The LC acquires books, e-books, audio-visual materials, and electronic resources as part of its ongoing collection development. Librarians are responsible for the selection of new items for the library’s collections. Any faculty, staff, or student may suggest or request items, but all purchases must be approved by the Dean of Learning Resources. Standard collection development criteria are considered, such as: relevance and appropriateness to the college’s programs of study, content quality, date, and cost. Selection of new material may be based on publishers’ catalogs, professional reviews, industry recommendation lists, and evaluation of other colleges’ collections.
The LC appropriated its own budget from BPCC’s operating budget each fiscal year (July 1-June 30). Any materials, supplies, and equipment may be bought with these funds with the signature of the Dean of Learning Resources and the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. Other funding for the LC may include separate funds allocated by the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. The LC may also receive funding for the purchase of new materials from grants and state-level funding such as curriculum-driven and evidence-based acquisitions. Librarians are responsible for the administration and reporting of external funding according to requirements of the funding. In addition, the LC accepts donations and gifts, but all decisions to include those items must be approved by the Dean of Learning Resources.
All purchases within the LC must be submitted to the Administrative Assistant for the LC. The Administrative Assistant for the LC is responsible for submitting and tracking all purchases. All purchases require a requisition and purchase order (PO), although materials purchased through Amazon and GOBI are done with a blanket PO. Requests that are made with BPCC funds are submitted through Banner and approved by the Dean of Learning Resources. Requisitions in Banner must be approved by the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, the Executive Vice Chancellor of Administration, and the Budget and Reporting Officer. Approved requisitions are then sent to the purchasing department. Requests that are made with grant funding also require approval from the finance department.
Purchases under $5,000 do not require competitive bidding unless the purchase is considered to artificially divide the total to circumvent the bid requirement. Purchases over $5,000 and up to $15,000 require at least three separate bids. Purchases over $15,000 and up to $25,000 require at least five separate bids. Purchases over $25,000 require bids to be made using the State of Louisiana LaPac website.
All purchases are received by the Administrative Assistant for the LC. Purchased items are confirmed against the appropriate PO and packing slip/invoice. Physical materials are checked for defects or errors. Any problems are reported to the receiving department who will contact the vendor for replacement or refund. If no defects or errors are found, a receiving report is completed and sent to the receiving department. Non-physical items, such as electronic resources, are confirmed with assistance from the librarians, and a receiving report is then submitted. The Administrative Assistant for the LC will also create a record in the integrated library system (ILS) for each purchase if the item is to be part of the library catalog. Typically, this will include new and replacement items such as books, audio-visual materials, e-books, and some equipment. The Administrative Assistant for the LC will consult with the Catalog Librarian if there is any question about an item being included in the library’s catalog.
All newly purchased or donated materials are processed by the library assistant prior to cataloging.
• Confirm there is an existing acquisition record in the ILS
• Assign a barcode number to each item within the system
(for books) Add a barcode sticker to back cover and to title page
Stamp the top edge & title page with library stamp
Apply magnetic security strip to page 20
Add clear book jackets over removable covers
Add receipt pocket to inside cover for circulating books
Add a reference sticker to inside cover for reference books
(for audio-visual) Add a barcode sticker to front cover and inside case
Apply magnetic strip inside outer cover
Apply magnetic cover to each disc
Add receipt pocket to inside cover
Use special locking cases as designated by cataloger
(for 3-D objects) Use best judgement in location of barcode sticker
Use best judgement in location of security strip
After items have been cataloged, the library assistant places call number labels on each item.
(for books) Call number labels are placed on the lower spine using a spacer for consistency, and a description label is placed on the top of the receipt pocket or inside the cover on non-circulating books.
(for audio-visual) Labels are placed on the upper spine edge, and a description label is placed on the top of the receipt pocket.
Each item is then un-shadowed in the ILS thereby making the item visible to the public in the online catalog. All newly acquired items are sent to the Dean of Learning Resources for final approval and then to each of the other librarians before they are finally placed on the shelf for the public.
