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Collection Development for Political Science, International Studies & Law in the Boston College Libraries

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Additional Criteria

Format Selection

Format decisions follow the General Collection Development Policy and allow for considerations of requester preference, curricular needs, and other factors.

  • Journals, including news and current affairs publications, are selected in electronic format with perpetual access rights preferred
  • Books are usually acquired in ebook format for edited collections and print format for monographs 
  • Statistical resources and data sets are added to the collection in the most accessible format possible to support student and faculty research 
  • Specialized digital resources such as collections of government documents and archival materials are acquired for research and teaching purposes

Language

The majority of selections are for English language material. French and German are regularly collected also.  Acquisitions in other languages are made based on faculty request or a specific need.

Currency of the Materials Collected

Selection focuses on current scholarship, but retrospective acquisitions are made following changes to the curriculum or other specific needs.