Overview

The AGBU Papazian Library’s collection development mission is to identify, select, acquire and manage collections that support the University’s curriculum and the research needs of its faculty, students, and staff, as well as the public at large. The policy aims to indicate priorities, to establish selection criteria across the range of different subjects, languages, editions and formats and to create a consistent and coherent basis for the future development of the collections.

Access to the Collection

All Library materials are cataloged in conformity with accepted bibliographical standards, including the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules. Electronic Access to the collection is provided through the Library’s web catalog. All physical resources are openly accessible. The Library provides collection access to the following groups of users: all students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the University, members of the public, and other libraries through inter-library loan and document delivery services.

Scope of the Collection

The Library provides information resources to support AUA curriculum and faculty requirements in a variety of formats including books, periodicals, multimedia materials, online databases and e-journal collections.

• Books are acquired in print or electronic format when appropriate, with priority given to materials supporting the curriculum.
• Periodicals both in print and online format include journals, magazines, and newspapers. Online access is the preferred format for periodicals when available. Current local newspapers are acquired on a highly selective basis.
• Audio-visual materials are acquired with priority given to curriculum and research support.
• The Reference Collection is a non-circulating collection of resources designed to support the basic research, curricular and informational needs of the University community in all subject fields. These include, but are not limited to, encyclopedias, dictionaries, indexes and abstracts (print and electronic), bibliographies, directories, handbooks, almanacs, manuals and atlases. Only the latest edition of a reference work is shelved in the reference section. Older editions are transferred to the circulating collection or discarded. The Library currently emphasizes the purchase of reference materials in electronic formats to maximize their accessibility and use, and also for cost effectiveness.
• The Library collects hard copies of final projects and theses completed at AUA. Digitized final projects and theses are available through AUA’s Institutional Repository.
• The Library acquires course textbooks (1 or 2 copies) to support the curriculum. Requests for the purchase of multiple copies are reviewed on an individual basis in consultation with the Dean of the corresponding College/School.
• The Library purchases access to e-textbooks to support University teaching and learning. The Library has a number of preferred publishers based on an access and acquisition model they provide.
• The Library collects print and non-print publications written by faculty members.
• The Library holds special collections whose intellectual content is valuable to instruction and research at AUA. These are:
• AUA Archive, materials related to the history of AUA
• Antranig Antreassian’s art collection
• Richard Hovannisian’s professional collection
• Vartan Gregorian’s personal collection of books in Humanities and Social Sciences
• Louise Simone Manoogian’s personal collection of books in Social Sciences and Arts
• The Library collects classic and contemporary works of fiction for a general adult audience.
• Electronic Resources are collected to support the instructional, research and information needs of the University. These include, but are not limited to electronic serials, online bibliographic databases, e-book databases, and streaming media collections.
• The Library acquires openly licensed teaching and learning objects (Open Educational Resources) from other institutions.

Responsibility for the Selection

The responsibility for the selection of Library materials rests with the Library Director and academic departments. Requests for materials submitted by faculty and students are approved by Deans. The acquisition budget supports the purchase of books, journals and other e-resources that best support the curricular, institutional, research and programmatic needs of the University.

Selection Criteria for Print and e-Resources

The primary goal of the Library is to acquire and provide an effective combination of print and e-resources needed to support the University’s curriculum and research. The following criteria apply to all materials in print and electronic formats:

• Subject Areas – The primary subject areas collected are those that serve to support curricular, institutional, research and programmatic needs of the University
• Languages – The main language of the collection is English. Non-English language materials, such as Armenian or Russian, are collected based on their relevance to University programs.
• Date of Publication – The emphasis of the collection is on current publications.
• e-Resources – The Library is committed to licensing resources for the benefit of all AUA communities. The license should permit fair use of all information for educational and research purposes by the authorized users, including viewing, downloading, printing as well as sharing of a reasonable amount of content. Technical considerations are the IP recognition, including remote access, compatibility with learning management software, full-text availability in PDF or HTML, printing and downloading capabilities, and mobile compatibility.

Gift Materials/Donations

Gifts or donations to the collection can be in the form of money or actual materials. Gifts or donations to the Library are accepted through the American University of Armenia Foundation. They must correspond to AUA academic requirements and must benefit the Library. The Library reserves the right to accept or reject gifts, with or without restricting conditions, and the right to dispose of unwanted gift material.

Collection Maintenance

The Library collection should be periodically examined for the purpose of de-selection, preservation and/or replacement of materials.

Weeding or De-selection is an ongoing aspect of collection management in an academic library. The Library makes decisions to periodically deselect materials to ensure that the collection remains viable and continues to support the curricular, instructional, research, and programmatic needs of AUA students, faculty, and staff. Faculty is encouraged to work with and provide feedback to Library staff to identify materials to withdraw.

Preservation is the act of preventing and eliminating the deterioration of Library materials, as well as changing their format as necessary in order to preserve the intellectual content. The primary activity of the AUA Institutional Repository is to create and make accessible digital collections from AUA scholarly content and the unique resources of the AUA Archives.

Materials that are missing, lost, or damaged may be replaced depending on the availability of funds and continuing value and demand for teaching, learning and research.

Cooperative Collection Development

The Library cooperates in the purchase of materials or licensing access to materials such as e-databases, journals and books with other cooperative arrangements. The Library participates in the Digital Library Association of Armenia (DLAA) and in international resource sharing programs within Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL) and the American International Consortium of Academic Libraries (AMICAL). As a member of the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), the Library lends and borrows resources via Inter-Library Loan and Document Delivery Services.