Questions about collections

General collections

To maintain the collection, library staff may remove outdated or superseded materials. University Libraries do not suppress or remove information that individuals may find controversial or inappropriate. 

Library staff consider the following criteria when removing materials from the collection: 

• Patron usage data 
• Publication date 
• Damaged or poor condition 

• Obsolete or inaccurate information 
• Availability of updated or new editions 
• Availability of electronic or updated formats 
• Current curriculum needs 

Distinctive collections

Reappraisal and deaccessioning decisions for archival or special collections materials, following the SAA Guidelines for Reappraisal and Deaccessioning, may be made to achieve any of the following objectives:  

• To improve overall access to materials 
• To make split collections whole 
• To assess and prioritize backlogs  
• To correct faulty appraisal at the time of acquisition  
• To comply with the law (e.g. replevin)  
• To comply with current institutional collecting policies and retention schedules  
• To assess collecting strengths and refine collecting focus 
• To implement a change in the repository’s mission 
• To better balance research potential of collections with the necessary allocation of resources (space, staff, time, and conservation resources) for their care and preservation 

A patron who wishes to request the reconsideration of library material for any reason may speak with the Director of Collections & Discovery about items in the general collections, or, for physical or digital materials in the Libraries’ Distinctive Collections, with the Director of Distinctive Collections. If the patron wishes to file a complaint, they may complete the collection feedback form. The form must be filled out completely; incomplete forms will not be considered. 

When requesting reconsideration of an item, the patron may request the Libraries take one of three actions: 

• Removal of an item because it does not fall within the Libraries’ collection development policies, or
• Request the addition of a source to balance the collection by providing alternative views (in which case all items would follow the standard process for review and approval of patron requests).
• Removal or restriction of material because of legal concerns (for example, the presence of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), or Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protected information; or rights infringement) or significant risks to privacy (for example, exposed Social Security Numbers).

The University Libraries may agree to either take action or take no action at all. Challenged items will remain available to library users during the duration of the challenge; the one exception is for materials where legal questions are being raised, which will be taken down from the Libraries’ digital platforms or removed from public access while rights or privacy concerns are investigated.

Procedure for requests for content reconsideration

Upon receipt of the completed form, a review committee will be formed to consider the request. The University Libraries will respond in a timely manner with regular updates. The committee will have a minimum of three individuals and will include a library employee knowledgeable about collection development in the subject area of the resource and others with expertise in the format of the items in question or collection development. The review committee will make a written recommendation within 14 working days, which will be sent to the Dean of Libraries, who will make the final decision. The person requesting an action will be notified in writing by the Dean of Libraries of the decision and any action to be taken; they will be notified within four weeks of submitting the completed form. The Dean’s Office within the Libraries will retain documentation on reconsideration requests.

The Libraries acknowledges that some of our materials and vendor supplied resources may include language and content that is racist, sexist, colonialist, homophobic, and/or use other offensive terms and imagery that may cause harm or distress.  This language may have come from a variety of sources – creators of the collection material, previous metadata creators and stewards, publishers, or by University workers since acquisition, and only some of those sources are within our control. While the Libraries does not endorse the ideologies, images, or language found in such cases and rejects oppressive views reflected in our collections, items like these are made publicly available to provide an accurate and complete historical record. They are critically important resources for education and research and provide opportunities for contemporary and future entities seeking accountability and transparency.  

The Libraries is continuously working on updating and repairing our content and description. Due to the size of our collections, we acknowledge that there will be problematic items and descriptions that have gone unnoticed. If you find content that you believe contains inaccurate, harmful, or offensive language, please submit feedback using the collection feedback form. The Libraries does not guarantee that changes will or can be implemented, but we welcome recommendations. 

The Special Collections and University Archives Department of the University of Nevada, Reno is committed to aligning its practices with the Protocols for Native American Archival Materials. As part of this process, we are working to indicate when items or collections may be culturally sensitive. If you notice that we have incorrectly marked an item as being sensitive or not being sensitive, please complete and submit the collection feedback form.

The University of Nevada, Reno Libraries provides online access to unique digital materials to further education and research. Care is taken to clear rights and attribute rights holders when possible, but due to the nature of archives and special collections this information is not always available. The Libraries will promptly respond to requests from copyright owners regarding concerns with digital objects. 

Users of our online digital collections may:

• Find unattributed or misattributed materials for which a correct attribution does exist
• Find materials for which they are the rights holder and have not granted permission or are not covered by a copyright exception under US copyright laws
• Find materials that include personal information that should not be shared online (such as information protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), or Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA); or information that poses significant risks to privacy (such as exposed Social Security Numbers). 

If you have found material on the Libraries’ digital collections that you feel may pose legal or privacy concerns as delineated above, you may request the removal of the material from our online platforms by submitting a notice through the collection feedback form.

The descriptive metadata in the various access and discovery platforms used in the library comes from a variety of sources; some metadata are created for access and discovery, some are drawn from the provenance of the item (such as a historical title/description or born-digital records of an item’s creation), and some are created by third-party providers (such as content in subscription databases or ebook collections). We appreciate receiving error reports about the content of library records, such as misspellings, incorrect titles, incorrect names, imprecise or outdated subjects, inaccurate identifiers (ISBNs, ISSNs) or inaccurate classification numbers. The origin and format of an item or the metadata describing the item will impact whether errors can be corrected or not, especially in the case of archival materials. Given our commitment to preserving the authenticity and integrity of the archival record, it is unlikely that we will correct errors or inaccuracies present in original items; redact digital content or indices; or otherwise remove or limit access to materials except in cases where there are legal or human rights concerns. Legal concerns might include the presence of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), or Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protected information; significant risks to privacy such as exposed Social Security numbers; or documented evidence of a clear and imminent threat to personal safety and well-being. 

Please submit error reports using the collection feedback from. The Libraries does not guarantee that changes will or can be implemented, but we welcome recommendations.