Each item acquired by the Learning Commons must be cataloged according to Resource Description and Access (RDA) standards using the Machine-Readable Cataloging (MaRC) format. The Learning Commons uses Library of Congress (LC) subject headings and authorities. Call numbers are assigned according to Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) or special collection prefixes.
The Catalog Librarian is responsible for all copy cataloging, original cataloging, and modifications of bibliographic and item-level information in the ILS. The Catalog Librarian oversees the processing of all items and maintains the accuracy of all items and their bibliographic records throughout their life cycle in the collection.
The Catalog Librarian assigns all call numbers based on placement within the collection. The collection includes:
• Reference (R) Non-circulating books that are typically referred to for factual, statistical, or informative purposes rather than intended to be read completely. Examples are dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, and directories. The reference collection also includes much of the library’s literary criticism collection.
• Non-fiction Books of an informational nature assumed to be factual and accurate. The work may be objective and explanatory or subjective and argumentative. The non-fiction collection is classified according to subject using the DDC system.
• Fiction (FIC) Works of imagination, typically written in prose. These include classic and contemporary novels. Short story collections by a single author are also included. In those instances where a book includes both the work of fiction and literary criticism associated with that work, the book is to be classified in the appropriate non-fiction or reference area rather than in the fiction collection.
• Story Collection (SC) Works of fiction that contain multiple stories by different authors within the same volume.
• Biography (B) Books written about an individual or family.
• Collective Biography (CB) Books written about a group of individuals with a common attribute.
• Graphic Novels (GN) Books written in a comic strip format.
• Juvenile (JUV) Books intended for young children that use a picture book format.
• Audio-Visual (DVD) (BLU) (AUDIOCD) Includes DVDs, Blu-Ray discs, and CD audio-books. Each group is subdivided according to content, which may be fiction, non-fiction, or biography.
• Reserves Textbooks and other materials that have been provided by faculty for specific courses. Reserve items may remain the property of faculty and be returned upon their request.
• Louisiana Collection (LA) Books written about Louisiana and its people or books written by Louisianans.
The Learning Commons’ collection requires various levels of maintenance to keep materials current and in usable condition.
One of the core objectives of the library’s function is to make materials findable by using the DDC classification system and other alpha-numeric methods. When items are put in the wrong place on the shelves, those items may no longer be easily findable. The primary method of preventing this is to read the shelves, a process that involves visually scanning the call number labels to make sure that items are not out of place. Student workers are assigned specific areas of the collection to read the shelves and are expected to do so frequently. When an item is found misplaced, it should be checked in the system using the “Check Item Status” function in case it has been marked missing. The item can then be shelved in its proper place.
Items that have been damaged or have excessive wear are pulled from the shelves and sent to the Catalog Librarian. A decision will be made whether the item can be repaired or must be removed from the collection. If repairable, the item is shadowed in the system so that it is no longer accessible by the public while it is being repaired. The item is sent to the library assistant who will repair the item and return it to the Catalog Librarian. The repair will be approved, and the item will be unshadowed in the system and then returned to the shelf. If the item is not repairable, it will be discarded from the system. The Dean of Learning Resources will determine if a replacement copy is ordered.
In an effort to maintain the accuracy of the collection, a full inventory should occur once every five years. This process will identify most of the errors that may exist in mis-shelved items and discrepancies in the system’s records. The responsibility of administering the inventory belongs to the Catalog Librarian although the process of inventorying the collection will be carried out by all staff and student workers who are available at the time. The inventory will be managed within the ILS.
The collection will be weeded on a rotating basis so that all items are inspected and evaluated once every five years. The weeding schedule will be determined by the librarians who will carry out the weeding process. All items are expected to be visually inspected for physical wear and damage that may necessitate their being removed from the collection. All items are expected to be evaluated for timeliness, accuracy, and relevancy. If the librarians who are doing the weeding decide to remove any items from the collection, they are expected to provide suitable suggestions for replacing those items with new and updated materials. The Dean of Learning Resources will approve the decisions to remove items from the collection as well as any replacements for those items.