Collection Development Policy: Biology
  • Subject Librarian(s):
    Frank Kellerman

  • Description of the Academic Program
    From the BioMed site: "Brown has five Biology Departments which comprise
    the largest single discipline for the university. In addition to top quality
    research, biology provides education for undergraduates, graduates, and
    medical students. Biomed researchers are exploring areas that range from
    neural implants that control movement to sleep behavior. Many of the top
    researchers in a particular field are faculty at Brown University's Division
    of Biology and Medicine."



  • Overview of the Collection
    Journals
    Through the last twenty-five years, the numbers and prices of biomedical journals increased greatly. The Library spending could not keep up with that growth. Therefore, the collection lagged behind the needs of faculty and students. The Interlibrary Loan service was expanded and partially addressed the demands. Over the last few years, Library consortial deals with a number of the major publishers in the life sciences have enabled the Library to provide access to a tremendous number of electronic journals. This desktop access to a growing portion of the collection certainly provides improved convenience but also fosters a much greater use of the collection than what was feasible before. Here are several of the important publishers that the Library has made deals with for electronic access:



  • General Collecting Guidelines
    The Library attempts to maintain a RESEARCH level collection. A RESEARCH (Collecting Levels) level collection includes the major source materials required for dissertations and independent research. It also includes important reference works and a selection of specialized monographs. With the heavy reliance on journals in biology, the literature of the faculty and graduate students is also an important literature of the undergraduate life science concentrators.

  • Specific Collecting Guidelines
    • Language: English, original or in translation.
    • Imprint Date: Current imprints. As needed - retrospective materials in support of research needs and replacements to missing or damaged volumes. Infrequent - acquisition of out-of-print material.
    • Types of Material Included: In the near future, the Library will be purchasing an increasing number of monographs and sets in electronic form.
    • Electronic Books/Sets: In the near future, the Library will be purchasing an increasing number of monographs and sets in electronic form.


  • Special Collections
    Lownes Collection of Significant Books in the History of Science contains over three-quarters of those texts recognized by scholars as the great books of science published since the middle of the 15th century. This collection is held at the John Hay Library.

  • Related Collections
    Brown's participation in the National Network of Libraries of Medicine provides an efficient means of obtaining articles from journals we do not own. The resources of the Ivy League institutions' libraries are available to Brown faculty and students via the Borrow Direct service. The Virtual Catalog makes the resources of the participating members of the Boston Library Consortium available upon request. For further information, check with the Interlibrary Loan Office (Phone: (401) 863-2750; Email: sci-ill@brown.edu

  • Selected List of Key Internet Resources