Selection Guidelines for Electronic Resources Audio-Visual and Multimedia Materials

Policy adopted August 1996

• Electronic Databases
• Electronic Resources
• Audio-visual Materials
• Microcomputer Applications
• Books with Appended Computer Disks or Audio Recordings
• Mediated Online Searching

The University Libraries provide access to electronic and audio-visual resources through appropriate technology. Many of the electronic resources available to the BGSU community are provided cooperatively through OhioLINK.

Electronic Databases

Any Web-based, electronic, audio-visual, or multimedia resource format may be considered for inclusion in the general collection; these may be indexing and abstracting resources, reference materials, or fulltext or numeric databases. New products which enhance awareness of or accessibility to the University Libraries' current holdings of journals, books, and other resources are given priority. The University Libraries do not duplicate access locally in any format to databases that are identical, similar, or equivalent to OhioLINK databases.

Selection Criteria for Electronic Resources

In addition to the core selection criteria, the following criteria should be considered in reviewing a new electronic database:

• Comprehensiveness: scope, subject coverage, time span, frequency of updates.
• Functionality: Ease of use, quick load time; if Web site, well maintained.
• Quality of indexing, search engine.
• Preservation, storage, and archiving of data; stability of Web-based resource.
• Anticipated number of users, based upon the specific courses that will be served.
• Special attention should be given to authority and currency.
• Type of access, e.g. Web access with authenticated remote access, standalone workstation or specific IP address access only, access by a restricted number of simultaneous users vs. campus-wide access; local network, circulation from general stacks.

Electronic, Audio-Visual, & Multimedia Material

The University Libraries selectively purchases audio-visual materials which meet the core selection criteria.  Audio-visual materials are purchased from monograph funds.  Collection development librarians must balance monograph purchases between books and audio-visual resources according to the needs of the discipline.

In general, DVDs are currently preferred, in the US format.  So long as VHS equipment is available in the library or on campus, VHS tapes may be purchased if DVD is not available and if no copy is available via OhioLINK. 

Audio recordings are not purchased for the general collection.  All audio recordings are housed in the Music Library and Bill Schurk Sound Archives.

University Libraries purchase digital video from Films for the Humanities and Sciences or Ambrose Video for the OhioLINK Digital Video Center.  If the video title is owned by an OhioLINK library, BGSU will purchase the digital rights for $200.  If the title is not owned in OhioLINK, BGSU will purchase the title and the digital rights.  The funds for the video itself will come from the monograph fund.  In all cases, funds for obtaining OhioLINK digital rights will come from the OhioLINK Digital Video Rights fund.  Complete procedures may be found at [link here.]

Computer Applications

The Bowling Green State University Libraries do not purchase or maintain a collection of standard microcomputer applications such as word processing, database applications, or spreadsheets, etc. However, they may acquire college level computer-assisted instruction packages that support the university curriculum. These could include, but are not limited to, tutorials, simulations, drill and practice exercises.

Books with appended computer disks or audio recordings

The University Libraries purchase books with accompanying material on machine-readable disk, audio cassette, or compact disk, where items fall within subject area collection development policies, regardless of the availability on campus of hardware for accessing them.

Books with accompanying disks or cassettes should be located in the collection appropriate to the subject content of the item and may be circulated based on regular loan policies for that collection. These items need not be placed on reserve, unless specifically requested by a professor for class use.

Mediated Online Searching

This policy does not cover librarian-mediated online searching, whether conducted at the reference desk in answer to a reference query or as a fee-based search.