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University of Tennessee Libraries Collection Policy Statement

 

March 31, 2010

 

Purpose and Program Description

The University of Tennessee Libraries collections support the mission, vision, and goals of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. C ollections include all information that the Libraries makes available to its users in a variety of formats. Information resources are acquired by purchases or gifts of physical objects retained in the local collection, digital content obtained from vendors, publishers, and the university community; locally digitized materials, resources borrowed from other libraries, and open access sources available via the internet.

This collection development policy for the Libraries of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville defines the scope of existing collections, serves as a planning tool for future collection development, and provides a benchmark for measuring progress in the collection development and management program. The policy provides information about the library’s collection building plan to the University's community, and to other users and institutions.

This document is written to define the collection and clarify its mission for:

  • Librarians and others who make collection-related decisions;
  • The University of Tennessee community.

University Libraries Mission Statement

The University Libraries, a major component of Tennessee's oldest land- grant and primary research university, is an intellectual, cultural and social center for the university and its global community. Providing expertise, services, and resources, library faculty and staff enable learning through inquiry, discovery, creation, and exchange of information. The University Libraries values the diversity of its users and resources. The University Libraries participates in the teaching, research, and outreach and engagement programs of the institution by providing access to scholarly information through:

  • the acquisition, organization, management, and preservation of collections for access and use;
  • the provision of supportive reference and bibliographic instruction services;

  • a variety of cooperative and reciprocal programs in the area, state, region, and nation; and
  • bringing scholarly communication issues to the attention of both the University and the scholarly community at large.

Organizational Values of the University Libraries

University Libraries' faculty and staff are committed to the following organizational values.

Service. The University Libraries fosters and supports teaching, learning and research by providing resources, access to knowledge, information, and ideas, and by providing assistance and instruction. Service is provided in an open, receptive, and courteous manner. Fundamental to this philosophy of service is a commitment to freedom of information and equity of access to information.

Quality. The University Libraries strives for excellence in programs and services. In delivering effective and timely services to its users within its financial constraints, the University Libraries uses sound management practices and a responsive organizational structure. We encourage and support the development of a knowledgeable, versatile, and skilled staff.

Integrity. The University Libraries is dedicated to creating an environment characterized by ethical behavior, accountability, and honesty. We are committed to the principles of academic freedom and open communication.

Diversity. The University Libraries values diversity in staff, users, and collections and works to provide a climate of openness, acceptance, and respect for individuals and points of view.

Collaboration. The University Libraries' staff perform interdependent activities within the library setting and within the academic community. We work collaboratively with each other, with our University colleagues, and with colleagues in other institutions in the U.S. and around the globe.

Innovation and Risk. The University Libraries identifies and anticipates user needs and responds with appropriate resources and services. In reviewing needs, the University Libraries will take appropriate risks to provide the best responses.

Intellectual Freedom

Intellectual freedom is an essential value in the life and work of any university. The University Libraries is committed to providing a balanced collection representing a diversity of perspectives on issues. The following documents address various aspects of the relationship between intellectual freedom, diversity, and the mission of a university library:

Library Bill of Rights (American Library Association)

American Library Association Code of Ethics

The Freedom to Read (American Library Association)

Diversity in Collection Development: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (American Library Association)

Brief Overview and History of the Collection

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville was founded in 1838 as part of East Tennessee College, one of several earlier incarnations of the institution that began as Blount College in 1794 and became the University of Tennessee in 1879. Beginning in a single room with about 3,000 books, the library collection grew slowly over the rest of the century while being shifted from one location to another. That nomadic existence ended in 1931 when the library moved into a new building constructed specifically to house the collection; the building was later designated as the James D. Hoskins Library, in honor of the president of the University from 1934 to 1946. In 1943 the collection boasted 242,959 volumes; the Library has since grown to a collection of 2 million volumes housed in a central library and five branch library units.

Subject areas emphasized in the Libraries' collection are those which support the University's curriculum and research. Academic colleges and schools; centers and institutes; and university programs represent areas of special research interest.

