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Geological Sciences
Collection Development Policy
Purpose of the Collection
The purpose of the Geology collection is to develop a research level collection and to support
the instruction and research activities of the Department of Earth Sciences and research institutes
which investigate the Earth sciences.
The university awards bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees in the geological sciences.
Scope of Coverage
Subject Areas: Geological sciences address the study of the Earth and Earth systems including
rocks and minerals, geochemistry, geophysics, paleobiology, tectonics and volcanology, planetary science,
marine science and other related fields.
Languages: Although English language materials are preferred, materials in other languages are
also acquired when an English translation is not available.
Date of publication: The emphasis for collecting will be on current materials, although older
materials in geological sciences remain relevant to research in the field.
Geographical areas. Emphasis is placed on the geology of California and the Western United States.
Publications on regional geology for other areas is also collected. Materials on planetary geology may also
be of interest.
Types of Materials
The following types of materials are acquired: serials, monographs,
technical reports, audiovisual materials, selective proceedings/transactions.
Reference materials, research monographs, and academic journals have a high priority in
acquisition. North American university press titles are received on approval.
Government publications from the federal and California state governments are acquired
by the respective Government Publications librarians; increasingly,
these publications are made freely available on the web. Both
scholarly and mainstream works from academic and trade publishers are acquired.
Textbooks are acquired minimally, especially at the lower division level.
The following types of material are not ordinarily purchased: reprints;
selected works when the Library owns the collected works; collections of
reprinted articles; minor revisions; unpublished theses and dissertations;
proceedings/transactions unless they are on a topic of current interest.
Generally, hard copy is acquired for monographs unless available only in another format.
To maximize limited resources, journals and indexes and abstracts are increasingly acquired in electronic format
only, so long as they have reliable and perpetual access. In addition to the
criteria used for judging print materials (authority, content, etc.), other
factors are considered. These include:
- Method of access
- Availability: access to the entire campus is preferred to library-only access
- Licensing requirements
- Availability of, and perpetual access to, archives
- Quality of illustrations compared to the paper version
When necessary, microforms may serve as appropriate preservation media.
Other Resources
System-wide Resources:
UC libraries contain extensive collections in the geological sciences and related fields. Resources not owned by
the UCSB Libraries are most often readily available via interlibrary loan from other UC libraries; ILL is used
heavily and is monitored to provide insight into collection areas requiring increased attention. If the
demand is of a continuing nature, the material is considered for acquisition.
Consortia and Cooperative Agreements:
When possible, consortia and cooperative agreements are used to augment collections, primarily
through the California Digital Library. UCSB actively works with other University of California
campuses to pool resources, negotiate purchases, and share materials. Research in Geology is enhanced by
several key UC CDL-supported databases in the sciences.
Related Collection Development Policies:
Given the interdisciplinary nature of geology, there is
considerable consultation with other science collection specialists for
acquisition of resources relevant to this field of study.
Author: Annie Platoff.
Policy Last Updated: August 2007
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