STB Collections Development Policy | Business
Information Collections
Science Technology & Business Collections Development
Policy
The following policy operates under the Library's general policy statements with respect to collection development.
Some of the material acquired under this policy is available for loan or document
supply through the Library's Document Supply
service.
The British Library houses one of the best reference collections of current science technology and business literature in the western world. The Library is unique in that it houses - within one building - sci/tech literature and a collection of patents from almost every issuing authority in the world. The stock is acquired from legal deposit intake, by purchase, from donated material and by exchanges. An increasingly large range of material is available in the Reading Rooms in a variety of electronic formats:
electronic databases
electronic
journals
The Library acquires literature on almost all branches of science, business and industrial property. The materials collected are of a high technical standard (usually, but not invariably, about postgraduate level) and relevant to current research and development. In the field of business, publications for the practitioner, rather than on the theory of business practice, are collected.
Periodicals and Other Serials:
The Library collects as comprehensively as possible (given budgetary constraints)
all serials of sufficient value within the right field and regardless of language.
Books:
Books in English which are of sufficient value and within field are taken as comprehensively as budgetary constraints allow (books in French and German are taken very selectively when the subject is not covered adequately in English). In other languages, books are collected only when they cover a specialty of the country. Lower level books (e.g. undergraduate text books) are only acquired selectively. They are collected to serve the needs of specialists working in other areas of sci/tech who need to familiarize themselves with the basic principles of subjects which are outside their main interests.
Abstracting and Indexing Publications:
The hard-copy collection, chiefly in the English language, is being gradually
replaced with electronic versions as they become available on the market.
Business Information Collections
The British Library holds the most comprehensive collection
of business information literature in the UK. This includes market research reports and journals, directories, company annual reports; trade and business journals, house journals, trade literature and electronic sources.
Business literature published in the UK is collected as comprehensively as possible; items published elsewhere are taken selectively. The Library aims to cover the manufacturing, wholesale trading, retailing and distribution aspects of major industries and the following service sectors: financial services, energy, environment, transport, and food and drink.
