Collection Information
The Rod Library's Collection Management program is designed to assist librarians, staff, students, and donors in the decision-making processes that support the cooperative building of the University of Northern Iowa Rod Library's collections. These collections will support university values such as academic freedom, access, accountability, diversity, and engagement.
Purpose & Mission
As a public regional comprehensive library, Rod Library supports learning, research, and student success by providing select relevant and accessible collections—both physical and digital, in line with the library’s strategic plan. The plan guides general collection and gifts-in-kind decisions, excluding Special Collections & University Archives, UNI Museum, ScholarWorks, and the TEACH Studio.
Guiding Principles
- Commitment to academic freedom as outlined in the 1940 AAUP Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure and the American College & Research Libraries Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries.
- Commitment to intellectual freedom and free expression.
- Adherence to ALA’s Library Bill of Rights and Freedom to Read Statement.
- Support for broadly representative viewpoints through local and interlibrary resources.
Collection Strategy
- Expert-Led Development: Librarians use subject expertise, reviews, and campus needs to shape collections.
- Data-Informed Decisions: Usage stats, circulation, and academic trends guide acquisitions and deselection.
- Collaborative Acquisitions: Partnering with consortia (e.g., CI-CCI, Regents) to optimize resources.
Focus Areas
- Core Strengths: Education, Iowa history, American literature, psychology, youth literature.
- Emerging Areas: Nursing, STEM, applied engineering.
Formats & Access
- Prioritize access to books, ebooks, journals, databases, and open access materials.
- Retain select print materials (e.g., maps, scores, Iowa history).
- Use trusted repositories (e.g., HathiTrust, Portico) to reduce physical holdings.
Retention & Preservation
- Preserve unique, rare, or regionally significant items.
- Transfer select materials to Special Collections for long-term care.
Outreach & Engagement
- Engage faculty via liaison programs.
- Communicate collection updates transparently.
Future Outlook
- Continue to expand electronic access to books, journals and databases through purchasing as the library’s budget materials allows.
- Continue to seek out transformative agreements with publishers.
- Strengthen collaboration for budget efficiency and broader access.
- Continuously assess relevance and user needs.
- Use the library’s subject matter experts and academic liaison librarians to make data-informed decisions about electronic resources when the library materials budget warrants review.