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Library Policy

As a true "gateway," Child Welfare Information Gateway seeks to share materials and resources gathered from professionals in the child welfare field that may be of interest to other professionals working with children and families across the country. While library staff have access to and collect resources from a variety of sources, staff need help identifying appropriate resources created on the local level that may support others in the field. The purpose of this effort is to share knowledge across the country, limiting the need to "reinvent the wheel" in child welfare agencies.

This Library Policy outlines:

1. What is currently in our library and how we make decisions on adding new material
2. What type of materials we seek from professionals in the field and how to submit the materials
3. What happens to the materials once it is accepted into our collection

1. What is included in the library?

Child Welfare Information Gateway library staff collect an impressive array of literature relating to child welfare, including child abuse prevention, out-of-home care, and adoption. To our current collection of close to 50,000 items, staff add approximately 200 items a month to the library. Items selected include peer-reviewed articles, books, evaluation reports, grantee final reports, and program reports.

Items for the collection are selected from various subscription services; found or purchased from national, state or local child welfare organization's websites; collected at national conferences; or published by the Federal government. Staff evaluate all new resources for scope, subject matter and content ensuring relevance for our audiences and appropriateness of the format. Accepted items are abstracted, catalogued, and tagged with key words to assist with automated searching and retrieval on the website.

These items are then shared via our online library through databases, user searches and pre-determined topical listings with close to 3,000,000 yearly visitors to the Child Welfare Information Gateway website every year. Website visitors view, download or order these materials for activities such as program planning, training, evaluation, and research.

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2. Do you have something you think is appropriate for the library?

While library staff scour various resources seeking items for the collection, it is not possible for staff to have access to all child welfare resources. This is where you can help by sharing materials created by your program so that it may be reviewed or used by child welfare staff, resource families, or related professionals for the purpose of improving service delivery for children and families. The following are guidelines on what kinds of resources library staff are seeking and how to get these materials to the Information Gateway library:

What we need:

Library staff seek materials for the collection (e.g., documents, training resources or curricula, program reports or evaluations, research papers, resource materials for families–English and Spanish) that are complete and in final form for distribution (the Information Gateway does not distribute drafts). A professional should be able to use or adapt the material easily for their own use. Our goal is to assist professionals by providing resources that may be adapted for various uses.

How to submit materials:

To submit material to the collection, please send the following to library@childwelfare.gov

1. Cover letter (memo or email) with the following:
   • Title of the document, date, and the name, address and phone of the agency that created the material. If the agency received funding from an outside group for the materials (e.g., foundation, State or Federal Agency) please indicate as well.
   • Suggested citation for the product.
   • Information on where users can obtain a copy of the product (if copyrighted and not available via electronic distribution).

 

2. Electronic copy of materials (in PDF or Microsoft Office files- e.g., MS Word, MS PowerPoint. Please do not send Zip files as our network does not accept these files.)
   
   NOTE: Information Gateway highly recommends that you also put the suggested citation on either the first or second page of your materials to assist users of your documents with correctly citing your work.

 

3. If sending an electronic copy is not possible, mail a cover letter with a CD ROM of the materials to (please note that copies cannot be returned.)
   
   Child Welfare Information Gateway
   ATTN: Library
   10530 Rosehaven Street, Suite 400
   Fairfax, VA 22030

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3. What will Child Welfare Information Gateway do with the materials?

Once a new resource is accepted and made available in the library and on the website, Information Gateway staff can:

• Distribute electronic documents free of charge to customers;
• Copy documents up to 8 ½ x 11 inches at cost ($0.10 per page) to customers (one copy only of copyrighted materials);
• Refer users to the author or distributor for copies (if the author or distributor wishes to keep control of distribution); or
• Refer users to the author or distributor to download or purchase copies.

Unfortunately, Information Gateway staff cannot:

• Copy anything other than a document (e.g., videotapes, audio tapes, CD ROMs, DVDs);
• Copy materials in color or larger than 8 ½ x 11 inches;
• Make multiple copies of copyrighted works without permission;
• Allow downloads of copyrighted works; or
• Sell materials for authors or distributors.

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Information Gateway staff thank you for your interest and support. Materials you share with us will support knowledge exchange across the country and support the day-to-day work of many child welfare professionals.

If you have questions relating to this policy, please contact library staff at library@childwelfare.gov or call 1.800.394.3366 and ask to speak to a Librarian.

Do you have resources to add to our collection?

• Library policy

Updated on September 18, 2008