Rutgers University Libraries' Staff Resources: Collection Development: Policies: Collection Development Statement: Women's Studies
 

STAFF RESOURCES

Collection Development Statement
Women's Studies

September 1994

Written by Women's Studies Selectors Committee
Lynn Mullins
Susan Beck
Jane Sloan, Chair

A. SYSTEMWIDE SUBJECT OVERVIEW

A.1. Programs Supported at Each Campus

New Brunswick: MS, BS
Graduate Certificates in conjunction with any of the disciplines offering Masters and Ph.D.s in the Graduate School

Newark: BA
Graduate certificates

Camden: Minor for BS studies

A.2. Selectors.

In varying degrees selectors in all disciplines consider material on women and women's issues in choosing items. The function of the following persons is equally one of coordinating purchases with other selectors on their campus as well as acquiring specific items.

New Brunswick: Douglass Library - Women's Studies Librarian*
Kilmer Library - Most subject selectors purchase material on women
Alexander Library - Most subject selectors purchase material on women
Special Collections Department - New Jersey Bibliographer

Camden: Robeson Library - Most subject selectors purchase material on women

Newark: Dana Library - Women's Studies Selector

A.3. Purpose

To support the Women's Studies Programs on all three campuses, as well as the inclusion of women and the viewpoint of women in all areas of research and instruction. Most departments now include courses and/or degree concentrations in women's history or issues, and feminist methods.

In New Brunswick there are also several research institutes and one endowed chair for which the library provides support within the confines of the degree programs. These relationships entail the exchange of gifts and referrals, and the use of the library by staff researchers and visiting scholars. These organizations are:

63 students are pursuing advanced degree certificates in women's studies in 1994. 90 are pursuing an undergraduate major, and another 70 are working towards a minor. Each year in New Brunswick, approximately 35 courses are offered by over 65 faculty working with the program. A Masters program has been approved to begin 1994/95. Since this program doubles the number of graduate courses available to students, it is expected that the number of certificates will significantly increase in the coming years. Graduation requirements at Douglass College include at least one mission course in the experience of women.

The research collection at Douglass, centered on the sociology of women, has four basic functions: specialized bibliographic access to the whole of women's studies materials; collecting responsibility for the sociology of women (HQ's); responsibility for duplication of important titles; and responsibility for depth and quality in any areas that the other subject selectors are unable, for budgetary or policy reasons, to support.

The clearest delineation of this distinction between the women's collections in Douglass and those in the other research collections in New Brunswick is in the area of literature (comprising about one quarter of all published material in the area of women) all of which is integrated into the literature classifications shelved in Alexander Library. At the other end of the continuum is social history and the consideration of gender, which crosses all disciplines and spreads throughout all classifications. The policy generally agrees with the Library of Congress classification decision in this gray area. For instance, a recent study of women abolitionists is placed within the history classes in Alexander, while a study of wives and mothers of the 19th century is part of the sociology of women collection at Douglass.

Support for all programs is accomplished by cooperation among all RUL selectors who recognize the importance of the study of women and women's issues in the disciplines for which they are responsible. In New Brunswick, these fields include, but are not restricted to, History, Literature, Political Science, Economics, Art, Psychology, Biology, and the other sciences. These collections, especially the large microform holdings, provide research support for the graduate certificates granted on all three campuses. The vitality and rapidly expanding reputation of the women's academic community on the Rutgers campuses is such that virtually all areas of feminist study are active here. Because of the wide popularity and importance of women's issues across the curriculum, Rutgers libraries duplicate titles when possible in the areas of current women's issues, classic general works, and major theorists, with undergraduates as the intended audience.

In Camden, aside from the minor in women's studies, an individualized major with a concentration in women's studies can be developed. The objectives of the program include the following: offer undergraduate courses in the new scholarship on gender; prepare interested students for graduate work in the field of women's studies; permit students to learn about the lives of women past and present through knowledge gathered by scholars in a wide array of disciplines; develop leadership skills among women. Courses are offered by the following departments: Anthropology, Biology, French, American History, Management, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Religion, Russian, Social Work, and Sociology. There are 25 courses offered as part of the Women's Studies curriculum, and approximately 20 courses offered each year. The collection in the Robeson library is primarily acquired to support the curricular needs of the students on that campus.

