This guideline
• Contains protocols for the development and management of HNE Health Libraries' collections
• Defines the client group served by HNE Health Libraries
• Describes HNE Health Libraries role in supporting the information needs of the staff and researchers of HNE Health Local Health District.
Introduction
HNE Health Libraries support the major teaching hospitals of John Hunter, The Mater, Tamworth and all hospital, community health centres, multi-purpose services and mental health facilities in the Hunter New England Local Health District.
The collection, spread across HNE Health Libraries branches, represents a generalised cross-section of most health disciplines. The collection includes monographs, electronic journals and books, multimedia, electronic databases, anatomical models, charts and a historical collection of print items.
Purpose
This guideline provides framework for maintaining and building a collection of medical and health science information, electronic, print and audiovisual media to support the clinical, educational and research needs of the diverse HNELHD clientele.
We aspire to be a multi-disciplinary health science library serving all the major occupation groups within the hospitals’ medical, nursing, allied health, research and administrative staff. We continually monitor our collection to support HNELHD vision of ‘Excellence. Every patient. Every time'.
Eligibility for using our resources is restricted to employees of HNELHD; staff and students from the Faculty of Health from the University of Newcastle; VMO’s and private practitioners.
Access
The collection can be accessed in a variety of ways: items may be used onsite at any of our locations and borrowed by library members. Items considered to be classic texts or the latest editions of core texts have restricted lending conditions. Multiple copies are purchased of items anticipated to be in high demand.
Electronic format material is available to library members with HNELHD internet access at the point of care and in work areas. The value of any electronic resource is decided by the degree of convenient and consistent access available to users.
All HNE Health Libraries web products are supported by HNELHD IT, enabling unhindered access through hospital firewalls. When evaluating electronic resources library staff consider geographical or chronological limitations, copyright, licencing and usage limitations. Library electronic resources must comply with usability and navigation standards.
HNE Health Libraries items are available to all health libraries through the Australian interlibrary loan network, Libraries Australia.
All materials acquired for the library collection are catalogued using the bibliographical standards Resource Description and Access (RDA) and Library of Congress Subject Headings. HNE Health Libraries share an OPAC catalogue with the University of Newcastle Libraries. Access to the catalogue is available at http://library.newcastle.edu.au/
NSW government provides access to web-based information with resources designed to support evidence-based clinical practice, education and research. This Clinical Information Access Project (CIAP) http://www.ciap.health.nsw.gov.au is available to all NSW Health employees and is password protected. Access to CIAP resources is also available via the library website.
Background
This guidelines provides direction for the collection of monographs; online journals and books; electronic databases; multimedia; archival materials; anatomical models and charts and other formats acquired for the library’s collection.
Library guidelines are regularly monitored to ensure that selection and acquisition of new resources supports the information and research needs of all client groups and disciplines within HNELHD. Every effort is made to meet known information needs of HNE Health Libraries clients. Library members are encouraged to suggest items for inclusion in library collections. To make a suggestion for purchase please complete this online form.
All classic prescribed and recommended resources are acquired as high priority and in multiple copies as determined by user demand. To avoid duplication resources available on CIAP are not purchased.
Electronic access to journals is preferred.
Document supply and interlibrary loan services are available to obtain books and journal articles not held within HNE Health Libraries' collections.
Budget
The library budget is allocated annually from the HNELHD operating budget. This budget outlines the anticipated expenditure in maintaining and developing the collection.
Selection principles
Selection is a cooperative activity undertaken mainly by library staff with collaboration for suggestions from library members. The same selection criteria apply to print, electronic and multimedia formats.
In evaluating material for acquisitions HNE Health Libraries are led by three primary considerations
• Relevance of content
• Quality of content
• User potential
Resources must
• contribute to the library’s mission of 'linking evidence with practice' by providing quality information to support the evidenced-based clinical and research needs of the library’s primary clientele
• Have an anticipated or demonstrated demand
• Be published or provided by an author/publisher with a good reputation
• Contain accurate information to support current clinical and ethical practice and be within the library’s budget.
