# Introduction

Library Services and the Copyright Office formed the Selection Joint
Issue Group (JIG) in February 2002 to examine current selection
practices. Creation of the JIG based on the Copyright Office (CO)
Business Process Reengineering (BPR) recommendation that CO assume some
"routine" selection activities. The JIG reviewed current selection
practices and identified areas where routine selection by CO is
feasible.

Of the material Library Services (LS) currently selects for the
collections, a large percentage is received through CO. To accommodate
CO's need for timely registration, LS selects monographs on a daily
basis and special formats on an as-needed basis. The current time
constraints on Acquisition Selection Officers (SO) prevent them from
searching titles or performing additional research in questionable
selection-decision cases while material is in CO custody and often
results in a secondary selection decision being made once these items
enter the LS workflow. This frequently results in the ACQ SO making
initial selection decisions and later reversing them once they have had
an opportunity to perform necessary research.

Recognizing that selection is currently performed by senior Acquisitions
(ACQ) staff with considerable experience with the Library's collection,
the Selection JIG needed to determine whether or not any class of
routine material could be identified for selection by CO staff based on
their understanding of the publishing trade and assumed ability to learn
and apply existing collection policy. The JIG began by examining
existing selection processes for the three CO workflows:

-   Voluntary deposits -- deposits voluntarily submitted to CO in
    compliance with section 407 of copyright law.

-   Demand deposits -- deposits LC has identified for the collections
    and CO demands under section 407 of copyright law.

-   Deposits submitted for claim registration -- deposits submitted
    under section 408 of the copyright law. These deposits also fulfill
    the mandatory deposit obligation stated in section 407.

For each workflow, the JIG looked at monographs, serials, and special
format deposits. Special format deposits include materials collected by
the Geography and Map (G&M) Division, Law Library, Music Division, and
Prints and Photographs (P&P) Division. The Motion Picture
Broadcasting/Recorded Sound (MBRS) Division JIG reviewed the selection
practices for moving image and recorded sound material. This document
includes the JIG's selection recommendations.

The Selection JIG defined and reviewed four elements of the selection
process:

-   **Retention**. Should the work be retained for the collection? The
    Selection JIG recognizes that selection and retention are two
    separate concepts. Selection is defined as a process to determine
    whether or not a work, and the desired number of copies, should be
    acquired for the collection. Retention is best defined as a process
    to determine how long, and in what form, to hold selected items.

    Under current practice, the retention decision process can vary. In
    most cases, the ACQ SO makes an initial decision in CO to select a
    work simply to make a final decision later in the process. The ACQ
    SO makes a final decision once the work has been searched in the
    Cataloging in Publication (CIP) Division, or after searching LC's
    holdings and other sources.

-   **Number of copies LC wants and number of copies LC acquires**. How
    many copies of the work should LC retain? Currently, LC bases the
    decision on the nature of the work and the number of copies presumed
    to already be present in the collection.

-   **Cataloging priority or level of cataloging**. When and how should
    LS process the work? Currently, the cataloging priority, including
    in those circumstances where LC policy is to retain almost all
    deposits (e.g., Music and Law materials), the SO determines the
    cataloging priority for the work in the CIP work area.

-   **Assignment**. Where should the work reside? Unless the ACQ SO
    assigns the work to an alternate location, the default assignment to
    the General Collection, Law Library, or the custodial division
    (Serial and Government Publications \[SER\] Division, Geography and
    Map \[G&M\], Music) applies.

This report documents the Selection JIG's observations and
recommendations. The JIG believes that CO can assume a significant
portion of routine selection activities. In this de-centralization of
selection duties, Register Claim (RC) and CAD staff will make the
routine selection decisions and the ACQ SO will make the selection
decisions for deposits that require searching or a high degree of
judgment and knowledge of the existing collection. This approach may
expedite the selection process and accommodate CO's registration time
constraints.