SFU Library SIAT collections policy

The collection development policy below has been developed to establish general principles for collections for SIAT. Ongoing changes to the SIAT curriculum will require the policy be modified with some frequency.

SIAT offers undergraduate students three (optional) concentrations: interactive systems, design, and media arts. Students concurrently acquire a theoretical and practical knowledge of the relationships that exist between technology and society.  They can also complete a Joint Major with Communications or Business Administration. SIAT graduate students can earn an MA, an MSc, a PhD, or a Graduate Certificate in Visual Analytics.

Research areas in SIAT are diverse and interdisciplinary. The following (non-exhaustive) list of topics gives a fair idea of the scope of research themes:

• Artificial intelligence
• Cognition
• Computational design
• Computer graphics
• Computer supported collaborative work
• Computer-mediated performance
• Design ethnography
• Embodied interaction
• Knowledge computation
• Interaction cesign
• Interactive arts
• Interactive video
• Media studies and analysis
• Narrative
• Perception and action
• Sound design
• Spatial cognition
• Spatial design and representation
• Sustainability
• Systems modeling
• Tangibles
• Video game design
• Virtual reality
• Visual analytics
• Visualization 

Collection development is the responsibility of the Interactive Arts and Technology Liaison Librarian. Liaison with the School of Interactive Arts and Technology is maintained through the Departmental Representative as well as with other faculty members when required. Regular contact with other liaison librarians and teaching departments is nurtured through the sharing of relevant review material.
 

SFU Resources

The Fraser Library at the Surrey campus is the major location for the Library's SIAT collection. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the field, there is wide overlap with other SFU Library collections including Communications, Computing Science, Engineering, Contemporary Arts, and Psychology. Resources are also available at the W.A.C. Bennett Library and the Belzberg Library at SFU Vancouver.

Regional Resources

The University of British Columbia also has a large collection which covers many branches of the discipline.

Consortia and Document Delivery

SFU belongs to three consortia (BC Electronic Library Network; Council of Prairie and Pacific University Libraries; and the Canadian Association of Research Libraries). Document delivery agreements exist with all three of these consortia which allow delivery of journal articles and books from member libraries in a timely manner. Holdings and direct requesting from over 40 libraries are accessible through the Interlibrary Loan webpage and from many databases, and interlibrary loans are also arranged with other libraries around the world, as needed.  Besides document delivery benefits, membership in these and other consortia, including the Canadian Research Knowledge Network, also offers substantial savings on the collective purchase of licensed electronic resources.

Subjects and Levels of Collecting

The following table lists the main subjects collected by the SFU Library in support of Interactive Arts and Technology teaching areas and research interests. Subjects listed are collected to varying depths. The method in which the library selects books on each subject is listed in the second column of the table. A designation of “Books” in this column means that items which fit the General Guidelines (above) for the subject in question are sent on an approval basis to the library. In such cases, a significant portion of the books on that topic will be acquired for the collection. A designation of “Forms,” on the other hand, means that only brief descriptions of the books on the subject in question are sent to the library. The liaison librarian, sometimes with the assistance of the faculty representative or other faculty members, then selects the relevant items for acquisition by the library.