Collections, physical and virtual, include materials that support undergraduate and graduate level study and research offered in the colleges, schools and programs. Of particular strength are the collections in Appalachian studies, Tennessee history, local history and literature, chemistry, business, and engineering. Government publications are collected at federal and state levels through partnerships in the Federal Depository Library Program (1907) and the Tennessee Depository Program (1917). Beginning in 2006, government publications are selected in digital format. Digital Library Initiatives (DLI) began in 2001 to foster the creation and use of digitized collections and provide open access to materials of interest to the academic community. Newfound Press, a library digital imprint, was launched in 2005 as a demonstration of new forms of scholarship. The central physical collection is housed in the present John C. Hodges Library completed in 1987, a seven-story, 350,000-square-foot central library named for a past head of the English Department.

In 2008 the Map Library moved to the ground floor of Hodges Library to increase access to services and collections. The Map Library houses a growing collection of books, atlases, and over three hundred thousand sheet-maps. The collections are strong in the Earth Sciences and include GIS, GPS, and other electronic and digital tools and data. Services include reference, interlibrary loan, reserve, and access to databases and cartobibliographies from around the world. The Map collection holds the largest collection of maps in the state of Tennessee and serves as the state depository for pre-1989 federal agency maps and an Earth Science Information Center (ESIC) affiliate.

The James D. Hoskins Library houses Special Collections, University Archives and the library’s Storage and Preservation collections. Special Collections is the repository for rare books, manuscripts, and other unusual items, including rare maps, prints, and historical ephemera. In 2009 Special Collections moved to Hodges Library for an unspecified temporary period ; high security areas will protect the special nature of non-circulating materials in the rare book collections. The collections have particular strength in the areas of history and literature. University Archives is the repository for materials relating to the University of Tennessee. The Storage Collection is a closed stack area in Hoskins Library that contains low-use materials. Access to this collection is available through delivery via Library Express and through a Storage Reading Room where materials may be used onsite. The Preservation Collection is a closed stack area in Hoskins Library that contains brittle and fragile books, periodicals that are at risk and for which other formats either do not exist or are unacceptable, and volumes that are not rare but require more secure storage to ensure their preservation. Access to this collection is available through paging to the Special Collections reading room or through the use of a stack permit, which may be issued by the Special Collections Librarian.

The George F. DeVine Music Library , located in the Music Building, provides library resources and services to support the University's programs in music and music education as well as serving the music reference and research needs of the entire University and local community.

The Webster Pendergrass Library of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine , located in the Veterinary Hospital, is the principal library resource for teaching, research and extension programs in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and the College of Veterinary Medicine. The Library is designated as the state's regional holding library for Department of Agriculture publications distributed through the federal depository library program prior to 1989.

Definition and Goals of the Libraries Collections

Collections include all information that the Libraries makes available to its users in a variety of formats. Information resources are acquired by purchases or gifts of physical objects retained in the local collection; digital content obtained from vendors, publishers, and the university community; locally digitized materials; resources borrowed from other libraries; and open access sources available via the internet.

Primary clientele are the students, faculty, and staff of the University of Tennessee Knoxville. Development of the UT Libraries collections gives priority to this clientele for support in instruction, research, and public outreach. The collection supports most curricular needs, but cannot meet all specialized research needs. Collaboration with library consortia expands the library’s ability to lease or borrow resources that complement the physical collections.

Allocation of funds for University Libraries' information resources balances curricular needs and research, taking into account the varied nature of academic disciplines. While a major portion of funding now supports digital resources, the Libraries will continue to support printed books, journals, and various other formats.

"Core collection" is a collection representative of the basic information needs of a library's primary user group. In academic libraries, selection is based on curriculum need, and collections are maintained to meet the research interests of students and faculty.

"Research collection" is "a library collection sufficiently comprehensive to support specialized research in an academic discipline or field. A good research collection includes primary sources, secondary sources, and the bibliographic tools needed to conduct an exhaustive search of the literature."

