Nursing

Collection Development Policy Guidelines

1. General Scope
   
   
1. Audience
   The nursing collection supports the patient care, nursing research, and continuing education activities at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) and, to some extent, educational activities for DHMC nurses pursuing higher degrees.
   
   Organized within the Biomedical Libraries, the nursing collection is housed at the Matthews-Fuller Health Sciences Library. Funds for this collection are allocated from an annual fee-for-service contract between the Dartmouth-Hitchcock's Department of Nursing and the Biomedical Libraries.
   
   History
   Prior to 1980, Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital had a separate nursing library that supported the three-year school of nursing based at the hospital. When the school closed, the Biomedical Libraries and the hospital's nursing leadership entered an agreement under which the nursing books and journals were moved to the Dana Biomedical Library, a nursing librarian was hired, and a budget within the Library was created to help develop and maintain information. When the new DHMC facility was opened in 1991, nursing resources were re-located to the Matthews-Fuller Health Sciences Library. The agreement currently provides for a collection of nursing information resources and staff to support library access and document delivery services.
   
   Dartmouth College Program
   Dartmouth College currently offers no degree programs in nursing. The nursing collection is important to the continuing education of current nurse employees of DHMC.
   
   Several area colleges and universities offer clinical rotations at DHMC for their nursing students. Students in these programs are extended library privileges during their rotation, but are not considered primary clientele.
   
   
2. Boundaries
   The general subject area is nursing. Specific areas include: administration, ambulatory care, anesthesia and post-anesthesia care, cardiovascular nursing, community health, critical care, emergency and trauma, ethics, evidence-based practice, geriatrics, gastroenterology, history of nursing, informatics, maternity nursing and midwifery, medical-surgical nursing, neonatology, nephrology, neurology, oncology, pediatrics, pharmacology, practical nursing, psychiatry, research, respiratory care, surgery, techniques and procedures, theory, urology, and wound care.
   
   The emphasis is on currency of materials in support of clinical care rather than historical or research level materials; therefore de-selection occurs regularly. Typically, the current edition, and at most one earlier edition, of textbooks are kept. Audiovisuals are withdrawn when the subject material is dated.
   
   The medical sciences collection is essential to providing resources to nurses, as nurses use much of the medical literature for their practice. Furthermore, other libraries in the Dartmouth College Library system maintain resources of interest to nursing. They are primarily the Feldberg Business & Engineering Library for health care administration and the Baker-Berry Library for psychology, education, ethics, sociology, and the US government documents.
   
   LC Class
   RT, RC(selected), RD(selected)
   
   
3. Partnerships
   There are currently no partnerships that are particular to Nursing.
   
   
2. Specific Delimitations to collecting in this subject area
   
   
1. Languages
   Only English language materials are collected.
   
   
2. Geographical Areas
   The material in nursing describes subjects that are generally independent of geography. Where geography is a factor, materials relating to nursing in Vermont and New Hampshire are of interest.
   
   
3. Types of Materials Collected
   Textbooks and serials reflecting the subject boundaries are collected.
   
   Board examination reviews and other test preparation guides are purchased as recommended by DHMC nursing staff.
   
   Nursing dissertations and technical and grant reports are excluded unless they pertain to the Vermont and New Hampshire region and/or are donated to the library.
   
   
4. Format of Materials Collected
   Most current journals are now received in digital format only. Frequently updated reference resources, such as encyclopedias and directories, are preferred in digital format. Print is still the predominant format for monographs. Audiovisuals and other formats are acquired selectively.
   
   
5. Collective Collections
   The collection is extended through consortial licenses for journals and through resource sharing such as DOCLINE and OCLC. The Dartmouth Biomedical Libraries are a Resource Library in the National Network of Libraries of Medicine/New England Region.
   
   Area schools offering nursing degrees have libraries to support their students and faculty, including Colby-Sawyer College, Franklin Pierce University, the University of New Hampshire, Norwich University, Rivier University and the University of Vermont.
   
   The White River Junction Veterans Administration Center has a library to support its staff.
   
   
3. Revision History
   
   • September 2016, updated by Heather Blunt
   • October 2006, updated by Peggy Sleeth
   • July 2000, updated by Fred Pond
   • January 1994, updated by Fred Pond
   • April 1981, created by Shirley Grainger-Inselburg
   • Current Selector: Heather Blunt