In Newark, the collection in Dana Library supports a baccalaureate degree program offered by the Newark College of Arts and Sciences and administered by its Women's Studies Program. Approximately 30 courses are offered each year as part of the program. The program is interdisciplinary and multicultural and focuses on the scholarship that has emerged over the last 20 years on women's place in history, culture, and society. The Newark collection also supports the wide array of courses offered in the other schools and colleges on the Campus.

A.4. Resource sharing arrangements or limitations.

Standard Statement.

A. 5. History.

A.5.a. New Brunswick

Because Douglass College, originally the New Jersey College for Women begun in the early 20th century, has always been a part of Rutgers, the women's studies collections contain a significant amount of older material. At the beginning of the modern women's movement in the early 1970s, the Mabel Smith Douglass Library began collecting material in support of a women's studies curriculum. The library was already gifted with a portion of the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Papers, along with some of the archives of the New Jersey College of Women, and it began developing a vertical file that now comprises some 600 ft. of material. In 1975, the book selection policy at Douglass was established to "meet the research and instructional needs of the faculty and students in the Women's Studies Program--at the undergraduate level for Douglass College, and at the graduate level for the University."

As the Women's Studies Program grew to other campuses and encompassed other disciplines, other libraries began collecting in the area. By the early 1980s, the women's studies collection in Alexander Library was sufficiently developed that various proposals were made to determine parameters and sort out collecting responsibility. With the assignment of a fund and a selector in 1987, Alexander Library's collection began to be more aggressively developed.

In 1990, a system-wide collection development policy was implemented and the women's studies fund and primary selector was assigned to Douglass Library, formalizing the coordination of what had been seen as overlapping collections. Currently, the Blackwell North America approval book plan, instituted in 1990, supplies a framework for appropriate distribution of all new English language titles among the Library of Science & Medicine, Douglass, and Alexander Libraries.

In 1994, a Masters Degree Program, with an emphasis on global studies, was instituted. The same year in the libraries, foreign language approval book plans, with the Latin American Bookstore, Amateurs des Livres, and Harrassowitz, were begun in the social sciences, and are shared between Alexander and Douglass Libraries.

The RLG conspectus in Women's Studies, the first interdisciplinary conspectus at Rutgers, was also completed in 1990. It showed a strong Level 3 collection in most areas, and the potential for research level collections in the following areas: U.S. women and labor, U.S. social history and reform, gender and gay studies, U.S. history of feminism, U.S. women in politics, U.S. crime, women and librarianship, linguistics theory and sex differences, anorexia nervosa, sexual behavior, and sex roles. These strengths are spread throughout the library system. For more description of assessments, see the paragraphs subtitled "Assessments" in L.6. Location of materials, beginning on page six.

Because it has had an emphasis on New Jersey social history since the late 1940s, the Special Collections and Archives Department has an outstanding women's history collection. Over 200 of these manuscript collections are described in the Guide to the Women's History Archives at Rutgers (New Brunswick, 1990). The section in this manual under "New Jerseyana" also gives more detail about these collections, and the book collections in that area.

Additions to all the collections are currently described in the quarterly Resources in Women's Studies, distributed by the Women's Studies Librarian since January 1991. A special "Spotlight" catalog/index (Media Services, 1992) lists the videos and films available from the Media Services Department at Kilmer Library.

A.5.b. Camden.

The Women's Studies minor was first approved in 1981. Since its inception, demand for materials in women's studies has increased with the addition of new courses and the increased number of students pursuing degrees. The Robeson Library provides materials to support the basic curricular need of the students in this area. Students and faculty both rely on the holdings of the New Brunswick collections to supplement the materials in Camden.

A.5.c. Newark

Prior to the establishment of a new BA in women's studies in 1994, the Dana Library and its branches collected materials on most aspects of women's studies in support of campus courses. These include women's studies in general, feminist history and theory, women in literature, family history and sociology, women and public policy issues, women and business, the psychology of women, the sociology of sex roles, women in jazz, and the like. The collection was developed to support the instructional programs on the campus. With the approval of the new BA program, the library will receive a funding supplement to augment the collections in this area. Selection will continue to focus on campus interests and needs.