The library collects at all of the following levels according to the needs of our primary clientele.

  • Minimal Level
    A subject area which is out of scope for the University’s mission and in which few selections are made. No majors are offered at the University.

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  • Basic Level
    A highly selective collection which serves to introduce and define a subject.   It includes major dictionaries and encyclopedias, selected editions of important works, etc.   No majors are offered at the University.
  • Undergraduate Study Level
    A collection which is adequate to support undergraduate study.  A collection that is adequate to maintain knowledge of a subject required for limited or generalized purposes of less than research intensity.   It includes a wide range of basic books, complete collections of the works of more important writers, a selection of representative journals, and reference tools.   Majors are offered in the subject.
  • Graduate / Advanced Study Level
    A collection which will support master’s level graduate work including; materials containing research reports, new findings, scientific results and other information useful to studying for a master’s level graduate degree.   It should also include all important reference works and a wide selection of books, serials, etc.
  • Research Level
    A collection that includes the major published source materials required for dissertation level research, particularly materials containing research reporting, new findings, scientific experimental results, and other information useful to researchers. It is intended to include all important reference works and a wide selection of specialized books, as well as an extensive collection of journals and major indexing services in the field.


Additional considerations pertain to preservation commitment, particularly for digital content.

  • Archived: The material is hosted locally. The Library intends to keep the intellectual content of the material available on a permanent basis.
  • Served: The material resides locally, but the Library is not committed to keeping it available on a permanent basis.
  • Mirrored: The library hosts a copy of material that resides elsewhere, but makes no commitment to archiving. An institution other than the library has primary responsibility for the content and its maintenance.
  • Linked: The library points to material hosted at another location. The library has no control over the content.

Material in any category except Archived may be re-designated from one level to another as required to meet changing information needs, remote server accessibility or responsiveness, local resource demands, etc. Material that receives the Archived designation cannot be downgraded to a lower status.

Objectives of the Collection Development and Management Program

  • Build a collection that meets the research, curricular, and information needs of faculty, students and the University community.
  • Enhance digital scholarship through local digitization and the development of scholarly publishing services.
  • Curate open access digital collections that support the research, curricular, and information needs of faculty, students and the University community.
  • Conduct liaison with academic departments, research centers, interdisciplinary programs, and other campus initiatives to incorporate faculty participation in the development of the collection.
  • Spend state and endowed funds to achieve the greatest benefit, tracking expenditures and assessing use to ensure the judicious use of resources.
  • Manage the physical collection to preserve materials, make the most effective use of space, and provide maximum accessibility to resources.
  • Conduct ongoing collection analysis to evaluate the cost/benefit of financial expenditures, to incorporate curricular and research trends in collection goals, and to determine progress toward appropriate benchmarks.
  • Actively pursue cooperative and coordinated collection development with other libraries.
  • Make responsible curatorial decisions regarding the acquisition, linking and discovery, access to full text, replacement, withdrawal, reformatting, and preservation of materials.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Building library collections involves consideration for content, discovery mechanisms, and delivery options. Selection criteria incorporate resource allocation, current/retrospective publication, use of approval plans, availability of endowment funds, and gift policy. Selection priorities are described below, including considerations for format and genre.

Resource Allocation

Funds are allocated to support the mission of the Libraries and the university. Allocation decisions consider factors that include program strengths, local demographics, collection use, interlibrary loan data, and publishing trends. Some funding is devoted to experimenting with new forms of scholarly communication.

Funding allocations are made to support new directions in service, placing greater reliance on technology and integrating electronic information formats into daily routines and decision-making. Although print is still a significant format for the UT Libraries' collection, the library purchases information resources in digital format when possible.

Priority is given to publisher and other aggregated collections for access to periodical literature, including bibliographic and full text databases. Evaluation of subscriptions is ongoing. New subscriptions, as well as cancellations, are contingent upon availability of funding. Consideration of value for the cost of information resources is important. Such an approach attempts to compare the expected benefit of purchases with their cost and potential use.

