Collection Development Policy
for Women's Studies
GENERAL STATEMENT
DEPARTMENT & COURSES:
The Brooklyn College Women's Studies Program is taught by affiliated faculty in departments throughout the College. Barbara Winslow serves as coordinator and library representative.
The Women's Studies Program offers a major and a minor. The curriculum studies women and feminism in a historical, multi-disciplinary context. Special topics, seminars and independent studies courses require advanced research.
LIBRARY:
The Brooklyn College Library serves as the predominant library for undergraduate research. Special Collections at the Brooklyn College Library includes the archives of the The Women's Studies Program as well as the papers of a number of prominent women in American history. The New York Public Research Library, Barnard Center for Research on Women at Barnard College, the Archives and Manuscript Collections Relating to Women in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Columbia University, the National Archive of Lesbian, Gay Bisexual & Transgender History and the Lesbian Herstory Archives are in close proximity to the College. The Library can arrange access for Brooklyn College students to these collections. For a full listing of Archival Sites for Women's Studies, see the site maintained by the Women's Studies Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries.
FUNDING:
The Women's Studies collection is funded through state-levied money that comes through the
annual library budget.
GENERAL APPROACH TO MATERIALS SELECTION
A. ACQUISITIONS STRATEGY
Print and non-print resources are identified through review and listing resources with broad subject area coverage including the online resources
and specialized journals in the Brooklyn College
Library collection that include book reviews. These include:
Publisher catalogs, in particular from publishers with a special interest in the topic such as the Feminist Press at CUNY (ABC) and small press publishers are checked for recent publications in the field. For a list of non-university presses that publish in the fields of Women's Studies, Feminist Studies, Gender Studies, Sexuality Studies and LGBTQ Studies see the ACRL Women's Studies Section site for Women's Studies and Gender Studies Publishers
For media purchases, video catalogs and Web sites are also checked including
and others. Additional titles may be identified in the
Video Source Book.
The online catalogs of other university and research libraries are checked for appropriate
resources in specific areas.
Books are also identified at the Strand Bookstore web site.
When microfilm and CD-ROMs of archival material becomes available (e.g., University
Publications of America publications), the notices for these so-called "big-ticket items" will be
held for consideration at those times when a sudden budget windfall must be spent quickly
Electronic Web-based resources identified for subscription access will be recommended to the Women's Studies Program for consideration. Items that may be off interest to the entire City
University of New York (CUNY) will be brought for consideration before that CUNY Electronic
Resources Advisory Committee.
Web resources that are available at no cost will be identified through their mention in other
printed and electronic publications (including Web sites, listservs, and e-mail correspondences).
These sites will be evaluated for appropriateness and, if acceptable, added to the subject guide for
Women's Studies on the Brooklyn College Library home page.
B. LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY
Most materials will be collected on a college level. Popular material that is likely to be requested and that is relevant to the
curriculum will also be collected.
C. LANGUAGE
Most material will be in English. Special items will be collected in non-English languages as
appropriate.
D. GEOGRAPHIC AREAS INCLUDED/EXCLUDED
Emphasis is on Women's Studies in the United States but a global perspective is maintained.
E. CURRENT AND RETROSPECTIVE PURCHASES
Current publishing is heavily relied upon due to the constant state of change regarding
educational, political, social and other issues. It is extremely important to locate out-of-print titles
because these titles may be the only materials available on various subjects, these titles may be
useful for historical purposes, and often may be considered rare items.
F. FORMAT OF MATERIALS COLLECTED/EXCLUDED
Printed and non-printed resources will be collected. Videos will be ordered if requested by the
department. CD-ROMs may be ordered on a limited basis if they offer information not readily
available in some other format. Electronic resources requiring a subscription for access as well as
free electronic resources will be included.
G. REFERENCE POLICY
Bibliographies, indexes, standard reference tools, and materials that would normally circulate but
are in "high" demand because of their importance should be included in the reference policy.
H. DUPLICATION
As is generally the policy of the Library, books will not be ordered in duplicate.
I. WEEDING POLICY
Weeding should be done on a yearly basis to replace lost or stolen items and to remove popular
materials that can be replaced by scholarly materials. Inventory should be made when
organizations publish lists, or bibliographies are published, of core collections.
J. SELECTION ACTIVITY
The subject bibliographer for Women's Studies alerts the program library representative when
funds become available for purchase and will encourage her to inform affiliated colleagues of
the availability of the money. The bibliographer will allow 1/3 to ½ of the library budget to go to
purchases requested by the department representative. The subject bibliographer will make selections with the remaining money in order to provide balance to the overall collection and its cross-disciplinary uses.
SELECTION ACTIVITY/PROBLEMS
At this time, there appears to be no problems with selection.
Updated: August 3, 2005
Prof. Beth Evans
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