Description
The collection is maintained by the Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library.
The Speech and Hearing Science collection supports the teaching and research of the College of Applied Health Sciences’ Department of Speech and Hearing Science, with specializations in speech pathology, audiology, language developments and its disorders, speech science, and hearing science. Major works have been acquired by the University Library since the beginning of the century. The collection consists of 175,925 volumes located primarily in the Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library and the Main Stacks, along with a collection of modern and historical Speech and Hearing Assessment Instruments.
Revised July 2025
Statements
I. Collection Description
Purpose:
The purpose of the Speech and Hearing Science collection is to support the research and instructional needs of students and faculty in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science, which offers undergraduate degrees with concentrations in speech language pathology, audiology, cultural-linguistic diversity, and neuroscience of communication. The department also offers M.A., Au.D., and Ph.D. degrees. The department supports the Audiology and Speech Language Pathology Clinic, where graduate student clinicians provide care to their clients under supervision of licensed and nationally certified audiologists and speech language pathologists. While the collection primarily supports research and graduate level teaching, certain lower-level material is acquired to supplement undergraduate study and research needs and support faculty research.
History of Collection:
Major works and materials focusing on the study of speech and hearing have been acquired by the University Library since the beginning of the century. Due to numerous changes to the names and organizational locations of the programs and departments dedicated to the study of speech and hearing, materials were accumulated and held across many libraries before arriving at their current locations. The original purchase of materials dedicated to speech and hearing can be traced to a small program established in the Department of Speech in the 1950’s by Dr. Severina Nelson, founder and director of the university’s speech clinic established in 1938. The Speech and Hearing program led to the establishment of the Department of Speech and Hearing Science in 1973.
In 1957, a number of titles were added to the Medical Library’s collections to support study in speech pathology. In the 1974-75 fiscal year, the library officially allotted funds for the purchase of materials in Speech and Hearing Science, as distinct from general Speech materials. This number started at only $335 but increased to $2,976 by 1989. Responsibility for collecting materials was assigned to the English Library until about 1977 when it was shifted to the Education and Social Science Library.
The Speech and Hearing Collection was held in the Social Science and Education library until it was transferred to the Applied Life Studies Library in 1991, when the Department of Speech and Hearing Science moved from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to the College of Applied Life Studies. The Applied Life Studies Library changed its name in 2006 to the Applied Health Sciences Library to reflect a departmental name change. In 2012, the Speech and Hearing Collection in the Applied Health Sciences Library merged with the Education and Social Science Library and the Business and Economics Library to form the Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library, where its collection remains today.
Estimate of Holdings:
175,925 volumes.
Unit Responsible for Collecting:
Social Science, Health, and Education Library.
Location of Materials:
Current English language monographs and the last ten years of most serial runs are in the Social Science, Health, and Education Library. Seldom-used English language monographs, foreign language monographs, and older volumes of serials are in the Main Stacks and Oak Street Library.
Citations of Works Describing the Collection:
None known.
II. General Collection Guidelines
Languages:
Standard statement. Works of unusual significance in the discipline are acquired in the original language.
Chronological Guidelines:
No restrictions.
Geographical Guidelines:
No restrictions.
Treatment of Subject:
Standard statement. In addition, an effort is made to collect all materials directly associated with speech and hearing behavior; speech, hearing and language disorders; and the diagnostic and therapeutic management of such behavior and disorders. Special emphasis is placed on clinical and educational audiology, language development and its disorders, and speech and language pathology.
Specifically, diagnosis, therapy, and research in all aspects of communicative disorders with adults and children including aphasia, articulation, cerebral palsy, cleft palate, head trauma, hearing impairment, laryngectomy, preschool and school-age language, stuttering, voice, etc., are within the scope of Speech and Hearing. Audiological instrumentation and assessment, hearing aid evaluation and treatment, and aural rehabilitation are included also.
Anatomical and physiological aspects of the auditory and speech mechanisms are collected by the Funk ACES Library. Materials relevant to Speech and Hearing concerning phonetics and the syntactic, semantic and pragmatic development of language are collected by the Literatures and Languages Library.
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.
| Speech & Hearing Science Collection | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| SUBJECT SUBDIVISIONS | EXISTING STRENGTH | PRIMARY ASSIGNMENTS | SECONDARY ASSIGNMENTS |
| Audiology | 4 | Speech & Hearing Science | |
| Hearing science | 4 | Speech & Hearing Science | |
| Language development and its disorders | 4 | Speech & Hearing Science | |
| Speech pathology | 4 | Speech & Hearing Science | |
| Speech science | 4 | Speech & Hearing Science | |
| Speech therapy | 4 | Speech & Hearing Science | |
Sections on the purpose and history of the collection were researched and written by Emily Morgan.
Version Date: July 2025