Books

The Medical Center Library (MCL) makes monograph selections that support the mission of the Duke University Medical Center (education, biomedical research, and patient care) and its various programs, services and areas of excellence. The Library's Collection Development Committee meets monthly to review potential electronic and print book titles to add to our collection. Criteria used to determine appropriateness for our collection include scope of subject areas, quality and authoritativeness of writing, circulation statistics of previous editions, and whether we've purchased sufficient titles in recent years in the subject areas.

Collection Development Policy - Books/Monographs

For more information, contact Karen Grigg, Associate Director, Collection Development Services, at (919) 660-1122 or grigg012@mc.duke.edu.

Journals

MCL has a six-member Journal Review Committee that evaluates journals for addition to the collection. New titles must be indexed in MEDLINE or CINAHL, the nursing and allied health index. Electronic access should be available campus wide from a reliable site. Selection criteria include the ISI Journal Impact Factor, number of Duke authored papers published, and cost. Although budget constraints usually limit the Library's ability to add journals without canceling existing subscriptions, the Committee does welcome suggestions for new titles.

Collection Development Policy - Serials

For more information, contact Emma Cryer, Electronic Resources and Serials Manager, at (919) 660-1140 or emma.cryer@duke.edu.

Electronic Resources

The Library's Electronic Resources Committee (ERC) evaluates electronic resources for addition to the collection and for ongoing renewal, including information management tools, electronic journals, databases, reference tools, teaching/education materials, textbooks, electronic book collections, and free Internet resources. The ERC uses a systematic, data-driven approach to evaluating resources and considers factors such as cost, coverage, currency, and authority. The Library prefers to obtain site licenses that support an unlimited number of users, but when that is impractical, the number of simultaneous users supported by the system must be sufficient to meet the needs of the Medical Center and University community. Our goal is to license products that are accessible to the entire health system when cost permits. We periodically and systematically review titles to compare our holdings with other products in the marketplace, and often use patron participation and feedback in the review process.

Collection Development Policy - Electronic Resources

For more information, contact Karen Grigg, Associate Director, Collection Development, at (919) 660-1122 or grigg012@mc.duke.edu.

Website Subject Guides

All sites listed in the Library's Subject Guides have been reviewed by our professional library staff and meet basic quality requirements concerning authority, currency, purpose, etc. Staff frequently review or benchmark against other sites developed by libraries and other groups specializing in particular areas.

For more information, contact Hattie Vines, Information & Education Services Librarian, at (919) 660-1125 or vines001@mc.duke.edu.