MIAMI UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY WOMEN'S STUDIES

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1 MIAMI UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY WOMEN'S STUDIES Fund Source: Social Sciences Fund: 87 Librarian: Jenny Presnell Date: February 1991 Revised: June 1993; March 1995; September 1996, December 2003 I. Department History, Programs, Emphases A. History Although courses about women and gender have been taught at Miami since 1972, the academic year was the first that a Women's Studies minor was available to students. The first two minors graduated in May In , the program obtained a half-time position for the Director. Beginning in , the Program instituted a process of granting Affiliate Status to faculty across the university. Currently, there are over 45 WMS Affiliates. In 1992, the first two joint appointment faculty positions were created in collaboration with the department of English. Additional joint appointments have since been created with Psychology, History, Spanish, Mass Communication, and Educational Leadership. In , a new hour Graduate Concentration in WMS was created. In , a major in Women's Studies was added and inaugurated in January 2000, graduating the first major in May B. Programs and Emphases Women s Studies has a major, minor and a graduate concentration. Major The major requires 30 semester hours, hours in core course and 15 hours in a major area of focus. Core courses cover discussions of gender, race and class and include a senior thesis. Included in the core courses are a selection of feminist theory classes to be selected by the student and their advisor. The remaining 15 hours must be selected from the following areas of focus: 1. Women, Culture and Repression Examines women s representation in art, antiquity, literature, and popular culture, ethnic and religious views of women. 2. Gender Race and Nation National views of women throughout time. 3. Women, Social Systems and Sexuality Family studies, motherhood, nutrition and health issues, psychology, issues of aging, girls, womanhood, poverty. Minor The minor requires 18 hours of coursework that includes one course in feminist theory and 11 or 12 hours of elective courses from the core course list.

2 2 Graduate Concentration Students in any field of study can add a Women s Studies concentration to their degree. With hours of study that includes two graduate seminars in Women s studies, one as an introduction to women s studies tracing the development of the discipline; the other seminar examining the major research methods within feminist study. The remaining hours are spread between electives in the students major field of study and one outside that field of study that are taught with a feminist perspective. In addition, the graduate concentration offers opportunities to work with campus organizations such as the Women s Center as well as to teach undergraduate Women s Studies courses. C. Related departments, area studies, and programs: American Studies Physical Education, Health & Sports Classics Political Science English Psychology Family & Consumer Religion Sciences Foreign Languages School of Interdisciplinary Studies History Sociology II. Overview of the Collection A. Historical Patterns and Uses The Women's Studies "collection" has a fragmented history. Much of the collection is governed by the printing habits of major publishers. Portions of the collection grew in the 1960s as a result of popular awareness of women's issues. Sometime around 1985 a separate budget line was created to augment Women's Studies purchases. The intent of this extra fund was not to purchase all of the direct orders for Women's Studies. Rather, it is used for augmenting small budgets, and purchasing primary and secondary sources, which were previously missed. Each fund area also buys Women's Studies materials. In recent years, 1990s-, publishing in Women s Studies has once again ballooned. Areas that are of current interest are women and labor, especially international labor and third world labor. International Studies and Women s Studies held a joint workshop several years ago to develop classes that would encompass both views in their classes. Videos have been of increasing interest. Our collection has increased in recent years through purchases from Bullfrog Films and Women Make Movies. The Women's Studies collection is so spread out amid the disciplines that it is hard to characterize a typical user. Most are students and faculty using materials for scholarly research. Occasionally portions of the collection are used to find quotations, facts and statistics. B. Relations with Other Miami Collections IMC: Many of the book collections on microcard contain novels written by and about women in the 19th century (mainly U.S.), including major microfilm sets of women's periodicals and diaries. IMC also holds many of the videos of interest to the faculty and students.

3 3 Government Documents: U.S. and U.N. surveys, reports, statistics. Several faculty are involved in United Nations committees and agencies concerned with women. Special Collections: Women's social history, household manual, 18th century treatise on women's behavior, some women's periodicals. C. Southwest Regional Depository and Zero-Growth Miami has participated since the early 1990s in a shared remote storage facility with Wright State University, University of Cincinnati, and Central State University located on the Miami Middletown campus. The Southwest Regional Depository houses over 1.6 million volumes in print and media collections, including monographs, journal runs, and sound recordings. The MiamiLINK catalog notes location of these items as SW Dep; librarians also refer to it as SWORD, the Depository, and regional storage. Decisions on sending items to storage are based on several criteria, primarily use data. There are circulation and in-house use records for books, and, generally, we will send books not circulated or used more than once in the past ten years to the Depository. Items in areas no longer taught at Miami, not in English, or in fragile condition are also candidates. Occasionally newly added items (mainly gifts with older imprints but sometimes newly published titles) will be sent directly to the Depository. All the Oxford libraries are in zero-growth mode, so as new materials are added, other material must be moved out, and each library has its own set of procedures for identifying materials to transfer to the Depository. In addition to regularly reviewing the book collections, librarians review journal runs for disposition as well, especially as electronic editions become available in OhioLINK s Electronic Journal Center (where they are archived) or as JSTOR adds them. Items housed in the depository are available to be sent to the main campus within a few days. The MiamiLINK catalog includes a Request Item feature that patrons can use to request complete items or online copies of journal articles or book chapters. III. Materials and Emphases A. Formats Books: Monographs, psychological studies, primary and secondary texts, older edition/facsimiles of texts, sociological studies, and economic studies. Periodicals: Becoming increasingly important, especially for the more radical viewpoints. Also in the related fields, (i.e. Psychology) journals are of prime importance. Reprints: Reprints currently are not actively sought out. A significant number of reprints are purchased to fill in major gaps of the collection (many primary and main secondary sources are being reprinted). Dissertations and Theses: Purchased only upon request. Audio & Visual Materials: Women s Studies has s growing interest in film and video. Generally the format remains VHS as it is still the most common form both for patrons and for on campus use. Its expected in the coming year as the DVD becomes the standard that purchase will shift to that format. Purchased videos tend to be in the areas of pop culture movies of the twentieth century and cult classics that reflect a particular

