Library Collection Development Policy

Introduction

The Presidency University Library has no comprehensive Collection Development Policy and Information Resource Acquisition Policy. In order to meet the scholarly/academic needs of its students, members of the faculty and other users, it is being felt that a new framework is needed to make Acquisition / Collection Development Process more efficient and transparent. This framework will also help to provide timely and effective service to library users.

A. Book

Book Selection

It has been customary for the faculty and students to take part in book selection in the University. The library staff may also recommend books by observing students needs and also general reference books and those materials not covered by departmental subject categories. Publishers and vendors are increasingly providing electronic lists of titles available for purchase, printed catalogues and other printed announcements to the library and these may be forwarded to the Departments and Centres from time to time. Besides catalogues, book reviews in important magazines and databases are also a basis for recommending books for the library. The library may circulate reviews of books to the departments to keep them informed about new publications.

Limiting Multiple Copies

Multiple copies of only those books which are found to be in great demand may be purchased for the Library. Otherwise, unused/ rarely used titles in multiple copies occupy valuable space. Except the Departmental Library, Science Library / Arts Library section should not buy more than five copies of any books under any circumstance

Ephemeral Resources Selection

Publication with ephemeral value and those whose revised editions are frequently published like Annuals, Directories, Yearbooks, Reports, Swami’s Handbooks, etc., do not carry long-term value (unless these are acquired under special research projects or as part of course materials). These should be purchased from contingent expenditure budgets only (or from special research grants to the investigator) which also would facilitate easy weeding out of these items. The categorization of the documents for their ephemeral value or otherwise be decided by the Library Advisory Committee (LAC).

Theses / Dissertations

Scholars/researchers submitting their final theses/dissertations to the University should submit a soft copy of their theses/dissertations to the library which may be kept in digital institutional repository.

Faculty Publications

The Library may purchase three copies of faculty publications as and when the publications are brought to the notice of the library. The financial sanction for procuring the same may be obtained from the competent authority.

Gifts

Books gifted from major institutions and other individuals may be accepted depending on their utility and physical condition. Gifted books may be accessioned in separate accession register meant for this purpose. Though, at present gifted items are accessioned in the Accession Register for Development Grant in case of Arts Library.

Under no circumstance should a donor be asked to prepare lists and catalogues for the Library. These discourage gifts and breed unfriendly bureaucratic habits.

In case of gifted collection following rules may be maintained.

• The Donor may be requested to send a formal request to the Librarian/Library –in-charge for donating books to the library.
• Utility and physical condition of the gifted books must be judged by the Librarian/ Library Advisory Committee (LAC) before accepting them for the library.
• The Library may issue ‘Acknowledgement’ against the receipt of the gifted books.
• The Library retains unconditional ownership of the gift. Donors are not allowed to return the gifted items at any situation.
• Donor can access his/her gifted material as per extant rules followed by the library.
• If gifted resources are not used for long time or becomes poor in physical condition, the same may be discarded after getting the approval from the competent authority.
• The Donor may stipulate a few conditions (such as stamping the books or using book plates) for consideration of the Librarian / LAC.

Rare and Special Collections

• In rare cases, the Library may acquire, with the permission of the competent authority, old or used books / journals, especially to fill in gaps in multi-volume series.
• The same principle would apply to acquisition of private collections of books / journals.
• The Library may accept manuscripts and ephemera of archival value (including publishers' archives) as gifts, but not bid for these at public auctions.
• The Library may acquire e-resources and machine-readable texts from other repositories / libraries / institutions by exchange and mutual arrangement agreed upon by the authorities.
• The Library might help other institutions microfilm or digitize their resources if and when it is technologically or financially equipped to do so, provided it retains a full copy of the material duplicated. These requests or opportunities would be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Recommendation Process

1. The faculty and students can recommend books and other publications for purchase to the Science Library / Arts Library through Library OPAC, Online Book Recommendation Form linked at library Blog / Facebook / Twitter, or recommendation form (print) available at websites of the library.

2. It is desired that the list of books requisitioned by the faculty for purchase for each Department/Centre may be routed through the respective Deans/ HODs. The requisitions of students can be got approved by the concerned faculty and Dean/HODs. It will be desirable that books relating to semester courses may be sent in with one clear semester’s notice.