A.6. Location of materials

A.6.a. New Brunswick

Much of the material on women is integrated into the social sciences and humanities research collections in Alexander Library, the Music Library, the Art Library, the Institute for Management and Labor Library, and the Special Collections Department; other material, particularly relating to psychology, is included in the science collections at the Library of Science and Medicine and the Center for Alcohol Studies Library. The Media Services Department at Kilmer has a solid collection of video and film, both fiction and documentary by women and on women's issues.

The Sociology of Women collection at Douglass contains duplicates and unique older material in all the above areas.

Its current focus consists primarily of the following subject areas:

  1. sexuality and gender studies (in their socio-political, not medical manifestations), excluding sex education
  1. prostitution
  1. the sociology and history of the family, mothers, and marriage (socio-political), including family planning, birth control, and abortion, excluding child development
  1. history of feminist movements and the struggle for women's rights, including the psychology, philosophy, and social conditions of feminism, and feminism as practiced throughout the world
  1. feminist theory in its sociological and interdisciplinary manifestations
  1. any other interdisciplinary materials that are not clearly the responsibility of another RUL selector.
  1. comprehensive reference and bibliographic referral to collections in all Rutgers libraries Otherwise, material about and by women is the responsibility of selectors in all disciplines. Douglass holds several hundred retrospective periodicals, and 80 current serials.

The microform collections that specifically encompass material from several disciplines on women is presently split between the collections at Alexander and Douglass Libraries. History of Women, a large set of books and periodicals, is at Alexander; the similar Gerritsen Collection is housed at Douglass. Other large microform sets in Alexander include the papers of Jane Addams, the League of Women Voters, the Women's Trade Union League, and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Microforms in Douglass include the papers of Emma Goldman, Margaret Sanger, Herstory, and The Stanton/Anthony Papers. All new microforms of women's material in the areas listed above are being located at Douglass. Most primary sources available in microform have been and continue to be purchased.

Aside from the main women's history manuscript collections in the Special Collections Department (described in this manual under "New Jerseyana"), some manuscript material is also located in the Jacobi collection at Douglass, including the Women's Suffrage collection, a portion of the papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the New Jersey College for Women, and other miscellaneous papers relating to Douglass College. A vertical file, begun in the early 1970s, contains over 600 ft. of pamphlets and clippings.

Assessments:

Estimating the size and quality of these collections, which are spread throughout the classes and throughout the library system is difficult. The conspectus assessment of 1990, done by item checking in bibliographies, provides the main estimate of quality and is the basis for the collection levels listed in Section C of this document; it is a system-wide assessment that does not address the issue of the location of material within Rutgers.

A checking (of one of the same bibliographies used in the conspectus) done in 1986 of the catalogs of Alexander and Douglass libraries, indicated collections in Alexander significantly greater than Douglass in the areas of anthropology, language, literature, history, and religion; collections of equal strength in the areas of autobiography, business, reference, sociology, women's movements literature, and feminist theory; and collections in Douglass slightly larger than Alexander in the areas of art, politics, psychology, literary criticism, and poetry. Much of the strength of the Douglass collection is in the areas resulting from its more alternative focus; third world women, labor and development, lesbianism, and appropriate small press titles. Fully one fifth of the items were not found in either library.

Four years later, when the same bibliography (Stineman, 1979) was checked for the conspectus, between 85% and 100% of the items were found in the system, with the exception of the areas of business, education, art, and law. Anthropology, autobiography, literary criticism, sociology, and feminist theory were all over 95%. The difference is due to subsequent acquisitions, as well as the inclusion of the holdings of other RUL libraries, especially LSM (for psychology), and Robeson and Dana libraries.

Shelflist counts done for all libraries in 1990 confirm the above, but also more clearly illustrate the impact of libraries other that Douglass and Alexander on the system's strengths. Kilmer Library, for instance, has the highest number of titles on African-American women.

A study of gay and lesbian material done in 1989 (Mulcahy) compares Alexander's holdings to other RUL libraries. For homosexuality in general, Alexander holds 32% of the titles checked, other libraries hold 27%, and 41% are not in the system at all. For lesbianism, Alexander holds 33%, others hold 38%, and 29% are not in the system.

