A. Curricular, Research and Programmatic Needs
The collection supports the curricular and research needs of faculty with environmental science and policy interests, specifically faculty affiliated with the Department of Community Sustainability (CSUS) and the Environmental Science and Policy Program (ESPP), and provides resources for students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. CSUS is a department within the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources with 51 affiliated faculty offering undergraduate degrees in Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Education, Environmental Studies and Sustainability, and Sustainable Parks, Recreation and Tourism and graduate degrees in Community Sustainability and Sustainable Tourism & Protected Area Management. Graduate degrees in CSUS can culminate in either a research driven thesis or practical capstone project. ESPP is a graduate level only program composed of over 160 faculty from 12 colleges across campus. Current faculty and student research interests and applied experience in environmental science, policy, and water research cross a broad spectrum of disciplines and include agriculture, anthropology, engineering, geography, natural resources, political science, sociology, and zoology. This is reflected in the broad range of materials selected for the collection.
B. History of the Collection/Existing Strengths and Emphases
The environmental sciences collection is highly interdisciplinary. In the past, all selectors were responsible for buying materials in this subject area (as it pertained to their disciplines). In the mid-1990's, it was felt that subject librarians were overlooking some areas relating to sustainability and the environment. The EVP fund was set up to purchase materials on environmental topics across all disciplines with a particular focus on policy.
With the creation of the Environmental Sciences Librarian position in 2013, a new environmental science fund (ENV) was established to purchase materials on ecology and environmental science in support of the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. In 2016 the ENV and EVP funds were merged into a single environmental fund. Another substantial shift happened in 2023, as the collection transitioned away from purchasing in areas of ecology and supporting the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife as those areas shifted to the BIO fund. Simultaneously, the fund started collecting in the areas of tourism and recreation in support of the Department of Community Sustainability.