Collection Development Policies: Jewish Studies

Judaica Collection Development Policy

I.  Scope of Judaica Collection

A.  Purpose:  To support the UTEP curriculum and student, staff, faculty, and community interest in Jews, Jewish culture, and history.

B.  Subject:  Jewish history, religion, art, and literature.  Special emphasis is on Jews in El Paso, the American Southwest, Mexico, and Latin America.  Because of the link with Spain and Latin America, Sephardic Jews are a major topic.  Material on the European Holocaust of 1935-1945 and Jews in the Southern Cone of South America are also areas of collecting interest, because of research interests of faculty members.

C.  LC classification numbers:  A - Z, but primarily in the ranges of B, D, E, and F.

D.  Books and journals in support of the Inter-American Jewish Studies Program and books of general interest are acquired, with the reading level usually within the general adult population level or undergraduate reading level.  An emphasis is placed on reference works, first person accounts, and important academic and popular works.  No attempt is intended to document religious issues in great depth, although basic works are part of the collection. 

E.  In general, Special Collections will keep only one copy of a book in the Judaica Collection; duplicate copies may be placed in the circulating MAIN collection. Some books in the collection circulate.

II.  Collection Parameters

A.  Chronological Scope:  Pre-history to the present day.

B.  Publication Dates:  All dates.  Books published before 1930 will be evaluated as possibilities for housing in the Rare collection,

C.  Retrospective Acquisition:  Non-current books on Jewish history and culture may be added as donated or purchased from vendors.

D.  Geographical Scope: World-wide, with special emphasis on materials relating to Jews in El Paso, the American Southwest, Northern Mexico, and Latin America.  Materials on Jews in Mexico, the United States, Spain, Latin America, the Middle East, and Europe are acceptable.