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I. General Description of the NTID Collection and its Users

The subject scope of the NTID collection includes all aspects of deafness and hearing impairment, including educational, sociological, vocational, medical, historical, legal, recreational, religious, communicative, and linguistic aspects of deafness. Literary works by deaf authors or about deaf characters are also collected.

The NTID collection supports the faculty, staff, and students at the National Institute for the Deaf (NTID) and RIT. Students in the Interpreter Training program at NTID and graduate students in the Master of Science in Secondary Education of Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing also use this collection extensively. NTID Freshman Seminar students are expected to use the collection on deaf culture. Because this is the most comprehensive library collection of deafness materials in the area, it is also utilized by the community at large.

II. Description of the Programs Served by the NTID Collection

The on going research of faculty and staff members at NTID accounts for the major portion of this collection's use. The curriculum at NTID for deaf students in the diploma, certificate, and associate degree programs require courses taken in deaf culture.

A. Undergraduate Programs

1. Interpreting for the Hearing Impaired (A.A.S. )

B. Graduate Programs

1. Educational Specialist for the Deaf (MA)

III. Subject and Language Modifiers

A. Geographic Areas

No restriction.

B. Chronological Periods

No restrictions. Emphasis, however, is on current developments and analysis of recent events.

C. Languages

Emphasis is on English language materials. With NTID's international admissions policy and focus on international education and rehabilitation, some international sign language dictionaries are also acquired.

IV. Date of Publication

General emphasis for acquisition of new titles is on current publication in all subject areas. Acquisition/retention of material 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.

V. Treatment of Subject Matter

A. Level of Treatment

Emphasis is on a collection which supports faculty research and curriculum driven needs of students and faculty. Major published source material appearing in core collection bibliographies or recommended lists and pertinent reference sources are also acquired. Every effort is made to accommodate faculty requests for specific curriculum related titles.

B. Scholarly Works

Material covering the history, practice, and current research in deafness is collected in all subject areas.

C. Picture Books

Juvenile picture books are collected if the subject of the book is related to deafness or hearing impairment. American Sign Language juvenile literature with pictures are also purchased.

D. Manuals of Practice

Sign language manuals are purchased comprehensively for this collection.

E. Text books

Textbooks are not routinely acquired unless useful as general surveys or handbooks for a particular area not otherwise represented.

F. Newspapers

Newspapers of interest to the deaf community are included in this collection.

G. Government Documents

Government publications relevant to the subject of deafness are acquired routinely.

H. Pamphlets

A special pamphlet file of uncatalogued materials on deafness issues is maintained in the office of the NTID/Special Services Librarian. A list of subject headings for the pamphlet file is maintained and updated when needed. Students may borrow the file to make copies.

I. 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 Arrangements

No formal cooperative collection development agreements for deafness have been made between RIT Library and any local library. Informal exchange among the Rochester area librarians does exist because the NTID collection is the only one of it's kind in the area.

The NTID librarian and the librarian at the Staff Resource Center (SRC) at NTID work closely together exchanging acquisition suggestions. The SRC houses videotapes and a few monographs. Monographs are purchased for the SRC by the NTID librarian if monographic funds are available.

VII. Publication Formats

A. Microforms

Journals are routinely retained in microfilm.

Doctoral dissertations written in the United States and Canada and relating to the subject of deafness are collected comprehensively through University Microfilm, Inc.

B. Non-Print Materials

AV materials are rarely purchased for RIT Library in this area. The SRC at NTID collects AV materials (primarily video recordings) related to deafness and deaf people, as well as captioned video recordings which supports NTID curriculum and professional development. Purchase of these materials is through NTID/TV & MS.

C. Software and CD-ROM

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 Resource 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 and core bibliographies, physical space limitations and alternative availability of information. Current periodical titles are reviewed annually prior to their renewal. All other areas of the collection should be reviewed every three to five years.

However, due to the unique nature of the NTID collection careful evaluation of all the material is important.

