Collection Policy

The Institute on Aging maintains the Information Center collection to support aging related research, education and service in North Carolina. This policy is a guide for the selection of all new resources including acceptance of donations for the Information Center collection.

Overview
The Information Center collection serves a broad range of communities in the state of North Carolina including academia, government, and the service sector. Resources in the Information Center are of interest to researchers, educators and health professionals interested in aging issues.

General scope of collection
The topic of aging spans many disciplines. The emphasis of this collection is the social sciences and the health professions (e.g. Social Work, Public Health, Nursing). To a lesser extent, this collection includes information from the biological sciences.

We attempt to capture "gray literature", such as dissertations and government agency publications, which are often difficult for individuals to locate. To address the needs of researchers, the Center collects some resources on research methods and statistics relevant to studying aging.

Geographic emphasis
The collection is international in scope with emphasis on the United States and Canada.

Specific Subject Areas of Interest
We are especially interested in developing these areas of the collection:

• Diversity and aging
• Long-term care
• Rural aging
• Older workers
• Healthy aging
• North Carolina aging issues and demographics

Formats Collected
The Information Center collects materials in hard copy and/or in electronic format. Electronic format is generally preferred and the Information Center attempts to obtain electronic copies or pointers to items available over the Internet. Audiovisual materials may be collected as appropriate to the content areas of this policy.

Specific Criteria

1. Books -- Emphasis is on current, recently published books. Books about the topics listed above under "Specific Subject Areas of Interest" are a priority. Requests from staff are also a priority.

2. Journals -- Journals are acquired through donation and subscription. Topics should be specifically related to aging. Some electronic journals are also included. Titles that are not already available in libraries elsewhere on campus are most desireable.

3. Newsletters -- The Information Center has a small collection of newsletters from other organizations. These may be discarded after 5 years.

4. Documents & Reports -- These items are either in hard copy as part of the Reports Collection, or in electronic form on the internet (or occasionally both). Generally, these items are final stage publications rather than working papers or drafts. Examples of items included are: committee reports, annual reports, research reports, chart books, fact sheets, etc. Emphasis is on current, comprehensive information from authoritative sources.

5. Web Sites --
Web sites are described and cataloged in our online catalog. These web sites are not owned by the Information Center, but they represent significant resources for users. They are primarily "home page" web sites of an organization or agency. (Note: web sites that consist of a single document, report, etc. are also included, but are treated as Documents & Reports rather than as web sites.)

Web sites selected for inclusion are: aging-related, authoritative and content-rich. The goal is to have a collection of selected, high quality sites. Criteria considered when evaluating web sites include:

• Are the subjects covered directly related to older adults and aging?
• Is the content informative and extensive?
• Is the author and/or agency responsible trustworthy and/or authoritative?
• Is the sponsoring agency/company clearly defined?
• Is the content accurate?
• Is the content current and/or frequently updated?
• Does it appear that the site will be available long-term?
• Is the main goal of web site other than to sell products?
• Is the site freely accessible to all users?
• Is any advertising unobtrusive/minimal?
• Is the site easily navigable?
• Is there a contact name and email?

Recommendations, Gifts & Donations
Users of the Information Center can submit recommendations for the addition of new resources to the collection by sending a detailed email. Recommended materials will be evaluated based on this collection policy. Users are also welcome to donate aging-related materials to the collection. Donated materials will also be evaluated based on this policy before they are added to the collection. Once donated, materials become the property of the Information Center.

Weeding
Weeding is the systematic evaluation of a collection to withdraw materials that are no longer useful. Generally, the same criteria apply to weeding as are used in the selection of new materials. Materials may be withdrawn if they are superceded editions, duplicate copies of seldom-used titles, or are no longer within the scope of the collection.

last updated June 2004