Dartmouth College Library
Collection Management & Development Program
Collection Development Policy
AFRICAN AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDIES
- COLLECTION AREA
- GENERAL PURPOSE
- DARTMOUTH COLLEGE PROGRAM
- GENERAL SUBJECT BOUNDARIES
- LANGUAGES
- GEOGRAPHIC AREAS
- TYPES OF MATERIALS COLLECTED
- FORMAT OF MATERIALS COLLECTED
- OTHER RESOURCES AVAILABLE
- CREATION DATE
- REVISION DATE
- LC CLASS
- BIBLIOGRAPHER
- COLLECTING INTENSITY CHART is located on a separate page.
African and African-American Studies
Materials on African-American life
and culture in the Dartmouth College Library system are collected not only to
meet instructional needs for specific courses offered as part of the African and
African-American Studies program (AAAS) but also as general resources in support
of courses offered within disciplinary boundaries (e.g., history, sociology,
anthropology, and others). These materials also reflect student and faculty
research interests in a wide variety of academic areas, particularly in the
humanities and social sciences.
The existing Program,
given permanent status in 1978, has expanded from an initial concentration on the
African-American experience to a more inclusive perspective embracing Africa and
the African diaspora (especially the Caribbean) as well. Accordingly, the
collection building process is also designed to meet the requirements of those
whose particular interests lie in African Studies. The Program is
interdisciplinary in nature. To qualify for a certificate or a minor in AAAS,
students must take six courses: four in the program, including an independent
research course or seminar, and two from the list of approved courses elsewhere
in the curriculum.
The AAAS Program is
comprised of elements from Humanities and Social Science disciplines (i.e., anthropology, art
and archaeology,
drama,
comparative literature,
American literature, economics,
education, geography,
government, history,
music, religion,
and sociology). Most
relevant materials are held in Baker Library and are found in the Library of
Congress D, E, G, H, M, P, and Z classifications, although some materials may be
located elsewhere in the library system (e.g., African-American art in Sherman Art
Library; folk medicine, both African and African-American, at Dana Biomedical Library; aspects of
African geology and geography, and environmental studies at Kresge Library; Black
entrepreneurship or multinationals in Africa at Feldberg
Library). As there is no fund for AAAS, it is the responsibility of all
selectors whose areas include material on African and African American Studies to
collect in accordance with this policy. Such orders are tagged with Innopac code
3 of A for materials concerning Africa, and B for those about people, cultures,
and societies of African descent outside Africa. Collection Development Policies
in Sociology, History,
Anthropology, French,
and English Literature should be
consulted.
Works are collected in English and all
major European languages, particularly French. Almost all materials in
indigenous African languages are excluded.
Although no area is specifically
excluded, historical emphasis has been on the United States and sub-Saharan
Africa, especially West Africa. Currently, the collecting scope has expanded to
include all of the African continent, with particular attention to East and South
Africa. Other areas, such as the Caribbean and Brazil, which have strong African
cultural links, are also included.
Monographs and serials
are collected most intensively, with newspapers as desirable additions to our
holdings. Statistical information (either in microform or hard copy), documents
(those issued by African governments as well as the United States), and technical
reports are acquired as are relevant abstracts, indexes and bibliographies, and
selected dissertations. Sound recordings are also collected.
No formats are
specifically excluded.
While there are no
resources in the immediate area which can supplement Dartmouth's collection,
there are several universities whose holdings are available to Dartmouth students
and faculty. Among these are Boston University,
whose Africana library is especially strong in African government publications
and environmental materials; Yale University's
excellent holdings in African literature and flagship southern Africa collection,
and Northwestern University, whose collection
of Africana is generally outstanding. The Library is a member of the Cooperative
Africana Microform Project (CAMP,) housed at the Center for Research Libraries in
Chicago, and thereby has ILL access to a very large collection of African
newspapers, records, documents, and ephemera in microform; CAMP materials are
included in the RLIN database. The CD-ROM database Ethnic NewsWatch (in Baker
Reference) includes some 39 African-American newspapers and magazines in indexed
full-text form, updated quarterly; the titles are not individually cataloged.
June 1983 (Helen MacLam)
Dec. 1994
DT, E 184.5-185, HT 861-1427,
PL8000-8844, and others as noted in the collecting intensity table.
Ridie Ghezzi
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Last updated January 28, 1999 by: CMDC@Dartmouth.Edu (jdh)