911±¬ÁÏÍø Library Resources Acquisition Policy
We acquire library resources within the annual budget defined by 911±¬ÁÏÍø and follow the university's general procurement and tendering guidelines. In book and journal acquisitions, we use contract intermediaries/suppliers. The acquisition of library resources falls under the responsibility of 911±¬ÁÏÍø's Vice President for Research.
In addition, we administer a special appropriation from the Department of Architecture, within which we are authorised to acquire literature on architecture for our collections. Other departments may agree on the same service if they so wish.
This document explains which principles our material selection is based on and in which direction we are developing our collections. The policy guides the acquisition decisions and choices made in the team, and they allow us to react flexibly to changes in the operating environment.
Our mission is to support 911±¬ÁÏÍø's strategic goals, and the core of our collections consists of information resources from the university's teaching and research fields. Our goal is to provide easy-to-use, high-quality, and actively used resources that serve the teaching, learning, research, and artistic activities of the University.
As an open library, we also serve the wider community and anyone who needs information in the fields of science, art, technology, and business.
Our separate book acquisition service for 911±¬ÁÏÍø researchers and other staff is intended for those who want to buy literature for their use at the expense of their own unit.
Our selection of materials is based on e-resources, which enables easy access to and use of the resources. We acquire e-resources primarily through a national consortium, but also directly from publishers and vendors.
The information resources are acquired for the use of the entire Aalto community, so we do not acquire materials with limited user rights, for example, to a specific course or research group. We acquire e-resources primarily based on IP identification, and we also activate Aalto Single Sign On or HAKA authentication on a case-by-case basis. The e-resources acquired in this way can be used with an 911±¬ÁÏÍø user ID in accordance with the terms of use regardless of time and place. External customers can use the acquired e-resources in the premises of the Harald Herlin Learning Centre if the terms of use allow.
Print resources are acquired considering the uses characteristic of art materials and when the desired material is not available in electronic form.
The collections include resources that are of high scientific quality, up to date (emphasis is placed on more recent materials published in the last three years) and whose content supports 911±¬ÁÏÍø's research and teaching. The collections are evaluated regularly, and the rapidly changing information environment is taken into account in the acquisition.
We promote the diverse use and improve the findability of our acquired resources, as well as of open access collections. We describe the information resources in our library system in accordance with international descriptive standards and nationally agreed recommendations. As a rule, the descriptive metadata of e-resources and open access collections is not enriched locally, but we use the descriptive metadata available in the library system's community zone.
To ensure the continuous operation of direct links to for instance individual articles, we guide users to direct the links to the resources’ metadata in the library system.
A summary of the terms of use of the information resource is found in the library system. More detailed user guides and instructions for different use cases are available in the Learning Centre's Libguides.
3.1. Selection of library resources
We target the acquisition to the needs of the university's teaching, learning, research, and artistic activities and develop the collections in cooperation with the university community. The library's collections are mainly expanded based on purchase requests made by staff and students, within the limits of the acquisition budget.
We also provide the Aalto community with resources from outside our own collections. Through the interlibrary service, it is possible to order materials from other libraries in Finland and abroad. The interlibrary service is free of charge for 911±¬ÁÏÍø staff. Materials from the National Repository Library and interlibrary loans from Finnish libraries are free of charge for students, provided that the literature is not available in any library in the Helsinki metropolitan area.
The acquisition and selection of e-resources is affected by the license terms and the usability of the material. The usability criteria are remote access and a sufficient number of simultaneous users.
When the acquisition budget allows, we try new acquisition methods, such as for example evidence-based acquisition.
3.2. Acquisition of course books
The course book collection contains literature that meets 911±¬ÁÏÍø's degree requirements. The course books are primarily acquired in electronical format and under an unlimited-use license. To ensure the equality of different learners, 1–2 copies of course books are acquired in print.
