Horn Library Content Strategy

Books & E-Books Strategy: Blended Approach

Books and e-books complement each other.  To accomplish our dual aims of making our resources more accessible from outside of the library while also encouraging reading, we use a blended approach of acquiring or subscribing to e-book collections as well as regularly purchasing print books across academic disciplines and books of general interest to the Babson community. 

Our e-book subscriptions also include e-audiobooks downloadable in many formats, including to mobile devices. 

Our book and e-book collections support the Babson curriculum and are particularly strong in the areas of entrepreneurship (practical and theoretical), the business creation process, small business, social & non-profit business, family business, business plans, entrepreneurship education, women and business, industry content, company histories, including historical case studies, global studies, finance, management, and leadership.  These topics are complemented by content in support of the liberal arts that are part of Babson's integrated curriculum, with representative collections in the arts, cultural topics, economics, history, humanities, language studies, literature, math, natural sciences, and the social sciences.

Through resources such as WorldCat which provides insight into the collections of more than 4000 academic libraries world-wide, and our Inter-Library Loan service, we can provide access to virtually any book needed.  

Collections

Ebook Central is our largest ebook collection with close to 300,000 titles from commercial and some academic presses. The collection is cross-disciplinary and also includes some reference ebooks. 

JSTOR Ebooks cover all academic disciplines and are drawn primarily from academic presses. 

Business Expert Press offers an ebook collection specifically geared to MBA content. 

EBSCO Ebooks is primarily an older collection to which we only occasionally add content, since we favor the Ebook Central platform.  The audiobook collection previously on the EBSCO platform has shifted to Baker & Taylor's Axis 360 platform.  

Gale Ebooks (formerly Gale Virtual Reference Library) and Gale Directory Library include some key business reference titles.  

The Babson Collection contains circulating copies of works by Roger Babson, biographies of Babson, and histories of Babson College, plus copies of The Babsonian yearbook.

The Edward B. Hinkley Collection on sailing, railroads, and navigation was the gift of Dr. Edward B. Hinckley, President of Babson Institute from 1946 to 1956.

New Books include most newly-acquired titles across all disciplines.  Books remain on this shelf for approximately one year.   These titles are not eligible for interlibrary loan.

Graphic Novels are displayed as a separate collection on open shelving near comfortable seating areas. 

The Community Collection was a designation we used for fiction and nonfiction books that deepen our understanding of the different perspectives among the Babson community. Topics included in the collection were culture and ethnicity, religion, gender issues, sexuality, and disabilities.  This is no longer a separate collection - we continue to purchase books in these areas but they are integrated into the general circulating collection with new titles being placed on the New Books shelf.  

The library does not purchase textbooks as a matter of course. However, we accept donations of textbooks as long as they are not review copies or outdated. In terms of acquiring textbooks to be put on reserve, faculty members are encouraged to provide us with their personal copy which we will then gladly make available. If that is not an option and we are specifically asked to acquire a textbook, we will do so.  

Donations

The Library welcomes the donation of books compatible with our collection. Gifts will be evaluated based on their condition, quality, and relevance to the curriculum prior to becoming part of the library’s holdings. Items especially valued are those by authors with a Babson affiliation, books and journals which fill gaps in the library’s collection, and material that support curricula or faculty research.

Instructor review copies of textbooks, workbooks, case studies, photocopies, and items marked with a highlighter or otherwise damaged are examples of items we cannot consider for the collection. Donated items that will not be incorporated into the collection will be given to another library, donated to charity, or discarded.

Go to this page to find information about book donation procedures. 

Print Collection Call Numbers