Purpose and Program Description

The Libraries seek to support the information needs of professional librarians employed by the Columbia University Libraries. Materials in subjects ancillary to library science are also collected if they fulfill specific faculty and student needs in other disciplines. These materials are integrated within the general collection in Butler, e.g., current periodicals are housed in the Periodicals Reading Room, new books are arranged by call number on new books shelves in Butler tiers and reference works are located in the main reference collection, etc.

Library and information science materials, previously purchased to support the needs of the School of Library and Information Sciences (SLS), were placed in the storage Annex at 131^st Street. The Graphic Arts Collection, which was once a part of the SLS Library, was integrated during the latter part of 1992 into the Rare Book and Manuscript Library Collection, which is responsible for it’s continued development.

General Selection Guidelines (See classed analysis for further details)

Overall, the Libraries’ existing collection for Library & Information Science is at the research level while its current acquisitions commitment, based upon available resources, and its collecting goal are at the basic information level.

Specific Delimitations

1. Formats Collected: We collect annuals, cd-roms, monographs, electronic tools, periodicals, reference tools and scholarly series selectively. Audio/visual materials and dissertations are excluded.

2. Imprint Dates Collected: We collect current publications selectively and earlier publications are excluded.

3. Chronological Focus: We collect current publications selectively.

4. Languages Collected: We collect English publications only.

5. Place of Publication: We collect materials published in North America and Western Europe selectively.

6. Collected Extensively:
   Graphic Arts
   Printing, history

7. Collected Selectively:
   Access services
   Academic librarianship
   Administration, academic
   Automation
   Bibliography
   Book selection
   Cooperation
   Library statistics
   Preservation
   Publishing Industry
   Reference Services
   Serials
   Technical Processing
   Undergraduate libraries

8. Collected Very Selectively:
   Abstracting and indexing
   Administration, non-academic
   Architecture
   Art librarianship
   Book selling
   Copyright
   Documents
   Intellectual freedom
   Library education
   Library science, general
   Map Collections
   Multi-media librarianship
   Music collections
   Music librarianship
   Pamphlet collections
   Rare books and manuscripts
   Sci-tech librarianship