The mission of Odum Library is to be a major educational and cultural resource of the University, primarily by providing bibliographic and reference support to its academic programs.

The goal of the Library’s collection development program is to develop and maintain a collection of materials that will further the purpose and mission of VSU by meeting the needs of its faculty and students.  Our collection is shaped via a collaborative effort between librarians and faculty.  Each department is assigned a liaison, a library faculty member who collects and reviews orders, keep records, and informs the departmental coordinator of deadlines, priorities and budget issues. The library liaison may also request materials for the general reference collection that will enhance coverage of  the assigned department's library collection. The primary emphasis of Odum’s collection is on materials used by faculty in conducting research and preparing courses as well as by students conducting research related to their course work.

The Collection Development (CD) Policy provides a rationale for the Library’s collection development program.  The policy serves as a means of defining and communicating the library’s collection goals and policies to the VSU community and to the public at large. We invite you to read the collection development policy and subject/discipline specific collection development policies and encourage you to participate in shaping the Library's collection.

If you have a title suggestion, please complete the Recommend a Library Purchase form.  (Note to Faculty: The Recommend a Library Purchase form is intended for your personal recommendations and RUSH orders only, independent of the annual school/department/program allocation provided by the library.  Orders using your allocation should be submitted in the customary way to the departmental coordinator who will add your requests to a library materials order database submitted to the BlazeVIEW Acquisitions Page.)  Further information on Material Ordering Procedures and the Allocation of Funds is published by the Library's Acquisition/Serials Department.

Complete Collection Development Policy (Revised January 2020) Pages 1-122 PDF

Collection Development Policy - Table of Contents - Individual Sections

Table of Contents Pages i-ii
Introduction
  • History
  • Gift Policy
  • Collection Development Program
  • Intellectual Freedom, Copyright, and Related Issues
  • Weeding Policy
 Pages 1-7
 PDF
Collection Levels
Pages 8-10
 PDF
College of the Arts  
  • Art & Design
 Pages 12-13
  • Communication Art
 Pages 14-18
  • Music
 Pages 19-22
Langdale College of Business Administration
  • Accounting
 Pages 24-25
  • Economics & Finance
 Pages 26-27
  • Management and Healthcare Administration
 Pages 28-30
  • Marketing and International Business
 Pages 31-32
Dewar College of Education and Human Services
  
  • Adult & Career Education
 Pages 34-35
  • Communication Sciences and Disorders and Special Education
 Pages 36-37
  • Curriculum, Leadership, & Instructional Technology
 Pages 38-40
  • Human Services
 Pages 41-44
  • Initial Teacher Preparation Services
 Pages 45-49
  • Kinesiology & Physical Education
 Pages 50-51
  • Library & Information Studies
 Pages 52-55
College of Humanities and Social Sciences 
  
  • English
 Pages 57-59
  • History
 Pages 60-62
  • Modern and Classical Languages
 Pages 63-65
  • Philosophy and Religious Studies
 Pages 66-68
  • Political Science
 Pages 69-71
  • Psychological Science
 Pages 72-74
  • Sociology & Anthropology
 Pages 75-77
  • Criminal Justice
 Pages 78-80
  • African American Studies
 Pages 81-82
  • Native American Studies
 Pages 83-84
  • Women's & Gender Studies
 Pages 85-87
College of Nursing and Health Sciences  
  • Health Sciences
 Pages 89-91
  • Nursing
 Pages 92-94
College of Science and Mathematics  
  • Biology
 Pages 96-98
  • Chemistry
 Pages 99-101
  • Computer Science
 Pages 102-103
  • Mathematics
 Pages 104-106
  • Physics, Astronomy, & Geosciences
 Pages 107-110
Honors College
 Pages 111-114
Library Collection Policies
  • Reference
 Pages 115-117
  • Special Collection
 Pages 118-122