PART I

A. Introduction

This policy encompasses the philosophy, goals, and standards guiding the systematic development of all parts of the Library’s collections.  It has been established by the Library faculty, in conjunction with the faculty and administration of the University.  It is to be used as a guide to, and a planning tool for, the systematic selection of recorded knowledge according to a rationale founded on priorities that have been identified to serve the information and research needs of the university community most effectively.

Part I of this document provides a description of the Library’s collection guidelines for the acquisition of materials in all formats.  Part II provides a detailed analysis of the Library’s subject collections, which serves to identify and qualify current areas of curricular and research focus.

A collection development policy, including individual subject profiles, should be an organic document, responsive to the dynamics of curricular activity and needs.  The policies described herein are subject to continual review and reformulation as may be mandated by institutional direction and conditions.

B. Goals and Objectives

In accordance with the Mission Statement of Lamson Library (see Appendix A), the Library’s collections actively support and enhance the educational objectives of Plymouth State university by acquiring print and non-print resources which serve the informational, instructional, and research needs of the university community.  The university community would be defined as the body of undergraduate, graduate, and non-degree students, as well as the teaching faculty, and administrative and non-academic personnel.  Whereas the primary educational mission of the university is in support of approximately 50 undergraduate and 2 graduate degree programs, the PRIMARY collection objectives are in support of these instructional areas and levels.  Highly specialized research materials are not normally acquired, although the Library does acquire and make available those materials needed for basic research by the faculty or administrative personnel which will be frequently used and of long-term value to the university community.  Also, within the limitations of its resources, the Library does acquire and make available library materials in subject areas of general public interest which may not be included in the curriculum of the university.

The Library’s collection objectives include maintaining balanced growth:  building on areas of strength and curricular focus, developing new areas as required by curricular expansion, and improving under-represented areas of the collection.  Predominantly English-language materials are acquired, the exception of those which support the programs in Foreign Languages, and certain items recognized to be standard or essential to a discipline which are available only in the original language, or for which there exists no acceptable English-language edition.

Emphasis is also on current acquisition, since academic titles tend to go out of print fairly quickly, and it is more expedient to obtain materials at current prices when they are readily available.  Where necessary, retrospective acquisitions are occasionally made of materials, on a selective basis.

Normally, only one copy of a title is acquired, unless special use, demand, or relevance to the curriculum justifies duplicate copies.

The Library also supports a series of policy statements by the American Library Association (and generally adopted by the library profession in general), concerning the responsibilities of librarians and libraries and open access to information and materials.  The “Freedom to Read Statement,” “The Library Bill of Rights,” and the “Intellectual Freedom Statement” may be found in the Appendix.

C. Selection Responsibilities

The Library faculty and the departmental teaching faculty work cooperatively in the selection process.  Each Library faculty member serves as a liaison to one or more departments or discipline areas, not only for the selection of materials, but to facilitate and enhance communication, awareness, and cooperation between the Library and teaching departments with regard to information needs.  Similarly, each academic department may designate a faculty member to be a liaison to the Library to reciprocate this exchange.  Academic department liaisons are encouraged to discuss concerns about library services and resources with their corresponding Library liaison, and to keep them apprised of developments or changes in departmental curricular matters that would affect the Libraries services and resources.  The Library liaisons are responsible for keeping academic departments informed of policies and procedures which may affect teaching faculty and students, and for apprising them of new materials potentially useful to their teaching or research, and the work of their students.

While the professional Library faculty are ultimately responsible for the comprehensives and integrity of the collection overall, ALL faculty are strongly encouraged to recommend the acquisition of appropriate library materials in their subject fields.   Active faculty participation in the selection process is crucial in an undergraduate university setting where the collection is primarily curriculum-centered.

D. General Selection Guidelines

The primary criteria to be considered in materials selection are:

1. The appropriateness of subject and intellectual level to the university’s instructional programs (referred to as the communal context).
2. The authority, reliability, expertise of the writer, author, editor (or the thematic context).
3. The timeliness or currency of the material
4. The perceived potential use of the material
5. The relation of the material in question to what is already in the collection (or the archival context).
6. The reputability of the publisher
7. The suitability of the format (usability, ease of access, durability).
8. Cost – not as a selection criteria per se, but as an influence upon the ultimate purchasing decision, compared to similarly available materials that may be more cost effective.  Individual titles over $200 are systematically reviewed for approval by all Library faculty.

Generally, titles for selection should have received favorable published reviews by reputable critics in standard reliable professional review media.  Evaluative publications typically used by Library faculty for selection include Choice, Library Journal, College & Research Libraries, Publishers’ Weekly, American Reference Books Annual, School Library Journal, Booklist, etc., as well as any number of review journals specific to the academic disciplines.  Other identifying sources of potential selections would be Books for College Libraries (3^rd ed.), annual bibliographies, current guides to the literatures, and publishers catalogs.

E. Policies for Specific Collections and Formats

1. Collections

a. Periodicals.  For the purpose of this policy, the periodical collection includes journals, magazines, newspapers and annuals.  The periodical collection at Lamson Library contains a wide range of titles needed to ensure that the most current scholarly information in all curricular fields is available for students and faculty.  In addition, a select number of general and popular titles are acquired to provide for the more general interests of the academic community.

As with monographic titles, requests for periodical purchases may be made by librarians and faculty.  However, because periodical acquisitions entail a long-term, continuous, and significant commitment of annual funds, space, and maintenance, decisions on adding periodical titles require more close evaluation and approval by the whole Library faculty.