Allocations are made to subject areas without regard for endowed funds that may be designated to supplement state funding.


General selection criteria include the following:

  • Content supports the education and research interests of UT faculty and students, and is consistent the library collection development goals.
  • Content is of interest locally or within the state.
  • Content has scholarly significance.
  • Content is unique to University of Tennessee. There is no existing digital product with identical or closely overlapping content that can reasonably meet the goals of the project.
  • Content protects or preserves materials that are physically fragile or stored on unstable media.

Current vs. Retrospective Selection

Primary emphasis is on the acquisition of current resources, although retrospective works and digital backfiles are purchased to support research specialization. Local digitization focuses on unique resources which are often of a retrospective nature. Scholarly publishing services include both current and retrospective content: material published through the library’s digital imprint, Newfound Press, tends to be current, while the UT digital repository includes a considerable number of retrospective and archival items.

Approval Plans

Approval plans enable selection in the aggregate, an efficient process that frees librarians to conduct collection analysis and outreach activities that support more comprehensive collection decisions. Librarians develop and maintain approval profiles for designated categories of materials to be acquired from the approval vendors. Librarians monitor the performance of approval plan vendors in their subject areas.

Endowment Funds

Several endowments are available to provide funds for purchases of Library materials. Endowment funds are often restricted to a specific subject or discipline. When possible, endowment funds are used to support new initiatives and research specialization.

Gifts

The University Libraries accepts gifts of materials within the scope of its collection policies that support the teaching and research activities of the University. Gifts are added if they help meet curricular and research needs, enhance collection strength, or add significantly to the collection of items not previously held. Scholarly materials including manuscripts, recordings, books, and journals usually are acceptable. Outdated textbooks, popular books and magazines, and materials in poor condition are not accepted.

The Libraries reserves the right to review all gifts before acceptance. Subject Librarians evaluate gifts on a title-by-title basis. Once accepted, all gifts become the property of the University Libraries. The Libraries reserves the right to determine retention, location, cataloging, disposition and other factors relating to the gift.

Gifts to the University Libraries are tax deductible, but IRS regulations prohibit the University Libraries from providing estimations or appraisals. Materials Gift Policy

 

Selection Priorities

The Libraries' first priority in selection of materials is to support the research and curricular needs of the University faculty and students, by providing material for course preparation, lectures and assignments, and scholarly inquiry. The second priority is to provide a collection that supports the public service mission of UT as a land-grant university, including local, state and regional history, state and federal government publications. The library meets criteria for membership in the Association of Research Libraries by maintaining a rate of collection growth appropriate for an institution of its size.

Specific priorities include the following:

  • Digitization of unique materials promotes both access to and preservation of resources that become available worldwide. Making unique resources accessible fits the shared vision of 21 st century research libraries.
  • Approval books represent an efficient, effective way to acquire core resources.

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  • Electronic journals contain authoritative and valuable content, combining both extremely current and deep retrospective files, often representing complete sets that were not formerly held by the libraries or easily accessible.

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  • Open access resources (links and pointers) incorporate into the Libraries collections a vast wealth of scholarly resources hosted by other institutions and freely available online.

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  • Special Collections contains unique resources. Researchers rely on the University Libraries for collections that are unlikely to be held anywhere else because of their regional significance.
  • The Great Smoky Mountains Regional Collection,contains research-level current and retrospective materials on the Great Smoky Mountains region of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina. All levels and formats are represented. With some exceptions, materials purchased for this collection are placed in Special Collections.
  • The UT digital repository showcases the university by providing an archival collection selected by campus academic and administrative communities.
  • Scholarly publishing services  offered by Newfound Press provide access to peer-reviewed scholarship with a specialized audience and/or presented in an non-traditional format.

