Collections & Content

Team Mandate

Revised April 19, 2018

Includes the units: E-Resources and Metadata Management, Collections, Acquisitions, E-Learning/Reserves, Annex

Our definition of collections includes:  

• Local collections (purchases, licensed subscriptions, Guelph’s “open collection” contributions to the network) 
• Borrowed collections (through ILL/DD)  
• Networked collections (shared print, consortially licensed digital content, external open Internet content)
• Collections of use: content central to current curriculum and research activities at the University of Guelph
• Collections of record:  Guelph’s contributions to the stewardship of the scholarly record

Our mandate is to:

1. Build and manage “collections of use” that are:
   • Central to evolving curriculum and research activities at the University of Guelph 
   • Easily discoverable and accessible – including AODA compliance
   • Available in a timely manner and responsive to user needs
   • Interoperable with the full range of academic tools scholars and students use in their everyday lives 
   • Constantly evolving as scholarship and the curriculum changes
2. Build and curate print “collections of record” in a small number of areas
3. Build and curate digital "collections of record" in a small number of areas
4. Establish protocols around the full life cycle of collections:  procurement, contracts/licensing, access, troubleshooting, metadata schema, review, preservation, and withdrawal, along with a modified TERMS (Techniques for “EVERY kind of” Resource Management) model to frame our approach to the collections workflow.  
5. Engage in evidence-informed decision making using a variety of sources:
   • Quantitative data
   • Qualitative data
   • University curriculum documents and plans
   • Formal course/program/ assessments
6. Leverage collections resources to support the transition to open access scholarship
7. Implement tools (discovery systems, OER platforms) and services “at scale” to improve effective user access to scholarly collections 
8. Demonstrate the impact of library collections on teaching and research at Guelph 
9. Connect with other teams to:
   • Work collectively on a distributed model of collections
   • Provide metadata expertise to other teams
   • Develop Staff priorities and expertise
10. Negotiate and advocate for the best possible terms (including privacy and AODA compliance) for our users
11. Be prudent fiscal stewards
12. Collaboratively provide outstanding user-focused service

What's new in our collections?

See Collections Updates for all of the latest information about our collections.

Suggest a resource

Can't find a specific resource you need for your research or teaching? Use the New Resource Request form and we will do our best to acquire the item for you.