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.