All faculty requests for library materials should be sent to the Departmental Faculty Library Liaison in priority order. The online catalog should be checked for duplicate titles before the librarian submits the requests to Acquisitions. Orders may be submitted via email, print or online material request forms, or printouts from electronic sources such as Books in Print or other printed lists. Faculty members requesting orders should sign or initial items.
Librarians may forward publishers' catalogs, publication announcements, or bibliographies to the Departmental Faculty Library Liaison as aids for faculty in selecting library materials.
Once the librarian has received requests from faculty, they will submit them to the Acquisitions Department for purchase. Since frequently, multiple versions are available for a title, please include the following information with your request(s):
- ISBN
- Complete Title
- Author
- Place & Date of Publication
- Publisher Name
- Number of Volumes
- Number of Copies to be ordered
- edition (if known)
- Price in U.S. dollars. Use this website to convert international currencies into U.S. dollars.
The library will order hardback and trade paperback books, but will not order mass market paperbacks. Please keep this in mind when requesting titles.
All price quotes are subject to change. If the Acquisitions staff knows that a title is expected to cost $30 over the anticipated price (not including shipping/handling costs), then the librarian will be contacted to authorize purchase of that item.
The ordering deadline is the last working day in February of each year. Librarians will send reminders about ordering deadlines. Orders are normally processed on a first received - first processed basis. If an order is delayed or cannot be filled, Acquisitions will send a notice to the appropriate librarian, who will forward it to the Departmental Faculty Library Liaison.
RUSH orders should be limited to materials that need to be ordered and placed on Reserve for class use.
When new materials are received in the library, they are listed in Materials Ordered.
For questions about acquisition of library materials, contact Acquisitions Department at 974-2869.
Ordering periodicals:
Faculty ordering periodicals should bear in mind that the cost of periodicals is skyrocketing and that every dollar spent on new periodical subscriptions commits the library to carry that title ad infinitum. All new periodical request should be weighed very carefully in relation to present and future cost, use, and demonstrable need. Each department must provide a list of titles to be discontinued when ordering new titles. The discontinued titles must equal in price the dollar value of any new titles requested.
For questions about library periodicals, contact Kirsten Davis in Serials at 974-2901.
Materials Evaluation & Deselection Guidelines
Deselection is the withdrawal of materials from the library collection with the goal of maintaining a collection which satisfies the mission of the University of Central Oklahoma and serves the research and current informational needs of the UCO community. This process is an essential part of collection development. A collection evaluation procedure has been developed drawing on American Library Association principles, collection development policies of other academic institutions and other appropriate sources.
STEPS IN DESELECTION:
1. On an annual basis, the Collection Development Librarian responsible for a given subject area analyzes the collection and removes any books from the shelves which need to be considered for deselection.
2. These volumes are placed in a holding area in the Circulation area for further evaluation by faculty.
3. Faculty members and librarians cooperate to assure that the library retains materials that best serve the educational mission of the university. Collection development librarians appreciate and welcome an active interest in the selection and deselection process.
CRITERIA FOR RETENTION AND DESELECTION:
Some criteria for retention:
1. Material is by an Oklahoma author or about Oklahoma.
2. Title is recognized as a "classic" or "standard" in a given field.
3. Subject matter is unique or the item is the only one in the field.
4. The title has won a prize.
5. The title is valuable because of its photographs or illustrations.
6. The item is part of a set the library owns.
7. No item will be deselected which has been checked out during the past
six years.
Some criteria for deselection:
1. The item is a superseded edition.
2. The item is a duplicate copy of a low use title.
3. The item is a badly worn, mutilated or marked up volume which can not
be mended or rebound and is no longer in print. If this deselection creates
a gap in this subject area, an attempt will be made to replace it with an appropriate
title.
4. The item is a title which is no longer suitable for the collection due
to changes in the curriculum or in the University's mission.
5. The item is obsolete, e.g. outdated law books or medical books.
The circulation history of a title is considered in combination with the above factors. This applies to titles not covered by #7 above under "Some criteria for retention." These guidelines are reviewed periodically. The library invites faculty input in the ongoing review of the guidelines for this important aspect of library collection development.
There will be some exceptions to the requirements of faculty review, such as the extremely worn condition of a book. For more information, contact the Collection Development Librarian who collects in your area of interest.