Languages
The primary language of acquisition is English. Some materials in French
and German which are directly related to the curriculum are acquired
on a highly selective basis. Materials in other languages are acquired
rarely.
Chronological
Guidelines
The primary emphasis is on contemporary post-World War II affairs. In
certain areas, such as comparative politics and political theory, materials
dealing with earlier periods are acquired.
Geographical
Guidelines
The areas of major concentration are the United States, Europe, Africa,
and Latin America. Another area of interest is South Asia. Little emphasis
is placed on other specific geographical locations but international
and comparative geographical emphasis is important.
Treatment
of Subject
The following treatments are collected:
Types of
Material
Monographs and serials form the basis of political science acquisitions.
Other types of materials collected are microforms, laws and legislative
materials, Louisiana documents, federal documents, and European Union
documents, law reports and digests. Dissertations are collected on a
highly selective basis. Reference materials such as bibliographies,
indices, abstracts, directories, handbooks, encyclopedias and dictionaries
are collected. Maps and atlases are collected as appropriate. Major
sets and collections in any format which supplement basic research areas
are acquired as funds permit. Audio visual materials are acquired as
funds permit.
Date of
Publication
In general, current and retrospective materials are collected. Titles
published within the last ten years are most important. Retrospective
collecting is determined by program need, collection strength, availability
of desired material on the book market, and availability from other
libraries.
Other Resources
The principal collections used by the Department of Political Science
are housed within the general and reference stacks. Other subcollections
in the library of interests are:
The Louisiana Collection,
which contains material on state and local governments, politics, and
social history.
Special Collections contains historical documents and archives of particular
interest in terms of local political history. The early records of the
Louisiana Supreme Court serve as a valuable research tool.
The Microfilm Room contains valuable collections for historical research,
including newspapers and magazines.
The Federal Documents Collection selects material from all federal executive,
legislative and judicial branches of government.
Other resources
outside the library include:
The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR),
which maintains and provides access to a vast archive of social science
data for research and instruction.
New Orleans Public Library--Louisiana Division
Supreme Court Law Library which contains reporters, state codes (other
than Louisiana), and other legal material.
Related Policy Statements
College of Business
Though Political
Science is primarily responsible for collecting materials on law, certain
types of law materials are more properly under the purview of the College
of Business (i.e., commercial/investment law, tax law, labor law, contracts,
and trade treaties).
College
of Urban and Public Affairs
There is a substantial degree of overlap in the collecting interests
of CUPA and Political Science, particularly in the areas of public administration
and policy sciences. Generally, Political Science collects materials
which address these issues at a broad, theoretical level or which focus
on the federal government in particular; materials that deal with local
city governments or which are geared more towards the practical applications
of policy- making and urban planning are the responsibility of CUPA.
The Political Science department's strong interest in local government
is supported in large part by the materials purchased through CUPA's
library budget, including books on the history and politics of individual
cities.
History
While the Political Science Department has an interest in political
history, its collecting emphasis is on contemporary politics and political
events. The History Department is primarily responsible for collecting
materials on political history of other time periods.
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