A standing order is maintained for the entire ERIC microfiche collection, though current ERIC documents are also available online. H. Multiple Copies Multiple copies of heavily used works of a serious nature are acquired. The libraries maintain an approval plan for university press books as well as those published by outstanding trade publishers including Lawrence Erlbaum, Jossey-Bass, and Allyn and Bacon. Publications of the major educational associations are acquired almost comprehensively. Gifts occasionally provide duplicate copies of heavily used titles but have not served as a major source of collections in education.
Retrospective purchases are limited to filling in journal holdings or adding seminal older titles.
Upper-level textbooks are acquired selectively, as are works written on a popular level. Theses and dissertations from other universities are acquired only upon demand. Materials in education are of some interest to faculty and students in other disciplines, including psychology and family and child development, as well as to those responsible for various aspects of managing Virginia Tech as an institution of higher education. Education students draw heavily on resources which support other disciplines, such as psychology, philosophy, medicine, anthropology, political science, economics, history, business administration, as well as materials in subject areas in which students are preparing to teach. The law collection also supports the curriculum and research interests of the College of Education.