Collections Policies

The development of Library collections at the Emory Libraries is user-centric and aligned with the academic mission. The Libraries aim to develop and steward a diverse and inclusive collection that fosters and supports the teaching and research needs of our various user populations. We support and adapt to new models and modes of scholarly communication to make collections more accessible and engage with our user populations to assess and build these collections.

The Libraries take on a holistic, principled and collaborative approach to collection building while recognizing inherent differences in collection focus.

General and discipline specific collection policies have been developed and revised to guide the work of subject librarians, curators, and informationists who build and manage collections in multiple formats in their respective areas and libraries. This work requires special professional expertise that is necessary for the development of the Libraries' collections. These librarians work extensively with their departments and programs and keep abreast of university initiatives to support new and evolving research emphases and concentrations. The Rose Library, Woodruff Library, Goizueta Business Library, and Woodruff Health Sciences Library each have their respective collection policies, which lay out their distinct collection strategies. Collaboration and dialogue between libraries ensures a holistic approach to building collections for the Emory community.

Our collection policies have grown over the years to incorporate new areas of scholarly dissemination and output, including criteria and parameters for the acquisition and support of:

The general Woodruff Library Collection Management Policy that has as its aim providing library staff with practical and basic guidelines for building for building rich, diverse, and inclusive collections in all formats. The policy is an outline of the library's general collecting principles and processes; again, intended as a starting point for subject librarians who address the collection needs of specific academic disciplines. Woodruff Subject Librarians have individual policies guiding collecting in their respective areas.

There are also policies outlining our approach to determining onsite and offsite materials, acceptance of gifts from the community, and reconsideration of materials in the circulating collection. These policies are included as appendices to the umbrella policy.

A suite of Digital Collections and Preservation Policies outlines Emory's approaches to digital collection building, preservation, and dissemination for Emory Digital Collections.