MICHIGAN STATE
UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY STATEMENT
Department:
Collection Management
Subject:
“General History”
Fund codes: “his,” other
Written by:
Michael E. Unsworth
Date Drafted: May 16, 2006
Date Revised:
I. PURPOSE OR SCOPE OF COLLECTION.
A.
Curricular/Research/Programmatic needs
Resources in “General”
History serve the instructional and research needs of the undergraduate and
graduate programs in the Department of History as well as those in other units,
namely English, Political Science, James Madison, Sociology, Integrative
Studies, etc. The collection also supports graduate and faculty research in
primarily in History, Political Science, and International Development. The
collection also serves the general information and interest needs of the
University community.
B.
History of the Collection/Existing strengths and emphases.
It is hard to see this
entire category as a coherent collection. It can best be regarded as a
smattering of areas and interests. For the most part, it fills in for aspects
of history that are not covered by other selectors or straddle disciplines.
Two Library of
Congress classification schemes catch many works: "C" (Auxiliary Sciences of History) and parts
of “D” (History (General)). Otherwise,
works can classify anywhere.
“C” classification is
a hodge-podge of materials that cover Civilization, General Archaeology,
Archives and Manuscripts, Numismatics, Genealogy, and Biography. To talk of
strength for this classification is misleading; its materials support other
activities in academic research, especially the humanities. Oftentimes,
materials ordered from other funds land here due to the whims of the LC
classifiers. Strengths and emphasis in specific areas are best covered in IV.
Strengths in the areas
of the “D” classification are Historiography, the 18th, 19th,
and 20th centuries (especially the World Wars and Cold War). The language is predominantly English.
II. FACTORS INFLUENCING COLLECTION POLICY.
A. Anticipated
future trends
“C” -- Hard to nail down. Some materials will
arrive in this area as ordered by various selectors.
“D”
-- There will be continued strong research and instructional interest in the 18th,
19th, and 20th centuries.
B.
Relationships with other resources
1. On campus
branch or format collections, if any
There are so many
possible relationships with branches and other format collections as to render
a listing to be meaningless. .
2. Regional or
network resources, if any
While the murkiness of
this category makes identifying outside resources as being tricky, some
overarching observations can be made. MSUL’s memberships in consortia and cooperatives such as the
Michigan Electronic Library and the Center for Research Libraries do provide
cost-effective means of access to materials that are out of this collection
policy statement. Equally important is our joint catalog with the Library of
Michigan. Its holdings of genealogical materials greatly expands the horizons
of our users.
C. Relationships to resources treated in
other policy statements:
Asian Pacific
American Studies
Latin American
& Caribbean
Studies
III. ANALYSIS OF THE SUBJECT FIELD
A. Chronology
of the subject: emphases/restrictions:
“C” -- Not Applicable
“D” – Conforms to
classification table.
B. Languages of
resources collected: exclusions/emphases/translations
Primarily English with
inclusion of works in the major Western languages as well as works in the
vernacular as applicable.
C. Geography of the
subject: emphases/restrictions --Not Applicable
D. Format of the
resources collected: restrictions if any -- Primarily print.
E. Date of publication
of resources collected --Not Applicable
IV. LEVELS OF COLLECTING INTENSITY
|
Call # Ranges |
Subject |
Level |
|
C |
Auxiliary
Sciences of History (General) |
3 |
|
CB |
Civilization |
4 |
|
CC |
Archaeology
(General) |
3b |
|
CD
1-899 |
Diplomatics |
2 |
|
CD
900-4999 |
Archives |
3b |
|
CD
5000-6500 |
Seals |
1 |
|
CE |
Technical
Chronology |
1 |
|
CJ |
Numismatics |
1 |
|
CN |
Inscriptions |
1 |
|
CR |
Heraldry |
1 |
|
CS |
Genealogy |
2 |
|
CT |
Biography |
3b |
|
D
1-12 |
History
(General) |
3b |
|
D
13-16 |
Historiography |
3b |
|
D
17-24 |
World
Histories |
3b |
|
D
25-27 |
Military
& Naval History |
3a |
|
D
204 - |
Modern
History, 1453- |
-- |
|
D
204-219 |
General
works |
3a |
|
D
220-241 |
1453-1648 |
2 |
|
D
242-250 |
1601-1715.
17th century |
2 |
|
D
251-272 |
Thirty
Years War, 1618-1648 |
2 |
|
D
273-283 |
1648-1715 |
2 |
|
D
284-350 |
1715-1789.
18th century |
4 |
|
D
351-409 |
19th
century. 1801-1914/20 |
4 |
|
D
410-500 |
20th
century |
4 |
|
D
501-719 |
First
World War (1914-1918) |
4 |
|
D
720-730 |
Inter-War
Period (1919-1939) |
4 |
|
D
731-823 |
Second
World War (1939-1945) |
4 |
|
D
824-838 |
Reconstruction |
3a |
|
D
839-860 |
Post-war history (1945-) |
4 |
V. COLLECTION MANAGEMENT ISSUES.
General interest materials, which are not
related to research needs, are not preserved, but withdrawn when used up or
outdated.
Electronic products
offering broad coverage will demand careful analysis.