SFU Library Statistics and Actuarial Science collections policy

The Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science provides a range of courses in statistics and actuarial science. In addition to the undergraduate level, the Department offers a Master’s degree and a doctoral programme

The Department’s course and research areas are:

Actuarial science, statistical ecology, capture-recapture models, population biology, biostatistics and epidemiology, discrete and lifetime data, statistical genetics, survey sampling, design of experiments, statistical computing, Bayesian statistics, large sample theory, theory of inference, goodness of fit, stochastic processes, applied probability, directional data, multivariate statistics.

All materials necessary to support a comprehensive general statistics programme are collected.

Collection development is the responsibility of the Statistics Liaison Librarian.  Liaison with the Statistics Department 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 WAC Bennett Library is the major location for the University’s statistics collection.

Regional Resources

The University of British Columbia also has a large statistics collection comprehending many branches of the discipline.

Consortia and Document Delivery

SFU belongs to three consortia (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 journals articles and books from these libraries in a timely manner.  Holdings and direct requesting from over 40 libraries are accessible through the Interlibrary Loan webpage and from many databases.

General Collection Guidelines

Language:   the emphasis is on the acquisition of materials in English.
Treatment of subject:  history of, practical, computer applications,  biographical treatment, business management/admin of, teaching of college or postgraduate level, general, psychological aspects
Types of materials: collecting is split between books and journals. 
Date of Publication: emphasis is on current publications.  Retrospective acquisitions are normally only for the replacement of important titles which have deteriorated or disappeared.

Subjects and Levels of Collecting

The following table lists the main subjects collected by the SFU Library in support of the department's 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, often with the assistance of the department or faculty representative or other faculty members, then selects the relevant items for acquisition by the library.