Priority is given to titles that are directly relevant to the curriculum, to the research needs of the students and to faculty course preparation.  Requests for new periodicals must indicate specific courses or programs that the title will support, as well as anticipated future use and research interest.  A published review, sample issue, recommendation, and/or table of contents are also requested to assist in the decision. Preference is given to those titles indexed in printed or electronic sources that are available in the library.  Availability through full-text electronic retrieval is balanced against the need for on-site access. Subscription cost is a particularly relevant factor in the title’s evaluation.  Serials are not purchased to support an individual’s personal research interests.

b. Reference.  The Library’s Reference Collection is designed to meet a wide range of research needs in all curricular subject areas, including historical, statistical, legal, biographical, scientific, bibliographic, and geographic information.  In addition, the Reference Collection provides access to information in fields common to general needs, and in some specialized areas tangential to or beyond current curricular focus.

Reference materials of the following types are acquired in accordance with the general selection criteria for all materials:

• Encyclopedias, both general and subject-specific, of a level appropriate to the university’s academic programs
• English language and major foreign language dictionaries
• Subject-specific dictionaries, handbooks, bibliographies and guides to the literature in all curricular areas
• Indexes and abstracts to general and subject-specific periodical literature, in a variety of formats (see also section E.2.c )
• Directories
• Biographical sources, both general, and those covering specific subject areas
• Statistical sources
• Atlases, gazetteers, and other geographical sources
• Basic sources for legal research, including digests, reporters, and law codes on the state (NH) and federal level

Due to the specific purpose of reference materials, in addition to primary criteria of authority, scope and audience, special attention is paid to currency or timeliness of the material, and to the format/arrangement/accessibility factor.  Increasingly, materials published formerly in print only are being offered in electronic formats; and, new materials may be produced in several formats.  When selecting a format, consideration is given to any equipment and staff support that may by needed to utilize the information, as further delineated in the section on Electronic Formats.

c. K-12 Curriculum Collection and Children’s Literature Collection.  These two specialized collection serve to support the professional programs of the Department of Education at Plymouth State University.  Curriculum and Children’s Literature materials are intended to be used by students in their efforts to develop skills needed to identify, select, and evaluate materials in various media used in teaching at the K-12 levels.  The Curriculum Collection includes elementary and secondary level textbooks (including teachers’ manuals, workbooks, and activity books) covering subject areas in which teacher education degrees are offered; as well as curriculum guides; multi-media sets; and separate audio-visual formats (video recordings, phonorecords, film strips, etc.); realia; and games.

The Children’s Literature collection provides a substantial representation of current publishing for children, ranging from pre-Kindergarten (“Easy readers) through young adult-level.  The collection includes fiction and nonfiction works, picture books, the annual Newbery and Caldecott Award winners, basic reference materials such as encyclopedias and dictionaries, and a select number of phonorecordings and children’s periodicals.

Selection of materials for the Curriculum Collection, Children’s Literature and the Standardized Test Collection (housed in Reserves), is the responsibility of the Library’s liaison to the Education Department .

d. New Hampshire Documents.  Lamson Library is a depository library for New Hampshire publications, and automatically receives copies of most state publications on a regular basis from the New Hampshire State Library.  The documents are classified and catalogued as monographs.

e. Music Scores.  The Library acquires musical scores in a variety of languages to support the educational, instructional, and performance goals of the Department of Music and Theatre.

f. Special Collections.  The Michael J. Spinelli, Jr. Center for university Archives and Special Collections  provides a secure area for library materials which are of greater potential use when housed and maintained together; are unusually difficult, impossible, or costly to replace; are fragile or of other condition that require more protection than the open shelves; or which are especially fine editions.

The Michael J. Spinelli, Jr. Center for University Archives and Special Collections collects, organizes, preserves and makes accessible material in many formats relating to the history of Plymouth State University, the White Mountains, North Country and Lakes Region of New Hampshire, and other rare and historic items in support of the mission and curriculum of the university and to serve as a cultural resource for the region.

Currently, collections include:

• The George H. Browne Robert Frost Collection;
• The Ernest L. Silver Pedagogy Collection of early curriculum materials;
• The Brown Company Collection of photographs;
• The G. Allen Foster Civil War Collection (unprocessed);
• The Rogers Family Collection;
• The McGoldrick Collection of Artic Images;
• Historical material and documents relating to Plymouth Normal School, Plymouth Teachers College; Plymouth State College and Plymouth State University;
• Selected New Hampshire state documents;
• Selected works by New Hampshire authors;
• Selected works on New Hampshire history, especially local(including White Mountains), and select New Hampshire imprints;
• Tape and manuscript oral history project materials produced by students in the New Hampshire & New England and Oral History courses;
• A growing collection of artists’ books and fine press publications

Regardless of its segregation and need for controlled and supervised access, the materials in Special Collections are intended to be working collections, available to scholars and researchers.

2. Formats

a. Audio-Visual Materials.  Adult-level non-print materials are selectively rather than comprehensively acquired in accordance with the general guidelines for print materials.  That is, the subject matter and intellectual level should be directly relevant to a curricular program.  Primary selection criteria are: the authority and reputability of the creator, producer, artist, etc., as well as compatibility with available equipment, technical quality, cost effectiveness, and the appropriateness of the format for use in the specific subject field.

Specific formats currently collected are videorecordings, music compact discs, and audio tape cassettes.  Vinyl phonograph recordings, which are still an actively used collection, are no longer formally acquired with the advent of compact discs.  Individual slides, once a large and actively used collection, have been considerably reduced and are no longer purchased per se, except where they are an integral part of a multi-format set.  The library no longer purchases 16mm or 35mm films.

