One of the goals of Memorial Library is to meet the information needs of our users; a key element of meeting that goal is providing collections that support the Berry College commitment to providing an integrated education that provides students a solid foundation for life and the inspiration to serve others.
We collect, organize, and make readily accessible information resources needed by the students and faculty of the college, and essential for teaching, learning, research, and scholarship. Memorial Library views itself as an integral strand of the fabric of residential campus life. We endeavor to develop a collection that not only supports the curriculum, but also includes materials that will arouse intellectual curiosity and support the co-curricular needs of the students. While we recognize the importance of a strong traditional collection, we also understand that resources that will best serve these purposes may come from collections that are global in nature, and may no longer be owned directly by the library.
Memorial Library actively maintains a film collection whose primary purpose is to support the teaching and research needs of the Berry College community. An important secondary purpose of the collection, for a residential community such as ours, is to provide diverse cultural opportunities and recreational outlets for our patrons. For all aspects of the film and television collection, selection is a collaborative process, led by the Fine Arts liaison/film collection coordinator with input encouraged from students, staff, faculty, and librarians.
The collection is broadly constructed according to the following four categories:
* Successful television series may air for several seasons and, therefore, form a particular challenge to systematic collection building. Much of the problem hinges on how to define the “work” as a unit – an episode, a season, or a complete series. For programs based on stand-alone episodes, in which the narrative connectivity between episodes is minimal (the classic sitcom, for instance), it is arguably possible – and perhaps preferable – to include representative season(s) without feeling undue necessity to collect the entirety of the program’s run. In contrast, for serial television, in which the plot and narrative arch of the series is continuous, unfolding, and linked, it is arguably preferable to collect the entirety of the program’s run in order to maintain the full story-telling integrity of the series. The ready analogy in this instance would be to a triple-decker novel or other literary cycle, where one would seek to collect the entirety of the work, rather than individual volumes.
Addendum – Streaming Video
June 2015
The streaming video collection supported by Memorial Library should conform to the same general categories and sub-categories created for the broader film collection (as detailed above). In its current guise, the streaming video collection is practically oriented towards curricular support in the form of documentary and educational films, but future possibilities to stream feature films should not be excluded from consideration. At this moment, streaming content comes from a variety of sources including external providers and an in-house hosting system. Over the next few years, it is anticipated that the means of provision for streaming video will continue to change and evolve, but the criteria for content selection should hold stable for the time being.
The focus of Memorial Library’s Government Documents collection is to support the educational programs of the college, with a scope that is consistent with the Library’s collections as a whole. We are a selective depository without the aim of building a comprehensive collection. Areas of emphasis for the collection include American history, culture and life; environmental studies; economics; political science and international affairs; women’s and gender studies; and materials relevant to the study of the region and the state.
Supplementing our online resources, Memorial Library's print Reference Collection is designed to furnish specific information quickly. Traditionally, a reference work is defined as a a work designed by its content, treatment, or arrangement to be consulted for bibliographic or factual information instead of read continuously for in-depth information. In most cases these materials are not intended to be read in their entirety. The print reference collection should be as lean and efficient as possible to enable students, faculty and staff to use hte collection efficiently.
Scope: The collection is designed to support the academic, research, and public service programs of the library, with priority given to supporting research and instruction in the humanities and social sciences at Berry College. Subject encyclopedias and dictionaries provide valuable context and reliable background information. The collection also contains almanacs, subject and national bibliographies, manuals, yearbooks, and biographical and statistical sources.
Memorial Library's Student Life Collection is intended to act as a resource for thriving in college and complement on-campus services. Print and electronic books in the Student Life Collection can help develop skills for navigating college and life beyond. Topics in the collection include health and wellness, financial literacy, mindfulness, relationships, spirituality, academic success, and understanding diversity.
May 18, 2018