The general collection of the UC Merced Library supports the teaching, research and public service mission of the university. The focus is on supporting current instruction and research activities; new programs are supported as funding becomes available.
The collection is primarily, but not exclusively, electronic. Most monographs and almost all journals are electronic. Currently, the general collection is approximately 92% electronic. Print books are acquired when necessary to meet user needs and, in those cases, where the electronic version is prohibitively expensive. Print books are also acquired through an approval plan. As a University of California library, the UC Merced Library has the opportunity to participate in systemwide agreements for electronic resources negotiated and licensed by the California Digital Library. These include e-book packages, journal packages, databases and streaming media. The library actively participates in systemwide acquisitions decisions and in collection management policy development. Additional digital resources are available through the library’s membership in HathiTrust and the Center for Research Libraries (CRL).
e-books, journal subscriptions and print books are acquired at faculty request. E-books are also purchased through a locally licensed Demand Driven Acquisitions (DDA) program. Media not available through licensed streaming services is purchased on DVD and streamed through the campus course management system for use in classroom instruction. Text and data mining is supported through membership in HathiTrust.
Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is used to provide access to physical materials not in the library’s collection. As a University of California library, the UC Merced Library has access through ILL to the 38 million volume collective collection housed in the other nine UC Libraries and the two Regional Storage Facilities. Beyond UC, ILL services can be used to access materials from libraries worldwide through OCLC. The CRL also provides access to its extensive collection through ILL.
The library is a fully electronic Federal Depository Library. Online access to federal documents available through the Federal Depository Library Program is provided through bibliographic records supplied by the Marcive Documents Without Shelves service. Online access to California state documents is provided through bibliographic records created by the UC Libraries in cooperation with the California State Library.
April 1, 2024 (Jim Dooley)
Engineering Collection Development Policy
Natural Sciences Collection Development Policy
Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts Collection Development Policies
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