When possible, video materials are normally ordered on a preview basis and evaluated before final determination of purchase.

b. Microforms.  The Library purchases a variety of materials in microform to provide access to materials which would otherwise be unavailable, non-durable, too costly, or which would require prohibitively large amounts of space in hard copy.  Requirements for maintenance, access and replication, potential for theft, mutilation, and deterioration also influence the decision for microform purchases.

The Library typically acquires microform editions (i.e., microfiche and/or microfilm) of the following types of materials:

• Backfiles of periodicals and newspapers
• Specialized monographic sets or series (i.e., LEL, University of Oregon Microform Publications of the Institute for sport and Human Performance)
• Document sets such as ERIC clearinghouse documents, Fortune 500 Annual Reports, or Kraus Curriculum Development Library

c. Electronic Formats

Electronic resources are defined as those that require computer access. The library currently subscribes to numerous electronic products, primarily databases (full-text and bibliographic), statistical, and other reference sources. The main criteria for the selection of any electronic product is the extent to which it directly supports the undergraduate and graduate curriculum, improves the overall library collection, and/or enhances the user’s access to information.

The selection of electronic resources is consonant with all other collection development policies:  meeting the informational needs of the academic community, and support of the University’s mission.

Due to the special nature and impact of these formats, in addition to the general selection guidelines used for print and other non-print resources, the following additional criteria will be considered:

• Suitability of the format to the subject content; enhanced value provided by the specific formats
• Quality of the production and design of access features
• Vendor reliability and customer support
• Ability to provide appropriate hardware, and user support
• Anticipated size of the user group
• The product should be “user-friendly,” i.e., provide reasonable ease of use, with guidance and help features.
• Overall cost of the product, including licensing, networking, and whether the product entails a one-time or continuing financial expenditure for purchase or lease
• Review and possible cancellation of similar or duplicate materials within the collection

Specific formats and types of materials:

• Computer software which accompanies other media
• CD-ROMs (Note: Since the Library is not able to provide additional user and technical assistance, or equipment required for non-music CD-ROM materials that are intended to be used independently outside the Reference Area, these types of materials are not purchased.)
• Networked resources
• Online (bibliographic, full-text, numerical) databases
• Internet resources (including World Wide Web linked sites).

Recommendations for the purchase of electronic resources may be made by librarians and faculty, but decision on purchase is determined by the whole library faculty, with close evaluation and endorsement/approval of the Library Technology Committee.

F. Gifts

The Library accepts donations of cash, books, periodicals, manuscripts, archival material relevant to the history of the university, and other non-book educational materials that generally meet the Library’s collection goals and objectives.  Gifts donated to the Library are a significant way that library collections are improved.

All donations are accepted under the following conditions:

• All donations must be approved in advance by the Director of the Library. Gifts valued by a donor at $1,000.00 or more will be considered by the university’s Gift Acceptance Advisory Committee before approval by the Library.
• The donor must have clear title and right to donate the items offered.
• The Library reserves the right to dispose of donations as it sees fit. That is, gift donations may be added to the collections, offered for sale, shared with other libraries, or disposed of completely.
• The Library cannot accept responsibility for gift materials that are delivered to the Library without prior notice to and acceptance by the Library.
• As a general rule, the Library does not accept gifts that require the establishment of a separate collection for materials that would be best integrated into the regular collection. This does not preclude the naming of a part of the regular collection in honor of a particular individual, such as the “Hughes Reference Collection,” or the “Blair Special Collections Room.”
• The Library will attempt to arrange for pick up and delivery of donations if they are within accessible range of a university vehicle. The donor will have to make arrangements for delivery outside of this range. The costs of transportation are subject to negotiation between the university and the donor.
• As a general rule, the library does not provide bibliographies of donated materials. Donor who desire bibliographies should provide their own prior to delivering materials to the Library.
• Lamson Library will acknowledge all donations by letter stating the number of items given.
• The Development Office of the Office of Advancement will acknowledge the gift by providing a receipt. Unless the donor has provided an independent appraisal, the gift will be receipted with a description of materials received, with no value attached.
• The Library does not provide appraisals of donations. Donors should arrange for appraisals prior to donating materials to the Library. Occasionally, the Development Office may require an appraisal. In such instances, the Development Office will assist the donor in identifying an expert third party appraiser. The cost of all appraisals must be borne by the donor.
• All memorial or honorary gifts will be acknowledged by appropriate book plates or markers that indicate the individual memorialized or honored, as well as the donor. Anonymity will be honored upon the request of the donor.
• A donor may request modifications to the above policy and procedures. Such requests must be made to and approved by the Director of the Library prior to accepting a gift.

G. Maintenence

1. Assessment and Evaluation

Collection evaluation is an essential component of Collection Development.  It provides a means to assess the utility of a library’s collections to its users, as well a more accurate picture of the size, nature, quality, depth, and physical state of collections; a means of ascertaining unmet needs; a tool for allocating resources more effectively; in effect, a gauge of how well collections goals and objectives are being met.

Specifically, the Library needs to measure how well, in breadth and depth, the collection provides appropriate subject materials required by the university’s academic programs; whether the collections meet the appropriate standards for accreditation; and whether the collections generally meet expected informational and cultural needs of a reasonably well-educated college graduate?

