Earth and Environmental Science Collection Development Policy
Bobst Library, New York University
Kara Whatley, Librarian for the Life Sciences
Purpose
The collection supports undergraduate instructional programs and research of faculty, undergraduates, and some graduate students in the College of Arts and Science (CAS) and the Graduate School of Arts and Science (GSAS). The Earth and Environmental Science program is administered through the Department of Biology but is not a degree- granting program; a minor is offered. Interdisciplinary in nature, this program compliments degree granting programs in the natural sciences as well as social science, humanities, education, government, law, and business.
Centered around the study of the earth as a natural system and man's interaction with it, selected topics covered include the origin and evolution of the earth, climatic cycles and change over a variety of time scales, biogeochemical cycles, the interaction of oceans, atmosphere and land, and its impact on life, as well as the application of geologic principles in urban environments.
Students from other programs also make use of the collections in earth and environmental sciences. For example Anthropology students (B.A., M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D.) seeking works on evolution and paleontology find them in this collection. Students in the joint undergraduate program in Environmental Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology utilize engineering sections of the collection.
Scope
Subject
Coverage in this interdisciplinary program of study includes geology, paleontology, geophysics, climate, atmospheric science, oceanography, energy, evolution, and human ecology.
Language
The collection comprises primarily English language materials. French, German and Italian monographs are collected on a very selective basis. Major European language and Russian serials are collected on a selective basis.
Geographical Areas
Primary collection emphasis is on North American, northeastern regional and local works. Works that cover other geographic areas are selected when there is a specific need or when the work deals with a particular topic that is unique, comprehensive or of overriding contemporary social, historical, cultural, policy, ethical, or philosophical importance.
Chronological Periods
While the heavy emphasis is on current materials, important works covering historical aspects are collected.
Included
Reference Collection
The collection includes major abstracting and indexing services in print and/or electronic format (Web-based online access, Telnet online access, and networked CD-ROM). Source books, dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, field guides, and biographical and organizational directories are collected in print form.
General Collection
Scholarly monographs, monographic series, conference proceedings of U.S. and International symposia and congresses, festchriften and U.S. government and U.N. documents are collected. Textbooks (at teaching faculty request, textbooks may be placed in the Reserve Collection), study outlines and exam guides are also collected. Academic dissertations are acquired on a extremely selective basis. Selection of reprint editions is done on an extremely selective basis and only for important works not currently owned, editions in need of replacement, or when editions contain new and important introductory material. Scholarly journals are collected in print, and very selectively in electronic format. A highly selective collection of less scholarly materials has been built to support instruction for non-scientists.
Excluded
Reference collection
Equipment manuals, specimen collections, and maps.
General Collection
Pamphlets and ephemera, lecture notes, reprints of single journal articles, preprints, reprint editions, technical reports, newsletters, manuscripts, juvenile works.
IV. Strengths & Weaknesses of the Collection
An interdisciplinary program of study, Earth and Environmental Science is now offered through the Department of Biology. Older sections of the geology collection exhibit greater coverage (generally to the research and advanced research levels) than current collections since they supported the instruction and research needs of the entire, now disbanded, Department of Geology. However, since then instruction has been at the undergraduate level so selection has been adjusted accordingly. While paleontology is still collected at levels closely resembling historical levels, mineralogy, petrology, geochemistry and geochronology as well as general aspects of the subject have only been collected at basic levels.
Many of the print indexing and abstracting services in the fields of environment and energy were canceled in the early 1990's. Print indexes and abstracts in this area remain weak while adequate strength has been built in the electronic index collection. Short term growth in this area will be in the area of web-based services.
Other Collections at NYU
Anthropology (Human Ecology)
Biology
Chemistry
Physics (Atmospheric Sciences)Other Libraries in New York City
American Museum of Natural History - relevant strengths include paleontology, mineralogy and geology.
Columbia University Geology Library.
Columbia University Geoscience Library - located at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York, this collection covers marine biology, physical geography, climatology, rock mechanics, geochemistry, geophysics, and paleomagnetics.
Cooper Union Library - although predominantly an engineering library, this collection also includes works on many aspects of environmental science.
New York Botanical Garden Library - relevant strengths include the environmental science collection.
New York Public Library - Science Industry and Business Library.
VI. Subject Coverage & Collection Levels
Weeding and Retention
Reference and General Collections
Encyclopedias, Dictionaries
- retain most recent edition in the Reference Collection, and one prior edition in the General Collection.
Source Books, Handbooks, Field Guides
- retain most recent edition in the Reference Collection, and one prior edition in the General Collection.
Series
- retain in the General Collection.
Subject Bibliographies, Histories, Biographies
- retain most recent edition of important or comprehensive works in the Reference Collection, and prior edition in the General Collection.
Abstracting and Indexing Services
- retain back volumes indefinitely, unless curriculum or research changes warrant re-evaluation.
Textbooks
- retain most recent edition in the General Collection, withdraw earlier edition(s) unless deemed important.
Journals
In general, back issues are retained indefinitely in print form and/or on microform (a small number are retained on microform only). Generally issues of newsletters are withdrawn when no longer current.
In an effort to recover shelf space, short runs of canceled journals may be considered for withdrawal from the collection or conversion to microform. Alternative access (interlibrary loan or document delivery) is considered in these cases.
Electronic Resources
Indexing and Abstracting Services
- previous years of coverage are retained as new years are added.
