Texas A&M University is a Carnegie Doctoral/Research University-Extensive institution and is only one of twenty-four institutions to hold designations as a land, sea, and space grant institution. The Texas A&M Libraries (hereafter “the Libraries”) consist of several College Station facilities, two international library facilities, facilities in Galveston and McAllen, and collections in several Texas locations.
The General Collections Strategies Policy provides a plan for developing the collections and maintaining their existing strengths for current and future students, faculty, and staff of Texas A&M University. Entities of the Texas A&M University System are also supported by the Libraries at any national branch and international location, enabling these users to fulfill the educational and research mission of the university.
The Libraries strive to make collection decisions based on user needs, considering both direct patron requests and analyses of current and historical usage. Accessibility for all users, both on-site and remote users, is an additional consideration. The Libraries prefer outright ownership, when possible, but at times economic or other factors can lead to purchasing only access rights for a limited time.
The Libraries collect in all subject areas and use the Library of Congress (LC), National Library of Medicine (NLM), Texas Documents (TxDoc), and U. S. Superintendent of Documents (SuDocs) classification systems. Texas A&M University theses and dissertations follow a local classification system.
As part of a publicly funded institution, the Libraries are dedicated to providing transparency of the types of materials held and purchased in any given year.
The Libraries prefer the acquisition of electronic access to resources. Electronic resources provide the following benefits to the Texas A&M community:
The Libraries will still consider print purchases under the following conditions:
The Libraries actively pursue the purchase of permanent electronic backfiles of highly used journal titles.
In keeping with these core values and the Libraries’ mission, the Libraries will explore the use of emergent technologies to provide access to the collections. Patron Driven Acquisitions (PDA) and Evidence-Based Acquisitions (EBA) programs for electronic and print books have been implemented.
Preferred requirements for vendors, packages, and individual monograph, journal, or streaming titles:
Vendor contracts or licenses cannot contain or mandate the following:
While data sets and big data1 pose unique challenges, this data value statement should be applied to the purchase and license of all datasets that have a demonstrated or justifiable value to research and instruction at Texas A&M University. In some instances, datasets may be purchased as part of a mixed collection. The Libraries do not purchase sensitive data or data with personal identifying information.
While licensing data sets, the Libraries prefer the following requirements to finalize purchasing:
1 https://uwex.wisconsin.edu/stories-news/what-is-big-data/
With approximately six million volumes, the Libraries must store some volumes remotely to have room for both user space and new acquisitions. The Libraries currently partner with the University of Texas Libraries to maintain two remote storage facilities. The first facility, located near Austin, is a controlled-climate, high-density repository known as HDR. Materials placed there by the Libraries may be requested for a limited time by its users and will be returned to the storage facility after use.
The second remote storage facility, located on the Texas A&M University RELLIS Campus, is the Texas A&M University System/University of Texas System Joint Library Facility (JLF) and serves both the flagship universities’ libraries and the libraries of their system schools. JLF follows the “Resource in Common” (RIC) model. Ownership of the deposited items is retained by the participating institutions, and not transferred to the storage unit. All items received at JLF are classified as RIC, can be borrowed by a participating library user, or lent to a non-participating library, but cannot be permanently removed or relocated without the approval of all libraries sharing the item. Duplicate items are not accepted in the facility.
Weeding is a standard practice in collection management which consists of the removal of materials from the active collections that are no longer useful or appropriate. Weeding is necessary to maintain current and relevant collections, aligned to the university’s curricula and research, and to ensure shelf space for collection growth.
The Libraries will use the following criteria as a guideline to weed, withdraw materials, or relocate collections.
Monographs and other one-time purchases:
Serials and other continuing resources:
OAKTrust is an open-access digital repository for collecting, preserving, and distributing the scholarly output of Texas A&M University and its partners. It provides increased access to the intellectual output of the University's research and scholarship endeavors, fosters the preservation of these digital copies for future generations, promotes increasingly rapid advances in scholarly communication, and helps deepen community understanding of the value of higher education.