Acquisition Process for Printed Books

1. Once the list of books received by the library, the concerned staff of the library would then check for duplication and place the list of recommended books before the Library Advisory Committee (LAC) for its review. Some urgent requirements of books forwarded by the Deans/HODs of respective Schools/ Departments may be purchased with the approval of Chairperson of the LAC or by circulation to LAC members.

2. Once approved by the LAC for purchase, library staff re-checks the library OPAC to eliminate duplicate titles if any, etc.

3. Library then prepares the final list of books and obtains financial sanction for their acquisition from the Competent Authority.

4. The Library may then place orders with approved vendors.

5. The ordering can be done by print, on-line, e-mail, etc., depending upon the convenience of the library with standard terms and conditions.

6. Purchase Orders will be issued by the Librarian/ In-charge-Library/ Acquisition Librarian.

7. Books may be purchased for the library throughout the year rather than once in a year. This is needed to provide effective real time services to the users.

Acquisition Process for Departmental Library

Departmental Libraries may have books which are found to be in great demand / prescribed text books. Rarely used books / Reference books may not be purchased for the Departmental Library, in few and rare cases only. Unused/ rarely used titles in multiple copies occupy the much needed space of library. The limit of multiple copies may follow the below mentioned formula-

Maximum limi t= NP/SX ; N = Number of students in a given semester of a course. P = Maximum number of documents a student can issue. S = Maximum number of subjects are taught for the given semester. X = Least number of prescribed text books required.

However, the final decision on multiple copies may be left to LAC.

HOD in consultation with the concerned Departmental Committee shall recommend books to be purchased for the Departmental Library. All such recommendations must be within the budgetary provision. Allocation of budget for the departmental library would be decided by the LAC.

The list of the recommended books for Departmental Library only would be submitted to the Science / Arts Library. Having received the list, librarian will follow the normal acquisition process. Separate Accession Register for each Departmental Library may be used.

After processing of all the received books / documents, the librarian will inform the concerned HOD/ In-charge of the Departmental Library. HOD/ In-charge of the Departmental Library shall sign the vouchers for taking books/ documents on behalf of the Departmental Library.

In-charge of the Departmental Library will inform the University Librarian time to time regarding the routine activities (circulation of books, stock report, etc), future plans, etc.

In order to provide effective and efficient services from Departmental Library, at least one library professionals may be posted in each Departmental Library. Till there are no adequate library professionals to manage the Departmental Library, it may be the sole responsibility of HOD / In-charge of the departmental library to maintain their concerned departmental library.

University Librarian will take necessary action for betterment of the Departmental Library with the consultation with the concerned HOD.

Acquisition Process for FRPDF Books

Members of the faculty may purchase books from their allocated FRPDF fund, whenever they need books provided that the particular edition of the book(s) is/are either not available with the Library or not in adequate numbers in library to issue to faculty for long term. A due certification from the Library to that effect is needed. Members of the faculty may purchase books either from bookshops or from on-line book stores like amazon.com, flipkart.com etc. using their own credit / debit cards. In such procurements discounts may or may not be available. Sometimes courier / postage charges are also included. The faculty may be reimbursed full amount paid on such transactions on the basis of credit/debit card statement and the bill generated through the online transaction.

Once the books purchased under FRPDF fund are received in the library along with the bills duly signed by the concerned faculty, concerned staff of library will properly accession the books and will certify on the reverse of bills / invoice that the books are accessioned in the accessioned register meant for FRPDF.

The bill should be raised to the following format:

To,

Presidency University

For (Name of the Faculty Member) (FRPDF Fund)

Department

The In-charge/ Librarian / Acquisition Librarian certifies above procedure before forwarding bill to accounts department.

Selection of Vendors and Discount Rate

As indicated in the GFR 2005, Rule 136 the general rules of procurement of goods cannot be applied in the procurement of books, journals etc.

The term ‘goods’ used in this chapter includes all articles, material, commodities, livestock, furniture, fixtures, raw material, spares, instruments, machinery, equipment, industrial plant etc. purchased or otherwise acquired for the use of Government but excludes books, publications, periodicals, etc. for a library”. [The GoI. M.F. OM 23(7)-EII(A)/83 dated 7th Feburary 1984, (GFR 116(2)(1) (1978)), “the position of library books, etc., is different from that of stores”].

