COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY
for the
Claremont Colleges Digital Library
Under the auspices of the Claremont Colleges Library’s Center for Digital Initiatives
(CDI), the Claremont Colleges Digital Library (CCDL) provides access to historical and
visual resources collections both created by and for the Claremont Colleges community.
The primary collection responsibility for the CCDL is to develop electronic content that
serves and is freely available to the Claremont Colleges community. Collections will be
built using content produced by digitizing analog content or collecting existing digital
content for research and/or teaching by the Claremont Colleges community. The
following considerations will guide collection development for the CCDL:
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The audience for the proposed collection
The current Claremont programs and faculty that are to be supported by the
proposed collection
The resources available to support the audience and programs
Purpose of the Claremont Colleges Digital Library
The intent of the CCDL is to collect, preserve and share the historical, cultural, and
educational output of the Claremont Colleges (TCC).
The following is an abbreviated list of the functions and purposes of the CCDL:
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Support learning, teaching, and research
Build online collections from TCC cultural, historical, teaching, and research
materials
Increase visibility and impact of TCC cultural, historical, teaching, and
research collections
Facilitate discovery of content
Strengthen partnership between content creators/providers and content
managers
Enable re-use and re-purposing of content
Facilitate digital asset management
Organize information to allow effective content management and access
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Audience: The audience of the CCDL consists of anyone with an internet connection and
the interest. The audience of focus for the CCDL is Claremont Colleges faculty, staff, and
students.
Collections: Collections may be nominated for digitization by any interested party
affiliated with the Claremont Colleges by submitted the CCDL Collection Proposal
Questionnaire to the Center for Digital Initiatives.
CCDL Participation: Collections nominated for digitization and/or inclusion in the
CCDL will be judged based on the following criteria.
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Mission. The CCDL facilitates learning and transforms scholarship by providing
the technological infrastructure for disseminating teaching and research materials
to students, faculty, staff, and scholars. CCDL collections are safely preserved for
posterity. Proposed materials or collections must conform to the mission of the
CCDL. They must be created or collected by a member of the Claremont Colleges
community and/or be related to the culture and history of the Claremont Colleges.
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Restrictions. Materials that are restricted by the donor or other owner will not be
digitized unless permission can be obtained.
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Copyright. Materials that are clearly in the public domain will be given priority
for digitization. Where public domain status is questionable, a decision will be
made on a case-by-case basis. When materials are under copyright restrictions,
they will not be digitized unless permission is obtained.
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Documentation/Description. Materials or collections that are completely or
partially described, captioned, labeled, processed, or cataloged will be given
priority for digitization. Other instances will be handled on a case by case basis
depending on factors such as the type and depth of description required, need for
research, etc. Materials or collections with no input for description will not be
digitized.
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Accessibility. Materials that are hard to access due to preservation concerns or are
only available to a limited audience due to security/physical access restrictions
will be given priority for digitization.
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Use. Materials that are heavily used by faculty, researchers, students, or staff will
be given greater priority for digitization. This includes both analog and born
digital materials.
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Diversity. Materials that represent the cultural, political, social, geographic,
and/or economic diversity of the Claremont Colleges will be given priority.
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Value. Materials that have high research, artifactual, or evidential value and/or
are of particular interest to a key audience will have high priority for digitization.
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Potential for Added Value. Materials for which access will be substantially
improved by digitization and which have a high potential for added value in the
digital environment will be given priority. Examples of added value that the
materials may lend themselves to include:
o Creation and/or addition of supplemental resources to allow users to better
understand, navigate, and use the collection
o Linking intellectual or structural content
o Virtual collections of materials based around a creator, topic, subject, or
similar theme
o New metadata, description, and finding aids in electronic form
o The ability to search through the creation of electronic text
o New methods to use or analyze the originals
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Duplication of Effort. Materials that are publicly available in digital form
elsewhere at a level of quality that meets the needs of the audience of the CCDL
will not be digitized.
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Cooperative Potential. If the materials have the potential to be related to others
held by different repositories or organizations, including materials already
digitized or being considered for digitization, the priority for digitization is higher
if it is likely that a cooperative or multi-collection digitization initiative may result
and the Claremont Colleges will be benefited.
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Availability of Local or Additional Resources. Following on cooperative
potential, if a repository or other organization can provide support in the form of
staff time, equipment, or funding - especially at a local basis - to digitize materials
to the standards required by the Claremont Colleges Library those collections may
be given greater priority to take advantage of these opportunities.
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Technology. Materials for which appropriate technology, processes, and best
practices already exist for digitization will generally have priority. Projects that
explore or require implementation of new technologies will be considered
depending on the availability of resources and funding.
Selection Criteria for Digital Materials and Projects:
1. Materials are not available from another network accessible digital repository or
through digital commercial publications.
2. The materials in the collection are processed and adequately described.
3. Audience is identifiable and sufficiently broad to warrant project costs and efforts.
4. Digitization of materials fulfills a preservation, accessibility, curriculum, research
or information need.
5. Materials must conform to current technical standards for digitization as
established by the CDI Collection Development Working Group.
6. Materials will be freely available to students, faculty, and the general public.
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7. Funding support is available for reformatting, metadata creation, file storage and
other special costs associated with the project.
8. Sufficient personnel are available to complete the project on time.
9. Metadata must conform to standards established by the CDI Metadata Working
Group.
Submission Forms
Claremont Colleges Digital Library Collection Proposal Questionnaire
Ownership
CDI does not claim ownership of materials (i.e. metadata and digital content files) in the
CCDL, but operates under the principal of "shared access, local ownership" with
ownership remaining with the originating institution. Owners of collections included in
the CCDL agree to defend and hold CDI and the Claremont Colleges Library harmless
from any claims or damages which may result from users who download or otherwise use
data from the portal or website in violation of an owner’s rights under state or federal
law.
Accuracy of Data
Responsibility for accuracy of data, facts, and information rests with the institution
distributing the digital content. CDI does not warrant any information on the CDI web
sites for the CCDL. CDI recommends all sites have a means of collecting information
regarding the content accuracy and a policy for collection and content review and
revision.
Removal of Material from Claremont Colleges Digital Library
Content may be removed from the CCDL only in the case of demonstrated violation of
copyright laws. In this case a placeholder metadata record will remain to inform users of
the item and reason for takedown.
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References:
Brown University Library, Center for Digital Scholarship. Project Development &
Evaluation. http://dl.lib.brown.edu/documentation/proj_dev.html
California Digital Library. Collection Development Framework.
http://www.cdlib.org/services/collections/framework.html
Digital Library of Georgia. Digitization Nomination Form.
http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/AboutDLG/Nominate.html
National Information Standards Organization (NISO). A Framework for Building Good
Digital Collections, Collections Principles. http://framework.niso.org/node/8
National Information Standards Organization (NISO). A Framework for Building Good
Digital Collections, Initiatives. http://framework.niso.org/node/30
National Library of Australia. Collection Digitization Policy.
http://www.nla.gov.au/policy/digitisation.html
South Carolina Digital Library, Collection Policy.
http://www.scmemory.org/about/policy.php
Tufts University, Digital Collections and Archives. Collection Policies.
http://dca.tufts.edu/?pid=69&c=87
University of Arizona. About UAiR. http://uair.arizona.edu/about
University of Nevada Reno, Collection Development Guideline for Digital Projects
http://contentdm.library.unr.edu/digitalprojects/selection_criteria.html
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