Criteria
• Currency of information
• Intended audience
• Demonstrated demand
• Positive evaluations / favourably reviewed by qualified personnel
• Vendor reputation, service and support assistance
• Availability of full text, images, tables and figures
• Licensing requirements
• Cost of item compared to similar resources
• Citation impact factors considered but not as a sole criterion for selection
Missing or lost books are replaced by the borrower (if known) by the same title or a new edition, or by a new title in the same subject area
Formats
• Monographs including encyclopaedias, dictionaries and bibliographies in print and electronic format
• Electronic resources
• Electronic journals and books
• Multimedia - DVD’s / CD-ROM’s
• Anatomical models and charts
Scope
HNE Health Libraries' collection is exclusively in the English language. No geographical areas are excluded however preferences are given to Australian content with emphasis to materials published within the last 3 years. Relevant Australian historical material is collected. All mediums of material are collected.
Duplication
Related to use and campus demand. Core textbooks are duplicated relative to demand across campus libraries of John Hunter, The Mater and Tamworth. Journal titles are available online so access is facilitated regardless of user location.
Gifts
Donations are accepted from individuals and departments for items that fall within the scope of our collection. Acceptance is conditional upon
• Space considerations
• Potential user needs
• Copyright and any/or purchasing licence caveats
• Physical condition.
All donations must be in good physical condition. Donations become property of HNE Health Libraries: the library reserves the right to display (or not) the item, and to retain or dispose of the donation at the library’s discretion.
Each item is checked against our holdings and if suitable added to the collection. Donations will be acknowledged by a book template placed inside the front cover of the item. Discarded items are disposed of in accordance with the HNE Health Libraries' weeding guideline.
Special Collections
David Wallace Memorial Collection
This is a closed collection of beautifully bound books from ‘The Classics of Medicine Series’ donated to the JH Library by the medical Board of Royal Newcastle Hospital in memory of cardiologist, Dr David Charles Wallace
John Hunter Library has a History of Medicine collection that consists of past circulating texts and donated items that are considered of significant merit. The continued growth and development of this collection depends upon donations and the transfer of items from the circulating collection when their content or historical significance determines such treatment. Also collected are pictorial materials illustrating persons or events of historical significance to HNELHD
John Irvine Hunter Collection
This is a closed collection of John Hunter’s private texts covering his childhood to his career choice in medicine and is housed at the JH library.
The Mater Library has a collection of historical mental health related items reflecting its past history with James Fletcher Library and also historical texts reflecting the current library’s association with the Calvary Mater Newcastle Hospital.
Artefacts from James Fletcher Hospital include a 1900 strait jacket with leather and brass physical restraint and publications : Complete Psychological works of Sigmund Freud; Collected works of C.C. Jung; Writings of Anna Freud; Handbook for mental health nurses (1923) and Psychology of the adolescent (1930). Historical texts from the Mater Misericordiae library include the Treasury of Catholic Doctrine (1915) and a cabinet of catholic information. The Mater library also has small number of historical pathology instruments and an electroconvulsive therapy unit (1995-1965)
Rare Books / Materials
Glass cabinets at the JH library are used to display the Library’s most valuable items. A small historical category is maintained covering the history of medicine, nursing and public health. As well the Library also holds a small special collection of older resources deemed interesting or suitable for health related research projects. These items are borrowable and are usually donated.
Limitations
Pamphlets, conference proceedings, statistics and popular literature are not acquired.
Evaluation
The main selection considerations are content, quality and usefulness. When selection decision involves format choice, practical issues such as access, storage, preservation, bibliographic control, hardware/software and costs are all important/relevant considerations.
The majority of current monograph acquisitions are in print format, supported with a selection of ebooks, however electronic acquisitions are mainly journals and databases. The library reviews its collection on a regular basis to elevate usefulness and possible relocation or weeding of items. The Resources Librarian is responsible for reviewing activities.
Journals / Electronic databases
Subscription renewal depends on the following criteria:
• Subscription cost
• Subject matter – will the acquisition enhance the collection?
• Usage statistics
• Recommendation of faculty departments
• Licensing agreements and level of access
• Ongoing archival access
• Indicators from evaluation tools (Science Citation Index, ISI, and Eigenfactor)
• Completeness of holdings (print version)
• Age - historical value
Monographs / Multimedia
Acquisition depends upon the following criteria:
• Subject matter – will the acquisition enhance the collection?
• New editions
• Price
• Age – refer to the Library’s weeding guidelines
• Departmental or library member request
• Historical value, archival and reference potential and subject significance
• Special features e.g. autographed copies
Preservation
HNE Health Libraries recognises a responsibility to maintain the collection in good condition and to ensure its availability. Monographs are secured and mended/replaced as required. Rare materials are housed in glass cabinets. Security systems have been installed to discourage theft.