The relevant OM is reproduced below:

Librarian (not below the rank of Deputy Secretary to the Govt of India) subject to the powers delegated under Delegation of Financial powers Rules, 1978, may purchase books, etc., from the reputed and standard book sellers on the prevalent terms and conditions. Tenders need not be called for this purpose.”

Thus, in order to speedy, objective, transparent and flexible procurement, the following flat discount rate may be insisted upon on printed/publisher’s price based on the following categories.

Sr. No.	Types of Publications	Discount rate	Handling Charge
1.	Indian Books	20%	0
2.	Foreign Books	15%	0
3.	Government Publication/ Swamy’s Handbooks/ Rules book	0	On request upto a maximum 10%
4.	Society / Institute Publication ( Where any discount from publisher is not available)	0	On request upto a maximum 10%
5.	Publications (Reference/Book, Multivolume) costing more than Rupees ten thousand like Encyclopedia, Dictionaries, etc.	Open tendering for maximum discount

§ In case of foreign books, bank exchange rate/ exchange rate given in national newspapers may be followed.

§ For empanelment of vendors, an open registration route may be followed through open advertisement.

§ Appointment of vendors may be based on their performance like response to the queries, speed of supply, adherence to the terms and conditions, etc.

§ On the basis of service and continuance of vendors will depend on past performance record.

§ There may be cases where the documents/books may be obtained only from specific sources, standard agencies, etc. who may not be registered. In such situation/cases procurement may be done after approval of competent authority.

Bill Processing

Once the books are received in the library along with the bills, the price of each book and discount rates, exchange rates, etc. will be verified by the concerned staff of Library. Entry for each book is made in the accession register which has all the relevant details of a book like its price, publisher, vendor, year of publication etc. Then the bills are processed for payment with the accession nos. entered against each item. The In-charge/ Librarian / Acquisition Librarian certifies above procedure before forwarding bill to accounts department.

B. Printed Journals

1. Recommendations may be received from the various Department/Centres to subscribe/renew the print/e-Journals.
2. Emphasis should be given to acquire e-version of the journals instead of their print counterpart provided the publisher/aggregator agrees to give perpetual access to the subscribed journal for the subscribed period to the PU.
3. The Department wise lists of print/e-journals are compiled and forwarded to the respective Deans/ HoDs before placing them in the LAC meeting.
4. Once the LAC approved the final list of journals, it will be necessary to obtain financial sanction from the Competent Authority to acquire approved journals for the library.
5. The reputed publishers / vendors / suppliers of journals do generally not provide discount, they are available/accessible on printed price therefore, as per Govt. of India General Financial Rules, no tenders, etc. need to be invited and only open registration route will be followed. This is a standard global prevalent practice to avoid any confusion and malpractices, etc.
6. On the basis of service and past records, the review of the suppliers would be done and accordingly renewal of suppliers will be made.
7. After obtaining necessary approval and sanction from the competent authority, the Print/e- Journals will be subscribed/renewed through the subscription agents keeping in view their past service records. Some print/e-journals may also be ordered directly from the publishers.
8. The bills are received from the vendors along with the price proof and the proof of exchange rate which was on the date of remittance to the publisher.
9. The payment for print / e-Journals subscription will be made as per the bank exchange rates existed on the date of billing.
10. The supplementary bills can be accepted in case there are rise in price of the print / e-journals and exchange rate.
11. Each print/e-journal (unless part of bundle items) will be considered as a separate item. The payment of each print/e-journals would be as advance payment. The payment may generally be made from the budget head ‘Journals’ unless competent authority may insists to procure them using other head such as Plan Grant/Project Fund, etc.

C. E – Resources (E-Journals bundle, Database, E-Books, etc)

1. Recommendations may be received from the various Departments to acquire e-resources.

2. Information resources that are updated frequently (mainly periodicals) may be subscribed in electronic format considering cost effectiveness, users’ demand, no. of users, ease of access, existing infrastructure, etc .

3. E-Books may be preferred for prescribed textbooks which may be required in multiple copies in print.

4. The Department-wise lists of e- resources may be compiled and forwarded to the respective Deans/ HoDs before placing them in the Library Advisory Committee meeting.

