Q. Can faculty make purchase recommendations for videos and databases for use in the classroom?
A. Materials purchased for the library collections are intended for student use. While materials purchased for the library collections may be used in the classroom, materials will not be acquired exclusively to serve as instructional resource materials. Costs for educational videos can be quite high and would consume the monographic budget if we were to support classroom teaching needs. In addition, since library materials circulate, we cannot guarantee that library materials will be available on the day a faculty member wants to show a video in class. For classroom viewing, departments should consider renting the video if it is intended for a single viewing, or purchase it to ensure it is available on viewing day. Costs for research databases are simply too expensive to warrant purchase for exclusive use in the classroom. Determining the appropriateness or affordability of materials for classroom teaching is not within the purview of the College Libraries.
Q. Can faculty make purchase recommendations for materials to support their research?
A. Materials purchased for the collections must be intellectually appropriate for and related to the undergraduate and graduate programs at Potsdam. While faculty research interests often mesh with student research assignments and interests, the level of the intellectual content needed for faculty research is not generally accessible to students. While the College Libraries is committed to supporting the undergraduate and graduate programs at SUNY Potsdam, we are not a research library, and do not have the resources (budget, staff or space) to build collections that have the depth and breadth needed for faculty research. However, we ARE committed to supporting faculty research endeavors through Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery.
For specific details, see the complete College Libraries Collection Development Policy. 
