COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY FOR INTERNET RESOURCES:

A. Purpose and Goals of the Policy

The Catonsville Library supports the instructional programs of the Community College of Baltimore County - Catonsville Campus. The library supports the college by providing resources in various formats. One of these formats is electronic resources through the Internet or World Wide Web. By providing these resources through careful selection, the Library will ensure that sites are prominently available, that the students have access to quality and recommended sites, and that the Libraries collections will be enhanced by the inclusion of these sites.

This policy is intended for selection of free sites available over the Internet. For sites requiring fees one should refer to the Collection Development Policy Statement for Electronic Resources for the CCBC Catonsville Library.

B. Criteria for Selection of Internet Resources

The same collection development criteria apply for Internet resources as for the regular collection. In addition to the current policy certain other criteria apply. These are as follows:

1. Evaluating context - Librarians should evaluate Internet resources for context, and ask the following questions:

• Is the subject matter appropriate for the community of users who will use it? It is important to consider the likely audience who will be using the resource.
• Has anyone taken responsibility for the authority of the work? Can you ascertain their credentials? Is the information coming from a reliable source? (Sites not provided by an institution or professional body must be judged by their merit, and should be checked regularly.)
• Are links to other pages valid and useful? Do they lead the user to similar subject matter?

2. Evaluating content - Librarians should ask the following questions:

• Coverage - Is the information provided substantive and adequate? Is there enough pertinent information given?
• Accuracy - Is the information opinion or factual? Can you compare it to a reliable source?
• Currency - Is the resource regularly updated? Is the information current? IS therer a date given?
• Spelling & Grammar - Are words spelled correctly? Is the information well written? Uniqueness - How unique is the site? Is it better than other sites with similar contents?

3. Evaluating access - Librarians should ask the following questions:

• Is the site usually available?
• Is access quick, or is download time consumed with too many graphics?
• Is registration required to use the site?
• Are charges required?
• Are there special requirements?
• Is special software needed to access the information? Are copyright restrictions enforced?
• Is use restricted in any way?
• Is the source in English?

4. Evaluating design - Librarians should ask the following questions:

• Is the site attractive and efficient?
• Is the layout functional?
• Is the design of the site consistent?
• Are there too many graphics, and not enough content?
• Are links maintainded?
• Are navigational aids provided to help the user?

C. Responsibility for Selection

Librarians, faculty, staff, and students will make recommendations to the Library Home Page Committee. The selection criteria will be applied and a final decision will be made.

Selection Tools- Sites will be identified for consideration by searching the Internet through various search engines, consulting traditional selection and bibliography sources for current reviews of Internet resources, and browsing other Library Web Page Holdings.

D. Deselection

Ongoing deselection of Internet resources is necessary for a dynamic Home Page. Sites will be reviewed by the librarians on an ongoing basis for value to the Home Page. Librarians, faculty, staff, and students will also make recommendations for deselection on an ongoing basis. Sites will also be reviewed on a periodic basis for continued access.