• Section 1 - Summary
• Section 2 - HESF/ASQA/ESOS Alignment
• Section 3 - Scope
• Section 4 - Definitions
• Section 5 - Policy Statement
• Section 6 - Procedures

Section 1 - Summary

(1) The Library Collection Development Policy establishes the role of the Library Collection in relation to the University teaching, learning and research objectives together with providing principles for the development and management of this collection. 

Section 2 - HESF/ASQA/ESOS Alignment

(2) HESF Standards: 2.1 Facilities and Infrastructure; 3.3 Learning Resources and Educational Support.

(3) Standards for RTOs 2015: Standard 1.3.

(4) ESOS National Code of Practice 2018:  Standard 6 Overseas Student Support Services.

Section 3 - Scope

(5) This Policy applies to all VU students and staff.

Section 4 - Definitions

(6) Open Access: Works available online and world-wide, free of charge or other access barriers.

(7) Open Educational Resources (OER): are learning, teaching and research materials in any format and medium that reside in the public domain available under an open license.

(8) Read and Publish agreements:Combination of subscription and open access publishing fees together into a single agreement. 

Section 5 - Policy Statement

(9) The Victoria University Library will provide access to information resources to support teaching and learning, and research. The collection will support the study and research needs of VU staff and students as well as the broader community where permitted by resource licences. The Library will provide resources related to specific courses or fields of education or research and appropriate to the level of study. The Library will also provide more general resources including to support the development of study skills and English language proficiency.

(10) The collection has a digital first focus to maximize the availability of resources in digital formats through enabling seamless and device-agnostic access. Digital resources provide the most flexible option for supporting the university’s mixed modes of delivery as well as interstate and overseas cohorts.  

(11) The library aims to acquire all third-party course resources required for university units of study to avoid the need for students to purchase additional resources. Essential course resources are to be directly available within VU Collaborate units as enabled by the library eReserve Readings integration. 

(12) Course based textbook selections should be based on materials able to be acquired for the library collection. These are supplied according to a model that balances cost, student numbers and demand for resources. 

(13) Acquisition through state and national consortia is preferred to achieve maximum value from expenditure on resources through negotiated discounts and efficiencies in timely supply.

(14) The digital first focus employs several acquisition models that are either evidence-based or demand-driven and favours outright purchase over subscription. The models give our students and staff access to maximum appropriate content without necessarily having ownership of resources until demand indicates the need, thus ensuring value and relevance.

(15) The Library recognizes and respects the importance of Indigenous knowledge for the curriculum, research and cultural life of the University. The acquisition and management of works containing Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property will be guided by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Protocols for Libraries, Archives and Information Services while also the applying AIATSIS approved referencing and description guidelines.

(16) The Library will avoid resources that have unexpected barriers to access such as specialised technology requirements or limited physical access points.

(17) To ensure compliance with licensing agreements, access to licensed digital library resources is restricted to students and staff accepted on the University ITS Identity Management directory. Print resources remain open to library community members and patrons from other libraries.

(18) Open Access resources are encouraged within the collections, and the Library works collaboratively with both academics and students to advocate and advance adoptions of OA and OER by supporting curation, promotion and publishing assistance. The Library supports the Council of Australian University Libraries Statement on Open Scholarship 2019 and will participate in consortia read and publish agreements to extend open access publishing opportunities.

(19) The Library maintains a set of special collections relevant to the mission, engagement and history of the university and will continue to develop these in the areas of:

1. Elda Vaccari collection: Focused on the history and culture of migrants to Australia.
2. Foley Collection: A set of key digital works from the Aboriginal History Archive selected by activist/academic Gary Foley.
3. John & Shirley McLaren collection:  Rare and valuable resources around Australian, New Zealand, and South Pacific fiction (novels, plays, poetry) and criticism.
4. Mathematical inequalities & applications (RGMIA): Information about the RGMIA technical reports and mathematics journals exchanged with other universities.
5. Patrick Wolfe collection:  The collection covers indigenous peoples, religion, philosophy, race, Marxism, and women’s rights.
6. PNG & the Pacific collection: Books, reports, journals, newsletters, yearbooks and pamphlets focusing on Papua New Guinea; also the greater Pacific and South East Asia.
7. Radical literature collection: Research collection of material related to radical groups in Australia, particularly the Communist Party of Australia.
8. Rare & valuable books:  Rare and valuable books across diverse subjects including Australian literature, history, art, music, anthropology and town planning.
9. The Rationalist collection: Includes books, pamphlets and journals on history, politics, education, economics, civil society and anthropology.
10. Regional archive: The Regional Archive preserves the records of individuals and organisations from the western region of Melbourne.
11. Ray Verrills collection:  The Verrills collection includes materials on Australian literature, philosophy and left-wing politics.
12. Ruth & Maurie Crow collection: The Ruth and Maurie Crow collection consists of over 2700 books and pamphlets on a variety of social and political issues.
13. Sir Zelman Cowen collection: Includes resources on Australian constitutional law, federal politics and the law, Australian architecture and Australian literature.
14. Timor-Leste collection: Featuring a range of books, reports, journals, newsletters, yearbooks and pamphlets charting the development of Timor-Leste as an independent nation.    

(20) The Library will maintain a campus library print collection for relevant items not available in digital format, including VU authored materials, pictorial works and works of significance for local and national researchers. The Victoria University Library collection will also participate in state and national initiatives for ensuring works of low availability can be retained in university collections for reciprocal use by researchers across the Victorian and national university network. 

Section 6 - Procedures

(21) Nil.