A.6.b. Camden

The Robeson collection focuses on African-American women, feminism, women in employment, sexual life, U.S. history, family planning, abortion, modern history, feminist literary criticism, general works on women's studies, and indexed periodicals. It contains 8 current periodicals titles and approximately 3000 book titles.

A.6.c. Newark

The collection in Dana Library includes a wide range of materials on the various aspects of women's studies. It contains some 4000 books and 17 periodical titles if a narrow definition of women's studies is used and several thousand more monograph titles and some 50 periodical titles if the definition is more broad ranging. Focal areas range from feminist history and theory to gender issues to anthropological and managerial studies. The collections of the Institute of Jazz Studies on women in jazz and of the NCCD/Criminal Justice Collection are also of significance.

B. COLLECTION GUIDELINES

B.1. Languages

B.1.a. New Brunswick.

B.1.a.i. Douglass Library.

Language is generally English. Works in Spanish, French and German are acquired through approval plans in the following areas:

Works in these areas in other languages are considered. Tabular descriptions, bibliography, and reference works in all languages and all areas of women's studies are considered. Classic works are also sometimes acquired in the original language.

B.1.a.ii.

For all other New Brunswick libraries, see language guidelines for the appropriate discipline.

B.1.b. Camden

English only.

B.1.c. Newark

Primarily English, with some material in Spanish.

B.2. Chronological guidelines

B.2.a. New Brunswick

B.2.a.i. Douglass Library:

No restrictions.

B.2.a.ii.

For all other New Brunswick libraries, see chronological guidelines for the appropriate disciplines.

B.2.b. Camden:

Historical materials focus on the 19th and 20th centuries. Other retrospective materials are collected as determined by course offerings.

B.2.c. Newark:

No restrictions.

B.3.

Geographical guidelines

B.3.a. New Brunswick

B.3.a.i. Douglass Library:

No restrictions.

B.3.a.ii.

For all other New Brunswick libraries, see geographical guidelines for the appropriate discipline.

B.3.b. Camden:

The primary emphasis is on the United States; materials are purchased selectively for other countries.

B.3.c. Newark

:

No restrictions.

B.4. Treatment of subject

B.4.a. New Brunswick

B.4.a.i. Douglass Library:

No treatments are excluded, though scholarly works are of primary consideration. Because of the newness and breadth of women's studies, works written by and for other than a scholarly audience are frequently of import. While the Douglass collection is first a social science one, primary materials, particularly English language fiction and poetry, are acquired to fill-in the collections of RUL. While popular literature is generally excepted from acquisition, the criticism and history of popular and material culture is another important area of fill-in for the women's studies collection. In general, fill-ins in areas not specifically designated to be acquired for the Douglass collection are an important part of the activity of the Women's Studies Selector.

The BNA approval plan for Women's Studies covers all disciplines; approximately 1/2 of the books accepted under this plan are directed to other selectors for placement and funding by other libraries. Likewise, books from this plan rejected by other selectors (primarily on the basis of treatment) are occasionally picked up for the women's studies collection in Douglass.

B.4.a.ii.

For all other libraries in New Brunswick, see treatment of subject for the appropriate discipline.

B.4.b. Camden:

Focus is on basic and classic works in a wide range of disciplines.

B.4.c. Newark:

Focus is on basic and classic works in a wide range of disciplines, with somewhat more emphasis on literature.

B.5. Types of materials

B.5.a. New Brunswick

B.5.a.i. Douglass Library:

Monographs, journals, reference works, and microforms are collected on a regular basis. Government documents are occasionally duplicated (of the collections at Alexander and LSM) for purposes of reference and increased access. Videos and films are considered very selectively; it is hoped that factors limiting the acquisition of these formats will be addressed to allow wider usage and acquisition.

At this time, there are few specialized electronic resources in the field; one of the first available, a full-text cd-rom titled Women & Development, was acquired in 1994. While the expense of such resources may put them into a special budget category, their acquisition is a priority. Appropriate titles should be coordinated with the Center for Electronic Texts in the Humanities (CETH), which has acquired electronic texts such as those of the Brown Women Writers Project.

