Introduction
This policy governs the development and management of the Limited Circulation Collections of the University Libraries. Related policies for the Rare Books Collection, Special Collections, and audiovisual collections should also be consulted.
Purpose of the Collection
The Limited Circulation Collection (LCC) consists of library materials in print format whose special characteristics require restricted and monitored public access and use. An item is generally included in the LCC because of its value, scarcity, or susceptibility to theft or mutilation. Materials included in the LCC are not within the collecting scope of other specialized, non-circulating collections, such as Rare Books. Materials for which patron access must be restricted because of the fragile or deteriorating physical condition of the item are managed by and housed in the Preservation Office.
Selection Responsibilities
Selectors are primarily responsible for determining the LCC as a location for materials according to designated areas of responsibility as identified in the Library of Congress and Dewey Decimal classifications. Any library user or staff member may recommend items to selectors for inclusion in the LCC.
Selection Guidelines
Selectors may locate an item for inclusion in the LCC if it meets one or more of the criteria listed below.
(1) Security. The item is susceptible to theft or mutilation and cannot be replaced. Included are materials whose format prevents processing for detection by the Libraries' security system. Examples include portfolios, loose-leaf items (non-continuing), art reproductions, and drawings. Also included are materials whose content or presentation make them susceptible to theft or mutilation. Examples include works which are heavily illustrated or have other attractive features.
(2) Maintenance. The item is difficult to maintain in the open stacks because of its size, packaging, or format. Examples include books too large for oversize shelving or too small to maintain securely on the shelves.
(3) Market Value. The item is extraordinarily expensive as compared to the average price of a book in the discipline. An item whose price is ten times the average price of a book in the discipline is a candidate for the Limited Circulation Collection.
(4) Intellectual or Artifactual Value. The item, while not extraordinarily expensive, may be scarce and of unique bibliographic importance in the discipline, or the item may be significant as an artifact.
Selection Procedures
(1) Selection. Selectors select materials for library collections according to the respective collection management policies for the disciplines and designate the location, limited circulation, based on the criteria cited above. Selectors should select conservatively for the LCC with sensitivity to problems inherent in servicing and managing such a collection. The chief Rare Books librarian or the Preservation Officer and Conservator may select materials for transfer into the LCC based on their value as artifacts.
Selectors identify limited circulation items for current orders as well as items already in the collection. For both processes, a Limited Circulation Collection Location Request is used to facilitate decision-making and processing. The LCC Location Request, attached, requires identification of the item, justification for its location in LCC, and recommended loan period.
(a) Current Selections: For a current order which is a candidate for the LCC, the selector should note on the order card that he or she desires to be notified when the item is received in order to evaluate its location status. After reviewing the item and determining that it should go to the LCC, the selector completes a LCC Location Request to be routed to the supervising bibliographer for approval. Otherwise, the item goes to the open stacks.
(b) Retrospective Selections: For materials already in the open stacks determined to be more appropriately located in the LCC according to the criteria cited above, a LCC Location Request is completed to be routed to the supervising Bibliographer for approval.
(c) Artifact Selections: For an item determined to have artifactual value, the chief Rare Books librarian or Preservation Officer, after notifying the selector for the area, routes the LCC Location Request to the head of circulation. Accompanying the form will be a typed statement of value and condition tipped inside the front cover.
(2) Selection Approval. The LCC form is completed and routed to the supervising bibliographer. If the bibliographer approves the transfer of the item into LCC, he or she routes the form to the head of circulation who reviews the request.
(3) Item Processing. The circulation head, working with the LCC Location Request, arranges for the removal of the item from the stacks; the physical processing of the item; the entering of sublocation on the holdings record; the shelving of the item in the Limited Circulation Collection, and the return of the LCC Location Request to the Bibliographer. Items selected by the Rare Books librarian or Preservation Officer because of their artifactual value will be processed by the Preservation Office.
(4) Collection Review. In May and June of every year, selectors review items in their subject areas housed in Limited Circulation to evaluate whether this sublocation is still essential. Materials selected for their value as an artifact will be evaluated for retention in this location by the Preservation Officer or chief Rare Books librarian.
Addendum (6/24/96)
I. Assignment
POLICY
The Paged Collection consists of library materials, in print or multiple format, whose special characteristics require restricted and monitored public access and use, and is housed as staff-access-only near the general collection. An item is generally included in the Paged Collection because of its value, scarcity or susceptibility to theft or mutilation. Materials included in the Paged Collection are not within the collecting scope of other specialized, non-circulating collections, such as Rare Books.
The Paged Collection differs from the "Limited Circulation Collection" that has now been incorporated into remote storage. The Paged Collection by its very definition must be close to the actively circulating collection in order for staff to retrieve on demand for the waiting patron.
PROCEDURE
The "LCC" Location Request is to be used in the same way for the Paged Collection selection. Working with the LCC form, the supervising bibliographer approves the transfer or initial assignment of an item into the Paged Collection, and subsequently routes the form to the Chair of Access Services, who reviews the request and determines if there is sufficient space to accommodate this "valuable but not rare" material.
A system location/sublocation of MAIN/PAGE supplements the MAIN.LTDC designation for the dead storage collection, and is to be used exclusively for these active paged collection materials. The display name is "Paged Collection - See Circulation West".
II. Monitoring
POLICY
Paged Collection materials are designated such because of security, maintenance problems, market value or intellectual/artifactual value, and thus require timely reassessment of these qualifications, which may change or be deprioritized over time. The public use of these materials while assigned to the Paged Collection has to be monitored.
PROCEDURE
In May and June of every year, selectors review items in their subject areas houses in the Paged Collection to evaluate whether this sublocation is still essential. The attending Access Service staff reviews each paged Collection piece before it circulates and when it is returned.