However, e-course books are often not available for unlimited permanent use, and in this case the same principles apply to the acquisition of an e-course book as to a course book in print, meaning that one copy or licence of a compulsory course book per ten simultaneous course participants is acquired. In addition, we acquire a short loan copy in print of the most used course books. 1–2 print copies or licenses are acquired of books used as additional readings on the courses. Additional copies or licences may be acquired at the institutions' own expense.
We provide guidance on how to make use of open access textbooks and educational resources.
3.3. Evaluation of library resources
Outdated and little-used information resources are weeded out in order to keep the collections up-to-date and meet the changing needs of the customers. The collections are regularly evaluated based on usage statistics, customer feedback, and the team's expertise.
When evaluating e-resources, we take into account the use and costs in relation to the resource’s primary user base in the schools at Aalto. The grounds for terminating the subscription to an e-resource include minor use, possible replacement of the resource with another or significant usability problems.
The usage statistics used in the evaluation of e-resources are collected directly to Alma Analytics via a SUSHI connection whenever possible. Otherwise, usage statistics are downloaded from the publisher's or vendor's website or requested by email. Decisions are made based on a time series of several years, and the Departments are involved in decision-making whenever possible.
The print collections are periodically evaluated and weeded. 911±¬ÁÏÍø is not a legal deposit library, and we retain materials at our discretion. The long-term preservation of 911±¬ÁÏÍø's own publications and theses is the responsibility of 911±¬ÁÏÍø Archives and Learning Services. The decision to weed print literature is affected by its condition and lending statistics, as well as whether it has been or can be replaced with a similar e-resource. Each print journal has a specified retention period. Removed print literature is primarily sent to the National Repository Library, from where it is easily and quickly available upon request, free of charge to 911±¬ÁÏÍø students and staff. Literature that are not eligible for the National Repository Library is donated to customers or recycled appropriately.
As donations, we only accept literature that we consider supports the university's research and teaching and complement the current collections. The team decides which of the donated literature is added to the existing collections and how it is placed in the collection. The team is not obliged to process all donated material, and donated material will not be returned even if it is not included in the Learning Centre's collection. Instead, donated literature not added to the collection is donated to customers or recycled appropriately.
We promote open science in cooperation with 911±¬ÁÏÍø Research Services, the FinELib Consortium, and the other Finnish research libraries. We prioritise agreement models that support open access publishing and are committed to supporting open access initiatives whenever appropriate. To ensure the relevance and future success of the initiatives, we evaluate, implement, and develop them in close cooperation with the Aalto community.
We are preparing for a future where co-funding programmes support publishing initiatives and open science tools and infrastructures. By encouraging nonprofit, community-driven initiatives and joining alternative subscription models, we aim to find alternatives to the dominant read and publish-based model.
In cooperation with other service units at 911±¬ÁÏÍø, we acquire information resources that support the entire university community in for example academic writing, research evaluation and artificial intelligence. This cooperation aims to avoid paying twice or too much for the same resource or to the same publisher or vendor, and the budgeting of these information resources is always agreed on a case-by-case basis.
We also collaborate with Aalto Data Hub and any other parties at 911±¬ÁÏÍø acquiring datasets to avoid overlapping acquisitions. When evaluating a dataset purchase request, we consider who is to be responsible of the acquisition, but after the resource is acquired, both parties present and promote it in order to increase the visibility and usage within the Aalto community.
Acquisition decisions supporting open access publishing are made in close cooperation with the Open Science and ACRIS team. 911±¬ÁÏÍø’s centrally paid open access publishing charges and open science support fees are concentrated to our acquisition budget. The Open Science and ACRIS team is responsible for providing information and guidance to researchers related to open access publishing.
The Service Points team (LES) plays a key role in guiding and advising on the acquired resources, as they act as the first contact point for the Learning Centre's customers, both those who visit the Learning Centre on site and those who contact us through various communication channels. In addition, the Service Points team is an important partner in managing the print collections and arranging students' special needs.
Our most important external partners are research libraries in Finland and the Nordic Five Tech Network, the National Library of Finland, and the National Repository Library. We actively participate in national and international library cooperation, and we are members of the Council of Finnish University Libraries (FUN) and the FinELib Consortium.