Subject Coverage
Introduction to Collection Development Policy Statements. Coverage defines the depth of the collection in a particular subject area and may range from basic to intensive. The following section describes the existing collection strength (ECS), the current collecting intensity (CCI), and the desired collection strength (DCS).
| ECS | CCI | DCS | ||
| GC 1-1581 | Oceanography | |||
| 1-63 | General | A | A | A |
| 65-78 | Underwater Exploration | Exclude | ||
| 83-87.6 | Submarine Topography | Exclude | ||
| 96-97.8 | Estuarine Oceanography | A | A | A |
| 100-149 | Seawater. Chemical Oceanography | A | A | A |
| 150-181 | Physical Oceanography | A | A | A |
| 190-190.5 | Ocean-Atmosphere Interaction | B | C | C |
| 200-376 | Dynamics of the Ocean (Waves. Ocean Circulation. Currents. Water Masses. Ocean Mixing. Tides) | B | B | B |
| 377-399 | Marine Sediments | Exclude | ||
| 401-881 | Oceanography | A | A | A |
| 1000-1023 | Marine Resources. Applied Oceanography | A | A | A |
| 1080-1581 | Marine Pollution | A | A | A |
| GE 1-140 | Environmental Sciences | |||
| 1-125 | General. History. Philosophy. Ethics | B | B | B |
| 140-160 | Environmental Degradation by Region or Country | B | B | B |
| 145 | Environmental Risk Assessment | A | A | A |
| 150-155 | United States | B | B | B |
| 160 | Other Regions or Countries | A | A | A |
| 170-190 | Environmental Policy | B | B | B |
| 180-185 | United States | B | B | B |
| 190 | Other Regions or Countries | A | A | A |
| 195-199 | Environmentalism, Green Movement | B | B | B |
| 197-198 | United States | B | B | B |
| 199 | Other Regions or Countries | A | A | A |
| QE 1-996 | Geology | |||
| 1-61 | General. History | C | B | B |
| 65-350 | Geographical Divisions | A | A | A |
| 351-399 | Mineralogy | B | A | A |
| 420-499 | Petrology | B | A | A |
| 500-625 | Dynamic and Structural Geology | C | B | B |
| 640-699 | Stratigraphy | B | B | B |
| 701-996.5 | Paleontology | C | C | C |
| 720 | Paleoecology | |||
| 761-899 | Paleozoology | |||
| 901-996.5 | Paleobotany | |||
| TD 1-1066 | Environmental Technology, Sanitary Engineering. | |||
| 1-157 | General. History | C | B | B |
| 158-167 | Municipal Engineering | C | B | B |
| 169-196 | Environmental Protection. Acid Rain | C | B | B |
| 201-500 | Water Supply | C | B | B |
| 511-870 | Sewage. Solid Waste | C | B | B |
| 878-879 | Soil Pollution | A | A | A |
| 881-890 | Air Pollution | C | A | A |
| 891-893 | Noise Pollution | C | A | A |
| 895-899 | Industrial Sanitation | A | A | A |
| 920-931 | Rural Sanitary Engineering | Exclude | ||
| 940-949 | Low Temperature Sanitary Engineering | A | B | B |
| 1020-1066 | Biodegradation. Hazardous Substances/Disposal | A | B | B |
Also see the Anthropology collection development policy statement for information on:
| GF 1-900 | Human Ecology. Anthropogeography |
| 1-50 | General |
| 51-71 | Environmental Influences on Man |
| 75-95 | Man's Influence on the Environment. Ethics |
| 101-127 | Settlements |
| 125 | Cities. Urban Geography |
| 127 | Rural Settlements. Rural Geography |
| 500-900 | By Region or Country |
The Medical and Health Sciences collection provides works on the following:
| RA 1-1270 | Public Aspects of Medicine |
| 565-600 | Environmental Health (including sewage disposal, air pollution, water supply, etc.) |
| 791-954 | Medical Geography, Medical Climatology and Meteorology |
| 1190-1270 | Toxicology |
Selection Criteria
Monographs
Suitability
Materials must be relevant to curriculum and/or research needs. The subject area must be one that is collected, and the level of work must be appropriate for undergraduate instruction, graduate research or faculty research. Materials being considered for the collection come to the attention of the selector through faculty requests, the approval plan, interlibrary loan reports, publisher catalogues, journal book review sections or by identification in standard collection development tools.
Quality
Physical quality of the monograph. Quality of content. Credentials/affiliations of publishing house, author, editors, contributors.
Alternatives
Availability through other NYU libraries, consortia, or other New York City libraries.
Affordability
Price, anticipated short-term use and long term value to the collection must be considered. Monographs priced over $250 must be approved by the science bibliographer.
Journals
Suitability
Material must be relevant to curriculum and/or research needs. The subject area must be one that is collected, and the level of work must be appropriate for undergraduate instruction, graduate research or faculty research. Journals being considered for the collection come to the attention of the selector through faculty requests, interlibrary loan reports, document delivery requests, publisher advertisements, or journal citation evaluations.
Quality
Physical quality of the journal. Quality of content, including any special or unique characteristics. Credentials/affiliations of publisher, editor, editorial board and contributors. Rank in citation evaluations. Indexed in available abstracting and indexing services.
Alternatives
Availability through other NYU libraries, consortia, other New York City libraries, interlibrary loan or document delivery. Alternately, tables of contents through an electronic alerting service or journal web sites.
Affordability
Price, estimated number of readers, and alternatives are considered in an informal cost/benefit analysis.
Electronic Resources
The general criteria outlined above are used for electronic resources as well. In addition, the following aspects are considered:
Access
Local and remote access; access method - Web-based online access, Telnet online access, networked CD-ROM, or standalone CD-ROM.
Archives
Method of archiving old issues; Length of time old issues will be archived.
Hardware/Software Requirements
Hardware and software is required for public access terminals.
