New Collection Policy Plan Leiden University Libraries
Leiden University Libraries (UBL) recently issued a new collection policy plan, containing priorities for the coming years regarding the formation, management, availability, and use of the UBL collection.
Central to the collection policy plan (published in Dutch) is the vision that the UBL collection is not only an essential and integral part of the research and education taking place at Leiden University; it is also of great international importance due to the scholarly, cultural and historical value of its heritage component. In this way, the collection policy plan expands on the UBL organisational policy plan, Open for All.
Since the previous collection plan, the UBL has faced several significant changes, such as an explosive growth in the number of (open access) information sources, the transfer of several very extensive and important collections from other institutions (such as those of the KITLV, the KIT, the NINO, the ASCL, and the LUMC), and, stimulated by the COVID epidemic, the growing expectation among primary user groups to consult the UBL collection online and from home as much as possible.
The new collection policy plan pays particular attention to three themes: collection profile, collection use, and collection management. For each theme, priorities are identified regarding both current scholarly information sources (managed by the Faculty Liaison & Services department) and the heritage collection (managed by the Special Collections department). Through effective collaboration between these and the other departments of the UBL, the collection as a whole can be made available in a professional way for research, education, and other purposes.
