Collection Goals

(Goal levels are explained below.)

*due to 4 year programs in these areas in conjunction with Rocky Mountain College and MSU-Billings, respectively

0 OUT OF SCOPE

The library does not intentionally collect materials in any format for this subject.

1 MINIMAL INFORMATION LEVEL

Collections that support minimal inquiries about this subject and include a very limited collection of general resources, including monographs and reference works. Periodicals directly dealing with this topic and in-depth electronic information resources are not collected.

1a MINIMAL INFORMATION LEVEL, UNEVEN COVERAGE

• Few selections and an unsystematic representation of the subject
• Supports limited, specific service needs
• Consistently maintained even though coverage is limited

1b MINIMAL INFORMATION LEVEL, FOCUSED COVERAGE

• Few selections, but a systematic representation of the subject
• Includes basic authors, some core works and a spectrum of points of view
• Consistently maintained

2 BASIC INFORMATION LEVEL

Collections that introduce and define a subject, indicate the varieties of information available elsewhere, and support the needs of general library users through the first two years of college instruction.

2a BASIC INFORMATION LEVEL, INTRODUCTORY

Limited collections of introductory monographs and reference tools that include:

• Basic explanatory works
• Histories of the development of the topic
• General works about the field and its important personages
• General encyclopedias, periodical indexes and statistical sources

This collection is sufficient to support the inquiries of patrons and students through high school attempting to locate general information about a subject.

2b BASIC INFORMATION LEVEL, ADVANCED

Collections of general periodicals and a broader and more in-depth array of introductory monographs and reference tools that include:

• Basic explanatory works
• Histories of the development of the topic
• General works about the field and its important personages
• A broader array of general encyclopedias, periodical indexes, and statistical sources
• A limited collection of representative general periodicals
• Defined access to a limited collection of owned or remotely accessed electronic bibliographic toots, texts, data sets, journals, etc.

This collection is sufficient to support the basic informational and recreational reading needs of an educated general public or students through the first two years of college.

3 STUDY OR INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT LEVEL

Collections that provide information about a subject in a systematic way, but at a level of less than research intensity and support the needs of general library users through college and beginning graduate instruction.

3a BASIC STUDY OR INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT LEVEL

Resources adequate for imparting and maintaining knowledge about the primary topics of a subject area that include:

• A high percentage of the most important literature or core works in the field
• An extensive collection of general monographs and reference works
• An extensive collection of general periodicals and indexes/abstracts
• Other than those in the primary collection language, materials are limited to learning materials for non-native speakers and representative well-known authors in the original language, primarily for language education
• Defined access to appropriate electronic resources

This collection supports undergraduate courses, as well as the independent study needs of the lifelong learner.

3b INTERMEDIATE STUDY OR INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT LEVEL

Resources adequate for imparting and maintaining knowledge about more specialized subject areas which provide more comprehensive coverage of the subject with broader and more in-depth materials that include:

• A high percentage of the most important literature or core works in the field, including retrospective resources
• An extensive collection of general monographs and reference works and selected specialized monographs and reference works
• An extensive collection of general periodicals and a representative collection of specialized periodicals and indexes/abstracts
• A selection of resources in other languages. including well-known authors in the original language
• Defined access to a broad range of specialized electronic resources

This collection supports upper division undergraduate courses.

3c ADVANCED STUDY OR INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT LEVEL

Resources adequate for imparting and maintaining knowledge about all aspects of the topic which are more extensive than the intermediate level but less than those needed for doctoral and independent research that include:

• An almost complete collection of core works including significant numbers of retrospective materials and resources
• A broader collection of specialized works by lesser-known, as well as well-known authors
• An extensive collection of general and specialized monographs and reference works
• An extensive collection of general and specialized periodicals and indexes/abstracts
• A selection of resources in other languages, including well-known authors in the original language and a selection of subject-specific materials in appropriate languages.
• Defined access to a broad range of specialized electronic resources

This collection supports master’s degree level programs as well as other specialized inquiries.

4 RESEARCH LEVEL

Collections that contain the major published source materials required for doctoral study and independent research.

5 COMPREHENSIVE LEVEL

Collections in a specifically defined field of knowledge that strive to be exhaustive as far as is reasonably possible (i.e., "special collections"), in all applicable languages.