­MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES­

 

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY STATEMENT

 

Department: Collection Management Subject: Military And Naval Sciences

Written by: Michael E. Unsworth

Date Drafted: January 1986

Date Revised: June 16, 2000                      

 

I. PURPOSE OR SCOPE OF COLLECTION.

 

A. Curricular/Research/Programmatic needs

 

Military and naval sciences are interdisciplinary by their very nature; they have aspects in the arts, sciences and social sciences. While the "U" and "V" classes have the smallest number of works in the Libraries' collections, related works are present throughout all of our holdings. Thus, this collection development policy statement has an impact on the development of other subject fields. The scholarly users of military and naval works are diverse.  In examining the student population, a major group is the Air Force and Army ROTC cadets. Other sizable populations are those studying foreign relations, history, political science, and engineering. In terms of faculty usage, those in the social sciences are the most frequent users, followed by those in the humanities, ROTC, and science departments (in that order). Finally, there are a small but constant number of community researchers in the utilizing the collection. Based on examination of the return shelves, the condition of books, and discussions with library and teaching colleagues, the military and naval areas are heavily used for recreational reading by the three user populations. In summary, military and naval works support the activities of other fields. There are no plans to build up our military holdings.

 

B. History Of The Collection/Existing Strengths And Emphases.

 

Past support of the "U" and "V" collections has been geared to provide basic materials. English language works predominate. The periodicals in it are few, but are the most important ones in their fields. There are many British imprints and topics since they reflected our past concentration on British studies. Strategy, nuclear warfare, intelligence, conscription, air warfare and Soviet forces have been the topics, which have received the most attention. Works on uniforms and equipment receive high use, probably from recreational readers. Other military areas and the entire naval area have basic collections.

 

 

 

II. Factors Influencing Collection Policy:

 

A. Anticipated future demand.

 

The anticipated demands will require the same or a slightly increased level of support. The University's emphasis on international development programs will require obtaining works on armed forces in the third world. Selected new periodicals should be carefully purchased for breadth of coverage. The post-World War II history of developed nations will require purchase of works dealing with strategy and the military-industrial complex. A basic level of support for the sciences should be maintained with possible increases in electronics and biotechnology, assuming these fields receive outside funding for military applications.

 

B. Relationships with other resources

 

1. On campus branch or format collections, if any

 

The Department of Defense (DoD) section of U.S. government documents provides a solid addition. Related works in the Canadian and UN documents sections appear though the total percentage of their parent collections is very small. Special Collections have anti-draft materials in the American Radicalism Collection. Also, there is a small overlap with its Fencing Collection.

 

2. Regional or network resources, if any

For in-depth research on the graduate level, three CIC libraries support the following areas:

·        Ohio State University for national security studies and military history

·        University of Michigan's for Asian and Slavic vernacular materials as well as marine engineering .

·        University of Illinois for military history

 Specialized military needs can be referred to appropriate DoD libraries.

 

C. Relationships to resources treated in other policy statements.

 

The history classifications hold the most works, especially the American and British sections. The area programs (Canada, Latin America, East Asia, and Africa) have basic collections with the exception of the Vietnam War. Treatment on wars is as follows:

·        If a work deals with strictly military aspects of a conflict, it is purchased with "mil" funds.

·        If it deals with broader themes such as diplomacy, the war's impact on a society, etc., then other funds are used to purchase it.

·        If a conflict deals with nations in different regions, e.g., Vietnam, then the selector must decide what country or region is the price focus of the work. When in doubt, "his" is used.

 

Holdings in the other parts of the Humanities are basic with perhaps the exception of philosophy and religion: just war theory, rights of the state, pacifism. Aspects of those three topics are also covered in the social sciences. There is coverage in international relations, domestic politics, and peace movements. The sciences have limited collections with the most related holdings being in aviation.

 

 

III. Analysis by Subject Field:

 

A. Chronology of the subject: emphases/restrictions

 

Works on modern (post-1789) warfare with emphasis on the U.S., and underdeveloped areas. Another goal is that a current description of each nation's armed forces be represented by selective purchase of available English-language works.

 

B. Languages of resources collected: exclusions/emphases/translations

 

Primarily English expect for works in the vernacular about a nation's armed forces or classics (e.g., Clausewitz, Delbruck).

 

C. Geography of the subject: emphases/restrictions

 

Primarily English expect for works in the vernacular about a nation's armed forces or classics (e.g., Clausewitz, Delbruck).

 

D. Format of the resources collected:

 

1.     Included--monographs and serials with selected popular magazines, annuals, selected reference works, festscriften, selected microforms, and selected non-depository government publications.

 

2. Excluded--ephemera, manuscripts, sound recordings, yearbooks of units/non-combat deployments & cruises, pamphlets, training manuals.

 

E. Date of publication of resources collected: Not applicable

 

 IV. LEVELS OF COLLECTING INTENSITY

 

Call # Ranges     Subject                             MSU Level  RLG

 

 

U                         Military science (General)   B                  2

U263-264         Nuclear warfare                 C                  3

UA1-19                Armies                              B                  2  

UA20-585            U.S. Army                         C                  3

UA600-997          Armies of other nations      B                  2

UB                       Military Administration       B                  2

UC                      Maintenance/Transport      B                  2

UD                      Infantry                             B                  2

UE                       Cavalry                             B                  2

UF                       Artillery                             A                  1

UG1-620              Military Engineering           A                  1

UG622-1530        Air Forces, etc.,                C                  3

UH                      Other Services                   A                  1

V                         Naval Science                    B                  2

VA                      Navies                               B                  2

VA49-395         U.S. Navy                         C                  3

VB                       Naval Administration          A                  1

VC                      "   Maintenance                  B                  2

VD                      "   Seamen                         B                  2

VE                       Marines except:                 B                  2

VE23-25           US Marine Corps              C                  3

VF                       Naval Ordnance                 B                  2

VG                      Minor Naval Services         B                  2

VK                      Navigation. Merc. Marine   B                  2

VM                      Naval Architecture., etc.     B                  2

Z6720-6726          Military bibliography          C                  3

Z6836-6839          Naval bibliography             C                  3

 

 

 

V. Collection Management Issues:

 

A. Deselection:

 

Materials will be deselected when they show unrepairable deterioration, their information becomes outdated & is available in other works, or if foreign language material of rarefied nature shows little current or potential use.