The area of networked resources will be paid increasingly special attention. Resource sharing among the three campuses (as well as outside Rutgers) would be enhanced by the availability on the network of specially developed tools such as MABEL, a database of tables of contents now in use in Douglass Library.

B.5.a.ii. Kilmer Library:

The Media Services Department collects film and video in the area of women.

B.5.a.iii.

For all other libraries in New Brunswick, see Types of materials for the appropriate discipline.

B.5.b. Camden:

Books, journals, reference works, and selected government documents.

B.5.c. Newark:

Primarily monographs and journals. The Collections of the Institute of Jazz Studies include materials in audio and video formats.

B.6. Strengths and weaknesses

The considerable strengths of the women's studies collections at Rutgers are due to the impressive number of both library and teaching faculty who have contributed to building the collections over the years. There continues to be special concentration on women's materials among much of the library faculty, and coordination among them has progressed greatly over the last ten years. Periodical acquisition in particular has been above the average for the system.

The main weakness of the collections is their scattered accessibility; because they are spread across the system, specialized bibliographic organization remains piecemeal and the broad strengths of the collections remain somewhat unknown to users. A complete listing of periodicals, for instance, is one necessary project. Other weaknesses of the collections are more generic to the system: a lack of consistent foreign language acquisition, periodical gaps, and stagnating non-book acquisitions.

C. COLLECTION RESPONSIBILITIES BY SUBJECT SUBDIVISION

Many of the following subdivisions overlap with areas in other subject statements.

