Because no library can own all of the materials that should ideally be available to its patrons, it is necessary to set priorities. The Darling Library seeks to strongly support those programs that are identified as
In order to develop resource collections that genuinely support the university curriculum, regular meaningful communication between the teaching faculty and the librarians is required. Sources of recommendations for library acquisitions include in order of preference:
The Library Director and other professional library staff are responsible for making the final decisions on acquisitions for all library collections, taking into account the principles and guidelines in this policy.
In selecting and acquiring materials for library collections, the following factors will serve as guidelines:
Hard-cover rather than paperback books are preferred for durability. Paperbacks may be bound if cost effective. Exceptions are made for items such as reference serials that the library replaces each year.
Textbooks of a general survey nature, published primarily for classroom use, are not acquired, unless they meet the criteria of being useful long-term resource materials in their own right.
Preference is given to titles included in indexes the library owns or has reliable access to. Other selection factors include: importance of the periodical title to the university curriculum;
Priority is given to owning indexes and abstracts which include journals owned by the library and which give patrons access to other materials by making known the existence of the wide range of resources which could be obtained from others. Preference is given to indexes and abstracts that are available for online searching.
Materials such as video recordings must be purchased in formats that can be used with equipment in the library or in classrooms on campus.
Electronic Resources. Selection of electronic resources (i.e., eBooks, online subscription databases) is based on criteria that quickly changes as technology, copyright laws, and business practices evolve. In addition to those principles guiding our collection development policy in general, issues such as access vs. ownership, license agreements, and consortia packaging are unique to the selection of electronic resources. See Appendix: Electronic Resources for details.
As resources such as space, personnel, and funding for supplies are available, the Darling Library seeks to develop Archives and Special Collections in two general subject areas: The Restoration Movement, particularly regional publications of the Independent Christian Churches west of the Mississippi, and Hope International University heritage.
The library collects materials that serve specific needs of programs offered in the curriculum, e.g. research in ministry materials written in Spanish are acquired to support Ministry programs taught in Spanish. Materials for which neither faculty nor students have reading skills are not acquired.
Every acquisition recommendation the library should be forwarded to the Technical Services Office with specific information required for accurate ordering (i.e., author, title, ISBN, edition, date). All recommendations are checked against current library holdings and orders in process to eliminate acquisition of duplicates. The library will make all decisions with regard to the source of purchase. Unless otherwise instructed by the Library Director, faculty members may not financially obligate the library to acquire materials in any way.
For most materials, the acquisition process takes at least two months under the best of conditions. Priority is given to "rush" requests for materials such as those titles that are needed for reserve reading assignments and should be accompanied by an appropriate notification of their intended use.
With the exception of some which have to be ordered directly from publishers, all periodicals are handled through subscription agency(s), with the entire list reviewed and altered only once or twice each year. Participation in Duplicate Exchange programs with other libraries is a preferred method for the inexpensive acquisition of missing volumes.
To facilitate open communication with faculty and others who are expected to provide recommendations that help to develop library collections, the library will communicate regularly in the following ways:
In order to keep the collection up to date and in good condition, the library regularly engages in the following activities:
To determine areas of weakness, library resources are compared with appropriate standard collection development reference guides and internal collection analysis reports are developed.
Periodic inventories of the collection are undertaken to determine which materials may be missing from the library. Since many titles reported lost are in fact only temporarily misplaced, a period of at least one year is allowed to transpire before missing books are officially withdrawn from the library's records.
In order for the collection to remain relevant to the university’s curriculum, a systematic plan of withdrawal is followed by having the shelves reviewed by the teaching faculty. Material that is deemed unworthy of a place in the collection is further reviewed by a librarian before withdrawn.
Authority to withdraw lies ultimately with the library. A request for withdrawal may be made by any member of the faculty, but must be reviewed by the Director of Library Services. Periodicals will be withdrawn according to the retention policy.
Missing, lost or withdrawn materials are not automatically replaced. The titles are re-evaluated and the need for replacement is weighed in consideration of the selection guidelines outlined above.
Items that are in disrepair due to high use but cannot be replaced for reasons of availability will be considered for repair. Alternate formats will also be explored e.g., digital representations of print materials. Copies of non-print media may be retained for back-ups as permitted.
Materials of limited value to our collection and highly specialized materials may be borrowed, in accordance with Interlibrary Loan Policy and Code. At the same time, the library recognizes a reciprocal responsibility: To lend our material to other libraries; To purchase the works repeatedly requested on interlibrary loan, as these works can be identified.
