Search: Collection Development Policy

Purpose of the Collection Development Policy

The GRN Collection Development Policy is a strategic planning tool for the organization in the ongoing development of its collection and content offerings.

The GRN Collection Development Policy is a management tool designed to provide consistency and continuity in the selection policies and practices of the GRN.

The GRN Collection Development Policy is a communication tool that provides information to the public, GRN Registrants and GRN Members.

Audience Focus

The GRN Interactive Information portal (IIP) is intended for anyone interested in research issues related to HIV prevention in drug-using populations, although the specific target population is envisioned as follows:

• Researchers
• Program managers
• Health practitioners
• Community representatives

As the IIP acquires new content and gains acceptability by the core audience, an enlarged target group could include policy makers and/or government decision makers.

Subject Coverage

The initial content emphasis will focus narrowly on the topic of HIV prevention in persons who inject drugs. Material in additional topic areas, such as persons who use drugs via non-injection means, and other pathogens such as hepatitis C, will be added to the collection as per the recommendations of portal users and subject matter experts.

Selection Responsibility

The GRN Research Librarian has the overall responsibility for determining which items will be added to or removed from the IIP. The GRN Resource Selection Committee assists the GRN Research Librarian in making decisions regarding the acquisition of new resources. The GRN Research Librarian and the GRN Resource Selection Committee will abide by the decisions of the GRN Executive Committee.

Selection Criteria

The following factors are considered when evaluating resources for addition to the GRN KnowledgeCentre:

• Subject matter and relevance to the educational and research needs of the GRN target audience.
• Potential use by GRN clientele as indicated by inclusion in major indexes/abstracts (e.g. PubMed).
• Content that appears in peer-reviewed journals.
• Evidence-based research.
• Availability of full text.
• Access to open access material, or in the case of subscription-based literature, accessible by multiple publishers/aggregators.
• Availability free of charge (or at nominal cost) to the GRN.
• Recommendations from GRN members.
• Recommendations of GRN subject matter experts (GRN Resource Selection Committee).

Selection Policy

Journal Articles

Preference is given to the collection of full-text articles available in an electronic format. We favour linking to open access journals over subscription-based journals wherever possible.

The following types of research articles are considered for inclusion into the collection: case reports, case control studies, cohort studies, randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, methodology articles, and short reports of data from original research.

Conferences

Published proceedings of domestic or international conferences will be collected when appropriate by subject matter. Publications containing programs with abstracts will be collected only if the published proceedings are not available. Publications containing only a list of participants will not be collected.

GRN conference proceedings, papers, and reports will be collected.

Other Publications and Documents

The GRN collects selective open-source publications (e.g. policy briefs/guides/recommendations, technical reports) from international organizations such as the United Nations and its regional and special-purpose agencies.

Languages

English will be the primary language of the collection. Where non-English materials are collected, their metadata (e.g. abstracts), will be displayed in English. Metadata in additional languages may be added at a later date.

Chronological Coverage

There are no general restrictions based upon chronological periods; however, faced with gaps in the existing collection and the increasing output of new literature, the GRN must emphasize selective acquisition of current materials over, but not to the exclusion of, retrospective materials.

Geographic Coverage

In general, materials are acquired without regard for geographic considerations, as the focus of the collection is global. At times, materials concentrating on individual countries or regional emphasis will be collected more intensively in order to increase the breadth and depth of the collection.

Funding

Support for the development and current operation of the Global Research Network on HIV Prevention in Drug-Using Populations (GRN) is provided by the National Institutes of Health (U.S.), the Public Health Agency of Canada, and others. It is anticipated that future operations will be supported by an increasing number of organizations and agencies in the future as the GRN and its utility becomes known.

Intellectual Freedom

The Global Research Network on HIV Prevention in Drug-Using Populations (GRN) is committed to the widest possible freedom in the dissemination of information.

Selection of materials may involve resources which could be considered controversial by some individuals or groups. These materials are acquired to support the mission of the GRN. The acquisition of, or access to, such material does not imply approval or endorsement of the content by the GRN. In determining what materials are acceptable, the GRN is guided by its collection development policy as well as the relevant law of Canada and the province of Ontario. If materials have not incurred penalties under Canadian law, such materials cannot be excluded from the GRN Interactive Information Portal to satisfy individual or sectional interest.

Copyright

Some of the information available from this site is within the public domain or is open access material. This material may be downloaded and reproduced under the following conditions:

Summary of Open Access

Anyone is free to:

• copy, distribute, or display the work;
• make derivative works;
• make commercial use of the work;

Under the following conditions: Attribution

• the original author must be given credit;
• for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the licence terms of this work are;
• any of these conditions can be waived if the authors gives permission.

Statutory fair use and other rights are in no way affected by the above.

At times, the GRN IIP may contain links to documents, such as full-text journals, that may be copyright protected. Permission to reproduce copyright documents may be required.