Collection Development Policies: Economics/Finance

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY
Subject: ECONOMICS / FINANCE

Program Description

The departments of Economics and Finance, located in the College of Business Administration, offer the following degrees: Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.) with an emphasis in Economics or Finance, and a Master of Science in Economics. Students majoring in Finance have the option of concentrating in either general finance or commercial banking. Suggested areas of specialization for graduate students in Economics are regulation, international economics, or border economics; however, other areas of specialization are also available. A Bachelor of Arts in Economics is offered through the College of Liberal Arts. Students in the College of Liberal Arts may also obtain minors in either Economics or Finance through the College of Business Administration.

Description of Existing Collection

The collection is concentrated in the call numbers HB - HD, HF1-HF5599, HF5691 - HJ, and covers a wide range of economics and finance. Because of the location of UTEP, there is a special interest in anything that relates to the border region, the collection reflects this emphasis. In the last several years the department of Economics and Finance has begun to concentrate on international studies and recent acquisitions reflect this trend.

The majority of the collection is located on the fourth floor of the Library in the Main collection. Economics and finance is also well represented in the Reference department. There are several economics encyclopedias and statistics sets, including international statistics and demographics. The library is a select depository for government documents, and as such collects documents dealing with economics and finance. The library also subscribes to journals in economics and finance. To facilitate research in the journals, a number of electronic and print sources are available. UTEP subscribes to Business Source Complete which is a general business database. UTEP also subscribes to EconLit (EBSCO), PAIS, and numerous other busines databases. Students also have access to the World Wide Web.The collection is predominately in English with Spanish being the second largest language in the collection.

Current Collecting Intensity

Current collecting practices reflect the attempt to provide for the needs of the undergraduate and graduate students in Economics and Finance, as well as the needs of the faculty. Monographs are acquired by both firm orders and through the approval plan, Yankee Book Pedler. There is an emphasis on material that relates to international economics and finance, as well as material that relates to the border region. Monographs and serials are predominately in English, however, every effort is taken to collect current materials in Spanish.

Desired Collection Level

There are parts of the collection that are clearly lacking; Econometrics and Finance are two such areas. Econometrics, as a separate discipline, is fairly new to UTEP and because of this the collecting in this area has been very uneven. There are now classes being taught in this subject by a specialist in the field. In order to support student’s needs and to help bring the collection up to the desired level, both monographs and serials must be purchased in Econometrics. Current works in the field of Finance are being purchased to strengthen the collection.

Other Resources

Computer Applications Learning Center (CALC) Lab located in the College of Business Administration houses personal computers and software that assist Economics and Finance students in their studies. The computers are also able to access a variety of the Library’s databases.

New Mexico State University (NMSU) in Las Cruces, New Mexico, is located approximately forty miles from El Paso. NMSU offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in Economics and an undergraduate degree in Finance. UTEP has a reciprocal agreement with NMSU which allows students of either institution to use the other’s library.

Last updated: 3/20/03