4 4 time period. Publishers include PBS, Bullfrog films, Women Make Movies and Films for the Humanities, as well as major studio and film distributors. In addition, OhioLINK has contracted to supply streaming video of some films from Films for the Humanities. In addition, Miami has access to the Digital Media Center from OhioLINK. Microforms: Novels written by and about women are contained in several major sets. Some other women's periodical collections are also owned, and a major series of Southern Women's Diaries. Pamphlets: Few are purchased. Some in areas of women's health, etc. Posters: Occasional items. Have purchased a set for displays. Electronic: We select and provide access to electronic resources such as diskettes, CD- ROMs, subscriptions, and Internet sites that support curriculum and research needs. Versions (PC, Macintosh, other) are decided in consultation with the Department System Liaisons. Circulation and Location Policies for physical items are determined on a case-by-case basis. Placement of Internet links are determined in consultation with Design Team. B. Languages, Publishers and Geographic Emphases English Language: Predominates. Foreign languages purchased only by request of professor (with a justification). Publishers: Emphasize academic and major commercial presses. Many women's materials are also found in alternative presses. Selection is through catalogs. Examples are Zed and Sage Publications. Geographic: United States and European, with major concentration on third world countries in Latin/South America and Asian (i.e. Chinese, Southeast Asian, and Indian). C. Special Concerns Reference: Bibliographies, finding aids for primary sources, biographical information. Primary Sources: Try to collect sets of primary documents, diaries, etc., personal accounts, especially what was missed in the past. Some anthologies. Reprints: Only if important text we've missed in the past--of which there are many. D. Acquisitions issues Women's Studies is spread across several disciplines, which makes collection development difficult. (see individual policies). Approval Plan: with Yankee Book Peddler revised spring Periodical List: expanded in , reduced 1992, reduced several times subsequently. Reduced whenever title is received through OhioLINK Electronic Journal Center. Standing Orders: updated fall 1990, reduced 1992, reduced several times subsequently. V. Resource Sharing University of Cincinnati has a strong Women's Studies program. Not only is the library an excellent resource but also several Miami professors are affiliated with the University of Cincinnati's program. Miami University Libraries is a member of Greater Cincinnati Library Consortium, OhioLINK and the Center for Research Libraries. Established in 1991, the Women's Center on Miami's campus maintains a small library.

5 5 OhioLINK Miami is a charter participant (1992-) in the OhioLINK system, which brings together academic libraries and the State Library of Ohio in a consortium designed to foster cooperative lending, borrowing, and purchasing of print, electronic, and other media resources. Through the OhioLINK consortium we are able to acquire a wide range of digital resources: electronic journals, indexing and research databases, e-books, and digital media (images, sound files, videos). OhioLINK also provides several related services, including a central union catalog, interlibrary borrowing of books (P-Circ), interlibrary loan of journal articles, and state-wide chat reference; an improved system of cooperative collection building is envisioned. In addition, through OhioLINK members can make last-copy decisions and share information about discards. If an item is to be withdrawn because of condition or loss and it is the only (last) copy in the state, attempts should be made to replace it and/or offer to other consortium members to maintain that intellectual content within the state and available to the Ohio community. OhioLINK has selected preferred book and serials vendors, Yankee Book Peddler and Zwets, although member libraries are not required to use them. One key service is the archiving of nearly all electronic journals and full-text databases. OhioLINK governance includes several advisory committees: CIRM (Cooperative Information Resource Management) selects resources and determines a funding model for acquiring them, while the User Services Committee works with issues of access and functionality. Subject groups exist in various areas that are venues for selection personnel to meet and discuss new or needed resources, and these will be important in future cooperation initiatives. OhioLINK uses several purchasing models for its digital resources: capital, warchest, npr, and pay-to-pay (these are explained elsewhere). OhioLINK participation affects local collection development decisions in several ways. The consortium has made possible the addition of hundreds of e-journals, e-books, digital media, and research databases that Miami could not have purchased on its own; on the other hand, OhioLINK commitments nearly always take precedence over local, and our short-term and long-term planning has to take into account OhioLINK opportunities and commitments. Although each OhioLINK library retains its own acquisitions budgets, because of the constraints of state finances it is important to check holdings or plans of other institutions before purchasing especially higher cost items. Because some types of material do not normally circulate on OhioLINK (media, journals), purchasing decisions are not made solely on the basis of OhioLINK holdings, however. As always, faculty input is critical in determining whether something needs to be owned by Miami or can be accessed within a week or so from another school.