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Gift Book Review Guidelines

• Include instructions in each book to be added--add, add as c.2, add if c. 1 in poor condition, etc. TS will assume that books with no notes are not to be added. For paperbacks to be added also insert instructions if you want book to be sent to bindery, "covered up", or pam bound--TS will presume no instruction in paperback means leave book unchanged. Use flags to indicate location for books going to a location other than 3d floor (e.g., yellow flag for Reference).
• If in doubt, do not add. Cataloging and processing take time so consider whether the book is worth this "cost".
• Do not add if book is heavily underlined, pages are brittle, or condition is generally poor.
• Do not add if there are more recent editions available--even if we do not own the more recent edition.
• We have nothing against adding college textbooks if they seem appropriate for adding according to other guidelines--be especially sure what you have is the most recent edition available.
• Consider whether or not intellectual content is dated. Checking to see if book is still in print is one way to do this--use GOBI or BOOKS IN PRINT on FirstSearch.
• Does the subject of book relate to OU's curriculum? Check OU catalog to see if related courses are offered.
• Is the book published by a respected publisher--one from whom you would select books to order?
• Do we have other books on subject? Are these frequently checked out?
• If we own book, has it been frequently checked out? Use your own judgment about how frequent this would need to be to justify adding the particular book as a copy 2. If there are 5 circulations but none since last June, I probably wouldn't add book as second copy. If book is very recent and shows recent circulations with a total of 5, I might want to add as a copy 2.
• In some cases you may want to ask TS to do some checking. For example, you might ask for someone to check shelf for copy 1 and only to add a particular title as a second copy if copy 1 is in poor condition.
• These are only guidelines. If you know that the book is a "classic" or have a strong "hunch" that it would be heavily used, go ahead and add--no matter what the answers are to the above questions/guidelines.

mm revised 9/14/00