Weeding
Weeding of items is vital to maintain the functionality of the library’s collection and ensure it is relevant, and appropriate for HNE Health libraries' client base. Criteria to determine what items are to be weeded and how frequently this process occurs are set out in HNE Health Libraries' weeding guideline.
Review
This guideline will be reviewed every 3 - 5 years by the Resources librarian responsible for this guideline with assistance from the library manager and revised as required.
Subject areas
A simplified conspectus methodology has been created to evaluate the strength of the Library’s collection. This method enables the Library to record, subject by subject, the existing collection and the desired level required for future acquisitions.
The levels of collecting are defined below. Level 0: Out of Scope, the library does not collect in this area
Level 1
|
Minimal
|
Limited coverage of general resources. Collection consistently maintained and systematically reviewed for currency of information. Superseded editions and titles containing outdated information are withdrawn
|
Level 2
|
Basic
|
A collection of up-to-date resources that serve to introduce and define a subject and to indicate the varieties of information available elsewhere. This includes a basic collection of monographs, reference tools, journals and electronic databases. The collection is frequently and systematically reviewed for currency of information |
| Level 3 |
Study
|
A collection that is adequate to support undergraduate and graduate trainees. These resources provide information in a systematic way with comprehensive coverage of the subject. This includes a core collection of monographs, reference tools, journals and electronic databases. The collection is frequently and systematically reviewed for currency of information |
Level 4
|
Research |
A collection that includes the major published source materials required for dissertations and independent research. It includes all important reference works, an extensive selection of specialised journals, monographs and reference tools. Older material is retained for historical research. |
| Level 5 |
Comprehensive |
Collections in a specifically defined field of knowledge that strive to be exhaustive to include all significant works of recorded knowledge, in all applicable languages on a level of intensity that supports “special collection”. Older material is retained for historical research |
| |
|
|
| The conspectus uses a numerical value to assess the collection. Subject areas are graded using a code from 0 (out of scope) to 5 (comprehensive). |
Subject Area
|
Current Level |
Desired Level |
| Anaesthesiology |
3 |
3
|
| Anatomy |
3 |
3
|
| Biochemistry |
2 |
2 |
| Cardiology |
2 |
3
|
| Dentistry |
1 |
1
|
| Dermatology |
3 |
3
|
| Drug & Alcohol |
1 |
2
|
| Emergency Medicine |
3 |
3
|
| Emergency Nursing |
2 |
3
|
| Embryology |
1 |
1
|
| Endocrinology |
2 |
2
|
| Epidemiology |
2 |
2
|
| Ethics |
1 |
1
|
Family Therapy
|
1 |
1
|
| Gastroenterology |
2 |
2
|
| Genetics |
2 |
2
|
| Geriatrics |
3 |
3
|
| Geriatric Nursing |
2 |
3
|
| Gynaecology |
2 |
3
|
| Haematology |
1 |
2
|
| Health Services |
1 |
1
|
| Histology |
1 |
1
|
| History of Medicine |
1 |
1
|
| Immunology |
2 |
2
|
| Intensive Care |
3 |
3
|
| Intensive Care Nursing |
2 |
3
|
| Management |
1 |
1
|
| Medicine |
3 |
3
|
| Microbiology |
1 |
1
|
| Midwifery |
1 |
2
|
| Neurology |
3 |
3
|
| Nursing Theory |
2 |
2
|
| Nutrition & Dietetics |
1 |
1
|
| Obstetrics |
3 |
3
|
| Obstetric Nursing |
2 |
2
|
| Oncology |
2 |
3
|
| Ophthalmology |
3 |
3
|
| Paediatrics |
3 |
3
|
| Paediatric Nursing |
3 |
3
|
| Pathology |
3 |
3
|
| Pharmacology |
3 |
3
|
| Physiology |
2 |
2
|
| Physiotherapy |
1 |
1
|
| Psychiatry |
2 |
2
|
| Psychiatric Nursing |
2 |
1
|
| Psychology |
0 |
0
|
| Public Health |
1 |
1
|
| Radiology |
1 |
1
|
| Renal |
1 |
1
|
| Rheumatology |
1 |
1
|
| Statistics |
0 |
0
|
| Surgery |
3 |
3
|
| Surgical Nursing |
3 |
3
|
| Toxicology |
1 |
2
|
Updated 2 February 2022