Earth and Environmental Studies Collection Development Policy

The scope of programs in Earth and Environmental Studies at the University of Pennsylvania is broad, spanning departments and schools across the university and ranging from the undergraduate to the doctoral level.

The Department of Earth and Environmental Science at the University traces its beginnings back to the activities and writings of such early Philadelphians as Benjamin Franklin, John Bartram, Caspar Wistar, and Charles Willson Peale. It took definitive shape in 1835 when the University established a Department of Geology and Henry Darwin Rogers was appointed Professor of Geology and Mineralogy. Thereafter, through the end of the 19th century, eminent scientists, among whom were Joseph Leidy and Edward Drinker Cope, made Penn a national center for the study of geology, natural history, and vertebrate palaeontology. The details of this tradition can be found in "A history of geology at the University of Pennsylvania: Benjamin Franklin and the rest," by Carol Faul, in Geologists and Ideas: a History of North American Geology, Boulder, CO: Geological Society of America, 1985.

The department took on its present name in 1998 and offers a wide range of courses and degree programs at the undergraduate, masters, and doctoral levels. The undergraduate curriculum offers majors in earth science (EASC) and environmental studies (ENVS), as well as minors in environmental science, environmental studies, geology, and sustainability and environmental management. The graduate group guides research leading to doctoral degrees in range of fields that encompass our research interests in biogeochemistry, environmental geology, paleobiology, surficial processes, tectonics, ocean and climate dynamics, and thermochronology. Additionally, master's degrees are available in environmental studies and applied geosciences. These last 2 programs are administered by the College of Liberal and Professional Studies and designed for both full and part-time students interested in professional careers. The Department also is a partner in the research activities of the Kleinman Center for Energy, The Water Center and the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media. These centers are instrumental in developing policy and sustainability practices, both nationally and locally.  

The Earth and Environment Science collection supports the teaching, research, and learning needs of the department and the aforementioned centers. Accordingly, the collection strengths are biogeochemistry, soil science, geomorphology, paleobiology, and ocean and atmospheric science. The Libraries also has a historically strong collection in paleobotany. Additionally, there is a large and growing collection of climate change and sustainability-related material. Due to the interdisciplinary aspects of these topics, there is strong collaboration between the subject librarians. The Earth and Environmental Studies collection focuses on the science and policy aspects. Other subject bibliographers purchase in the areas such as environmental humanities, the impact of climate change on society, and health implications. 

The collection is primarily electronic and consists of e-journals, e-books, and databases. There are standing orders for electronic copies of the Geological Society of America and the Geological Society material. Additionally, the entire digital archive for the Geological Society of America Special Papers has been acquired. The Geological Society Special Publications digital archive is acquired when funding permits. Other geological society publications are made available through GeoScienceWorld. Journal content is centered around large publishers like Elsevier and Springer, with additional material from society publishers. Ebook frontfiles from major science publishers, together with individual title purchases from the approval plan and direct selection, make up the main source of monographs acquisitions.  

Where possible, the collection aligns with the strategic mission and values of the Libraries. For example, we have sought transformative open access journal agreements that are both sustainable and equitable. We give preference to "subscribe to open" agreements, but we review other models to see if they benefit the university and the scholarly communication ecosystem as a whole. We also collect new and emerging formats, such as research workflow tools, datasets, and apps, when their licensing models permit access for all Penn authorized users, protect user privacy, support fair use, and align with our current authentication and authorization services.

Serials are purchased through EBSCO Subscription Services, journal aggregators, individual publishers, and through consortia agreements. The monograph collection is acquired mainly in electronic format using various e-book vendors, publishers, and an approval plan through GOBI. Publisher platforms are preferred over aggregator platforms. Frontfiles and subject packages also make up a large part of the electronic monograph collection. We use approval plans, search alerts, and vendor communications to identify new material for the collection.

The following criteria are used when making collection decisions: 

Serials and Periodicals
Accessibility
Cost
Inclusion in a major indexing source such as Medline
Interlibrary loan activity
ISI impact factor
Potential audience
User requests
Perpetual access

Monographs
Accessibility
Content level
Cost
Ease of use
Interlibrary loan activity
User requests
Digital Rights Management
Perpetual access

Other Digital Resources (workflow tools, datasets, apps, databases)
Accessibility
Cost
Ease of use
Quality and depth of material
Storage requirements
Digital Rights Management
Library subject expertise and support for the resource

Subjects excluded: 
The collection does not acquire historical or rare books. Requests for those materials will be directed to the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts, or the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center. Maps are no longer acquired.