Psychology
Statement of program and library needs
The Department of Psychology offers programs leading to the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees.
The department's major emphasis is on four program areas.
- Clinical psychology, a fully APA-accredited program emphasizing theoretical grounding in a number of traditions and guided practice.
- Industrial psychology, including both theoretical and quantitative approaches.
- Experimental and cognitive psychology, with an emphasis on research.
- Developmental psychology, in which social and cognitive perspectives are integrated in a focus on prenatal to middle childhood periods.
At the graduate level, students are prepared either for careers in academic teaching and research or as practitioners. Supervised field service opportunities are available in several settings, including the Psychological Services Center, the Child Study Center, and through relationships with the Counseling Center and a variety of local community agencies.
Psychology draws on a variety of other disciplines in both the life and social sciences. Neurology, pediatrics, and other aspects of human medicine, organizational sociology and management theory, education, and statistics collections are all of importance to the department. In turn the literature of psychology serves as a resource for faculty and students in Family and Child Development, Sociology, Education, and Business.
I. Collection areas
A. Area: Psychology
B. Classes and Levels
BF 1-172 Psychology (General). History Research
BF 173-175 Psychoanalysis Study
BF 180-299 Physiological and Experimental
Psychology. Sensation Research
BF 311-499 Cognition. Perception. Intelligence Research
BF 511-635 Emotion. Will Study
BF 636-637 Applied Psychology Research
BF 660-687 Comparative Psychology. Motivation Research
BF 698 Personality Research
BF 699-724 Developmental Psychology. Child
Psychology Research
BF 725-789 Class Psychology Study
BF 795-839 Temperament Study
BF 1001-1389 Parapsychology Study
HM 251-291 Social Psychology Research
QP 86 Old Age--Physiology Study
QP 351-499 Psychology, Physiological Research
RA 790 Mental Health Research
RC 49-52 Psychosomatic Medicine Study
RC 321-569.5 Neurology and Psychiatry Study
RC 569.7-580 Mental Retardation Research
RC 952-954 Geriatrics Study
RJ 111 Child Mental Health Research
RJ 480-507 Diseases of Children--
Nervous System Study
Z 7201-7205 Subject Bibliography--Psychology Study
C. Chronology
Emphasis is on twentieth century materials, particularly those published since 1980. Strong forces of change including greater empiricism, various re-examinations of classical psychoanalysis, interest in biological or organic causes of behavior, and greater interest in organizational and familial personal environments, have affected psychology in recent decades, and it is imperative that current selection practices reflect these changes. Classic works, backsets of significant serials, and works on the history of the discipline are acquired regardless of date of imprint.
D. Geographic Guidelines
Emphasis is on materials published in the United States. Selected materials from the United Kingdom and Western Europe are also purchased.
E. Languages
English is the primary language of the collection. Some works in French and German are selected, including original works of historically important figures in psychology.
F. Treatment
There is a strong emphasis on serial publications including journals, significant conference proceedings, and annual reviews. Scholarly theoretical or empirical monographs are important. Less scholarly materials about human development, interaction, or counseling are acquired, but more selectively. Books of readings are acquired selectively. Very few book-length bibliographies are acquired, though print and electronic indexes in serial format are kept strong. The literature about psychology, including its history as a discipline, the legal and economic aspects of clinical practice, the job market, and research methods particular to the discipline, is acquired almost comprehensively.
G. Formats
Primarily print for monographs and most journals. Bibliographic databases are available through the Internet. Videos, many of which deal with psychological problems or counseling techniques, are sometimes acquired upon faculty request.
H. Multiple copies
Multiple copies of heavily used works of a serious nature are acquired. Some high use periodicals are duplicated in microform.
II. Acquisition Strategy
Materials are selected for purchase by the bibliographer for psychology, with priority given to faculty requests. The Libraries maintain an approval plan for university press books as well as those published by outstanding trade publishers including Guilford and Lawrence Erlbaum. An effort is made to acquire nearly everything published by the American Psychological Association. The Libraries receive on subscription a substantial share of the English language journals indexed in Psychological Abstracts, as well as a selected group of foreign language titles. Gifts occasionally provide duplicate copies of heavily used titles but have not served as a major source of building collections in psychology. Retrospective purchases are limited to filling in journal holdings or adding seminal older titles.
III. Collection Notes
Lower-division college textbooks in psychology are not ordinarily selected. Upper-level textbooks are acquired selectively, as are works written on a popular level. Theses and dissertations from other universities are acquired only upon demand.
Interest in various aspects of psychology, both clinical and theoretical, is widespread. The BF classification is one of the most intensively used in the libraries' collections, creating a need for multiple copies and replacement copies or rebinding of worn materials.
Materials in education, management, statistics, sociology, and selected aspects of the medical literature including pediatrics, neurology, and works on nutrition are of interest to students and faculty in psychology.
Revised 4/1996