Currently, collection evaluation include some of the following activities, both quantitative and qualitative:

Collection-centered measures:  Periodic shelf-reading; volume count by subject classification breakdown; Interlibrary Loan statistics for requested titles, checking holdings against standard bibliographies.

Client-centered measures:  statistical use studies, including circulation data by individual title, and subject class; analysis of online catalog searching; in-house use count; and subjective user surveys.

The Library’s goal is to more fully utilize the vast statistics-generating capabilities of its integrated online system, to measure and analyse the collections, both quantitatively and qualitatively, in more useful detail.

2. Weeding

Numbers, or volume count, do not in themselves provide the definitive measure of quality or effective use of library collections.  Weeding, or the removal of materials, is an essential part of collection management, which helps ensure the currency, vitality, usefulness and accessibility of the collection.  Some unique criteria may apply to specific formats, but the following criteria for weeding are applied throughout the collection.

• Currency of edition, as appropriate to the subject matter. Normally, super-ceded editions are withdrawn and replaced by the most current edition. An out-of-print title may be retained, based of relevancy to the specific subject.
• Duplicate copies are only kept for specific types of high-demand materials.
• Appropriateness of subject matter relevant or important to current curricular programs. A standard or seminal work in a discipline; appears in standard lists or core bibliographies.
• Must be of sound physical condition. Damaged materials beyond repair are replaced or withdrawn.
• Use data: Recency of circulation compared to time on shelf; a book ten years old that has not circulated in five years would be a withdrawal candidate.

Decisions to withdraw materials are made by librarians on a title by title basis, usually in consultation with department faculty.  No title is withdrawn if the teaching faculty request that it be retained.

H. Resource Sharing, Cooperative Agreements

Lamson Library supports in theory, spirit, and practice, cooperative activities which provide its users with library resources unavailable on-site, unobtainable within current budgetary limitations, or that fall outside primary collection goals.  While recognizing that local collections must first support local needs and priorities, the Library’s support of cooperative activities is based on the commitment to improved service through wider access to information.  Cooperation should not be promoted merely as a way of saving money.

The Library does not have any formal cooperative collection development agreements for print materials with other libraries in the state or region.  Such programs usually entail agreements to concentrate on collecting in certain subject areas at the expense of others, and do not serve immediate local curricular needs.  However, the Library has various cooperative ventures with UNH, Keene State, or the State Library concerning access to some online resources.

As a member of  the New Hampshire College and University Council (NHCUC), Lamson Library students and faculty benefit from reciprocal borrowing privileges from 13 academic libraries in the State, including the University of New Hampshire, as well as document delivery services.

The Library also participates in OCLC’s Interlibrary Loan service, which provides students and faculty with access to the holdings of over 6,000 academic and research libraries throughout the country.  The acquisition of ARIEL for the rapid transmission of documents is an example of the use of recent technology to improve document delivery.

Lamson Library is also a member of the Five Rivers Area Library Network, the regional node in the state-wide NHAIS (New Hampshire Automated Information System), supplying area public libraries with more efficient Interlibrary Loan service.   The Library also supplies the town of Plymouth public library with direct access to LOLA, our online catalog.

PART II

Subject Collection Analysis

The collection levels and codes used in this section are defined in: “Guidelines for the Formulation of Collection Development Policies,” David L. Perkins, editor (Collection Development Committee, Resources and Technical Division, American Library Association, 1979). They incorporate and expand upon those formulated in the American Library Association’s “Guidelines for the Formulation of Collection Development Policies,” Library Resources and Technical Services, Vol. 21, no. 1 (Winter 1977) pp.40-47.  They are also modified where appropriate for this institution.

Collection Level Codes

5 Comprehensive Level All significant works of recorded knowledge in all applicable languages, for a necessarily defined and limited field. The aim of this level of collecting intensity is exhaustiveness.  Lamson Library does not collect at this level.

4 Research Level Includes the major source materials required for dissertations and independent research, including all important reference works and a wide selection of specialized monographs, as well as a very extensive collection of journals and major indexing and abstracting services in the field.

3 Study Level Supports undergraduate or graduate course work; a wide range of basic monographs, complete collections of works of important writers, representative journals, reference works, and fundamental bibliographic apparatus.

3A Advanced Study Level: Advanced undergraduate and masters degree.

3B Initial Study Level: Adequate to support undergraduate courses; judicious selection of basic monographs, major journals, most significant reference tools, etc.

2 Basic Level A highly selective collection to introduce and define the subject; includes major dictionaries and encyclopedias, selected editions of important works, historical surveys, important bibliographies, and a few major periodicals in the field.

1 Minimal Level Few selections are made beyond very basic works. The following tables indicate two specific measurements concerning the subject collections at Lamson Library.  The first value indicates existing collection strength (ECS); the second value represents the level of current collecting intensity (CCI), which, if different than the ECS, would indicate a subject area where there is a need to increase (or reduce) the existing strength of a collection due to curricular growth (or de-emphasis).

The main subject area descriptors are those used in the Library’s book fund allocations, which derive from the university’s academic departments.  The area subfields are derived from the professional literature of the discipline, as well as from descriptions of specific degree programs and courses offered at the university.

Collection Levels

NOTE:  Subject descriptors, subfields, and collection codes in this edition of the policy have not been formally reviewed and approved by the library faculty.