5. For subscribing the E-Resources emphasis may be given on joining the consortia viz. INDEST, UGC Infonet, etc.

6. In case e-resources are not available through any consortium, publishers of e-resources / vendors / aggregators may directly be contacted for raising the invoice. For bundle or large scale purchase a Negotiations Committee may formed by the Competent Authority to negotiate with the online journals/database dealers/ aggregators about the subscription cost of each database. The tenure of the Committee may be one year with following composition:

1. Chairperson, Library Advisory Committee
2. University Librarian (Ex-officio)
3. Librarian (In charge-E Resources)
4. Senior member from Finance Department (Ex-officio)
5. Members from Department/Centres
6. One Expert Librarian handled E-resources subscription in Consortium / Reputed University.

7. Care must be taken while negotiating with publisher / vendors on the pricing model, access to the back volumes, locking period, perpetual access, archival rights, governing laws, training and awareness programmers, immunity, access to the walk-in-users, usage statistics, simultaneous access, etc.

8. In case of termination of the agreement or on expiry of the agreement, the licensor shall provide the full access to the e-resources for the period of subscription agreement or the prevalent state of art formats i.e. DVDs, CDs, etc., with the retrieval software.

9. After obtaining necessary approval and sanction from the competent authority, the e- resources may be subscribed / renewed with vendor/ publishers. E-resources may be subscribed/renewed through the subscription agents / publishers keeping in view their past service records.

Terms and Conditions for Empanelment of Book Suppliers and Supply of Printed Books

1. Essential Conditions: University Library invites applications in the prescribed format in sealed covers from interested book suppliers fulfilling the following terms and conditions:

i) Suppliers should be members of registered national / state trade federations like AIPB, FPBA, PBSAB, PBSG, DSBPA, etc.

ii) They should be serving libraries of standing like Universities, Government Libraries, national level education and research institutions.

iii) They will be representing subjects, publishers and languages of interest to the Presidency University community.

iv) Publishers vending their own books should be able to produce acknowledgement from the national Library stating that the titles have conformed to the Delivery of Books (and Newspapers) Act.

2. The empanelment shall be for a period of two years, which can be curtailed / enhanced depending upon the requirement. The Library will place orders for supply of books only with empanelled book suppliers. The suppliers empanelled shall visit the PU campus and interact with teachers and academics on a regular basis to assess their requirements, show newly published books and catalogues of their interest and collecting requisitions for purchase of books in the requisition format. They may also be asked to arrange for book exhibitions and displays in the campus as per the University’s requirements. They may also be directed to supply books which the University Library would identify through other channels.

3. Discount Rates: The following discount rates are applicable for purchase of books:

Sr. No.	Types of Publications	Discount rate	Handling Charge
1.	General Books	20%	0
2.	Foreign Books	15%	0
3.	Government Publication/ Swamy’s Handbooks/ Rules book	0	On request upto a maximum 10%
4.	Society / Institute Publication ( Where any discount from publisher is not available)	0	On request upto a maximum 10%
5.	Publication (Monograph/Book) costing more than Rupees ten thousand like multi volume books, encyclopedia, etc.	Quote maximum discount with no handling charge

The discount rates may vary at the discretion of the University authorities and shall be acceptable to empanelled suppliers. Notwithstanding the discount rates so decided, the Library shall have the right to procure books/ publications at a higher rate(s) of discount.

4. Only Bank exchange rate/ exchange rate given in national newspapers on the date of billing are accepted. Any change in policy shall be acceptable to the empanelled suppliers.

5. Receipt of the supply order must be acknowledged by the supplier within a week of receipt.

6. If any title given in the order cannot be supplied by the supplier, it must be informed to the library within a fortnight after receiving the order. Inability to supply the ordered books within a month of the order receipt without intimation to library will attract fines and may cause the termination from empanelment.

7. The publications supplied should be in good conditions without any defects and are not damaged.

8. Only latest and complete (i.e. not abridged or excerpted, except in cases where such abbreviations or excerpts are in circulation as works in their own right; e.g. the Bhagavat Gita) editions are to be supplied, if not otherwise specified.

9. Books, if found duplicate, may be returned even after supply.

10. Bills are to be submitted in triplicate, the original duly signed on a one-rupee revenue stamp. Proof in support of the prices charged i.e., publisher’s invoices/pricelists are also to be attached along with the bill(s) for payment. Wherever price is not available with publisher’s catalogue or not printed in book, only the publisher’s invoice shall be submitted by the vendor in support of price verification. In no circumstances, the copy of the ‘Books in Prints’ or such bibliographical list or third party invoices reflecting the price of the book will be acceptable to the Library in support of price verification.

