The primary goal of the Timmerman Library is to support all currently offered programs at Lake Area Technical Institute. All decisions and objectives are further guided by the institution’s mission statement:
Lake Area Technical Institute offers superior, comprehensive technical education, creating a foundation for success in an ever-changing world.
The library works to increasingly support and enhance the educational activities of Lake Area students, faculty, staff, and administration. Through the acquisition and management of curriculum-based and professional development resources, the Timmerman Library promotes life-long learning, which helps lay the groundwork for success in today’s world.
The purpose of this document is to direct the work of the LATI library staff by providing clear principles and procedures for the management of the library’s information resources. This document will guide the management of materials and all future acquisition decisions, and it will serve as an information tool for LATI students, faculty, staff, and other interested parties.
The community of users for the Timmerman Library include approximately 1,250 students who are enrolled in one of the four main academic divisions (agriculture, health, business, and trade and technology) or are completing their general education classes in order to pursue further higher education at a four-year institution. The 150 LATI employees also have access to Timmerman Library resources.
The Timmerman Library contributes to the statewide library community, working closely with the Watertown Regional Library, the South Dakota State Library, the South Dakota Library Association, and the South Dakota Library Network. The Timmerman Library also maintains strong working relationships with librarians from South Dakota State University, the University of South Dakota, and Mount Marty College because each institution has students taking classes on the LATI campus. The LATI library provides resources and reference assistance to all students and staff who utilize the campus.
The LATI library offers interlibrary loan to all its patrons through the Watertown Regional Library. The library also attempts to fulfill all interlibrary loan requests made for its materials.
The responsibility for resource selection lies with the LATI librarian. The library hopes to make acquisition decisions based on information/recommendations from LATI faculty and staff when appropriate. Through recommendation forms and deliberate contact between staff and librarian, it is hoped that the communication lines will remain fluid, helping the librarian make informed decisions about which resources to purchase.
There are two primary selection criteria for choosing information resources: the quality of the material and how well it fulfills an academic, curriculum-based need for our students. The library also tries to purchase high quality, up-to-date professional development resources that will enhance the teaching skills of LATI staff.
As curriculum changes, the LATI library will work with faculty and administration to accommodate such changes and continue to provide information resources that are up-to-date and concurrent with curriculum.
The Timmerman Library supports copyright laws as stated in the provisions of the U.S. Copyright Law. It also recognizes “fair use” by educational institutions. For further information on copyright and “fair use,” visit the following websites: http://www.copyright.gov/title17/ and http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html.
The library is not responsible for individual use of library materials, so any student or faculty/staff member who disregards copyright law does so at his/her own risk and must assume all liability. Library staff will not reproduce library materials for patrons. In addition, the library staff will exercise due diligence in providing access to electronic resources while informing faculty and students of an individual’s legal obligations regarding the creative work of others.
The Timmerman Library has a collection of children’s books available to all patrons. The collection is meant to support the curriculum of the Human Services Technician program and resource management decisions for this collection will be made with that particular program in mind. The collection is not intended to be comprehensive or historical but rather to provide examples of some of the best materials available for the use of professionals in the Human Services sphere.
Gifts are encouraged and appreciated, with the understanding that all gifts become the property of the Timmerman Library. Donated items may be used or disposed of at the discretion of the library. The decision to add gifts to the collection will be based on the same selection guidelines used when purchasing resources.
Types of gifts generally not accepted:
The library complies with all IRS regulations pertaining to charitable donations.
Weeding will be an ongoing, routine operation at the LAT library. The responsibility of de-selection lies with the librarian. Criteria for weeding include:
One of the primary objectives for the Timmerman Library is to increase the mean age of its information resources. The library needs to do substantial weeding and acquire more up-to-date resources to support LATI students and staff. The library also plans to increase the number of online and electronic resources available to its students. In keeping up with today’s ever-changing world, the Timmerman Library realizes that the future of information management will increasingly be in electronic formats and the library hopes to continue to develop in this capacity.
This document will be revised every three years starting in 2010. The responsibility of revision will lie with the LATI librarian.
Copyright ©2011 Lake Area Technical Institute | Accredited by The Higher Learning Commission
230 11th Street NE - PO Box 730 - Watertown, South Dakota - 57201 | General Information: (605) 882-LATI or 1-800-657-4344 - Fax 1-605-882-6299
