Native American* Studies

Policy Statement

Michigan State University Libraries

 

 

*Native American and American Indian are used interchangeably in this document

 

The Native American Studies Collection Development Policy Statement identifies selection criteria for building a multi-disciplinary collection of relevant and quality materials.  It identifies the responsibility for building and maintaining the collection, the purpose and the scope of the collection, and guidelines for the selection and retention decisions for these materials. It is a development and planning instrument to communicate with MSU Libraries staff and the University community.

 

 

I.   Selector : Ethnic Studies Bibliographer

 

II.  General Purpose : The selection of materials representing the American Indian experience in the MSU Libraries is designed to support interdisciplinary study, instruction, and research for American Indian studies at the undergraduate and graduate level that provide a historical and contemporary perspective Titles  will reflect issues in the social sciences and the humanities and include scholarly and authoritative informational works.  Titles considered "Popular Culture" may be selected to serve research needs.  The  primary users  of the collection are students and faculty in the American Indian Studies Program, the Native American Institute, American Studies Program and students and faculty with research and teaching interests in classes studying the Native Americans.

 

III. Scope :  Current and retrospective materials are selected for the collection, with the aim being to acquire and retain authoritative works and those of historical interest and research value. Superseded or out-of-date editions may be transferred to remote storage or withdrawn.

 

Subjects:

The LC classification schedule provides subject access to Native Americans under the subject heading “Indians of North America”.  The Ethnic Studies bibliographer is the primary selector of these materials for the Main Library collection in all  formats and in collaboration and consultation with bibliographers in other subject areas and locations. It is the responsibility of the Ethnic Studies bibliographer to make any final decisions concerning replacement, transfers, and withdrawals of these materials in the Library. The bibliographer is also responsible for  collection maintenance and makes the necessary bindery or repair decisions.

 Languages: The primarily language of the collection is English.  There are no language restrictions and the emphasis is on appropriate material in any language.

 

Geographical areas: Areas considered and selected include all materials primarily pertaining to Native Americans regardless of place of publication.  In addition, special efforts are made to represent their presence in Michigan and the Great Lakes region United States.

 

 Material types collected: All types of materials are considered for acquisition.  Special attention is paid to factors such as  potential use, budgetary concerns, and other relevant factors.

 

Format of materials collected: In general monographs, microfilm, serials, videos, and digital texts are potential sources of information to be included in the collection. In addition, ephemeral material is also collected and housed in the Special Collections Library.

 

IV. Cooperative Collection Guidelines

Cooperative collection efforts will be discussed with the bibliographer responsible for the following areas in the humanities and social sciences, with the aim being to achieve research level collections in these

 

Areas:

Bibliographer

History of  American Indians

MEU

Literature and poetic works by Native  American authors;

literary criticism of Native American literature, and related works

MR

Religion and religious practices

AHW

Social sciences and sociological works on  cultures, and issues

DF

Women's studies materials and issues relevant to Native American women

SL

Fine Arts/Music

TW/MBD

Archival/special collection

PB/RS

Leisure reading materials (not necessarily research level) relevant to or presenting American Indian perspectives  for the Browsing Collection

TBA

Education

KAC

Labor

NBY

Political science and policy issues

JH

Indians in Mexico

MJZ

Indians in Canada (First Nation, Metis)

MEU

                                                                                               

V. Out of scope subjects or materials not collected

 

US History materials: the Ethnic Studies bibliographer does not select materials with an exclusive focus on U.S, Mexican or Canadian history.  Requests for these materials will be referred to the appropriate bibliographer.

 

Juvenile materials: Primary juvenile materials (meaning materials intended for a pre-school, elementary, middle school or junior high level audience) are not generally collected, except in the case of occasional children's works by prominent literary authors or poets.  These materials will generally be housed in the Special Collections Library. Secondary materials, such as bibliographies, finding tools, and original scholarly research on the topic of children's materials as relevant to Native  American populations in the United States, may be collected in consultation with the reference bibliographers.

 

 Diana Rivera

 

Created: March 2006