Collection Policies

To support faculty research and instruction leading to both the undergraduate emphasis (for the B.S. in Business Administration) in Information Systems and the MS degree in Computer Science with a computer information sciences emphasis (offered jointly with the Department of Computer Science). In the Department of Information Systems and Decision Sciences the Information Systems (IS) program emphasizes software engineering, systems analysis and design, database management, and telecommunications. A broad perspective of business environments and processes, including international systems, however, is also important to these programs. Because IS is multidisciplinary, other departments involved in business processes, industrial psychology, and electrical engineering may share resources. There is overlap with Decision Sciences, which has a separate collection policy.

Language:  English is the primary language of the collection. Non-English materials will be collected selectively.

Chronological Guidelines:  Current research is emphasized. Because IS is a relatively "young" discipline, gaps in research for the past ten years could be filled in.

Geographical Guidelines:  Although the greatest emphasis is on research in the United States, the international focus of IS requires that studies of the information systems of all parts of the world be collected selectively.

Treatment of Subject:  Theoretical research, practical applications, and works on methodology are widely acquired, as are undergraduate-level and upper-division books in general information systems.

Types of Material:  Scholarly journals, whether in print or electronic format, are essential for keeping current in IS and in all areas of business and computer systems. Periodical indexes and table-of-contents services (e.g., ABI/Inform, INSPEC, and several others available electronically) are necessary. Printed monographs, including software manuals, are also essential.

Refereed conference proceedings are selectively acquired. Electronic and print reference materials (e.g., standards, statistics) will be acquired selectively. Numerous resources in all areas of business and computer science are increasingly available via the Internet and can be accessed through the Library's Web site. CD-ROM and other electronic formats accompanying monographs should be accessible.

Date of Publication:  Emphasis is on the acquisition of and/or access to current publications.

Other General Considerations:

Karen Vaughan [an error occurred while processing this directive]