Selection Considerations by Format and Genre

 

Digital Formats

The University Libraries collects bibliographic materials, full text files, numeric data files, graphic and multimedia files, and links to open access resources appropriate to the scope of the Libraries' collection. Courseware and instructional programs are generally not collected, unless intended for other than laboratory or classroom use. Digital materials are currently collected in three broad categories:

1. Purchased or licensed materials such as electronic journals and databases are generally acquired from a commercial source, a government entity, a non-profit organization, a professional society, or an institution engaged in furthering scholarly research. In many cases this material is leased rather than owned; the library acquires specific rights to the material on behalf of the library’s clientele.

2. Material that has been reformatted (digitized) by the library comes from non-copyrighted print or analog sources or from copyrighted sources with appropriate permission. The library may also serve as a repository for material digitized by other libraries, universities, institutions, or individuals.

3. Links and pointers to open access resources on the internet of significant scholarly value are added to the library’s catalogs, databases and networked resources as appropriate.

  • Access Media: The library employs remote access to digital resources on an extensive basis and networked CD-ROM and single CD-ROM workstations selectively. Internet-based products offer ease of use, wider access, more rapid updating, and cost savings over local maintenance and storage. Materials that are hard to access due to preservation concerns or those only available to a limited audience due to security restrictions will be given priority for digitization.
  • Costs: Pricing options for commercially produced resources include purchases, subscriptions, maintenance fees, and per-search charges. Local digitization costs include human resources for digitizing, creating metadata, selecting and creating platforms, and system administration. Resource selection considers the costs of human resources, hardware and software to provide storage space and content delivery.
  • Licensing: The library purchases access or data from publishers who require signed license agreements. When negotiating license agreements, the library keeps the interests of the user in mind and does not purchase titles where the restrictions on use would seriously impede research or be impossible to enforce. Licenses should provide the library with permanent rights to the content that has been paid for; permit use by all UTK faculty, staff, and students as well as walk-in users; permit “fair use” of the content, understood to mean the same nature of curricular and research purposes that apply to print materials; allow the library to make the content more visible or convenient through access mechanisms such as online reserves; respect the confidentiality of individual users; protect the library’s right to the information as advertised by the vendor or publisher; allow for reciprocal rights to terminate the license agreement; clearly identify what information is confidential; provide use data; not require the libraries to police the use of or hold it liable for the use of the information; require only “reasonable effort” on the part of the library to address misuses by library users; and conform to Tennessee law.
  • Consortial Purchases : The library participates in consortial agreements to take advantage of reduced subscription and human resource costs. Current consortial partners include TENN-SHARE, ASERL, the Information Alliance, SOLINET, and NERL.

Books and Monographs

The Libraries collects primarily single copies of books. When a book is published in both hardcover and soft cover editions, the Libraries will usually acquire the soft cover version, unless the size and format of the hardcover edition make the content more accessible.

Newspapers

Newspapers are selected to represent a variety of social, cultural and political viewpoints. Electronic newspaper collections produced commercially, as well as those freely available via the internet, provide instructional and research support. Local and some state newspapers are collected, as well as significant national and major city newspapers. Preference is given to papers having national audiences, recognized as having wide influence, and commercially indexed. A research guide to newspapers is available at: http://www.lib.utk.edu/refs/newspapers/ .

Textbooks

Textbooks generally are not purchased. Exceptions are textbooks that have earned a reputation as classics in their fields, or textbooks that serve as an introduction to a topic.

Reprints

Reprints of monographs and journals generally are not collected, unless needed to replace an original item that has been lost or damaged, or to provide access to microform content. Occasionally, reprint editions are added when additional content is included.

Dissertations and Theses

University of Tennessee students submit dissertations and theses in electronic form (ETDs). Catalog records for ETDs include links to the full text. Print copies before 2008 are housed in University Archives. Library of Congress subject headings (LCSH) are assigned only to theses and dissertations with geographic and political divisions that fall within the Southern States region as defined by the Library of Congress. Subject Librarians may request that catalogers assign LC subject headings to other theses; these will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

The library occasionally purchases printed dissertations and theses from other institutions when the content is deemed necessary to support research and otherwise meets selection criteria. Records for these items are added to the catalog.

