COLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY
Collection Development Department (CDD) at the main campus in Meru will acquire both print and electronic information materials (IMs) to meet needs of the university teaching, learning and research programmes. More specifically, however, as a matter of policy, CDD will be guided by several policies in each of the processes carried out by the department. For purposes of this document, Acquisition will embrace: Selection, Ordering and Processing activities.
1. SELECTION
Selection of (IMs) will be performed both at the main campus in Meru as well as in the satellite center libraries independently. This is so because lecturers are crucial in selection of the most relevant and current (IMs) for the programmes being carried out in each trimester.
Circulate catalogues from National Bibliographies, Publishers and Booksellers to the academic staff to indicate (IMs) considered relevant and current for the respective programmes. CDD will also access internet sources for E-IMs. Hence, the same procedure will apply to Satellite Center Libraries (SCLs) and the Audio Visual (A-V) Department.
i) Compile the selected titles per subject. SCLs will email the lists to CDD to
• Check on possible duplicates
• Confirm availability of funds as per the current budget
• Balance orders vis a vis departmental budgets
ii) CDD will place orders with suppliers indicating the recipient Library, with full postal addresses to enable the supplier send the parcel(s) direct to respective Libraries. This means that SCLs will receive parcels of the IMs they selected direct from supplier.
iii) Academic Departments should be requested to appoint a lecturer to liaise with the library in the selection process. The CDD staff will hand-over catalogues to and collect them from the lecturer. It is this lecturer who will circulate the catalogues to his colleagues, collect and submit them to the library after selection has been made by the subject specialists.
iv) CDD will coordinate all the selection process both on the main campus and SCLs submit compiled lists for ordering.
v) Donated IMs will also go through the above selection process to retain only the relevant IMs.
2. ORDERING
i) Arising out of the analysis undertaken by the library on 31st July, 2006, regarding pricing of books bought from USA and UK, either direct or through the Kenyan suppliers, it was revealed that UBS, India charges much lower prices. Hence, the university decided, as a matter of policy, to order all books published overseas from UBS, India.
ii) Locally published books will be acquired from any Bookshop and or Publisher who has it (them) without discrimination or favour. As long as they have the IMs suitable to KEMU’s programmes, we buy. Local suppliers will be used on the basis of their business efficiency, Customer friendliness, discounted prices and prompt delivery of IMs.
iii) CDD will place an order of 3 copies of each title for the main campus library BUT only ONE or TWO for respective Satellite Center Libraries where necessary.
iv) Order soft copies, the most current and relevant unless otherwise stated.
v) In acquiring these IMs, guidelines by the Commission for Higher Education (CHE) on acquisition of IMs for Universities will be adhered to.
vi) CDD will specify to the supplier to whom the parcel of IMs should be mailed.
vii) CDD will communicate effectively with respective stakeholder to avoid ambiguity and unnecessary delays.
3. RECEIPT OF PARCELS
Following the above laid down procedure, each library will receive their ordered IMs direct from suppliers unless otherwise stated.
i) Before opening parcels, confirm that they are meant for your library.
ii) After opening parcels, confirm the contents in terms of: Number of I.Ms as listed on the packing list and their physical condition.
4. PROCESSING
Processing of IMs at KEMU involves:
Manual Processing
Assign ownership marks including secret page stamp
Enter the IMs in the accession register
Catalogue and Classify the IMs using international standard tools:
o Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules AACR2
o Library of Congress Classification Scheme Schedules
o Library of Congress List of Subject Headings
o Library of Congress Filing Rules
o Cutter tables
Spine marking
Display for Current Awareness Service (CAS) before IMs are shelved
Automated Processing
In a KEMU fully automated library:
Standard tools used are:
Reliable electricity power supply
New computers with internet connectivity
Installation of the Library Soft Program
Installation of Auto Cataloguing keys
Assign ownership marks, manually, including the secret stamp
Auto cataloguing
Accession register
Catalog module – Data entry
Classification
Spine and bar code fixing
Display for CAS before IMs are shelved
Compile and distribute Accessions Lists to users regularly for CAS .
5. Funds for the Library IMs
International Standards for University Libraries recommends that the annual budget for a university library should be 10% of the university overall budget.
Subsequently, the Commission for Higher Education (CHE) further recommends that the minimum collection for a university shall be 30 volumes per full time students for the first 5,000 …. Taking that KEMU has a current enrollment of 2,000 then by simple interpretation therefore, this means:
30X1, 000 This calculation gives about 6 books per student.
5,000
Since libraries at satellite centers are used by the part-time students, i.e. mainly after work; from 4.00p.m to 8.00p.m= 4 hours, by calculation, this is appropriately one quarter of the full-time library usage.
Since a full-time student should be provided with 6 volumes, then a part-time student should be provided with 6 x ¼ volumes= 2.5 per student.
Arising out of this calculation, the following is the number of books to be provided annually to each center depending on student annual enrollment
Nairobi 1027 x 2.5 = 2568 volumes per year
Nakuru 118 x 2.5 = 295 “ “ “
Nyeri 64 x 2.5 = 160 “ “ “
Mombasa 44 x 2.5 = 110 “ “ “
It should be understood that most programmes in the satellite centers are in business and Education whose book prices average Kshs. 1, 500 each, yet most books in Health Sciences and other science related subject books offered at the main campus their prices average each Kshs. 2,500 and above.
Arising out of this calculation, the average budget for each center shall be:
i) No of enrolled students x no. of books per student (2.5) x Kshs. 1500
On the other hand, the average budget for the main campus shall be:
i) No. of enrolled student x no. of books per student (6) x Kshs.2, 500
Therefore, the annual budget for 2007 is:
i) Main Campus 1011 x 2500 x 6 = Kshs. 15, 165, 000
ii) Nairobi center 1027 x 1500 x 2.5 = Kshs. 3, 851, 250
iii) Nakuru 118 x 1500 x 2.5 = Kshs. 442, 500
iv) Nyeri 64 x 1500 x 2.5 = Kshs. 240, 000
v) Mombasa 44 x 1500 x 2.5 = Kshs. 165, 000
Total Kshs. 19, 863, 750
ELECTRONIC SERVICES POLICY
The electronic department is open for service to all the university community as a matter of policy and offers normal cyber café services but at very heavily subsidized charges.
AUDIO VISUAL SERVICES POLICY
1. The department offers open access policy
2. Lends out most of the information materials to users
3. Acquisition is centrally through collection development department
4. Process information materials using the integrated library soft program and the library of congress classification scheme
PERIODICALS DEPARTMENT POLICY
1. A set of each daily newspapers is retained in the department for binding
2. Press cuttings are made selectively on subjects relating to KEMU programmes and bound for use.
3. All daily newspapers are bound for posterity
4. All periodicals ( journals & magazines) are bound for future reference
USER SERVICES DEPARTMENT
1. All information materials are shelved before 9.30 am to enable users locate needed resources
2. The department offers open access policy which is supported by OPAC in locating required information materials
3. The bulk of the information materials are for lending with a very small fraction for short loan service
4. An effective and current reference service is provided on a wide range of subjects
5. Lending period ranges from two weeks for undergraduates to entire trimester for other categories of users to avoid unnecessary over dues
6. Every registered user is issued with a copy of the library rules and regulations
