Computer science

Statement of programs and library needs

Knowledge of computers and software is now a requirement in almost every field of endeavor. Students and researchers in every discipline increasingly are dependent on some area of the computer science literature. The collection is developed with these broad needs in mind. At the same time, advanced research materials are acquired to support work in the discipline of computer science and closely related science and engineering fields.

The Department of Computer Science offers service courses directed to the needs of non-majors and an undergraduate Bachelor of Science degree in computer science. The department also offers M. S. and Ph.D. degrees in computer science.

The Department of Computer Science conducts advanced research in a variety of areas, including algorithms, artificial intelligence, computer graphics, computer vision, discrete event simulation, human-computer interaction, image processing, information storage and retrieval, mathematics of computation, multimedia, numerical analysis, operating systems, parallel and distributed processing, performance evaluation, symbolic computation, theoretical computer science, and software engineering.

I. Collection areas

A. Area: Computer Science

 

B. Classes and Levels

Q300-390           Cybernetics and Information Theory    Research
QA75-76.95         Computer Science                      Research
QA267-268.5        Machine Theory			 Research
QA402.5            Mathematical Programming              Research
TK5105.5-5105.9    Computer Networks                     Research
TK7885-7895        Computer Engineering                  Research

C. Chronology

Emphasis is on the acquisition of current imprints.

D. Geographic Guidelines

None.

E. Languages

English is the primary language of the collection. Works in other languages are purchased at the request of faculty, with English translations being preferred when available.

F. Treatment

Emphasis is on journals, research monographs, and graduate and upper division undergraduate texts. Reference works, conference proceedings, technical reports, advanced or highly specialized research monographs, and dissertations are purchased selectively. Texts on general computing are purchased very selectively, with emphasis on the use and management systems running the most widely used operating systems such as Mac O/S, UNIX, and Windows. Works on specific applications software usually are not purchased.

G. Formats

Primarily print for monographs and most journals, an increasing number of which are accompanied by diskettes and CD-ROMs. Electronic full-text is also of growing importance for journals. Bibliographic databases are available through the Internet.

H. Multiple copies

Multiple copies usually are not purchased.

II. Acquisition Strategy

Materials are selected by the bibliographer for computer Science in conjunction with input from the Computer Science Department. High priority is given to faculty requests. The library receives all the journal titles published by the major societies such as the Association for Computing Machinery and the Computing Society of IEEE. It also receives a substantial fraction of the computer science journals indexed in the major abstracting and indexing services. Duplicate copies of heavily used titles, lower level undergraduate texts, out-of-print conference proceedings, and archival materials are occasionally added through gifts. Retrospective purchases are usually not made except to replace missing volumes, which are frequent.

III. Collection Notes

Introductory programming manuals, lower division undergraduate texts, computer programs, and books for computer hobbyists usually are not purchased. Materials on the application of computers to other disciplines normally are purchased by bibliographers responsible for those disciplines. Faculty and students in computer science draw heavily on resources in other disciplines, including engineering, mathematics, and statistics.

Revised 11/2000