Collections

Documentary and information resources (2015)

The library’s basic heritage is its collections. In this regard, a special success of the APA Library is related to the elaboration and implementation of the documentary and informational resources development policy which includes the following provisions:

• Priority orientation of the structure and composition of the document collections in support of the teaching and research process within the Academy;

• Permanent analysis of the documentation required for selection: study programs, research plans, obligatory and optional bibliographies, marketing studies, editorial plans for the current acquisition, the amount of budgetary and extra-budgetary resources, etc.;

• Application of the basic principles of collection development:

-       Applying the basic principles of collection development:

-       free access to information and observance of the right of intellectual freedom, topicality of information,

-       developing collections by balanced coverage of all study disciplines and the linguistic area of ​​interest;

-       selectivity depending on the didactic and scientific process,

-       cooperation and coordination in the procurement and use of resources, balance, continuity and consistency of procurement;

• Diversity of media and document types,

• Structuring and orienting collections to facilitate access to information;

• Improving the development of collections by using the Internet as a basis for studying the editorial market offer as well as for making publications orders;

• Dynamic collaboration with academics in the process of developing document collections and databases;

• Participation in the EIFL Direct Consortium Moldova International Project;

• Developing relationships with the academic and scientific environment from the country and abroad, in order to increase the number of acquired documents, through donations and exchange of publications.

   Based on this policy, the collections of the APA Scientific Library are organized and developed depending on user information needs, predominantly on a multidisciplinary basis, through acquisitions, donations, book exchange and other sources.

During the year 2015, 1,508 books, periodical publications, other documents were purchased, and at the end of the year the collection consisted of 43,111 volumes.

The development of collections was done through budget allocations, extra-budgetary resources, exchange of books and possible free acquisitions through sponsorships and donations. The acquisitions of the reference period can be characterized as follows. Depending on the type of documents, most books were purchased / 69.2% of the total number of purchased items, periodicals 18.5%. The linguistic feature of the collection is the following: in Romanian - 75.9%, in other languages ​​- 24.1%. Educational and scientific publications constitute 61.8% of the collection. 

  As a member of the REM Consortium (Electronic Resources for Moldova), the APA Scientific Library provided access to the complex international databases EBSCO, POLPRED, The World Bank, OXFORD English Dictionary, CAMBRIDGE JOURNALS, DOAJ, British Encyclopedia, Hindawi Publishing Corporation, Electronic Library of the European Union, Royal Society Journals and Archive, EIFL-OA Moldova (online access to magazines, books, other documents from universities in different countries).

Informing users through periodicals and series has been achieved by ensuring access to 276 titles of local and foreign periodicals, both general and administrative, economic, legal information, according to the requirements of the Chairs (total entries in the reference period – 5,223 volumes). The number of digital documents is of 1,012 units

 Of the total number of entries in the library collection, 67.9% is book donations received after various projects, interlibrary exchange, individual donations, donations from different institutions and organizations, publications replaced by readers in exchange for lost ones. 

The e-Books collection (on digital support) includes 786 titles designed and tailored to meet the information demands and needs of the educational and research process, and especially to facilitate access to primary information in the fields of: administration sciences, legal sciences, political and social sciences, economic and public management, international relations and European integration, etc.

In organizing and preserving collections, the following factors are prior: comfort and convenience in the access and use of resources in free access combined with the rational use of the functional space, the specificity of the content of the curriculum and the organization of the study process.