All Texas A&M University doctoral dissertations are now available digitally through ProQuest Dissertation Publishing (formerly UMI) and Theses Full Text database. Electronic Thesis and Dissertations (ETDs) submitted between 2003 - 2005 (during the optional electronic submission program) and since 2005 (when the mandatory electronic submission program began) are available via OAKTrust as well as through ProQuest. One archival copy of each thesis, dissertation, and record of study submitted by Texas A&M University students for graduation are retained in the University Archives.
The Libraries are advancing its Course Materials Affordability Program which will facilitate the use of Open Educational Resources and library-licensed materials to provide students with alternatives to expensive commercial textbooks at Texas A&M. Through endowments from the Federation of Texas A&M University Mothers' Clubs and the Crawley Family Foundation, purchases include library materials for textbook course reserves, ebooks, and streaming media licenses that would replace commercial textbooks.
The Texas A&M University Libraries gladly consider donations of the following material:
Apart from the exceptions above, the Libraries are no longer able to accept donations of books and other materials. If any gifts are accepted, it is with the understanding that the Libraries may add them to the collection at its discretion or dispose of them if they do not meet the standards for selection. Generally, gifted books will be added to the collection based on the same criteria as purchased material. The Libraries reserve the right to determine the retention, location, cataloging treatment, and other considerations related to the use or disposition of all gifts.
To address questions related to this policy, please contact: John Ballestro, Director of Acquisitions & Collection Strategies at jballestro@library.tamu.edu, 979-862-4647.
Texas A&M University Libraries belong to several consortia. These partnerships enhance the collections of Texas A&M University Libraries by providing opportunities for cost savings, cooperative agreements, and access to unique collections.
The Texas A&M System Libraries is a consortium of eleven universities, a comprehensive health science center, eight state agencies, and the RELLIS Campus. The consortium seeks to acquire resources in a cost-effective manner in support of the research, teaching, and curricula for the Texas A&M System and to optimize the management and licensing processes.
The Center for Research Libraries (CRL) is an international consortium of university, college, and independent research libraries. CRL supports original research and inspired teaching in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences through its approximately five million newspapers, journals, books, pamphlets, dissertations, archives, government publications, and other resources.
Greater Western Library Alliance was first organized in 1996 and is currently a consortium of thirty-nine research libraries located across the United States. Member libraries have common interests in cooperative collection development, licensing shared electronic resources, scholarly communication, interlibrary loan, digital libraries, staff development, and continuing education.
TexShare is a consortium of Texas libraries joining together to share print and electronic materials, purchase online resources, and combine staff expertise.
The Medical Sciences Library is a member of the South Central Academic Medical Libraries (SCAMeL), a consortium of libraries serving medical schools in the five-state region of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.
The Texas Digital Library (TDL) is a consortium of Texas higher education institutions that builds capacity for preserving, managing, and providing access to unique digital collections of enduring value.
As an academic institution, it is assumed that patrons of the Libraries can bear responsibility for their own consumption of information and materials. At no time will the Libraries assume responsibility for a patron’s use of its resources. The Libraries and its representatives will not act in loco parentis (as parents) at any time. Children in the Libraries should always be accompanied by parents or other guardians. Items in the Libraries will not be censored for content and users’ information usage will not be monitored in any way while accessing the Libraries or its materials.
The Texas A&M University Libraries will not withdraw materials from its collections based on allegations of false, outdated, or potentially harmful information. Authors may misstate facts, draw incorrect conclusions, or state views that are not accepted by many. Contested facts and opinions are protected by academic freedom and older information can remain a vital part of the historical record.3
2 The book challenge policy section is adapted with permission from the Michigan State University Libraries and the TAMU-Qatar library.
3 The Libraries’ collections will be guided by the Library Bill of Rights - https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill
