COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT

Vision
To be an indispensable reference center for the provision of information materials in the University.

Aim
To provide current, relevant and appropriate information resources both in print and electronic formats to support the university programmes.

Objectives

• Set up an acquisitions policy for collection development
• Select relevant, current and up-to-date information materials
• Acquire information materials keeping a balance in relation to university budget and programmes.
• To automate collection development process to improve efficiency and effectiveness
• Equip collection development staff with relevant skills for automation capacity and capabilities
• Create current awareness of newly acquired materials

The department is divided into three sections:
• Acquisition
• Bibliographic
• Automation

Acquisition section

This section deals with selection,
circulation of catalogues to departments,
compiling orders, placing orders with suppliers,
verification of goods delivered and liaising with
finance for payment of invoices.

Type of Collection Materials

• print
• non-print/electronic information materials

Budget
The total annual library budget for information materials is 10% of the university budget which is worked out and allocated to each department.

Selection
Library professional staff and end-users such as teaching staff, administrative staff and students select the required Information materials for purchase. The selection is from current publishers’ catalogues, book reviews, national bibliographies, booksellers’ lists and internet sources. The acquisitions librarian is responsible for coordinating all selection and ordering processes.

General Criteria for selection
The following criterion is used in material selection:

• Hardcopy editions
• Latest editions of material
• Consideration of new academic programmes
• Relevance and appropriateness of the material for learning, teaching and research.

Donations
The department encourages and accepts donations of Information materials or money for the purchase of the same. However, materials donated are subjected to the same selection criteria as for the new materials.

Replacement
Lost, torn and mutilated materials are not replaced automatically unless such materials are considered essential for teaching and research.

Ordering

• All materials selected are checked in the library catalogue to ascertain existence before orders are placed. Materials are bought from any supplier who has them as long as he/she offers the best price. The suppliers are determined on the basis of efficiency, discounted prices and prompt delivery of materials.
• A maximum of three copies per title of text book is acquired for library use.

Receipt and Processing of Materials
All Information materials received whether purchased or donated in the library are stamped for ownership and accessioned. Periodic accessions list for information materials received are produced and made available to library patrons

Bibliographic section
The section processes through cataloguing and classification all books using the Library of Congress classification schemes. A newer development in this has been use of auto cataloguing module to retrieve data from a collection of libraries which in turn is transferred to LiBRARYSOFT program. This speeds up processing process.

Automation

The library is uses LiBRARYSOFT program to automate its services. The program has the following modules: Acquisition, catalogue, Circulation, OPAC, MARC, Serials and Reports generator.

All purchased books are entered into the catalogue module and bibliographic information is made available to users through the OPAC module.
All patron information is recorded in the patron file and their photos scanned and matched against their profiles.

ELECTRONIC SERVICES DEPARTMENT

One of the fundamental aims of the library’s automation strategy is to improve access to the collections for the readers. Not only is speed considered important in this respect; the manual catalogue with its complexity erects a considerable barrier to the effective retrieval of information. The use of OPACs in the library has revolutionarized access to information

What is an OPAC?

The OPAC (Online Public Access Catalogue) is an increasingly familiar piece of equipment in libraries. It consists of a machine- readable catalogue file interrogated online by the user through a vdu(Visual Display Unit) or terminal using what computer specialists are fond of describing as a User- friendly interface. This means a set of program or software designed around a menu displayed on the vdu screen.

From the OPACs users may select from a limited range one of a number of types of catalogue search. These catalogue searches may be by the-:

(a) Author
(b) Title
(c) Date
(d) Publisher
(e) Subject index terms
(f) Combination of all

The user receives relatively little instructions purposely designed to be as simple as possible for them to be able to follow and be self contained as possible.
Such systems are advantageous to the user. To the librarians such systems

1. Reduce the necessity encountered in conventional online search services of having to act as an intermediary between the user and a complex system.
2. takes a shorter time
3. Gives the user an opportunity to see other works by use of key words

Kemu library has installed OPACs in the three floors-:

(a) Ground Floor - 4 (b)1st Floor - 2 (c) 2nd Floor - 2

Services offered at the department

• Electronic searching
• Surfing
• Printing
• Typing/typesetting
• Sale of diskettes/CDs

Electronic and information service department also runs a program known as the:

PROGRAM FOR ENHANCEMENT OF RESEARCH INFORMATION (PERI)

PERI is a program which was developed through the initiative of International Network for the Availability of scientific publications (INASP). PERI aims to support capacity building in research sectors especially in developing countries. It strengthens the production, access and dissemination of information and knowledge. As an information provider PERI is coordinated by local organizations and guided by local demands. As a result, it brings together libraries, government, research institutions, academia, development agencies, commercial and non commercial publishers, editors, trainers and other information providers. PERI electronic journals and databases have an increased recognition for the vital role they play in promoting information and knowledge which impacts on social-economic and political development in a country and also for its potentiality of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) within it.

