The Collection Development Department supports George Mason University’s commitment to academic excellence and lifelong learning by providing an outstanding research collection for Mason’s students, faculty, and staff. We coordinate the efforts of 20+ library faculty and staff—called selectors—working throughout the Libraries. These selectors actively select and evaluate materials in collaboration with the Mason community to ensure relevance to evolving instructional, curricular, and research needs.
Collection Development collects materials in a variety of formats, including books, journals, video, audio, and datasets. These formats can be physical (e.g. a VHS tape) or digital (e.g. a streaming video file). All selections, regardless of format, are informed by the same core criteria: quality of material; scholarly level; relevance to curriculum; and expectation of use. Additional subject-specific and format-specific guidelines can be found in the Collection Development Policy (currently being finalized).
As part of our mission to provide outstanding research collections, the Collection Development Department also carries out an ongoing systematic assessment of the Libraries’ physical and digital collections. Whether based on format or subject, these assessments help us ensure that we are providing Mason’s students, faculty, and staff the best possible library materials with the resources we have.
In addition to building and evaluating the Libraries’ collections, Collection Development also negotiates license contracts for digital materials; coordinates collections marketing; and works with publisher representatives to organize training, workshops, and other on-campus events relating to library materials.
For more information, or if you have questions about the University Libraries’ collections, please contact Collection Development.