Recommending Collection Purchases

There are two ways to recommend the purchase of library materials:

or

Request a yellow Library Materials Recommendation Form from a Division Office or the Library Office

The Library strives to provide a quality collection of materials to support undergraduate instruction and research, and, to a more limited extent, faculty research needs. The Library depends on faculty expertise to make recommendations as to which items should be purchased. Each discipline is given an allocation from the library materials budget. Faculty may complete the above form electronically, or fill out a paper request form and give it to the appropriate discipline coordinator or discipline liaison. Each Division Office should have a supply of library materials request forms. Titles selected should be useful to a number of users. Items that would be of interest to only one or two people on campus are not appropriate additions to the collection.

Choice cards:

Reviews of books on cards are sent to discipline coordinators/discipline liaisons to be shared with other members of their disciplines to help in deciding what would be appropriate to order for the collection. Faculty may choose to staple a Choice card to a yellow order form, adding name and discipline information.

DVD's, Videos and CD's:

There is no separate budget for ordering audio visual materials. The same materials request form used for books can be used for other materials. Items purchased for the collection are cataloged and listed in SUMMON. The library materials budget will not be used to purchase materials to be housed and used in a division office.

Computer software:

The library will order computer software in conjunction with a book or audio-visual purchase only if there is equipment in the library on which to use the software. The library materials budget will not be used to purchase software to be housed and used in a division office or lab.

Status of orders:

As soon as an item is ordered, it appears in SUMMON with an "On Order" status until processing has been completed and it is available for check-out. Recent acquisitions are often placed in the "New Arrivals" display near the front door of the library and are available for anyone who would like to check them out.

Student and Staff Recommendations:

The library appreciates purchase suggestions from UMM staff members and students. The suggestions may be submitted either by using the above online form or by requesting a paper form from the library office.