarly and academic publishers are emphasized.

Types, formats, and readership of materials collected

• Materials with academic-level readership are selected. Donations from private collections may be considered if they fill a gap in the collection.
• Web-based formats for reference sources, journals and indexing sources are preferred.
• Single copies of books in print formats are generally selected. Web-based formats are selected especially if available as publisher packages or as individual titles if of interest to users at multiple Laurier campuses. Duplication of print across Laurier campuses is generally avoided.
• Selected textbooks and study aids are obtained to complement undergraduate textbooks used in the current curriculum.
• Excluded types include abridgements, limited editions, works by vanity presses, juvenile works, reprints and partial contents (eg. single issues of journals, electronic versions of single chapters of books). Titles already held by the Universities of Waterloo and Guelph may be excluded.
• The following items, as they apply to Biology, will only be considered for inclusion in the collection upon the request of the Biology faculty:
  • Proceedings of conferences, symposia, international congresses, etc.
  • Selected Canadian and American theses
  • Reports of non-governmental organizations such as research centres, university departments, etc.
  • Numeric and/or spatial data

Subjects collected and collecting priorities

Collecting priority by subject

Related programs and support

Related materials are also purchased in support of departments and programs such as Geography, Global Studies, and other Science departments. The Universities of Guelph and Waterloo also offer programs to the graduate level in Biology. Their collections are available to Laurier students and faculty through the shared TRELLIS library catalogue.

Consortial purchases with the TriUniversity Group of Libraries (Guelph, Waterloo, Laurier university libraries), with the Ontario Council of University Libraries, and on a national level through the Canadian Knowledge Research Network, are pursued.

The WLU Special Collections department has a number of collections of personal papers from local academics dealing with the environment, the Great Lakes and fisheries that may be of value to Biology students.