Learning Resources

Campus	Librarian	Email	Telephone
Hialeah Campus	Christina M. Dillon	cmachado@mdc.edu	305-237-8655
	Patricia Gancedo	pgancedo@mdc.edu	305-237-8728
Homestead Campus	Lizeth Garcia	lgarci16@mdc.edu	305-237-5021
Kendall Campus	Shamsha Karim	skarim1@mdc.edu	305-237-2295
	Jenny Saxton	jsaxton@mdc.edu	305-237-2075
	Alia Shields	ashields@mdc.edu	305-237-2072
Medical Campus	Carla Clark	cclark3@mdc.edu	305-237-4342
North Campus	Maria Casado	mcasado@mdc.edu	305-237-1775
	Edwin Gilmore	egilmore@mdc.edu	305-237-8085
	Simone Williams	swilli5@mdc.edu	305-237-1471
Padrón Campus	Chudney Jordan	cjordan@mdc.edu	305-237-6088
	Margaret Merrill	mmerrill@mdc.edu	305-237-6736
Wolfson Campus	Marta Frydman	mfrydman@mdc.edu	305-237-3446

 

I. Mission

Learning Resources at Miami Dade College transforms student lives by championing teaching and learning as an extension of the classroom.

II. Purpose

The purpose of the Collection Development Guidelines is to establish a framework for the selection, acquisition, and management of materials that support the mission and curriculum of the College. 

• These guidelines ensure the collection remains relevant, balanced, and aligned with the institution's academic programs and the information needs of its students, faculty, and staff.
• Ensure faculty participation in collection development.
• Provide faculty, staff, and students with integrated access to collections of materials in paper, electronic, and media formats in the most cost-effective manner.
• Assist with short-range and long-range fiscal planning.

III. Scope

These guidelines apply to all types of library materials, including but not limited to:

• Physical books, journals, and other print materials
• Electronic books, journals, databases, and other digital resources
• Audio and video materials
• Maps, charts, and other visual resources
• Archival and special collections

The following major factors influence collection development decisions:

• Relevance to the educational programs of the College
• Balance in the collection
• Accuracy, objectivity, and suitability
• Professional review recommendations
• Authority of the author, reputation of the publisher and/or producer
• Format and accessibility for users
• Existing collection strengths and gaps
• Format
• Cost and budget constraints

IV. Responsibility for Selection

Learning Resources relies on the College's librarians and discipline faculty for purchase recommendations. It is the professional responsibility of these two groups to develop the collection coordinated with curriculum goals. All MDC authorized library users with an active status are invited to make purchase recommendations.

V. Standards, Ethics, and Legal Principles

1. Miami Dade College’s Learning Resources follows the standards for Library/Learning Resources of its accrediting organizations, as well as those of any other accrediting agency or association requiring library support for any of the specialized educational programs of the College. MDC's libraries support the American Library Association’s Bill of Rights, the Freedom to Read Statement, the Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries and the American Film and Video Association’ s Freedom to View Statement. For these guidelines, the libraries have adopted sections of the Library Bill of Rights applicable to collection development as approved by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Board of Directors.
   
   
2. Learning Resources endorses the American Library Association's Library Bill of Rights and Freedom to Read. The principles of these documents frame the MDC Learning Resources’ views of intellectual freedom and censorship. Learning Resources does not, at the request of any individual or group, add or remove materials that do not meet the College's stated selection criteria. Library users with an issue about an item in the collection should direct their concerns to the campus Learning Resources Director. All issues will be considered in light of the Collection Development Guidelines and may receive a written response.
   
   
3. It is the responsibility of the librarians and other selectors to ensure that all points of view are represented in the collection. In the interests of research and learning, it is essential that collections contain materials representing a variety of perspectives, including subjects that may be considered controversial. Preservation and replacement efforts should ensure that the balance in library materials is maintained and that controversial materials are not removed from the collections through theft, loss, mutilation, or normal wear and tear.

VI. Selection Criteria

1. Curriculum Support
   Learning Resources priority is to provide a current, core collection of print and non-print materials to students in support of curriculum requirements. Since the College's focus is on undergraduate education, materials recommended for undergraduates will receive priority for purchase.
   
