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I. General Description of the Collection and Its Users

The biology collection serves undergraduate majors in biology and biotechnology as well as the biology faculty. Medical Sciences students and faculty also use the collection, as do other non-biology students taking biology courses. Medical illustration students and biomedical communications students also use parts of the collection. Graduate students and faculty in imaging science use materials on vision.

Many members of the general RIT community use the collection for recreational or avocational reading in natural history, agriculture, forestry, gardening, hunting, and pets.

The collection reflects the diversity of the many fields encompassed by the discipline of biology. Because of the nature of the RIT curriculum, the collection has a more applied and research emphasis than most undergraduate collections.

II. Description of Programs served by the Collection

A. Undergraduate Programs

The Biology Department offers A.S. and B.S. degrees in biology, and A.S. and B.S. degrees in biotechnology. The biology and biotechnology programs emphasize preparation for occupations in research and industrial laboratories as well as preparation for graduate and professional education. Undergraduate students in biology and biotechnology often assist faculty in research. Therefore, more research materials are necessary than the usual undergraduate program would require. Specializations include biological research, pre-professional (medical, dental, veterinary, optometry, podiatry schools) pre-graduate preparation, microbiology, environmental science, and medical technology.

The following programs are offered outside the department and are discussed elsewhere: biomedical computing, medical technology, nuclear medical technology, ultrasound technology, biomedical communications, and medical illustration.

B. Graduate

None in the Biology Department. The M.S. & Ph D programs in Imaging Sciences have a specialization in vision and perception.

III. Subject and Language Modifiers

A. Geographic Areas

The geographic focus of the collection is primarily on the United States. For natural history materials, emphasis is on the northeastern United States and eastern Canada. For marine and coastal biology, materials about the Caribbean and of the Atlantic coast of the United States are emphasized.

B. Chronological Periods

No restrictions. Emphasis, however, is on current developments. Older titles in natural history, evolution, and history of biology are purchased selectively.

C. Languages

Except for a few samples of foreign language material, all publications are acquired in English. English language-foreign language biology dictionaries are necessary for foreign students.

IV. Date of Publication

General emphasis for acquisition of new titles is on current publications in all subject areas. Acquisition/retention of material older than ten years is based upon importance of the work to the discipline; usefulness for historical information/perspective; extent of current publishing in the discipline;curriculum needs for new program development; usage of existing material of same age; and physical condition of the material. Retrospective acquisition of serials to meet new program needs will be extremely selective and limited to the past five years. Document delivery will be used instead to meet these needs whenever feasible.

V. Treatment of Subject Matter

A. Level of Treatment

Emphasis is on a collection which supports curriculum driven needs of students(primarily under-graduate) and faculty. The special needs of the NTID students are considered where relevant. Major published source material appearing in core collection bibliographies or recommended lists will be included. Pertinent reference sources will also be acquired. Every effort is made to accommodate faculty requests for specific curriculum related titles.

B. Scholarly Work

Material covering history, practice, and current research is collected.

C. Conference Proceedings

Very selectively acquired.

D. Manuals of Practice

Appropriate works are acquired.

E. Textbooks

Textbooks are not routinely acquired unless useful as general surveys or handbooks for a particular area not otherwise represented. They are purchased at faculty request.

F. Newspapers/Newsletters

Selected society newsletters and trade newsletters are acquired.

G. Government Documents

Publications of the Department of Agriculture, Department of the Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, National Institutes of Health, Smithsonian Institution, and National Science Foundation are acquired selectively. Other government publications are acquired when the content is appropriate to the subject scope of the collection; not maintained separately.

H. Maps/Atlases/Picture Books

Acquired when appropriate. Topographic maps and other maps are useful for field trips and ecological research. Microbiological atlases and natural history field guides are useful for identification purposes. Fine arts students use picture books of animals and plants.

I. Serials/Indexes/Abstracts

Serials are the major form of disseminating information in this field, and therefore important to the collection. Indexes and abstracts are necessary acquisitions for tracking journal articles.

J. Other

Pamphlets are selectively acquired if sufficiently important to warrant cataloging; no pamphlet/vertical file is maintained.

K. Multiple Copies

Multiple copies of monographic titles are acquired only when heavy use is anticipated or demonstrated or at the curriculum-based request of a faculty member.

VI. Cooperative Collection Development Agreements

No contractual cooperative collection development agreements for this discipline have been made between RIT Library and any other library. Informal working relationships with other members of the Rochester Regional Library Council (RRLC) exist and closer associations will be pursued in the future. The library participates in the emergency faxing project and shared reference project of the Regional Science Librarians Steering Group.

Where faculty and student research needs fall outside the primarily undergraduate curriculum- based scope of the onsite collection, access to this information will be provided through traditional and commercial document delivery services.

VII. Publication Formats

A. Microforms

Journals in molecular biology, cell biology, genetics, and electron microscopy contain too many low contrast photographs to be useful in microform. Other journal titles require individual consideration. Monographs are similarly considered.