The Darling Library participates in library consortia and cooperatives that provide additional library services including reciprocal borrowing at other Southern California libraries and allow for significant discounts on resources. Examples of these memberships include:
The Darling Library regularly receives gifts of books and other materials.
The library has the prerogative to decline gifts that do not contribute to the accomplishment of its mission and purpose. Selection principles and guidelines for acquisitions (outlined above) apply.
The library will determine the classification, housing, and circulation status of all gift items added to the collection.
The library retains the right to dispose of duplicates and unneeded material as it sees fit, although every effort will be made to pass unneeded donations on to churches, missionaries, other organizations, and individuals who need them.
Gifts will be institutionally acknowledged by letter from the Advancement Department of the university.
A summary of the quantity and format of donations will be provided in writing. No monetary valuation statement will be made.
In view of the limitations of space, personnel, budget, acceptance of any donation which would require special or extraordinary housing and handling will be considered carefully by the Library Director, in consultation with the Library Committee and university administrators as needed. Donors may be asked to consider sharing in the support costs of special gifts, especially if maintenance costs will be on-going.
In accordance with the library’s mission to support the curriculum of the university, and in recognition of the high reliance on Biblical Commentaries, particularly by the core undergraduate course, Tools for Biblical Research, the Hugh and Hazel Darling Library has developed the following policy for the collection of commentaries.
Recommendations from Bible and Ministry faculty of all schools of the University will be solicited to identify commentaries deemed to be particularly useful for research.
In the case of multi-volume sets, recommended commentaries will be collected as follows:
When possible, standing orders will be established for series in continuous publication with the goal of collecting complete sets as volumes are published.
New editions will be considered to be new titles and will require faculty approval for establishing new standing orders.
Multiple copies of these commentary series will be placed in the collection in the following priority as copies are available:
1st copy: Reference – complete set (classified by series title, such as The New American Standard Commentary Series, vols. 1-20; Dewey Decimal Classification: 220)
2nd copy: Main – complete set (classified by series title)
3rd copy: Main individual books of the Bible (classified by book titles, such as Acts of the Apostles; Dewey Decimal Classification: 227)
Additional copies will be considered as use or wear dictate and will be added to the Main, classified by individual books except in the case of a replacement of a volume within a set classified by series).
All copies in high demand may be considered for placement on temporary or permanent Reserve.
Exceptions may be made on a title-by-title basis. Notes should be recorded on the Commentaries Inventory spreadsheet.
Professional library staff will be responsible for making any commitments to standing orders.
All other Collection Development Policies apply.
Selection of electronic resources (i.e., eBooks, online subscription databases) is based on criteria that quickly changes as technology, copyright laws, and business practices evolve. In addition to those principles guiding our collection development policy in general, issues such as access vs. ownership, license agreements, and consortia packaging are unique to the selection of electronic resources.
Preference will be given to electronic resources that
In many cases, electronic books are made available through consortia packaging. Thousands of titles are bundled together and sold as a package to member libraries. In these cases the Darling Library considers the following as pertaining to the whole:
Individual eJournal titles are puchased when the text is available from the publisher with print subscriptions. Links are created in the OPAC record and the title is included in any aggregate or federated search option provided by the Darling Library or its outsource services such as SerialsSolutions. Exceptions are made for titles that are equally available online subscription service offered by the library.
Preference will be given to eJournals that provide
Due to limited shelving space, print periodicals cannot be retained indefinitely. This retention policy has been developed to guide the regular discarding of print periodicals. There are five general categories of print periodicals used to define this policy.
Retention Period |
Type of Publication |
Keep All |
Restoration Movement and Theological journals |
Keep for twenty years |
Scholarly journals published Annually, Semiannual, Tri-annual, Quarterly, or Bimonthly |
Keep for ten years |
Scholarly journals published Monthly |
Keep for three years |
Popular magazines published Monthly, or Semimonthly |
Keep for one Year |
Materials that are published Weekly or Biweekly and Newsletters published in any frequency |
Exceptions to this policy are made on recommendation of faculty or librarians, based on use and availability in other formats (i.e., online), and other aspects that may add to or detract from the collection value. Periodicals titles that are kept for at least twenty years are sent to be bound. Titles kept for at least ten years are considered for binding on a title-by-title basis.
The main objective of the Darling Library is to support the curriculum offered by Hope International University in its various schools and programs. In doing so, it seeks to provide information and learning resources offering a wide variety of viewpoints in expeditious and continuous manner to meet the information needs of students, faculty, and staff interacting within the context of the curriculum, regardless of delivery method or medium.
Within this framework, the library builds resource collections following the guidelines outlined in these policies.