Horn Library Content Strategy

Print Collection Development & Maintenance

The collection is appropriate for undergraduate and graduate business education as well as basic liberal arts.  Librarians keep the print collection updated by timely acquisition of new books and periodicals and by periodic weeding of out-dated or low-use titles.

The Content Management Librarian performs the majority of new title selection and acquisition but welcomes suggestions from the librarians who are liaisons to academic departments for their specific disciplines and in general.  Faculty, staff, and student recommendations are also welcome.  The liaison librarians also perform the majority of deselection of the collections in their subject areas.

To assess whether the print collection includes key, core, authoritative titles, librarians have used the following resources:

  • Resources for College Libraries
  • Harvard Business School Core Collection list
  • Subject-specific bibliographic works, e.g. History of Economic Analysis -- a Guide to Information Sources
  • Core collection lists published by academic librarians (on library websites or in professional publications)

The library does not purchase outright textbooks.  However, we will put personal or departmental copies or copies that have been donated to the library on reserve for your courses. In addition, we consider the purchase of non-textbook course readings to enhance and update our collection. 

The issue about collecting textbooks is their frequent updates and expense - this is not a sustainable practice for our library, whereas literary and non-fiction titles that are used in the classroom but aren't textbooks per se are readily acquired since we aim to support the curriculum with our print and online resources. 

E-textbooks are often not available for the library market on library ebook platforms. Non-textbook course readings may be available as ebooks.  If you would like to make course readings available in ebook form, please direct your request to your liaison librarian.  

For more information about course reserves, please see this page on the Services for Faculty guide. 

The Babson College Horn Library welcomes the donation of materials compatible with its 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 supports 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 discarded appropriately.

At time of donation, a form may be filled out indicating whether a letter of acknowledgment is desired (however, we cannot assign values to the donations) and/or whether a gift bookplate should be inserted in the donated materials.

Relevance:  Is it relevant to Babson: to the curriculum, faculty research, college history, authored by anyone in the Babson community, etc.?

Content:  Does it represent the most advanced state of knowledge in the field?  If it doesn't, is it of historical value? Is it a classic or written by a seminal author?

DEI Factors:  Does it contain racist, sexist, homophobic, or other discriminatory ideas or language?  Be careful to evaluate these in historical context, e.g. use of the term “Negro” by Black historical figures versus use of the term by more recent non-Black authors.  

Years since copyright: Is the item outdated? If it is, does it have value to the Babson community?

Edition superseded:  Is there a more recent edition?

Usage:  What has been the usage of the item?

Condition:  Does it need to be replaced or discarded?

Availability elsewhere:  Is the item available electronically, via consortium, or interlibrary loan?

Gift:  Was this item gifted either directly or in honor of a Babson-related person?  Gift books may be withdrawn.

Fund Book:  Books purchased with specific named funds may be withdrawn.

In Memory of:  Books in memory of specific people may only be withdrawn if purchased more than 10 years ago.