Chapter I: Introduction

A. Mission and Goals

The Institutional Context

Dartmouth College is a private academic institution offering undergraduate degrees in the arts and sciences, and graduate degrees in some of the arts and sciences as well as from three associated professional schools: business administration, engineering, and medicine. The Dartmouth College faculty, and the faculty in the associated schools, are committed to excellence in teaching and to active research work within their respective disciplines.

The Library Context

One of the oldest research libraries in the United States, the Dartmouth College Library is a private academic facility which houses the largest collection of materials in northern New England. The collection contains more than 2 million books, 160,000 maps, 2.2 million microforms, plus manuscripts, audiovisual materials, and artifacts. The primary mission of the Library is to serve, by collecting, organizing, and providing access to resources, the undergraduate College of Arts and Sciences, graduate programs in physical sciences, math, computer science, and psychology, the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, the Thayer School of Engineering, and the Dartmouth Medical School.

A system of ten libraries including Baker Memorial Library (humanities and social sciences), Cook Library (mathematics and computer science), Dana Library (medical and life sciences), Feldberg Library (business administration and engineering), Matthews-Fuller Health Sciences Library (nursing and medicine), Kresge Library (physical sciences), Paddock Library (music), Rauner Special Collections Library (rare books, archives and manuscripts) Sanborn Library (English and American literature), and Sherman Library (art), the Library functions as a center for scholarship and research on the local, regional, and national level. Dartmouth's graduate programs and professional schools, together with the College's emphasis on academic leadership have created a vital need for research collections usually found only in the libraries of large research universities.

During the course of two centuries, the Library has become one of the nation's outstanding information centers, providing access to extensive collections in a wide range of academic disciplines. The collection development program encompasses diverse fields, including liberal arts, science, and the professions. The goal of the Collection Management and Development program is to support the research and instructional needs of a diverse academic community. Through their collection development and collection management work, the Dartmouth bibliographers define and manage the processes which insure the continued excellence of Dartmouth's library resources.

B. Purpose of the manual

The purpose of the bibliographers' manual is to bring together essential documentation for carrying out collection development and management activities in the Dartmouth College Library. The manual has the following objectives:

1. to describe the administration of the collection development and management program

2. to document collection development procedures in a systematic way

3. to aid individual bibliographers in carrying out collection development and management responsibilities

4. to provide a planning tool for individual bibliographers to measure progress of work or improve its quality

5. to provide a training tool for new bibliographers

C. Maintenance of the manual

While the original Bibliographers' Manual was a print product, the various documents in the manual were converted as Web documents in 1995/96. The Manual, which now exists as a series of documents located throughout the Library's suite of Web pages, is maintained by the Collection Policies Subgroup with the assistance of staff in Acquisitions Services.

Procedures for reviewing and adding documents, policies, and procedures to the Bibliographers' Manual

A. Existing documents requiring regular or frequent updates

Documents, such as those listed below, may require regular updating. Contact persons for these documents are notified on a periodic basis. The contact person informs the Collection Policies Group of any necessary changes.

The documents in this category include:

Dartmouth College Library Committee Structure (not in HTML as of 7/98)

Directory of Bibliographers showing subject areas

Collection Development responsibility by LC class

Collection development responsibility by subject

List of collection development policies

Timetable for revision of collection development policies

Approval plans: Life sciences and physical sciences

Approval plans: University presses and trade presses

Blanket Standing Orders

Classification/Location assignments

Collection Services contact list (not in HTML as of 7/98): see staff listings in Acquisitions, Bibliographic Control, Bibliographic Records, and Preservation

Innopac information for selectors

B. Existing documents not requiring frequent updates

As requested, Collection Policies Group members may review and revise other documents, with the advice and assitance of appropriate staff. Announce and circulate revised document to CMDC for approval.

C. Creating a Document

The Collection Policies Group has responsibility to create or request that the appropriate individuals create documents necessary for bibliographers to understand the procedures and policies of the Library relating to collection development.

1) When the CPG determines that a section needs revision or thinks that a new document should be created, the following steps may be taken:

a. Confer with the appropriate people, explain the request and decide who will draft the document.

b. Announce the plan at the next CMDC meeting.

2) Review the draft, if necessary consult again with the department(s) involved, work out any difficulties, and come up with a copy for CMDC review.

D. Audience for the manual

The manual is intended for use by bibliographers and as an informational tool for other staff.

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Last updated February 1, 1999 by: CMDC@Dartmouth.Edu (jdh)