SUBJECT	SUBFIELDS	ECS	CCI	NOTES
ART	Studio courses:    Drawing Painting Sculpture Ceramics Photography Printmaking Art History Art Education Graphic Design Architecture Decorative Arts Museum Studies	3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3a 3a 3a 3b 2 2	3b 3a 3b 3b 3b 3b 3a 3a 3a 3b 2 2
BUSINESS	AccountingAdvertising Business Administration Business Education Business & Tax Law Business Information Systems Finance Management Marketing Personnel Management & Labor Relations Public Relations Real Estate Small Business Admin.	3a3b 3a 2 3a 3a 3b 3a 3b 3b 3b 2 4	3a3b 3a 1 3a 3a 3b 3a 3b 3b 3b 2 4
ECONOMICS	Applied EconomicsEconomic History & Conditions Economic Theory Industrial Economics Macroeconomics Microeconomics	3a3b 3a 3b 3b 3a	3a3b 3a 3b 3b 3a

SUBJECT	SUBFIELDS	ECS	CCI	NOTES
CANADIAN STUDIES	HistoryGeography Economics Literature English French/Quebecois Political Science	3b3a 3b 3a 3a 3b	3b3b 2 3b 3b 3a
COMPUTER SCIENCE	Applied Computer ScienceInformation Technology Programming MultiMedia Technology	3b3b 3b 3b	3a3a 3b 3b
EDUCATION	Assessment & EvaluationBilingual Education Career Development Childhood Studies Children’s Literature Comparative Education Curriculum Development Early Childhood Educational Psychology Educational Technology Education & Society Elementary Education Guidance & Counseling History of Education Methods Middle School Primary Education Reading School Administration & Organization School Architecture & Equipm. School Law Secondary Education Special Education Teacher Training & Certific. K-12 Curriculum Collection Children’s Literature Collection	3a3b 3a 3a 4 3b 3a 4 3a 3b 3b 4 4 3b 3a 3b 3a 3a 3a 2 4 3a 3a 3a 3a 3b	43a 3a 4 4 3b 4 4 4 3b 3a 4 4 3b 3a 3a 4 4 3a 2 4 3a 3a 3a 3a 3b

SUBJECT	SUBFIELDS	ECS	CCI	NOTES
ENGLISH	American Literature (all genres)Communication Studies Composition Creative Writing Drama English Education English Literature (all genres) Film Studies Journalism Linguistics Literary Criticism Literary History Poetry Rhetoric Technical Writing World Literature (in English)	3a2 3b 3b 3b 3a 3b 3b 2 2 3a 3a 3a 3b 3b 3b	3a3b 3b 3b 3b 3a 3b 3b 3b 3b 3a 3a 3a 3b 3b 3b
FOREIGN LANGUAGES	Classical LiteratureFrench Language French Literature German Language German Literature Latin American Literatures Latin Language Other world languages Other world literatures Spanish Language Spanish Literature	3b3b 3b 2 2 2 3b 1-2 3b 3b	3b3b 3b 2 2 3b 3b 1-2 3b 3b	See under ENGLISH
HEALTH	Drug & Substance AbuseFirst Aid General Medicine Health Education Human Sexuality Hygiene Nutrition School Health Wellness Management	3b2 2 3a 3b 2 3b 3b 3b	3a2 2 3a 3b 2 3b 3b 3b

SUBJECT	SUBFIELDS	ECS	CCI	NOTES
PHYSICAL EDUCATION	Athletic TrainingCoaching Exercise Science Fitness & Rehabilitation Individual Sports Kinesiology Outdoor Recreation & Adventure Education Sports Medicine Teaching Physical Education	3b3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b	3a3b 3a 3b 3b 3a 3b 3b 3a
LIBRARY SCIENCE	Academic LibrarianshipAdministration Automation & Information Technology Cataloging & Classification Collection Development Information Retrieval Reference Service School Librarianship	3b3b 3b 3b 3b 2 3b 3b	3a3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b
MATHEMATICS	AlgebraCalculus Elementary Math & Arithmetic Geometry Mathematics Education Numerical Analysis Probabilities Statistics Trigonometry	3b3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 2	3b3b 3b 3b 3a 3b 3b 3b 2
MEDIEVAL STUDIES	ArtArchitecture History Literature Music Philosophy	3a3b 3a 3b 3b 3b	3a3b 3a 3b 3b 3b

SUBJECT	SUBFIELDS	ECS	CCI	NOTES
MUSIC	CompositionConducting History of Music Instrumental Music Biography Music Criticism Music Education Voice Recorded Music: Classical Folk & Ethnic Jazz  & Popular Opera Study Scores: Choral Instrumental Solo Voice Vocal	3b2 3b 3b 3b 3b 3a 3b 3b 2 2 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b	3b2 3b 3b 3b 3b 3a 3b 3b 2 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b
THEATRE	ActingDance Dramatic Literature Performance Production & Stage Craft	3b3b 3b 2	3b3b 3b 3b	See under ENGLISH
SCIENCES: ASTRONOMY BIOLOGY	Practical & Spherical Theoretical Astronomy Botany Ecology Environmental Biology Evolution Genetics & Heredity Human Anatomy & Physiology Microbiology Ornithology Zoology: Vertebrate Invertebrate	3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b	3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b

SUBJECT	SUBFIELDS	ECS	CCI	NOTES
CHEMISTRY EARTH SCIENCE GENERAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY METEOROLOGY PHYSICS	OrganicBiochemistry Physical Chemistry Instrumental Analysis Physical Geology Historical Geology History of Science General Technology Science Education Climatology Atmospheric Thermodynamics Descriptive & Analytical Electricity & Magnetism Mechanics Nuclear & Particle Physics	3b3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3a 3a 3a 3b 3b 3b 3b	3b3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3a 3a 3a 3b 3b 3b 3b
PHILOSOPHY	CosmologyDeath Epistemology Ethics Existentialism History of Philosophy Logic Methodology Metaphysics Ontology	3b3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b	3b3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b
RELIGION	Old TestamentNew Testament/Christianity Judaism History & Philosophy of Religion Mythology Theology World & Comparative Religion	3b3b 2 3b 3b 3b 2	3b3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b

