Collection Development Policies: Women Studies

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY
Subject: WOMEN'S STUDIES

Program Description

"Women's Studies allows the interdisciplinary study of women's history, current status, and future options from an expanded perspective that integrates current information, research methodologies and conceptual approaches regarding women and women's issues into the existing disciplines." (University Catalog, 1996, p. 166) A minor is offered in Women's Studies.

Currently the minor requires 18 hours, with the following core courses required: Introduction to Women's Studies (WS 3200), Women in Literature (ENGL 3360), History of Women (HIST 3391), Women, Power and Politics (POLS 3414), and Sociology of Sex Roles (SOCI 3370). Other recommended courses include: Women and Crime (CRIJ 3400), La Chicana (CHIC 3301), Biography and Autobiography of the Female Experience (ENGL 3440), Men and Women as Colleagues in Organizations (MGMT 3499), Philosophy and Feminism (PHIL 3452), Marriage and Family (SOCI 3215), and Women in Drama (THEA 3356).

With the arrival of a new director in 1996/1997, efforts are underway to expand the disciplines represented and contributing to the program. Currently courses listed under Sociology, Education, History, Political Science, Language and Linguistics, and English offer courses which support the program. The goal is to expand relevant course offerings into business, the sciences, engineering, health/nursing, and to offer more in the field of education.

Description of Existing Collection
NCIP Code:

Given the interdisciplinary nature of Women's Studies, materials supporting the program are to be found throughout the library's collections in numerous classification ranges. The Library of Congress classification which is most central to Women's Studies is HQ 110l - HQ 2030.7 (Women, Feminism, Women's Clubs). The Library owns 276 titles located within this classification range. In order to assess the full extent of the library's holdings which may support Women's Studies, many other classification ranges need to be reviewed. However, relevant materials may be found in nearly every LC classification: psychology and religion in B; history in D, E, and F; anthropology and social customs in G; sociology and work in H; law in J and K; education of women in L; women in the arts and literature in M, N. and P; reproduction, physiology and health in Q and R; and bibliographic works in the Z classification.

The Library owns twelve periodical titles which are specifically related to women's issues (HQ 1101), but there are many other journals which contain articles of interest to Women's Studies students.

Abstracting and indexing services are of critical importance in locating resources in the many subject disciplines which address issues relating to women's studies. The Library subscribes to Women's Studies Abstracts, and is considering the acquisition of a new database devoted entirely to women's issues. Other indexes which provide support for Women's Studies are: Psychological Abstracts, Social Sciences Citation Index, Art Index, and American: History and Life.

The Reference collection contains a representative sampling of works supporting Women's Studies. Some of these are dated and need to be replaced by more current resources.

Videos and visual materials are used to support this program; a number of new titles were selected for use during the 1996/1997 academic year.

Current Collecting Intensity
NCIP Code: 2b, Basic Information level (advanced)

A limited sum of money has been set aside for many years to acquire materials specifically for Women's Studies; however, materials of interest are selected from many disciplines and are purchased from their respective fund allocations. Materials selected specifically for Women's Studies are those most needed to support the course taught under the WS prefix and those which are cross-listed to support the minor. We also make a special effort to select materials which focus particularly on Hispanic women issues, works, and concerns.

Titles selected for other programs may also contribute to the women's studies resources available in the library.

Desired Collection Level
NCIP Code: 3a, Instructional Support Level

Collection activities should be directed towards continuing to build and strengthen collections in support of Women's Studies. This is consistent with the renewed efforts to strengthen and expand the Women's Studies program. Close cooperation between the Women's Studies subject specialists and the subject specialists in the fields where courses are cross listed is highly desirable in order to maximize the resources available for the faculty teaching the courses and the students taking them.

Other Resources

The University's Women's Resource Center has a collections of books, as does the Women's Studies Office. The content and extent of these collections needs to be determined and cooperative collection building explored.

Last updated: March 20, 2003