B. Non-Print Materials

Acquisition of traditional non-print materials (slides, videotapes, video discs, films, sound recordings, slide/tape programs) is very selective, usually at the request of a faculty member, and in consultation with the Media Resource Center media specialist. Non-print materials are generally housed in the Media Resource Center.

C. CD-ROM Software

Indexing and abstracting services and other specialized sources will be acquired in these formats where they meet subject collection criteria, as well as the Electronic Resources Policy criteria (in process).

VIII. Collection Maintenance

Continuous maintenance of the collection is carried out based upon systematic evaluation of the collection in light of curriculum shifts, use statistics, core bibliographies, physical space limitations and alternative availability of information. Periodical titles will be reviewed annually prior to their renewal. All other areas of the collection should be reviewed every three to five years. Included in the process are weeding of materials no longer relevant to curriculum needs, elimination of superfluous titles where information is duplicated in more current or authoritative sources, and the ordering of replacement copies of damaged/ heavily used items still relevant to curriculum needs.

A. Weeding

1. Duplicates Only Weeded
At least one copy in good condition of standard and classic titles listed in major general bibliographies and special subject lists should be retained in the collection.
2. Selective Weeding
   a. Monographs
   In general, biology materials should be reviewed every three to five years to remove materials no longer relevant to the curriculum, older materials where sufficient coverage is provided by more contemporary titles, and multiple copies of materials where high use is no longer a factor.
   b. Serials
   1. Indexing and Abstracting Services
      Indexing and abstracting publications should be discarded only when equivalent or improved coverage and access is available through new sources, printed or electronic (i.e. covers approximately same or more pertinent journal titles in the field and/or provides enhanced search capabilities pertinent to our programs). Some indexes are essential to the discipline, such as Biological Abstracts. Duplication of coverage should be monitored annually. If the library has a run of less than ten years and the materials covered are indexed by another resource, the volumes should be deaccessioned.
   2. Scholarly Journals
      Long runs of key scholarly journals that meet the criteria given in the introduction to this section should be retained indefinitely. Priority for retention is given to titles accessible through indexing and abstracting services available at RIT Library and titles not available in any other Rochester-area library. Short runs and broken runs are scrutinized more carefully and retention decisions are based on the collecting levels assigned in Section IX: Subject Divisions, usage statistics, importance of title to discipline, and alternative availability.
   3. Trade Journals
      Trade journals that provide primarily timely information (industry news, new products, trends, etc.) are discarded after one to five years. Those including articles of more lasting value are kept longer, especially if they are included in indexing and abstracting services at RIT Library.
   4. Review Series and Annuals
      These provide overviews of both current and historical developments, and therefore are kept indefinitely.
   5. Directories
      Current editions are kept in reference or reserve; for directories that change very little, one copy of the previous edition is kept in the circulating collection for use if the latest edition is temporarily unavailable. Older editions are discarded.
3. Current Edition/Year Only Retained
   a. Textbooks
   For textbooks in high demand, an earlier edition may be kept.
   b. Manuals of practice
   For manuals that change very little, it is worth keeping older editions (no more than six) for students to circulate, or to use if the latest edition is temporarily unavailable.
   c. Career Materials
   d. Newsletters/Calendars/Current Awareness Services
   Materials providing timely information about events, activities, and employment opportunities are discarded when information is no longer current. Current awareness services, such as Current Contents:Life Sciences and Current Contents: Agriculture, Biology and Environmental Sciences are discarded after a year, when the articles they cover are indexed by other sources.
   e. Standards

B. Replacement of Materials

1. Lost or Mutilated

Every effort should be made to replace lost or heavily mutilated titles if they are judged to be of continuing relevance to the collection. When mutilation is confined to a few pages, replacement copies of these pages should be requested through the Information Delivery Service. (See Bindery Policy/Procedure-Periodicals & -Monographs)

2. Gifts

Gifts which duplicate existing holdings should be used to upgrade the condition of the collection by replacing worn circulating copies with more sound gift copies.

C. Stacks Maintenance

The condition of all materials should be monitored to ensure those in need of repair and rebinding are attended to before they are irreparably damaged.

IX. Subject Divisions

Collected at the minimal level for recreational/supplemental reading are: agriculture, forestry, gardening, pets, and hunting.

	Support Level (see Introduction for key)
A. Biotechnology and Bioengineering	C-1
B. Genetics	C-1
C. Cytology, Cell Biology, Histology	C-1
D. Molecular Biology	C-1
E. Biological Techniques	C-1
F. Microscopy (Imaging Science)	C-1 to B
G. Microbiology	C-1
H. Marine Biology	C-1
I. Radiation Biology	C-1
J. Physiology	C-1
K. Computers in Biology/Mathematics in Biology	C-1
L. Ecology	C-1
M. Botany	C-1
N. Zoology	C-1
O. Anatomy	C-1
P. Evolution/Palentology	C-2
Q. Natural History	C-2
R. Vision, Photobiology (Imaging Science)	B
S. Embryology/Developmental Biology	C-1
T. Toxicology	C-1

[rev. 7/94]

Maintained by Sheila Smokey