   
2. Selection Criteria by Type of Material
   Learning Resources strives to maintain a balance of print and non-print materials. The department uses and contributes to the selection of databases and full-text materials accessible from the Florida Virtual Campus Library Services. These databases are not owned or archived by the College and thus are not a substitute for the development of electronic collections purchased by Learning Resources. Examples of non-print /electronic resources include online databases, e-books and journals, web sites, and audiovisual sources.

   Selecting AI-Generated Books

   The library will selectively acquire AI-generated books that meet the following criteria:

   • The book's authorship and generation process are clearly disclosed.
   • The content is factually accurate, unbiased, and does not promote harmful ideologies.
   • The writing quality, coherence, and flow are on par with high-quality human-authored works.
   • There is clear demand from students and faculty, or the work fills an identified collection gap.

   Selecting Self-Published Works

   The library will consider acquiring self-published works that satisfy the following guidelines:

   • The work has received positive reviews from reputable sources or demonstrates strong reader engagement.
   • The content is of high quality and aligns with the library's collection development priorities.
   • The author has a legitimate publishing process and can provide information about editing, production, and distribution.
   • Preference will be given to self-published works by members of the college community (students, faculty, staff).
3. Gifts
   The selection of materials as gifts will be governed by the same criteria as purchased items. Learning Resources reserves the right to refuse donations and to dispose of unwanted material. Learning Resources is not responsible for a monetary statement to the donor for tax purposes but may acknowledge the number of items donated in writing. Learning Resources assumes no responsibility for the use donors make of such acknowledgments.

VII. Collection Maintenance/Deselection

The library will regularly review its collection and deselect materials following the MUSTIE criteria:

• M = misleading and/or factually inaccurate
• U = ugly, worn beyond and/or unworthy of mending (moldy, poor binding, torn)
• S = superseded by a truly new edition, duplicates, or a better book on the subject
• T = trivial, of no discernible literary or scientific merit
• I = irrelevant to the needs and interests of patrons (no longer supports curriculum)
• E = easy to obtain the material elsewhere (through interlibrary loan or reciprocal borrowing)

In addition to the MUSTIE criteria, publication date and circulation history are considered during the weeding process.

Whenever possible, classroom faculty members and other subject specialists are invited to participate in the weeding process to ensure that materials of historical, literary, or research interest are retained. Weeded materials are officially withdrawn from the collection. Library materials reported missing may be replaced after evaluation of the item according to the same criteria for selection as regularly purchased items. Librarians responsible for collection development are responsible for assuring that missing, lost, and damaged materials are replaced as needed.

VIII. Electronic Resources

Electronic resources include online databases and journals, e-books and e-audiobooks, and streaming media collections. These collections should be frequently and systematically reviewed for the currency of information.

1. Selection
   Selection criteria, as stated in section VI. However, due to their unique nature, special criteria need also be considered.
   • Criteria
     1. Cost and access model
     2. Technical considerations (accessibility and compatibility)
     3. Added enhancements and/or improved access
     4. Option to acquire through Consortium
     5. Acceptable license terms

   • Faculty, students, and staff may recommend electronic resources be added to the collection by recommending the resources to Librarians and submitting requests directly on the digital platforms. Additionally, faculty can recommend both print and digital resources by completing the Suggest Materials for the Collection form.

2. Review
   Electronic resources are reviewed and reassessed before renewal. The guidelines as detailed in section VI. Collection Maintenance/Deselection are to be followed with special consideration applied to whether the resource overlaps or duplicates material in another format, if the information is available in a more suitable format, declining usage statistics, cost, and budget reductions.
   
   
3. Access
   Electronic resources are cataloged as part of the MDC Libraries’ collection and available through the Learning Resources homepage. Training in newly acquired resources will be offered to library staff to keep knowledge of the collection current. Electronic resources will be promoted to faculty, students, and staff, alongside training offered, as necessary.
   
   
4. Deselection
   Ongoing deselection of Internet resources is a necessity because of the dynamic nature of such resources. In the following instances, an online resource will be deselected:
   • The resource is no longer available or maintained
   • The currency or reliability of the resource's information has lost its value
   • Another resource offers more comprehensive coverage
   • The cost of purchase or maintenance of the resource is prohibitive

IX. Policy Review

These guidelines will be reviewed at the end of each fiscal year by the Collection Development group with the MDC Library Committee and other designated library staff members.