The Shiffman Medical Library is the primary source of health science information resources for the Wayne State University (WSU) School of Medicine (SOM) and the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (EASCPHS). The Shiffiman Medical Library supports the WSU mission by providing access to resources related to health science disciplines represented on the medical campus.
The purpose of the policy is to provide guidelines for developing and maintaining a collection of health sciences information resources to meet the needs of the SOM and EACPHS personnel and programs.
The primary clientele serves by the Shiffman Medical Library are the students, faculty, and staff of the SOM and EACPHS. Students and staff from other WSU Schools and Colleges also use the Shiffman Medical Library on an as-needed basis to obtain health-related information. As a designated Outreach Library for the National Library of Medicine, National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Greater Midwest Region, the Shiffman Medical Library also serves members of the general public seeking health-related information.
Subject Specialist Librarian:
Collection Development Coordinator:
Director of Shiffman Medical Library:
The Shiffman Medical Library provides access, through purchase or lease, to information resources including books, journals, databases, indexing/abstracting tools, and reference sources in print and/or electronic formats to support SOM and EACPHS curricula, research and clinical practice. In general, resources in the collection are appropriate for students/trainees at a graduate level or above, health car practitioners, and researchers. Undergraduate-level materials are selectively acquired.
The primary types of information resources in the collection are journals and databases. Electronic versions of journals are preferred over print versions to meet SOM and EACPHS student, faculty, staff needs for online access to information.
The Shiffman Medical Library strives to provide adequate coverage in the areas of medicine, pharmacy, certain allied health disciplines, and basic medical sciences. Health sciences specialties that are not taught or practiced at WSU are usually not acquired.
1. Included Subjects
The following LC classifications are the primary focus of the collection
2. Excluded Subjects
Related subjects generally excluded from the collection include:
3. Language Coverage
Only English language materials are selected
4. Chronological Publication Period Covered
All chronological periods are collected. Preference is given to current, timely information.
5. Geographical Areas Covered
Most resources in the collection concern the United States
6. Multiple Copies
Duplicate copies of resources are generally not purchased except when a title is heavily used and funds are available. Second print copies of journals are not purchased.
7. Factors for Major Types of Materials
Books (Monographs)
Book purchases, whether in electronic or print format, must be relevant to the clinical, educational, and research needs of the primary clientele and must be within the scope of the collections. Preference will be given to books published within the most recent 3 years. Book selections are made considering librarian and clientele recommendations, usage of previous editions or resources covering similar topics, existing coverage in the collection, cost and any publisher promotions, and published reviews. Books requested by WSU faculty are generally purchased. As a general rule, one copy of a title will be purchased. In selecting electronic books, only those available through institutional licenses will be purchased. Whenever possible, electronic books are purchased with the right to maintain perpetual access.
The following resources are generally not acquired:
Journals
Journals are the primary information resource obtained by the library to support the teaching and research needs of the primary clientele. The journal collection is developed considering interlibrary loan borrowing statistics, departmental research needs, faculty suggestions, and cost and publisher promotions. Priority is given to journals with multiple requests, high impact factors, and titles of interest to more than one discipline. Evaluation of the journal collection is conducted annually. New journal titles are generally purchased each year following a routine cancellation process. Journal cancellations are most often due to low usage, low or no impact factors, extreme price increases, or problems receiving issues.
Databases
Databases are acquired to support the clinical, educational, and research needs of the primary clientele. The database collection is developed considering usage statistics, subject coverage, cost, ease of searching and user friendliness, full-text availability, and vendor service reliability. Priority is given to databases that benefit more than one discipline and/or meet the information needs of underdeveloped subject areas.
Collection Improvement Funding
The WSULS occasionally solicits funding for collections or gifts that are complimentary to the collection and valuable to teaching and research at WSU. Interested donors may supplement state funding by contributing monetary grants or endowments to underwrite purchases for the collection as well as costs associated with material processing. If donors prefer to support subject collections, WSULS representatives work with them prior to acceptance to define the subject area or areas to which the grant or endowment will apply. While recommendations from donors or individuals designated by donating organizations are welcomed, the WSULS retains responsibility for the selection of materials purchased with grant or endowment funds. Librarians select resources in accordance with WSULS collection policies to ensure that purchased items are in alignment with the teaching and research mission of WSU.
Gifts in Kind
Unsolicited gifts of books or other resources are treated as new acquisitions and are evaluated for retention by the same criteria used for new purchases. Donors are asked to submit a list of items they wish to donate to facilitate the selection and processing of materials and for gift acknowledgement purposes. Donations cannot be accepted without prior approval of collection development staff. For additional information on the acceptance of unsolicited gifts, please see the WSULS Gift Guidelines for Potential Donors and the WSULS Gift Guidelines for Liaisons in
Addendum G of the WSULS Collection Development Policy.
Acceptance, Acknowledgement, and Appraisal
Gifts become the property of the WSULS without stipulations. All gifts will be acknowledged. However, because the Internal Revenue Service regards the WSULS as an interested party, appraisals for tax purposes cannot be provided. The appraisal or establishment of an item’s value for tax purposes is the responsibility of the donor, as are appraisal costs. Donors should seek further information on valuation of donated property from the Internal Revenue Service and their own tax advisor or attorney.
Books that are missing, lost, or damaged are not automatically replaced, even when the library is reimbursed for these items. The decision to replace a book is made by the collection development staff based on use, subject matter, and relevance to the needs of the primary clientele, currency, cost, and available funds. Missing print journal issues are replaced only when provided to the library by donors.
Weeding, or the removal of items from the collection, is an integral part of developing and maintaining a relevant, useful collection. Materials no longer relevant to the needs of the primary clientele and duplicate copies of seldom-used items are periodically removed from the collection to conserve space and improve the usefulness of the collection. Withdrawn books may be offered to other local libraries or discarded. Withdrawn journals are offered to other local libraries or through national library exchanges. An annual evaluation of the journal collection is conducted. New journal titles are generally purchased each year following a routine cancellation process. Low usage, low or no impact factors, extreme price increases, and problems receiving issues are most often the cause for cancellation.
This policy shall be reviewed and updated biennially by the Collection Development Coordinator and approved by the Director of the Shiffman Medical Library.