Michigan State University Libraries

Collection Development Policy Statement: African American Studies

Ethnic Studies Bibliographer

The selection of materials representing the African American experience in the MSU Libraries is designed to support interdisciplinary study, instruction, and research for the African American Studies discipline at the undergraduate and graduate level and in particular, the African American Studies component of the African American and African Studies program at MSU. (This program consists of three components: a PhD degree program in African American and African Studies; an undergraduate specialization in Black American and Diasporic Studies and a Plan B Master of Arts degree for those students in the PhD program who don't complete the requirements for the PhD degree.) The titles selected for African American Studies pertain to the experiences of persons with African ancestry in the United States. They reflect issues in the social sciences and the humanities and include scholarly and authoritative informational works. Titles considered "Popular Culture" may be selected to serve research needs. The primary users of the collection are students and faculty in the African American Studies Program, students and faculty with research and teaching interests in classes studying the African American experience, perspectives and contributions

Current and retrospective materials are selected for the collection, with the aim being to acquire and retain authoritative works and those of historical interest and research value. Superseded or out-of-date editions may be transferred to remote storage or withdrawn.

Subjects:

The LC classification schedule does not neatly describe the interdisciplinary nature of African American Studies. The Ethnic Studies bibliographer is the primarily selector of African American materials for the Main Library collection in all formats and in collaboration and consultation with bibliographers in other subject areas and locations. It is the responsibility of the Ethnic Studies bibliographer to make any final decisions concerning replacement, transfers, and withdrawals of African American Studies materials in the Library. The bibliographer is also responsible for collection maintenance and makes the necessary bindery or repair decisions.

Languages:

The primarily language of the collection is in English. There are no language restrictions and the emphasis is on appropriate material in any language.

Geographical areas:

Areas considered and selected include all materials primarily pertaining to African American Studies regardless of place or country of publication. In addition, special efforts are made to represent the presence of the African American community in Michigan and the Midwestern United States.

Material types collected:

All types of materials describing the African American experience are considered for acquisition. Special attention is paid to factors such as potential use, budgetary concerns, and other relevant factors.

Format of materials collected:

In general monographs, microfilm, serials, videos, and digital texts are potential sources of information to be included in the collection. In addition, ephemeral material is also collected and housed in the Special Collections Library.

Cooperative collection efforts will be discussed with the bibliographer responsible for the following areas in the humanities and social sciences, with the aim being to achieve research level collections in these areas:

African materials:

Materials with an exclusive focus on Africa or individual African nations, issues, and other concerns are not collected by the Ethnic Studies bibliographer. Requests for African materials will be referred to the Africana librarians or other bibliographers. Comparative materials including both African and African American issues or perspectives will be considered by the Ethnic Studies bibliographer.

International African diaspora materials:

Materials with an exclusive focus on the African diaspora experience in any country except the United States (for example, Great Britain, Canada, Haiti, or Latin American countries) are not selected by the Ethnic Studies bibliographer, but by the Africana bibliographers. Comparative materials including both non-US African diaspora and African American issues or perspectives will be considered by the Ethnic Studies bibliographer.

Juvenile materials:

Primary juvenile materials (meaning materials intended for a pre-school, elementary, middle school or junior high level audience) are not generally collected, except in the case of occasional children's works by prominent literary authors or poets. These materials will generally be housed in the Special Collections Library. Secondary materials, such as bibliographies, finding tools, and original scholarly research on the topic of children's materials as relevant to African American populations in the United States, may be collected in consultation with the reference bibliographers.