11. Supplier should certify in the invoice/bill that the latest editions (except emphasized the particular edition) are supplied and current prices are charged.

12. The Purchase Order issued will be valid for only 30 days and the order for books not supplied by the time shall be treated as cancelled.

13. The University Librarian’s decision in all the matters of procurement of books shall be final and binding on all concerned.

14. Mere fulfilment of eligibility conditions prescribed does not entail a supplier to be included in the panel. Decision of the University in all matters related to empanelment shall be final.

15. Incomplete applications will be rejected.

16. The University reserves the rights to change any or all of the above terms and conditions.

17. Legal disputes, if any, shall be settled in Kolkata only.

Terms and Conditions for Supply of Printed Journals

1. Receipt of this supply order must be acknowledged by the supplier within a week of receipt.

2. Proof in support of the prices charged i.e., publisher’s invoices/pricelists are also to be attached along with the bill(s) for payment.

3. While billing for foreign publications, only bank conversion rates are to be applied.

4. Conversion rates, as prevailing at the time of remittance of the subscription charges by the supplier to the publisher supply will apply. A conversion rate certificate along with photocopy of bank draft remitted by suppliers on behalf of the University, to the publishers should also be enclosed with the bill(s).

5. Pre-receipted bill(s) are to be submitted in triplicate, the original duly signed on a one-rupee revenue stamp.

6. The supplier should ensure that the name of our University is entered in the mailing list of the publishers. Whenever the publisher provides free online access when the print versions of the journals are subscribed, the supplier should supply ID no. / IP registration for on-line access.

7. The publications supplied should be in good conditions without any defects and are not damaged.

8. The supplier shall supply to this University the copies of all issues of periodicals as listed in the supply orders within a reasonable time from the date of publication thereof by respective publishers which time shall under no circumstance exceed a period of 45 days.

9. The supplier shall remit the amount of subscription in respect of each periodical to the respective publishers and submit proof of remittance on behalf of PU to the satisfaction of the Vice Chancellor of the University or his representative. For the publications for which publisher does not accept subscription for any reason, and for the subscriptions which are not remitted to the publishers for any reason, the amount shall immediately be refunded to the University but positively within a month from the date of payment to the supplier by the University. Otherwise, interest at double the bank rate prevailing at the time will be charged from the 31 day of the receipt of the payment by the Supplier. In the event of failure on the part of the supplier to start supply of any of the periodicals ordered within 45 days of receipt of the payment from the University and in that case the University decides to obtain the supply of such periodicals from other sources, the extra cost, if any incurred by the University for such procurement shall be paid by the supplier.

10. If any institutional discount, reduction/concession in rates is allowed by the publishers in respect of the said periodicals to any other institute / organisation, the same shall be obtained by the supplier and pass on to the University. The amount of such discount, reduction/concession in rates shall be adjusted through credit memos to be given by the Supplier or the amount shall be paid by the supplier.

11. In the event of loss of copy /copies of any of the periodicals ordered, in transit, intimation thereof will be given by the Library of the University to the supplier within a reasonable time. On receipt of intimation of the non-receipt, the supplier shall on behalf of the University endeavor to obtain:-

1. Replacement of all missing issues without any extra charge, from the publishers thereof or arrange to the proportionate extension of subscription periods as decided by Institute, or

2. Refund of the proportionate cost thereof in case the Institute does not receive replacement copies of such missing issues within a reasonable time.

12. The supplier shall refund to the University full amount, along with interest at double the bank rate, of subscription amounts for the periodicals of which not a single copy is received till the end of the period of contract , if such journals are published.

12. Payment of the bill(s) of the supplier submitted after their remittance to the publishers will be made within a three month of receipt of the bill(s).

13. The University Librarian’s decision in all the matters of procurement of journals shall be final and binding on all concerned.

14. Mere fulfillment of eligibility conditions prescribed does not entail a supplier to be included in the panel. Decision of the University in all matters related to empanelment shall be final.

15. Incomplete applications will be rejected.

16. The University reserves the rights to change any or all of the above terms and conditions.

17. Legal disputes, if any, shall be settled in Kolkata.