Microfilm

Microfilm, Microfiche, and Microform Collections

Ongoing Acquisitions

Pepperdine Libraries primarily own microfilm and microfiche purchased from well-established vendors:

ProQuest LLC

National Archive Publishing Co. (NAPC)

Thomson Gale (Cengage)

Selection Policies

Microfilm and microfiche are old formats requiring bulky readers that are not very user friendly. Microfilm is rapidly becoming obsolete as a viable format and is being replaced by digital alternatives. For these reasons, it is our policy to invest in new microfilm/fiche only for archival materials that are unavailable in digital formats, for example, The Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal.

Collections

We also have a collection of older microfilm and microfiche, all of which are cataloged.

Policies for Microfilm and Microfiche Retention

As existing microfilm/fiche collections become available in digital formats, it is our policy to acquire the digital version and deaccession the analog version when and if the following conditions are met:

• The entire collection that we own is available digitally.
• Digital content is owned rather than leased. This includes collections that Pepperdine may elect to digitize for inclusion in a digital repository. However, a leased total run of a title may be preferable to a partial run that we own on microfilm.
• If digital files are stored onsite, appropriate measures are in place for backup and recovery, and for ongoing digital preservation.
• If digital files are externally hosted, the hosting vendor is a participant in Portico, JSTOR, or a comparable escrow or archival system that ensures long-term access and preservation. This is the preferred option. As a secondary alternative, the vendor agreement must specify that they provide us with electronic media copies of our content in the event that we terminate our agreement with them or they cease publication.

Exceptions to the above policy

If digital resources are leased, microfilm/fiche versions of the same content may be shifted to a low-use storage facility.

Microfilm/microfiche collections may also be deaccessioned if one of the following criteria is met:

• The content in the collection is deemed out of date and no longer academically useful. Library liaisons are responsible for determining the usefulness of materials in their subject areas of responsibility.
• Content in the collection is made available electronically for public access from an authoritative, reliable source (e.g., the Library of Congress). See also, general deaccessioning policies.

Government Documents

Collection management is done on an ongoing basis as materials are examined by the Government Information Librarian. Government documents staff make suggestions regarding materials as do other librarians, but it is the responsibility of the Government Information Librarian to make final decisions about whether materials should be retained or not. Considerations for retention include: the archival importance of the material; the condition of the material; the date of the material in relation to patron demands; and the overall relevance of the material. Materials not retained are deaccessioned in accordance with the policies of the Federal Depository Library Program. Materials may not be deaccessioned until at least five years after they have been acquired. Proposed deaccessioned items are sent to the regional library and then to a list of libraries provided by the regional library.