The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) Libraries collection supports the teaching, learning and research activities of the University by ensuring that faculty, students, researchers, and staff have access to a broad and diverse range of scholarly resources, both through its own collection and through resource sharing with other institutions. UWM Libraries’ collection development policy reflects our values and strategies in service to our diverse academic community as an urban, public, research-intensive and access university.
This policy covers the general collections. Archives, Special Collections, the American Geographical Society Library, and Digital Collections have their own policies.
Collection Guidelines
- Develop and maintain high-quality collections in multiple formats that support research and instruction at UW-Milwaukee.
- Conduct regular assessment to optimize the collections within budget constraints.
- Monitor new and evolving areas of scholarship and instruction at UW-Milwaukee and provide resources needed to support them.
- Increase access to information resources through resource sharing and cooperative collection development with other libraries and institutions, specifically within the University of Wisconsin System.
- Facilitate the discovery and publishing of scholarly open access materials.
- Collect materials in accordance with our commitment to UWM Libraries’ DEI Collection Development Statement.
Selection Criteria
- Relevance to UW-Milwaukee research and academic programs.
- High-quality content with scholarly value.
- Cost, including both initial purchase price and ongoing fees, within the framework of available funding.
- Preference is given to resources in electronic format to maximize access. Materials with the least user restrictions are prioritized.
- Recommendations from faculty, staff and students.
- Accessibility for persons with disabilities.
- Titles in support of UW-Milwaukee’s affordable learning goals for students.
- To ensure long-term access, purchase resources when possible and economically feasible rather than leasing them.
- Published works by UWM authors.
Issues Affecting Collection Development
- The UWM Libraries strive to develop a sustainable and affordable collection of resources in the context of escalating cost increases and a limited budget.
- Fiscal limitations necessitate choices between resources and formats rather than obtaining access to all requested resources. Although preference is given to resources in electronic format, when compared to print version of the same resource, the cost is often much higher.
- Publishers and distributors routinely restrict the titles that they make available for libraries to acquire. These restrictions limit our ability to acquire materials for course use.
- In accordance with UW-Milwaukee’s 2030 Research Infrastructure Implementation Team’s recommendation to support Open Scholarship initiatives the Libraries strive to support initiatives like transformative and Subscribe to Open agreements which requires monetary commitments on the part of the Libraries.
- UW-Milwaukee’s dual teaching and research mission necessitates that the Libraries’ collection meets the information needs of faculty and researchers across a wide range of disciplines and provides a broad selection of introductory and mid-level resources to meet curricular needs.
Collection Maintenance
- Print monographs: Most are retained. Duplicate copies, damaged items, and material no longer relevant to UW-Milwaukee programs are withdrawn from the collection. Steps are taken to ensure we follow the UW System Last Copy Retention Guidelines. Older monographs that have not been used for many years may be stored remotely but are still requestable through Search@UW.
- Electronic monographs (e-books): E-books are obtained by the Libraries through licensed and purchase agreements. For purchased e-books, the Libraries are working on ways to ensure permanent preservation of owned content. The Libraries do not have permanent access to licensed e-books; if a book you need is no longer available, please contact the Acquisitions Team.
- Journals: Journals are retained in print or electronic format. If ownership rights to the electronic content are obtained from a reliable publisher or platform, print may be withdrawn.
Resource Sharing and Collaboration
The UW-Milwaukee Libraries are part of the Council of UW Libraries which promotes transparency in collaborative purchasing, leverages buying power, and creates efficiencies by expanding system licensing. Libraries across the UW System have a shared collection of more than 20 million physical volumes and electronic titles to support the research needs of faculty, staff, and students.
The UW-Milwaukee Libraries benefit from Badgerlink, a collection of databases provided by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
The UW-Milwaukee Libraries rely on interlibrary loan to provide access to resources that are not part of our collection.
Gifts
Due to space considerations and the costs of processing gifts, donations of books, journals, and other print content must be preapproved. We are most likely to accept books by UW-Milwaukee authors and currently assigned textbooks. Approved donations are carefully evaluated by the Acquisitions team. Once accepted, the UW-Milwaukee Libraries own the gift materials and may choose to dispose of them. We are unable to return donated materials. Donations that arrive without preapproval will not be accepted.
Monetary donations are welcomed and greatly appreciated.
Revised and updated May 2023