Alumni Publications
Alumni publications are not actively purchased. If donated, these will be reviewed using the same criteria as other donated titles.
Binding
Materials acquired in paperback format will be processed and added to the collection without commercial binding. However, exceptions are routinely made for oversize titles, music scores, art titles and reference titles.
Damaged Materials
Materials that are repairable and which meet set criteria for age and usage will be automatically sent out for offsite repair, then re-shelved upon their return. Materials not meeting these criteria, or which would require replacement, will be subject to review by Liaison Librarians
Dissertations & Theses
For older dissertations and theses of DePaul students that the Library received in print format, the Library maintains one copy in Special Collections. The Library acquires microfilm of DePaul dissertations and theses when submitted to ProQuest and the Library also supports the uploading of electronic versions of dissertations and theses to Digital Commons@DePaul., DePaul's institutional repository. For questions concerning dissertations and theses posted to Digital Commons@DePaul., please consult the responsible School, College or Department.
Donations/Gifts
The full details of these are available in the University Library Gift Policy.To make a donation, you will first need to fill out the Library Donation Form. If you would like to discuss your donation prior to filling out the form, please contact the Collection Development Department at adeemer@depaul.edu
Duplicates
The Library avoids purchasing physical duplicates of a title. Exceptions include titles needed at multiple campuses, placed on reserves for multiple sections of a course, university-sponsored reading programs, purchased for the Chicago Collection and faculty publications. If a title is requested in a different format (print or online) than the one that currently exists in our collection, these may be purchased pending Liaison Librarian review and availability of funds.
Faculty Publications
The Library purchases works published by full-time tenure track and tenured DePaul faculty if they are listed as the primary author, editor, or creator. For these works the library will typically purchase a single physical copy for the circulating collection. Such works are primarily identified and obtained automatically through the Library’s monograph vendor; however, works are occasionally missed in this process. If this occurs, faculty can notify their Library liaison. For works in which a faculty member’s authorship is limited to a single chapter or entry, purchase is at the discretion of the relevant Library liaison. The Library will only automatically collect titles which are published while faculty members are actively affiliated with the university. The retrospective purchase of works published before a faculty member became affiliated with the University is at the discretion of the relevant Library liaison. The Library also collects faculty works of all formats, including working papers, e-books, conference and journal articles on Digital Commons@DePaul.
Works by non-tenure track DePaul faculty (e.g. adjunct faculty, visiting faculty) are not automatically purchased. Non-tenure track faculty may contact their Library liaison to request that the Library purchase their publication. Purchases are at the discretion of the Library liaison.
Languages
Most of the materials that the Library acquires are in English. In some subject areas, foreign language materials are actively collected though typically only in languages that are taught at DePaul.
Materials Rarely Collected
The following types of materials are rarely collected by the Library: Textbooks, self-published materials, review copies, study guides, curriculum kits, paper-based maps, psychometric instruments, and business case studies.
Reserves
Each academic quarter, there is an upper limit of $500 for purchases of reserves materials for a course. Materials that exceed this amount will be forwarded to the relevant Liaison Librarian for consideration. All requests for course reserves materials, including those already owned by DePaul, should be placed through DePaul’s Course Reserves System. The Library will default to purchasing a requested title as an e-book if a version offering access to an unlimited number of users is available unless the requester indicates that only a print version is acceptable. However, e-books with 1 or 3 concurrent users may be purchased if there is not an unlimited user option available to academic libraries. The Acquisitions & Collections Coordinator will regularly monitor e-books with 1 or 3 concurrent users and will purchase additional copies if needed.
Refreshing the Collection
Due to space constraints and the need to keep the Library’s collection useful, relevant and accessible for the DePaul community, the Library periodically engages in activities that result in items being removed from the collection. Common reasons for a title being removed include: older editions of new title, duplicate copy of infrequently used work, obsolete content, poor condition. When appropriate, removed items will be sent to Better World Books.