MAY 1999

Rutgers University Libraries' primary collections goal is to make available to all Rutgers students, faculty, and staff wherever they are located, in an equitable, convenient and cost-effective fashion, the print and electronic informational and scholarly resources that they need on a level commensurate with the university's aspirations to achieve distinction among the top quartile of public, AAU universities. The Libraries will also provide access to in-depth research collections in areas of special interest to the university. Another goal is to make its own collections accessible to the citizens of New Jersey and scholars throughout the world.

Our vision for collection development on all three campuses of the university includes the following:

• Take full advantage of technology to enhance use of collections resources
• Maintain an appropriate balance between undergraduate needs and research needs of graduate students and faculty
• Maintain appropriate balance for collection budget support among the broad subject areas of arts and humanities, social sciences, and science and technology based on the activities of the university
• Maintain appropriate mix of formats of publication as is relevant to the field of study
• Develop collections of distinction in areas of current strength and future growth as indicated in the university's strategic plan

In order to fulfill this vision, the Libraries will employ the following strategies:

• Acquire and maintain resources in networked electronic format wherever possible and appropriate
• Acquire and house print resources
• Acquire appropriate indexing and abstracting tools in electronic format to identify relevant publications
• Refine subscription lists of core journals based on ISI journal impact data and Rutgers' specific usage data. (This strategy is especially relevant in science and technology fields.)
• Cancel print subscription(s) when networked, electronic versions are available at Rutgers except in the following cases: the print subscription is required for online access; important graphic content is inferior or not available in electronic version; electronic format is significantly less complete than the print version; the viability of the electronic source is questionable.
• Monitor and keep to a minimum overlap among electronic resources
• Provide subsidized document delivery of articles that are not owned or licensed by RU Libraries
• Link indexing and abstract tools to full-text journals and other holdings of RU Libraries and, where possible, to online document delivery services
• Continue to improve traditional interlibrary borrowing
• Continue to participate in consortial agreements to maximize purchasing power to reduced costs and to improve terms of licenses
• Continue to explore with the faculty and administration alternative outlets for disseminating scholarly information to enhance access to information and to recapture the ownership of information from exploitive commercial publishers and to participate in national and international efforts in this regard

The balance among these strategies- print, electronic, and document delivery- depends on funding and the needs of the academic programs served.