SUBJECT SUBDIVISIONEXISTINGCURRENTASSIGNMENT
AGRICULTURE economics, policy, development23ALEX/LSM/DGLSS
ANTHROPOLOGY-folklore, manners and customs, fertility, childbirth33ALEX/Dglss
 11Robe
 22Dana
ANTH-Sports and recreation22DGLSS
 11Dana
ART-architecture, women artists, women in art33ART/Dglss
 22Dana
ART-Representation/Aesthetics33ART/DGLSS
ART-Biography33ART/DGLSS
ART-Photography23DGLSS
ART-Design22DGLSS
ECONOMICS labor and employment33IMLR/ALEX/Dglss
 22Robe
 22Dana
ECON-Economics, business33KILM/Dglss
 33DANA
EDUCATION33ALEX
 11Robe
 22Dana
EDU-Physical11DGLSS
FILM and broadcasting33ALEX/MEDIA
 11Robe
 22Dana
HISTORY of women33ALEX/MEDIA
 11Robe
 22Dana
HIST-history and biography of feminism34DGLSS
 22Dana
HIST-of marriage and the family33DGLSS/Alex
 22Robe
 22Dana
HIST-Social history, women in social reform33DGLSS/Alex
 22Robe
 22Dana
HIST-African-American women33ALEX/DGLSS/KILM
 22Robe
 22Dana
HIST- modern33ALEX/DGLSS
 22Robe
 22Dana
LAW22ALEX/DGLSS
 44CRIMJ
LAW-Labor33IMLR/Dglss
 11Dana
LAW- Equal Rights for Women, suffrage, abortion33DGLSS
 11Robe
 22Dana
LAW-crime, rape, victims22Dglss
 11Robe
 44CRIMJ/Dana
LIBRARY SCIENCE Book Industry23ALEX
LIB SCI-Librarianship33ALEX
LIB SCI-Reference books on Women33DGLSS/Alex/Kilmer/Lsm
 22Robe
 33Dana
LIB SCI-National bibliography, women authors33DGLSS/Alex
 22Dana
LIB SCI-Bibliography, political and social sciences, marriage, pornography, etc.34DGLSS/Alex
 11Robe
 33Dana
LIB SCI-Bibliography, literature, women authors33ALEX/Dglss
 11Robe
 33Dana
LINGUISTICS communication, sex roles33ALEX/Dglss
 11Robe
 22Dana
LINGUISTICS- sex differences, critical theory33ALEX/Dglss
 11Robe
 22Dana
LITERATURE and Criticism, Classical33ALEX
 22Robe
 22Dana
LIT-Dutch, Scandinavian22ALEX
LIT-English33ALEX/Dglss
 22Robe
 22Dana
LIT-Russian22ALEX
LIT-Japanese23EAST ASIAN
LIT-Korean, Chinese12EAST ASIAN
LIT-Critical theory, lesbian writers, feminist criticism, sex roles33ALEX/Dglss
 22Robe
 22Dana
LIT-Drama and theater33ALEX/DGLSS
 11Robe
 22Dana
MATHEMATICS23MATH/Dglss
 22Dana
MEDICINE and Health32LSM/DGLSS
 11Robe
 22Dana
MED-Drugs, addictions33ALCOH/DGLSS
 11Robe
 33Dana
MED-Hospitals, clinics22LSM
 22Dana
MED-Gynecology21DGLSS/LSM
 11Robe
 22Dana
MED-social aspects23LSM/DGLSS
 11Robe
 22Dana
MED-Nursing22LSM
 22Robe
 33DANA
MED-Nursing, psychology, social aspects23LSM
 22DANA
MED-Obstetrics11LSM
 22Dana
MED-Obstetrics, contraception23LSM/Dglss
 22Dana
MED-Obstetrics, history23DGLSS/Lsm
 22Dana
MED-Pregnancy, labor, abortion22LSM/Dglss
 11Robe
 22Dana
MED-Maternal care and education23LSM
 22Dana
MED-Psychiatry, sex roles34LSM/Dglss
 11Robe
 22Dana
MED-Feminist therapy33LSM/Dglss
 11Robe
 22Dana
MED-Anorexia nervosa, bulimia34LSM
 11Robe
 22Dana
MED-Public and occupational health33DGLSS/Lsm
 22Dana
MUSIC33MUSIC
MUS-Jazz44JAZZ
PHILOSOPHY33ALEX/Dglss
 22Dana
PHIL-of Feminism33DGLSS
 11Robe
 22Dana
POLITICAL SCIENCE33ALEX
 11Robe
 22Dana
POL SCI-politics of feminism34DGLSS
 11Robe
 22Dana
POL SCI-Women's suffrage, citizenship33DGLSS/ALEX
 11Robe
 22Dana
POL SCI-Family policy33DGLSS/ALEX
 11Robe
 22Dana
PSYCHOLOGY34LSM/Dglss
 11Robe
 22Dana
PSCY-of feminism34DGLSS/Lsm
 11Robe
 22Dana
PSCY-Witchcraft23DGLSS
 11Robe
 22Dana
RELIGION33ALEX
 11Robe
 22Dana
REL-Mythology, matriarchy, goddesses, virginity33ALEX/DGLSS
SCIENCE23LSM
 22Dana
SCI-Physiology, sociobiology of women33LSM/Dglss
 22Dana
SCI-Reproduction, birth32LSM
 22Dana
SCI-Women in science &technology23DGLSS/Lsm
 22Dana
SCI-Environment, ecofeminism23LSM/DGLSS
 22Dana
SCI-Nutrition, cookery33LSM/DGLSS
SCI-Technology, home economics22DGLSS
SOCIOLOGY, mothers, marriage33DGLSS
 22Robe
 22Dana
SOC-sex role, gender34DGLSS/Alex
 22Dana
SOC-Abortion33DGLSS
 22Robe
 22Dana
SOC-Bisexuality, homosexuality, lesbianism33DGLSS/Alex/Lsm
 11Robe
 22Dana
SOC-Family planning,birth control33DGLSS
 22Dana
 11Robe
SOC-Feminism44DGLSS
 11Robe
 22Dana
SOC-Feminism, Canada,Mexico, South America23DGLSS/Alex
 22Dana
SOC-Feminism, Middle East23DGLSS
 22Dana
SOC-Feminism, Europe23DGLSS/Alex
 22Dana
SOC-Feminism, Africa23DGLSS
 22Dana
SOC-Feminism,Australia, Oceania23DGLSS
 22Dana
SOC-Feminism, Asia,South12DGLSS
 22Dana
SOC-Feminism, Asia, East23DGLSS/East Asia
 22Dana
SOC-Rape, spousal abuse33DGLSS
 11Robe
 22Dana
SOC-Prostitution33DGLSS/Alex
 22Dana
SOC-Sexual life 22DGLSS
 22Robe
SOC-Women, by region or country33DGLSS
 22Robe
 22Dana
SOC-Women's Studies34DGLSS
 22Robe
 22Dana


 
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