Dartmouth College Library
Collection Management & Development Program
Collection Development Policy
POLAR AND COLD REGIONS
- COLLECTION AREA
- GENERAL PURPOSE
- DARTMOUTH COLLEGE PROGRAM
- GENERAL SUBJECT BOUNDARIES
- LANGUAGES
- GEOGRAPHIC AREAS
- CHRONOLOGICAL BOUNDARIES
- TYPES OF MATERIALS COLLECTED
- FORMAT OF MATERIALS COLLECTED
- OTHER RESOURCES AVAILABLE
- CREATION DATE
- REVISION DATE
- BIBLIOGRAPHER
- COLLECTING INTENSITY CHART is located on a separate page.
Polar and Cold Regions
The development of the general collection in polar and cold regions supports undergraduate instructional needs and the research requirements of graduate students and faculty in a broad range of subjects. In addition to the traditional concentration on exploration, travel and historical works found in the Stefansson Collection on Polar Exploration, the collection encompasses materials in art, architecture, ethnography, archaeology, linguistics, earth sciences, and government relating to polar regions. Emphasis is also given to biological sciences, engineering, and environmental studies. The current collecting scope aims to cover broad aspects of polar and cold regions as well as specific research interests in science and engineering applications.
Other Collection Development policies that refer to these regions are: Stefansson, Geography, Climatology, Earth Sciences, Engineering, Economics, Government, Native American Studies, Environmental Studies, and Biology.
Numerous courses in a wide range of subjects are offered to undergraduates, including several Native American Studies and Anthropology courses. In addition the polar regions are a significant concern in several courses currently offered in History, Government and Environmental Studies. Graduate courses are taught in the Biological Sciences department.
In 1982, the Thayer School of Engineering established a cooperative program of graduate studies in Cold Regions Science and Engineering with the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL), of Hanover, N.H. Graduate course work at Thayer and projects or thesis work conducted in affiliation with CRREL leads to a master's degree in engineering. This joint program provides research and curriculum in the applications of electrical and electronic, mechanical, environmental, materials science, and water resources engineering, as well as engineering geology to polar environments. Laboratory research is conducted at CRREL's facilities and in the Ice Engineering Laboratory at Thayer School. Field studies are conducted in the polar regions.
In 1987, the Institute of Arctic Studies was created within the Dickey Endowment for International Understanding. This interdisciplinary institute draws together many disciplines from both the humanities and social sciences and makes heavy use of library resources.
The collection is divided between Baker, where anthropology, history, government, geography and linguistics and government documents from many nations are collected, and the associated libraries, where the applicable subject aspects of polar studies are collected. The Sherman Art Library collects materials on the subjects of art, architecture and photography relating to polar regions. Dana Biomedical Library's subject boundaries include polar environment, natural history, zoology, botany, marine biology,
Arctic medicine, and physiological adaptation to cold. The collection also includes Arctic and Antarctic expeditions, and whaling. Feldberg Library contains collections in engineering geology, water resources engineering, environment, civil, mechanical, electrical and electronics engineering, as well as mining and metals engineering. The collection in Kresge Library emphasizes meteorology, descriptive geology, remote sensing, climatology, natural resources, structural geology, volcanism and seismology. Materials on polar regions are found in a wide range of Library of Congress classifications and generally class where the primary subject is found.
English is the primary language of the collection. To a lesser extent materials written in French, German, Russian, Inuit, Greenlandic, and the Scandinavian languages are acquired.
The geographical areas for the collection are lands above 60o North latitude and below 50o South latitude, including Tierra del Fuego.
There are no chronological limitations.
Monographs, periodicals, technical reports, conference proceedings, bibliographies, grammars, dictionaries and audiovisual materials, and CD ROM products are acquired.
Materials in all formats are collected. The collection is enriched through extensive microform holdings, such as Envirofiche. In addition, access is available to various online and CD ROM databases including COLD, PolarPac, GeoRef, and Compendex.
The Stefansson Collection (see separate policy) is of vital importance and supports instruction and research in cold regions. The Collection contains manuscripts, printed materials and bodies of papers relating to events in the Arctic before 1925 and in the Antarctic before 1940.
The research collections of the U.S. Army's Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory are an important resource for scientific and technical information.
June 1982 (Monique Cleland, Philip Cronenwett, Genevieve Williamson)
May 1992
Philip Cronenwett
Barbara DeFelice
Janifer Holt
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Last updated February 18, 1999 by: CMDC@Dartmouth.Edu (jdh)