Acquisitions Department Contacts | Book Request

Collaborative Collection Building

The mission of UE Libraries is to provide appropriate resources for students and teaching faculty. Funds are limited, so careful selection of quality, scholarly items is crucial to supporting the curriculum at the University of Evansville.

The Collection Development Librarian and faculty work together to build the Libraries' collection. Faculty members recommend purchases of books and other resources and inform the Collection Development Librarian of the requested materials.

Please direct any questions concerning collection development or any aspect of ordering library materials to Danielle Williams (dw56, x2732), Collection Development Librarian.

Requesting Material

Faculty can submit a request for materials via email, the book request form, or sending information via campus mail. Providing as much information about the item as possible expedites the ordering process, and including an ad, catalog page or other source of information is always helpful. If the library already owns a copy of the request, faculty will be informed of this. Once a title is ordered, a record for that title appears in the library catalog with the status, "not available" or "not loanable."

Items are normally received in the department within four weeks of placing an order and processed within an additional two weeks unless a rush request is made for materials. Faculty members can request that they be contacted when the item has been received, processed and is available for check-out.

Additions to the collection should be of relatively permanent value; current textbooks, workbooks, laboratory or office software, and items with consumable components such as answer sheets will not be ordered with library funds.

Journals and Databases

Journals and databases are a long term commitment for the library. We currently have subscriptions to almost two dozen online journals, magazine titles available through the Flipster app, and several dozen databases. Most databases offer full text access to journals. We no longer purchase subscriptions to print journals, and supply access to essential journals via online interface only if the journal is deemed essential to the curriculum. Databases and online journals are expensive investments for the library and are chosen by library faculty, but recommendations from faculty are given serious consideration.

Gifts and Contributions

The University Libraries accepts gifts and contributions for the development of the collection. Especially valuable are books that fill existing gaps in the collection and that support the curriculum. Gifts are evaluated by the same standards as purchased items so that the total collection maintains high quality, consistency, and relevance to the needs of the University.

Because of space limitations and the cost of cataloging, some gifts cannot be added to the collection. The library will accept issues of journals to be displayed for student use, but will not' add issues of journals to the collection. Duplicates of titles already held, and textbooks—especially those more than 3 years old--are not added. Other factors, such as condition, odor, age, or subject matter may eliminate some books from consideration. When, for any reason, a gift is not added to the collection, it may be sold, offered to other libraries, placed on the library's “free book” cart, or discarded. Gifts are not returned nor are they kept together if gifted as a collection or set.

In most instances, library gifts qualify for an income tax deduction. The Collection Development Librarian will provide a letter stating receipt of the gift, but the library, as an interested party, cannot place a monetary value on gifts. An appraisal, if needed, must come from a professional appraiser, which is the responsibility of the donor to pursue