SUBJECT	SUBFIELDS	ECS	CCI	NOTES
PSYCHOLOGY	Abnormal Psychology Behavioral PsychologyChild/Adolescent Psychology Cognition Counseling Developmental Psychology Experimental Psychology History and Systems Mental Health Parapsychology Perception Personality Social Psychology	3b3b 3a 3b 3a 3a 3a 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b	3b3b 4 3a 3a 4 3a 3b 3b 3b 3b 3a 3b
SOCIAL SCIENCES: ANTHROPOLOGY	Archaeology Cultural Anthropology Ethnology/Ethnography Folklore Human Ecology Physical Anthropology Sociobiology	3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 2	3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 2
HISTORY	African & AsianAncient & Classical European France & Germany Latin American Medieval & Renaissance Middle Eastern Pacific Rim Soviet & Russian United States / N. America United Kingdom	3b3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 2 2 3b 3a 3b	3b3b 3a 3b 3b 3a 3b 3b 3b 3a 3b
POLITICAL SCIENCE	U.S. Constitutional HistoryHuman Rights International Relations International Law New Hampshire Government Public Policy & Adm. Political Theory State and Local Government U.S. Government	3b3b 3b 2 3a 3b 3b 3b 3b	3b3b 3b 3b 3a 3b 3b 3b 3b

SUBJECT	SUBFIELDS	ECS	CCI	NOTES
GEOGRAPHY	Economic GeographyEnvironmental Planning Geographical Information Systems Historical Geography Industrial Geography Land Form Analysis Maps & Atlases Physical Geography Political Geography Population Geography Travel and Tourism Urban Geography	3b3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b	3b3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b
SOCIAL WORK		3b	3b
SOCIOLOGY	CommunitiesCriminal Justice Adolescents Marriage and the Family Social Groups Social Pathology Women’s Studies	3b3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b	3b3b 3b 3b 3b 3b 3b

Addenda

In its selection, acquisition, and access policies and procedures, Lamson Library supports the spirit and the letter of the following statements by the American Library Association, which are reproduced here from their publication, Intellectual Freedom Manual, 5th edition, published in 1996.

Library Bill of Rights

The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services.

1. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.

2. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues.  Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

3. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.

4. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.

5. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.

6. Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.

Adopted June 18, 1948; amended February 2, 1961, and January 23, 1980, by the ALA Council.
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Freedom to Read

The freedom to read is essential to our democracy. It is continuously under attack.  Private groups and public authorities in various parts of the country are working to remove books from sale, to censor textbooks, to label “controversial” books, to distribute lists of “objectionable” books or authors, and to purge libraries. These actions apparently rise from a view that our national tradition of free expression is no longer valid; that censorship and suppression are needed to avoid the subversion of politics and the corruption of morals. We, as citizens devoted to the use of books and as librarians and publishers responsible for disseminating them, wish to assert the public interest in the preservation of the freedom to read.

We are deeply concerned about these attempts at suppression.  Most such attempts rest on a denial of the fundamental premise of democracy: that the ordinary citizen, by exercising critical judgment, will accept the good and reject the bad. The censors, public and private, assume that they should determine what is good and what is bad for their fellow-citizens.

We trust Americans to recognize propaganda, and to reject it. We do not believe they need the help of censors to assist them in this task. We do not believe they are prepared to sacrifice their heritage of a free press in order to be “protected” against what others think may be bad for them. We believe they still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression.

We are aware, of course, that books are not alone in being subjected to efforts at suppression. We are aware that these efforts are related to a larger pattern of pressures being brought against education, the press, films, radio and television. The problem is not only one of actual censorship.  The shadow of fear cast by these pressures leads, we suspect, to an even larger voluntary curtailment of expression by those who seek to avoid controversy.

Such pressure toward conformity is perhaps natural to a time of uneasy change and pervading fear. Especially when so many of our apprehensions are directed against an ideology, the expression of a dissident idea becomes a thing feared in itself, and we tend to move against it as against a hostile deed, with suppression.

And yet suppression is never more dangerous than in such a time of social tension. Freedom has given the United States the elasticity to endure strain. Freedom keeps open the path of novel and creative solutions, and enables change to come by choice. Every silencing of a heresy, every enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of our society and leaves it the less able to deal with stress.

Now as always in our history, books are among our greatest instruments of freedom. They are almost the only means for making generally available ideas or manners of expression that can initially command only a small audience. They are the natural medium for the new idea and the untried voice from which come the original contributions to social growth. They are essential to the extended discussion which serious thought requires, and to the accumulation of knowledge and ideas into organized collections.

We believe that free communication is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture. We believe that these pressures towards conformity present the danger of limiting the range and variety of inquiry and expression on which our democracy and our culture depend. We believe that every American community must jealously guard the freedom to publish and to circulate, in order to preserve its own freedom to read. We believe that publishers and librarians have a profound responsibility to give validity to that freedom to read by making it possible for the readers to choose freely from a variety of offerings.

The freedom to read is guaranteed by the Constitution. Those with faith in free people will stand firm on these constitutional guarantees of essential rights and will exercise the responsibilities that accompany these rights.

