Collection Development Principles & Policies

The UC San Diego Libraries collect materials in all formats to support the University's research and instructional program. Primary emphasis is on acquiring current materials and providing access to online resources.

Because UC San Diego is part of the greater University of California System, we are able to exert greater market leverage and benefit from the consortial acquisition of electronic resources via the California Digital Library (CDL). UC and the CDL continually and collectively negotiate for the most economical methods possible for licensing and acquisition of an array of scholarly resources across the disciplines.

As part of the UC System, we have access to the rich holdings of print books and journals located at other campuses and two off-site high-density storage facilities, the Northern Regional Library Facility (NRLF) and the Southern Regional Library Facility (SRLF). These UC-wide collections appear in the Melvyl database, a union catalog of all materials owned by the University of California Libraries.

As an internationally recognized research destination, the UC San Diego Libraries have traditionally collected media as well as current monographs and serials published in print. The publishing world is now in a state of flux and the emphasis has shifted to providing access to scholarly research materials online. To support this shift, UC San Diego Libraries are partnering with Google to digitize materials from our International Relations/Pacific Studies Library and East Asia Collections. In cases when scholarly materials are published in multiple formats, the Libraries prefer to acquire material in one format only in order to make the most effective use of the University's financial resources. Online access is preferred and allows our users access anytime and anywhere. There may be instances where other formats may be more effective, of higher quality, or a better value, and the UCSD Libraries acquire print, microforms, and other non-digital formats to best serve the needs of our faculty, staff, and students.
Preferred Journal Format Policy

One of the key strategic commitments of the University of California, San Diego Libraries is to maximize the use of campus library spaces to provide a variety of study, research, and cultural opportunities. Given that the collections grow by approximately 50,000 physical volumes every year, it is a priority to identify and carefully monitor the print volumes and other collections that remain in the campus libraries.

The UC San Diego Libraries' first priority is to make our materials easily available. Therefore those materials that are needed to support the campus' current academic programs are either accessible online or kept on campus. The factors used to consider in the decision on materials to send to storage include use and circulation, and whether the item is available online. The Libraries have acquired many journal runs and an increasing number of books in online formats and many of these duplicate holdings in the print collections.
Collections & Off-Site Storage Policy

The University of California, San Diego Libraries welcome gifts of selected materials for the collections. Gifts enhance the existing collections of the UC San Diego Libraries and support the commitment of UC San Diego to excellence in research and instruction. Such gifts include personal research papers, datasets, letters, manuscripts, and other appropriate research materials. Outdated textbooks, popular books and magazines, vinyl sound recordings, reprints, commonly available journals, materials that duplicate what is already owned, and materials in poor condition are generally not accepted for the collections.

The UC San Diego Libraries encourage prospective donors, especially those interested in making sizeable donations of materials to first contact the appropriate library subject specialist or the office of the Associate University Librarian for Collection Services. In order to facilitate review, an inventory is always helpful and may be requested. To ensure maximum accessibility to the Libraries' resources, donors are asked not to request restrictions on housing, access, processing, or related matters. The Libraries reserve the right to decline an offer of material that is already held in the collections or that does not meet collection needs.
Donations to the Collections of the University of California, San Diego Libraries