ASIAN STUDIES PROGRAM
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Subjects covered : The Asian Studies Program collection is designed to supplement the Asian studies curriculum by providing the materials necessary for students to understand and develop an appreciation for the cultural background that underpins the program's courses. To that end collecting emphasis is placed on acquiring materials relating to customs, practices, philosophy, political structures, economic development, history, religion, and literature in English translation for India, China, Japan, and Korea in particular and Southeast Asia in general. The Asian Studies Program collection also includes reference materials, especially dictionaries and encyclopedias. Although the program's collection is chiefly designed for undergraduate use and does not emphasize research, increases in budgetary allocations have advanced modest collection development supporting areas of faculty interest during the past several years.
Departments and users served : The Asian studies collection serves students and faculty in the Asian Studies Program. Through direct patron borrowing the collection also serves students and faculty in schools affiliated with the OhioLINK system.
Within the University of Cincinnati other users of the Asian studies collection include students and faculty in English and comparative literatures, art, history, philosophy, political science, education, women's studies, geography, economics, business, sociology, and anthropology.
Quantitative information:
Faculty : The faculty in the Asian Studies Program is drawn from a number of departments in the College of Arts and Sciences, including history, political science, geography, economics, and anthropology. In addition, course offerings in Japanese management style are taught by faculty in the College of Business, course offerings in non-Western music are taught in the College Conservatory of Music and the College of Education offers courses in global education. Instruction is offered in Chinese and Japanese languages, with emphasis on conversational skills.
Degrees granted : The Asian Studies Program offers a Bachelor of Arts Degree and a Certificate in Asian Studies.
Special programs and accreditation requirements : Asian studies majors are required to take 18 hours of language instruction in either Chinese or Japanese with emphasis on conversational fluency. Completion of a senior project is also required.
Grants and special funding : The Asian Studies Program's
library collection receives its budget from University Libraries general
funds.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION
Location : The Asian studies collection is located in Langsam Library. Older, little circulated material is placed in the Southwest Ohio Regional Depository (SWORD).
Other collections supporting the program :
Internal : The Asian Studies Program draws on library collections developed for English and comparative literatures, history, philosophy, political science, business, economics, anthropology, sociology, geography, and women's studies. To a more limited degree the program also draws on the non-Western music collections in the College Conservatory of Music and the non-Western art collections in the College of Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning.
External : Students and faculty in the Asian Studies Program draw on the combined collections in OhioLINK affiliated institutions, including the Center for Research Libraries, and on the collections of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.
Collection history : Development of an Asian studies library collection was approved in late 1988. The Asian Studies Program received its first library budget line in 1989.
General level of collecting : The Asian Studies Program's
general level of library collecting is basic. However, because the
program draws heavily on collections developed by other disciplinary
lines in the library's collection budget, the level of actual support
for the Asian Studies Program ranges from basic through research level.
The collection is deliberately weakest in materials written in Asian
languages, since the Program concentrates on conversational skills rather
than reading comprehension.
SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF THE COLLECTION
Call numbers : As a discipline of study, the Asian
Studies Program concerns itself with the culture, literature, philosophy,
religion, political systems, economic systems, sociology, history, geography,
and anthropology of Asia. As practiced at the University of Cincinnati
these call number sections from the Library of Congress classification
code represent the areas of study most generally collected in developing
the Asian Studies Program's library collection:
Current and retrospective collecting : For the most part, collecting emphasis is placed on the acquisition of current materials.
Time period collected : All time periods are collected.
Level and treatment : Undergraduate material and reference materials are collected. Some material supporting faculty research is collected. Textbooks are generally excluded.
Language : Excepting dictionaries in the Asian languages, only works in English or in English translation are collected.
Geographical area : Geographical concentration is on India, China, Japan, and Korea. Material is also collected, but to a lesser degree, on countries in Southeast Asia.
Types of resources : The Asian Studies Program's library collection includes monographs, series, society publications, journals, indexes, abstracts, bibliographies, handbooks, encyclopedias, dictionaries, films, and web sites.
Resource formats : The Asian studies library collection
includes print, microform, video, and digital formats.
ACQUISITION PROCESS
Approval process : The Asian studies collection participates in the approval plan supplied by Yankee Book Peddler.
Firm orders : Firm orders for Asian studies materials are selected from a variety of sources including vendor notification slips, direct mail brochures, publisher catalogs, and book reviewing publications.
Standing orders : Standing orders are maintained for journals and other serial publications.
Document suppliers : The Asian Studies Program's collection relies on direct patron access through OhioLINK, as well as the Interlibrary Loan Department, for access to items that are not in the University of Cincinnati collections, are in circulation, or are missing from the collection.
Special vendors : The Asian Studies Program's collection
relies on the Acquisitions Department
to determine if a special vendor is needed to acquire requested materials.
Sally Moffitt
Asian Studies
June 2001