We therefore affirm these propositions:

1. It is in the public interest for publishers and librarians to make available the widest diversity of views and expressions, including those which are unorthodox or unpopular with the majority.

Creative thought is by definition new, and what is new is different. The bearer of every new thought is a rebel until that idea is refined and tested. Totalitarian systems attempt to

maintain themselves in power by the ruthless suppression of any concept which challenges the established orthodoxy. The power of a democratic system to adapt to change is vastly strengthened by the freedom of its citizens to choose widely from among conflicting opinions offered freely to them. To stifle every nonconformist idea at birth would mark the end of the democratic process. Furthermore, only through the constant activity of weighing and selecting can the democratic mind attain the strength demanded by times like these. We need to know not only what we believe but why we believe it.

2. Publishers, librarians and booksellers do not need to endorse every idea or presentation contained in the books they make available. It would conflict with the public interest for them to establish their own political, moral or aesthetic views as a standard for determining what books would be published or circulated.

Publishers and librarians serve the educational process by helping to make available knowledge and ideas required for the growth of the mind and the increase of learning. They do not foster education by imposing as mentors the patterns of their own thought. The people should have the freedom to read and consider a broader range of ideas than those that may be held by any single librarian or publisher or government or church. It is wrong that what one can read should be confined to what another thinks proper.

3. It is contrary to the public interest for publishers or librarians to determine the acceptability of a book on the basis of the personal history or political affiliations of the author.

A book should be judged as a book. No art or literature can flourish if it is to be measured by the political views or private lives of its creators. No society of free people can flourish which draws up lists of writers to whom it will not listen, whatever they may have to say.

4. There is no place in our society for efforts to coerce the taste of others, to confine adults to the reading matter deemed suitable for adolescents, or to inhibit the efforts of writers to achieve artistic expression.

To some, much of modern literature is shocking. But is not much of life itself shocking? We cut off literature at the source if we prevent writers from dealing with the stuff of life. Parents and teachers have a responsibility to prepare the young to meet the diversity of experiences in life to which they will be exposed, as they have a responsibility to help them learn to think critically for themselves. These are affirmative responsibilities, not to be discharged simply by preventing them from reading works for which they are not yet prepared. In these matters taste differs, and taste cannot be legislated; nor can machinery be devised which will suit the demands of one group without limiting the freedom of others.

5. It is not in the public interest to force a reader to accept with any book the prejudgment of a label characterizing the book or author as subversive or dangerous.

The ideal of labeling presupposes the existence of individuals or groups with wisdom to determine by authority what is good or bad for the citizen. It presupposes that individuals must be directed in making up their minds about the ideas they examine.   But Americans do not need others to do their thinking for them.

6. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians, as guardians of the people’s freedom to read, to contest  encroachments upon that freedom by individuals or groups  seeking to impose their own standards or tastes upon the community at large.

It is inevitable in the give and take of the democratic process that the political, the moral, or the aesthetic concepts of an individual or group will occasionally collide with those of another individual or group. In a free society individuals are free to determine for themselves what they wish to read, and each group is free to determine what it will recommend to its freely associated members. But no group has the right to take the law into its own hands, and to impose its own concepts of politics or morality upon other members of a democratic society. Freedom is no freedom if it is accorded only to the accepted and the inoffensive.

7. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians to give full meaning to the freedom to read by providing books that enrich the quality and diversity of thought and expression. By the exercise of this affirmative responsibility, they can demonstrate that the answer to a bad book is a good one, the answer to a bad idea is a good one.

The freedom to read is of little consequence when expended on the trivial; it is frustrated when the reader cannot obtain matter fit for that reader’s purpose. What is needed is not only the absence of restraint, but the positive provision of opportunity for the people to read the best that has been thought and said.  Books are the major channel by which the intellectual inheritance is handed down, and the principal means of its testing and growth. The defense of their freedom and integrity, and the enlargement of their service to society, requires of all publishers and librarians the utmost of their faculties, and deserves of all citizens the fullest of their support.

We state these propositions neither lightly nor as easy generalizations. We here stake out a lofty claim for the value of books. We do so because we believe that they are good, possessed of enormous variety and usefulness, worthy of cherishing and keeping free. We realize that the application of these propositions may mean the dissemination of ideas and manners of expression that are repugnant to many persons. We do not state these propositions in the comfortable belief that what people read is unimportant. We believe rather that what people read is deeply important; that ideas can be dangerous; but that the suppression of ideas is fatal to a democratic society.  Freedom itself is a dangerous way of life, but it is ours.

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This statement was originally issued in May of 1953 by the Westchester Conference of the American Library Association and the American Book Publishers Council, which in 1970 consolidated with the American Educational Publishers Institute to become the Association of American Publishers.

Adopted June 25, 1953; revised January 28, 1972, January 16, 1991, by the ALA Council and the AAP Freedom to Read Committee.

Intellectual Freedom Statement

The heritage of free men is ours.

In the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution, the founders of our nation proclaimed certain fundamental freedoms to be essential to our form of government. Primarily among these is the freedom of expression, specifically the right to publish diverse opinions and the right to unrestricted access to those opinions. As citizens committed to the full and free use of all communications media and as professional persons responsible for making the content of those media accessible to all without prejudice, we, the undersigned, wish to assert the public interest in the preservation of freedom of expression.

Through continuing judicial interpretations of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, full freedom of expression has been guaranteed. Every American who aspires to the success of our experiment in democracy–who has faith in the political and social integrity of free men–must stand firm on those Constitutional guarantees of essential rights. Such Americans can be expected to fulfill the responsibilities implicit in those rights.