Maps

Maps and other cartographic materials are collected for research and instruction.

Pamphlets

Pamphlets are generally collected in the aggregate with other collections (e.g. the Sabin Americana archive). Some pamphlet publications may be received as government depository materials. Pamphlets that are ephemeral in character will be withdrawn regularly. Pamphlets of significant value are acquired by Special Collections.

Posters

Posters are not purchased, but may be received as government depository or archives materials. Posters that are ephemeral in character will be withdrawn regularly. Posters of significant value are acquired by Special Collections.

Multimedia Materials

Multimedia materials are collected for research and instruction. Digital formats are preferred, although the legacy collection includes DVD, VHS, compact disk, laser disk, slide, cassette tape, and CD-ROM formats. Closed caption formats are preferred when available.

Foreign Languages and Translations

The primary collecting language is English. Materials in languages other than English are collected for language instruction and for literary and historical research. Translations of major works in literature, history and other humanities disciplines are purchased.

Publications by Local Authors and UT Faculty

The Libraries identifies and acquires publications by local authors to support curricular and research needs.

The Libraries identifies and acquires substantial scholarly monographs written by UT faculty, with the exception of textbooks, workbooks, laboratory manuals, and other genres excluded from the collection scope.

Children’s and Young Adult Literature

The library identifies and acquires children's and young adult literature to support curricular and research needs. Original works and scholarly studies of children's and young adult literature are collected.

Reserve Materials

Required or collateral reading materials not purchased by students as textbooks may be acquired for the library reserve collection. A designated fund is available for the purchase of Reserve books requested by faculty. When possible, Reserve materials are digitized with a link for faculty to share with their students. Print materials from the library collection or personal copies belonging to member of the faculty may be placed in the library Reserve collection.

Art Work

Original works of visual and plastic art are not purchased.

Multiple Copies and Formats

The library generally does not purchase multiple copies of monographs or duplicate serial subscriptions. Works for which circulation records and user requests indicate heavy demand are possible exceptions, especially upon recommendation by faculty. Some duplication exists between the main and branch libraries, but duplication not warranted by heavy use is discouraged. Some duplicates are purchased as office copies in library units where needed to support ongoing work.

Digital products are generally unique. When more than one vendor or publisher offers similar content, selection decisions are based on cost, search features, and the complete content of a specific digital collection.

Collection Management

Information Sources for Selection

Librarians use numerous sources to identify materials for acquisition within their subject areas. Regular contact with Library Representatives and other faculty of the academic units is an essential part of this process.

Collection Evaluation

The Libraries conducts periodic, systematic evaluations using various techniques to ensure that the collection keeps pace with the changing, growing needs of the University community. Librarians regularly assess materials for reformatting, preservation, replacement, storage or withdrawal to ensure the continued integrity and usefulness of the collection.

Low-Use Material: Storage and Withdrawal

Withdrawal is the permanent removal of outdated, superseded, damaged, or redundant material from the collection. Primary responsibility for withdrawal lies with the Librarians, although advice can and should be sought from Library Representatives. Withdrawal should be considered in cases of: excess number of duplicate copies, superseded editions, obsolete materials, materials that are out of scope for the collection, and materials in very poor physical condition.

Material that is infrequently used but still of long-term research value may be considered for transfer to the storage facility in Hoskins Library.

Microforms

Microfiche, microfilm, and micro-opaque formats have been acquired to save space and preserve content. Silver halide film is considered preservation quality. Increasingly, digital format are preferred for preservation.

Preservation & Archiving

As the library for Tennessee’s oldest land-grant and primary research university, the library assumes responsibility for maintaining its research collections for future students and scholars. The University of Tennessee Libraries preservation program maintains the libraries’ research collections in all formats to ensure their availability for current and future generations of researchers. Preservation is the sum of all the activities and processes involved in maintaining library and archival materials for as long as they are needed. Towards this mission the library engages in conservation, library binding, physical processing, environmental monitoring, disaster preparedness and response, user and staff education, and reformatting. Material in severely deteriorated condition and of research value may be sent to the Preservation Collection, located in Hoskins Library. UT Libraries is also responsible for many aspects of digital preservation.

