Description
The collection is maintained by the Education & Social Science Library.
The Political Science collection supports the work of the Department of Political Science. There is a great deal of interdisciplinary cooperation and interdepartmental research, especially with anthropology, business administration, economics, history, law, philosophy, sociology and the centers for African studies, Asian studies and Latin American and Caribbean studies. At the state and regional level, the collection is an outstanding resource for researchers in all fields of the discipline. International relations and conflict resolution are particularly strong. The collection consists of 175,000 volumes of which 20,000 volumes of political science monographs of current interest and a broad selection of journals are held in the Education and Social Science Library. The Bookstacks contain approximately 150,000 volumes; the History Philosophy and Newspaper Library, Mathematics, and Undergraduate Libraries have another 5,000 volumes dealing with political science subjects.
Revised December 2006
Statements
I. Collection Description
Purpose:
The political science collection in the Education and Social Science library supports the work of the Department of Political Science. The department offers the B.A., M.A. and Ph.D degrees. Graduate work is conducted in the special fields of American government and politics, comparative government and politics, international law and relations, political behavior, political theory and public policy.
There is a great deal of interdisciplinary cooperation and interdepartmental research, especially with anthropology, business administration, economics, history, law, philosophy, sociology and the centers for African studies, Asian studies and Latin American and Caribbean studies.
Related to the Department of Political Science is the Office of Arms Control, Disarmament and International Security (ACDIS). The major activities of ACDIS are: advancing research in arms control and international security; advising students on arms-related causes at the university; consulting with governmental bodies, scholarly and citizen groups, and organizing seminars, conferences and speaking engagements. A special attempt has been made to isolate materials useful for information and research in the field of arms control, disarmament and international security.
History of Collection:
Political science materials have been collected at the University of Illinois Library since 1867. At first the political science collection was housed with the main collection. During the fiscal year 1964-1965, the political science collection was separated from the History Collection and merged with education, psychology, sociology, and social work to form the Education and Social Science Library. This is the situation as of the present.
Estimate of Holdings:
175,000 volumes.
State, Regional and National Importance:
At the state and regional level, the political science collection at the University of Illinois is an outstanding resource for researchers in all fields of the discipline. On the national level, however, only in certain areas (i.e., international relations and conflict resolution) does the collection appear superior to other institutional collections. Recent emphasis on collecting arms control and disarmament materials has the potential to make the University of Illinois the major resource center for this type of material in the United States.
Unit Responsible for Collecting:
Education and Social Science Library.
Location of Materials:
20,000 volumes of political science monographs of current interest and a broad selection of journals are held in the Education and Social Science Library. The Bookstacks contain approximately 150,000 volumes, and the History, Philosophy, and Newspaper Library, Mathematics, and Undergraduate Libraries have another 5,000 volumes dealing with political science subjects.
Citations of Works Describing the Collection:
Downs, pp. 188-189.
II. General Collection Guidelines
Languages:
Standard statement.
Chronological Guidelines:
No formal restrictions, but an informal understanding exists with the History, Philosophy and Newspaper Library about collecting materials in the period before 1991. Political science will restrict its purchase of materials dealing with the period after 1991, and History will limit its purchases of materials concerning subjects prior to 1991.
Geographical Guidelines:
No restrictions, but the collection is weighted toward America and Europe. Attempts have been made to strengthen the collection with more material from the Soviet Union, East Asia and the Middle East.
Treatment of Subject:
Standard statement. An effort is made to cover all fields of political science, but major emphasis will remain on American and Western European subjects. Materials from other areas will be collected, but care is taken not to intrude upon the domains of area studies, i.e., Asian, Latin American, and Slavic and East European areas. The History, Philosophy and Newspaper Library will continue to collect on political thought, international relations (before 1945) and political biographies. Popular political biographies are the responsibility of the Undergraduate Library. A majority of the methodology works will be collected by the Mathematics Library, unless the methods deal exclusively with political science issues. Communications and polling materials remain the collection responsibility of the Communications Library, unless the treatment is of a political nature. Finally, there is some overlap in subject responsibilities between political science and law, but the collecting philosophy of political science will be to add only materials dealing with political interpretations of legal issues.
Types of Materials:
Standard statement.
Date of Publication:
Standard statement.
Place of Publication:
No restrictions.
III. Collection Responsibility by Subject Subdivisions with Qualifications, Levels of Collecting Intensity, and Assignments
Below is a table that lists specific subject subdivisions within the collection. Each row in the table lists a specific subject subdivision, followed by three columns noting: Collection Strength, Primary Assignments and Secondary Assignments. The Existing Collecting Strength column notes how well the existing collection covers that topic on a 1 to 5 scale with 5 being very strong. The Primary Assignments column lists departmental libraries that have the greatest collection intensity of subject materials, respectively. In the case of 2 or more libraries listed, the collection intensity is comparable. The Secondary Assignments column list departmental libraries where additional materials may be found.
| Political Science Collection | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| SUBJECT SUBDIVISIONS | EXISTING STRENGTH | PRIMARY ASSIGNMENTS | SECONDARY ASSIGNMENTS |
| AMERICAN GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS: | |||
| Federal Government | 4 | Political Science | |
| State Governments | 3 | Political Science | |
| Municipal Governments | 3 | Political Science | |
| Constitutional Systems | 3 | Political Science | |
| Public Administration | 3 | Political Science | |
| COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENTS | 4 | Political Science | |
| POLITICAL THEORY | 3 | Political Science | |
| POLITICAL THOUGHT | 3 | History | |
| POLITICAL RESEARCH | 3 | Political Science | |
| INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS | 4 | Political Science | History |
| POLITICAL HISTORY | 4 | History | Political Science |
| POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY | 3 | History | Political Science |
| MILITARY STRATEGY | 3 | Political Science | |
| LEGAL | 2 | Law | Political Science |
Version Date: December 2006