We, therefore, affirm these propositions:

1. We will make available to everyone who needs or desires them the widest possible diversity of views and modes of expression, including those which are strange, unorthodox, or unpopular.

Creative thought is, by its nature, new. New ideas are always different and, to some people, distressing and even threatening.  The creator of every new idea is likely to be regarded as uncon- ventional–occasionally heretical–until his idea is first examined, then refined, then tested in its political, social, or moral applications. The characteristic ability of our governmental system to adapt to necessary change is vastly strengthened by the option of the people to choose freely from among conflicting opinions.  To stifle nonconformist ideas at their inception would be to end the democratic process. Only through continuous weighing and selection from among opposing views can free individuals obtain the strength needed for intelligent, constructive decisions and actions, In short, we need to understand not only what we believe, but why we believe as we do.

2. We need not endorse every idea contained in the materials we produce and make available.

We serve the educational process by disseminating the knowledge and wisdom required for the growth of the mind and the expansion of learning. For us to employ our own political, moral, or esthetic views as standards for determining what materials are published or circulated conflicts with the public interest. We cannot foster true education by imposing on others the structure and content of our own opinions. We must preserve and enhance the people’s right to a broader range of ideas than those held by any librarian or publisher or church or government. We hold that it is wrong to limit any person to those ideas and that information another believes to be true, good, and proper.

3. We regard as irrelevant to the acceptance and distribution of any creative work the personal history or political affiliations of the author or others responsible for it or its publication.

A work of art must be judged solely on its own merits. Creativity cannot flourish if its appraisal and acceptance by the community is influenced by the political views or private lives of the artists or the creators. A society that allows blacklists to be compiled and used to silence writers and artists cannot exist as a free society.

4. With every available legal means, we will challenge laws or governmental action restricting or prohibiting the publication of certain materials or limiting free access to such materials.

Our society has no place for legislative efforts to coerce the taste of its members, to restrict adults to reading matter deemed suitable only for children, or to inhibit the efforts of creative persons in their attempts to achieve artistic perfection. When we prevent serious artists from dealing with truth as they see it, we stifle creative endeavor at its source. Those who direct and control the intellectual development of our children–parents, teachers, religious leaders, scientists, philosophers,  statesmen–must assume the responsibility for preparing young people to cope with life as it is and to face the diversity of experience to which they will be exposed as they mature. This is an affirmative respon- sibility that cannot be discharged easily, certainly not with the added burden of curtailing one’s access to art, literature, and opinion. Tastes differ. Taste, like morality, cannot be controlled by government, for governmental action, devised to suit the demands of one group, thereby limits the freedom of all others.

5. We oppose labeling any work of literature or art, or any persons responsible for its creation, as subversive, dangerous, or otherwise undesirable.

Labeling attempts to predispose users of the various media of communication, and to ultimately close off a path to knowledge.  Labeling rests on the assumption that persons exist who have a special wisdom, and who, therefore, can be permitted to determine what will have good and bad effects on other people. But freedom of expression rests on the premise of ideas vying in the open marketplace for acceptance, change, or rejection by individuals. Free men choose this path.

6. We, as guardians of intellectual freedom, oppose and will resist every encroachment upon that freedom by individuals or groups, private or official.

It is inevitable in the give-and-take of the democratic process that the political, moral, and aesthetic preferences of a person or group will conflict occasionally with those of others. A fundamental premise of our free society is that each citizen is privileged to decide those opinions to which he will adhere or which he will recommend to the members of a privately organized group or association. But no private group may usurp the law and impose its own political or moral concepts upon the general public.  Freedom cannot be accorded only to selected groups for it is then transmuted into privilege and unwarranted license.

7. Both as citizens and professionals, we will strive by all legitimate means open to us to be relieved of the threat of personal, economic, and legal reprisals resulting from our support and defense of the principles of intellectual freedom.

Those who refuse to compromise their ideals in support of intellectual freedom have often suffered dismissals from employment, forced resignations, boycotts of products and establishments, and other invidious forms of punishment. We perceive the admirable, often lonely, refusal to succumb to threats of punitive action as the highest form of true professionalism: dedication to the cause of intellectual freedom and the preservation of vital human and civil liberties.

In our various capacities, we will actively resist incursions against the full exercise of our professional responsibility for creating and maintaining an intellectual environment which fosters unrestrained creative endeavor and true freedom of choice and access for all members of the community.

We state these propositions with conviction, not as easy generalizations. We advance a noble claim for the value of ideas, freely expressed, as embodied in books and other kinds of communications. We do this in our belief that a free intellectual climate fosters creative endeavors capable of enormous variety, beauty, and usefulness, and thus worthy of support and preservation.  We recognize that application of these propositions may encourage the dissemination of ideas and forms of expression that will be frightening or abhorrent to some. We believe that what people read, view, and hear is a critically important issue. We recognize, too, that ideas can be dangerous. It may be, however, that they are effectually dangerous only when opposing ideas are suppressed. Freedom, in its many facets, is a precarious course. We espouse it heartily.

Adopted June 25, 1971, by the ALA Council.

Endorsed June 18, 1971, by the Board of Trustees, Freedom to Read Foundation.

Placed in the historical file by the ALA Council in 1982 by request of the IFC.

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Revised January 1999, July 2003

Lissa Pearson Zinfon

Reference / Instruction Librarian

Coordinator for Collection Development

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