A. Weeding

1. Duplicates Only Weeded
a. Monographs
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.
b. Serials
Only one copy of a serial is to be retained in the format of microfilm or bound copy.
2. Selective Weeding
   a. Monographs
   No other local collection exceeds the depth, range and significance of RIT Library's deafness collection. All weeding should be selective. Though some information in older titles in this collection may be available in more contemporary sources, these works are still valuable in establishing a comprehensive history of all aspects of deafness. In general, materials should be reviewed every three to five years to remove materials no longer relevant to the curriculum, and multiple copies of materials where high use is no longer a factor.
   b. Serials
   1. Indexing and Abstracting Services
      Bibliographic control of the periodical literature of deafness overlaps all areas. There are no indexes devoted entirely to deafness. ERIC is currently the most comprehensive and should be retained indefinitely.
   2. Scholarly Publications
      Long runs of key scholarly journals in all aspect of deafness that meet the criteria given in the introduction to this section should be retained indefinitely. Priority for retention should be given to titles accessible through indexing and abstracting services available at RIT Library. Short runs and broken runs should be scrutinized more carefully and retention decisions should be based on the collecting levels assigned in Section IX: Subject Divisions, usage statisitics, importance of title to the discipline and alternative availability.
   3. Trade Journals
      Retention of trade journals should be carefully scrutinized. Those that provide primarily timely information (industry news, new products, market trends, etc..) should be discarded after a period of one to five years. Examples include: FRAT, Lantern, NAD Broadcaster, Silent News. Those that include articles of more lasting value should be considered for longer retention, particularly if they are accessible through indexing and abstracting services available at RIT Library.
3. Current Edition/Year Only Retained
   a. Monographs
   1. No monographs should be purchased that have only a value of one year.
   b. Serials
   1. Newsletters, calendars, other current awareness services providing timely information about the events and activities of organizations and institutions, employment opportunities.
   2. Membership directories of interpreters, TT users.

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. Out-of-print materials should be searched through general search services or special book dealers. When mutilation is confined to a few pages, replacement copies of these pages should be requested through the Information Delivery Service (see RIT Library Bindery Policy: Monographs and RIT Library Bindery Policy: Serials).

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 items shelved in the NTID area should be monitored to ensure those monographs in need of repair and rebinding are attended to before they are irreparably damaged.

IX. Subject Divisions

 

		Support Level (see Introduction for key)
Perceptual systems, cognitive processes, psychology of hearing.	BF200-300	C-1
Verbal learning and verbal behavior, psychology of language and communication, non-verbal communication.	BF450-650	C-1
Religious education of the deaf.	BS400 BX3403	C-1
Aboriginal sign languages.	E98	C-1
Recreation and the deaf.	GV174-1200	C-1
Rehabilitation and vocational assessment of	HD7255-7256	A
Deafness and sexuality, marriage and the family.	HQ54-1060	A
General information on various handicapping conditions. Interviews with disabled persons.	HV880-1599	C-1
Biographies of deaf-blind individuals.	HV1624	A
Biographies of deaf individuals.		A
Psychology of deafness, the deaf experience, examinations of deaf populations, deafness and mental health.	HV2350-2395	A
Educational services to the deaf, mainstreaming, curriculum planning, teaching methods. Oral and manual language programs for the deaf. Communications systems: American Sign Language, Signed English, speech reading, total communication, etc.	HV2400-2499	A
History of the deaf community, primarily in the United States. Social aspects of deafness. History of schools for the deaf. Reproductions of documents from 19th century schools for the deaf in Great Britain and France.	HV2500-2900	A
Law and the deaf. Laws regulating noise. Legal rights for the disabled.	KF26-4210 KFN5665	B
Education of handicapped children. Information on learning disabilities, especially language disorders.	LB5-LC5300	B
Philology and linguistics. Language development and acquisition as related to deafness. Non-verbal communication.	P1-PE1600	B
Children's or adult literature by deaf authors or about the deaf.	PN100-PZ7	A
Acoustics and sound as related to hearing and deafness.	QC220-246	C-1
The ear. Psychology of speech and hearing. Auditory research and theory.	QP300-500	B
Medical aspects of language disorders. Speech pathology and audiology.	RC100-RC500	C-1
Otorhinolaryngology. Medical aspects of deafness, diseases of the ear, hereditary deafness, noise- induced hearing loss.	RF1-RF310	B
Pediatrics as related to deafness.	RJ50-550	C-1
Environmental technology and noise control	TD800-900	C-1
Bibliographies on or relating to the study of deafness.	Z5346-7250	A

[rev. 7/94, 3/95]

Maintained by Sheila Smokey