Digital Preservation

Digital preservation is the whole of the activities and processes involved in the physical and intellectual protection and technical stabilization of digital resources, both born-digital and reformatted, through time in order to reproduce authentic copies of these resources. The library shares with other research and educational institutions the responsibility to determine the most effective methods for the long-term preservation of digital materials that are served, mirrored, and linked. It has a special preservation responsibility for digital materials unique to the University of Tennessee. The library participates in national digital preservation programs such as Portico.

Principally, the library preserves digital information created by the Libraries (both born digital objects and those that have been reformatted from analog copies). As the library preserves analog copies of material purchased for the collections, it also assumes the responsibility for preserving digital objects that are purchased and added to the collections. The library provides leadership and instruction to maintain the contents of the university’s digital repository in perpetuity. Librarians conduct research and publication in the ever-evolving field of digital preservation.

Storage Media

Digital objects reside in storage media for preservation. Media should be of archival quality, stored in an environment safe for the specific media type, and checked for loss at least once every six months when not in use. As redundancy is critical for preservation purposes, there should be a minimum of two copies of any preservation medium. One copy should be stored in an off-site location and only accessed to check for errors.

Preservation of digital collections is incorporated into the backup process for all library digital resources. As of December 2008 backup is conducted daily on library servers with weekly backup tapes stored off site. Rotating sets of tapes hold a significant portion of digital work on a daily basis; weekly data capture provides redundancy. Most library server backup rotates monthly, with additional archival backup covering a longer rotation period.

Format

Format refers to the file type of the digital object, such as PDF or .mpeg. UT Libraries will not always have a choice as to what file format it receives, but, when possible, the Libraries will work with creators to use archival-quality formats. Criteria for archival format types determine level of preservation support:

  • Supported – fully supports and preserves
  • Known – format recognized and supported short-term, but long-term preservation not guaranteed
  • Unsupported – cannot recognize or support

File Management

As technologies change, files must be migrated to new formats, or format emulators must be identified or created and employed. The library’s current strategy is to migrate files before a need for emulation occurs. Three main risks inherent to the migration strategy are:

  • Loss of significant properties
  • Loss of objects
  • Change in the viewing context

To prevent these problems, the library uses a checklist for migration strategies and procedures.

Metadata

Metadata is fundamental to preserving digital resources.  Preservation metadata stores technical details about the format, structure, and use of digital content; the history of all actions performed on the resource, including changes and decisions; authenticity information such as technical features or custody history; and the responsibilities and rights information applicable to preservation actions. The library uses a checklist to select metadata standards, systems, and formats capable of supporting the identified metadata standards.

Resource Sharing at the University Libraries

Resource sharing is the provision of bibliographic access and delivery of materials not available locally. The library provides access to many collections for the university's scholars through an active interlibrary loan ( ILL) program. UT Libraries is one of the top fifty net lenders in the country. The Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) , established in June 1956, is comprised of 31 institutions which have successfully sponsored collaborative efforts to provide and maintain quality resources and services for the students, faculty, and citizens of their respective communities. ASERL’s shared catalog, KUDZU, supports express delivery service.

The Information Alliance among the University of Tennessee, the University of Kentucky and Vanderbilt University has sponsored several collection-related projects. The University Libraries is also a member of the statewide resource-sharing network, Tenn-Share, and provided leadership for a grant-funded digitization project, Volunteer Voices [ http://www.volunteervoices.org/ ]. Membership in the Center for Research Libraries enables UT researchers to borrow highly specialized resources for an extended time. The OCLC Reciprocal Borrowing program enables scholars to visit participating research libraries and borrow materials via interlibrary loan in person. Memberships in consortia such as SOLINET, ASERL, and NERL provide eligibility for group discounts on purchases and participation in developmental projects.

Page updated 5/13/10