In the year 2004, Kenya Methodist University showed its interest by registering as a member of the Kenya Librarians and Information Services Consortium (KLISC). The initial registration fee is Kshs. 5,000, and an annual subscription of Kshs. 10,000 for administration purposes. Thereafter, subscribing institutions share the cost of subscription which differs depending on the nature of the subscribing institution. Being a member of the consortium KEMU continues to subscribe for electronic journals annually to supplements the print and non print information and other available resources in the library. PERI has cut down the cost of the university’s budget in its efforts to provide for all printed journal requirements per every course taught. There are over 80000 electronic journals availed through PERI.

KLISC has proved to be an extremely cost effective cooperative venture that provides prompt access to current quality information from electronic journal publishers such as the Emerald, Oxford, Blackwell’s Synergy, African Journals Online, etc., Kenyan educational and research institutions have found the consortium to be particularly valuable as the KLISC initiative has addressed the information gap that was experienced for a long time in our educational and institutions in terms of shortage of, or lack of current journal literature to facilitate research and learning. Kenya Library Association (KLA) has continued to play an active role in the consortium since its inception, and encourages the members to enlist and pay up their subscriptions.

PERI Website: www.inasp.info.

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USER SERVICES DEPARTMENT

Mission
To ensure user needs satisfaction through customer care oriental services

Vision
To be a service center whose role is that of a spatial pivot and intellectual symbol of the University

Objectives of User services Department
• To develop a User Services Policy
• To facilitate easy and quick retrieval of information materials, both manual and electronic procedures.
• To strike a balance between the closed shelf and open access
• To give convenient loan period for service
• To automate the circulation services for efficiency.
• Ensure security of library information materials.
• To provide effective referral services to users
• To ensure effective resource sharing is achieved
• To develop a user education program.
• To create equitable access to information materials in the library.
• To offer services indiscriminately to all users.

Sections within User Services

• Circulation
• Reference and information
• Security
• Luggage

Services offered within the Circulation Desk

• Charging and discharging of information materials
• Reservation
• Short loan
• Overdue fines and charges
• Resource sharing
• Maintenance of loan records
• Stock management
• Sign and sign posting
• Compilation of user statistics
• Statistical analysis

 

• User education/ guidance
• Selective dissemination of information (SDI)
• Current awareness service (CAS)
• Compilation of reference and information

Other functions of User Services Department
• Library registration
• Oversee general cleanliness of the library
• Preparation of the duty rooster
• Organizing shifts
• Organizing staff leave rooster

This department comprises of the

(a) reference and information section and

(b) the circulation services section.

Reference and Information Section.

This is the section that addresses all aspects of reference work. The section is charged with user registration, issuance of borrower’s tickets and conducting user education for the purpose of equipping the library users with skills that enable them to locate information resources in the library, retrieve them and make use of them.

This collection comprises of dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, Who’s Who, directories, year books, Guinness Books of Records etc. All reference Materials are for use within the library only and they should never be taken out of the library.

Circulation services section
The circulation section offers the following services: lending information materials from both the short-loan and general collection, resource sharing through Inter- Library Loan Service, reservations, renewal and recall of borrowed materials, compilation of users’ statistics, weeding of the library collection, preparation of materials for binding, shelving of the returned books, sending overdue reminders to the users, compiling lists of overdue materials, collecting overdue fines, Online search through OPAC and Current Awareness Service through display of newly acquired information materials on display shelves and notice boards.

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PERIODICALS DEPARTMENTS

Vision
The periodicals department of Kenya Methodist is established to provide the users with primary sources of information in order to facilitate teaching and research.

Mission
The Periodicals department strives to fulfill the mission of educating the KEMU community through selection, organization and providing access of current periodicals and journals.

Objectives
1. Develop policy for periodicals department to act a guide on selection and acquisition.
2. The next primary objective of the periodicals department is providing primary sources of information for its users such as journals, local and foreign magazines, news papers and periodicals.
3. Another objective is maintaining the library's active subscriptions through selection of appropriate and relevant journals/periodicals.
4. To make the library's periodicals available for use by KEMU faculty, staff and students through loaning services of journals and periodicals.
5. To facilitate use of the library's periodicals by maintaining good order and convenient arrangement in the periodicals collections.
6. To preserve all periodicals, both active and inactive, for the periods determined by the library policy.

Services at periodicals department

The following are the services provided at KEMU library Periodicals Section they include:
1. Browse current & bound periodicals.
2. Borrow & return periodicals.
3. Getting help on locating a periodical in the Library.
Types of Materials

There are several different types of materials in the Periodicals Department.

1. Newspapers- The library subscribes to a number of daily news papers. They include: The Daily Nation, The Standard, Taifa Leo, The Daily Monitor, Kenya Times and People.

2. Journals – The department subscribes for scholarly journals, substantive news or general interest journals, popular journals and sensational journals.

Borrowing of materials
Academic staff and research staff/students may be allowed to borrow a journal for a period of two hours at the discretion of the periodicals department. The students are required to submit their short loan card or student ID, while staff are required to submit their library card.
Arrangement of Journals & Magazines
Journals and Magazines are arranged alphabetically alphabetically in the pamphlet boxes.

Formats of materials
All the journals and periodicals at KEMU library are in paper format.

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