Information Services

Collection Development Policy

Botany

Purpose

The collection supports the broad curricular, instructional and research needs in field of Botany. Areas of emphasis within the program include field and laboratory botany and the use of plants in landscape design.   The collection of materials for Botany is closely coordinated with materials selected for Biology.   There is some overlap with Psychology in the areas of neuroscience and psychobiology and with Chemistry in the area biochemistry. The collection also supports the Connecticut College Arboretum and the Goodwin Niering Center for Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies.

General Subject Boundaries

The Botany   Department has research and teaching interests that are broadly based including the following areas: acid rain, ecological anthropology, ethnobotany, field biology, limnology, phycology, plant ecology, plant systematics, tidal marshes and wetlands.   Faculty research needs will be accommodated within the scope of the general guidelines and limits of the materials budget. In general, the Library does not collect textbooks or multiple copies of materials.

Faculty are encouraged to submit purchase requests and make recommendations to the departmental liaison. The liaison, in consultation with the Director of Information Resources, will make the final purchasing decision.

The periodic removal (weeding or deselection) of extraneous and obsolete materials from the shelves will be conducted using the criteria outlined in the Collection Development and Information Access Policy.

Types of Material Collected

Books, serials and videos on biological topics.   Emphasis is on subscriptions to journals and other serial literature.

Reference materials in electronic formats are collected but are generally selected by library staff and paid for from funds designated for reference.

Format of Materials Collected

Monographs and general reference works will be acquired in print format. Generally, the Library will subscribe to journals in one format only, and preference will be given to electronic format when available with the exceptions listed in the Collection Development and Information Access Policy. Preference will also be given to electronic indexes with full text access to journal articles when coverage is comparable.

Languages

English is the primary language of the collection, but other languages may be acquired by faculty request.  

Geographical Areas

No region is excluded, but emphasis is placed on eastern North America in general and New England and Connecticut in particular.

Chronological Scope

Emphasis in on current scholarship.   Older materials may be purchased if they are particularly significant or cover the history of the subject.

Special Collections and Manuscripts

Shain Library's Special Collections includes the Lear/Carson Papers, the Conservation and Research Foundation Papers and the William Niering Papers.

The acquisition of primary source materials, rare books, codices, and other special collections materials will be determined by the Special Collections Librarian.

Other Resources Available

Currently registered students and Connecticut College faculty and staff have access to monographs, audiovisual materials, and government documents from Trinity College and Wesleyan University through the CTW Consortium. Interlibrary loan provides access to monographs not held within the CTW Consortium as well as journal articles not available at Connecticut College .

Creation and Revision History

Draft document created April 2005 by Kathy Gehring, Library Liaison to the Botany Department.

Draft forwarded to Page Owen, Chair of the Botany Department for review and comment.

LC Class

GB, Q, QE, QH, QK, QL, QM, QP, QR, RA, RC, SB, SF, SH

Ordering Library Materials

Recommendations and requests for purchase of botany materials should be addressed to Kathy Gehring, Shain Library.

Collection Development and Information Access Policy

The Collection Development and Information Access Policy can be viewed at:   http://www.conncoll.edu/is/info-resources/colldevpolicy.html

Liaison Name

Kathy Gehring
Research & Instruction Librarian
Charles E. Shain Library
Connecticut College
(860) 439-5225
kmgeh@conncoll.edu