General Purpose

The history collection supports the teaching and research needs of the University of Tennessee's faculty and students in the area of history.

Subject Description

The history collection covers all time periods and areas of the world with the following exceptions.

Overlap with Other Subjects

The classical period in Greece and Rome is covered by the Classics fund. Asian history is supported in part by the Interdisciplinary Studies fund as a part of Asian Studies. Both women's history and African American history are also supported in part by the Interdisciplinary Studies fund. Although Medieval Studies is a part of Interdisciplinary Studies, most of the funding for Medieval history is from the History fund. Latin American history is partially supported by the Latin American Studies fund. Archaeological material is generally purchased through the Classics or Anthropology funds.

Local history is collected by Special Collections and is generally not purchased for the Hodges Library. Most Tennessee material purchased through the History fund is schorarly in nature. No attempt is made to collect genealogical material per se, although some research material that might also be useful to genealogists is purchased.

Languages Collected and Excluded

The collection includes all languages of the world but emphasis is on English, German and Romance languages. Only very limited purchases are made in languages which are not taught as a part of the curriculum at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Geographic Parameters

All areas of the world are collected except for the overlap listed above. Emphasis is on the United States, especially the Southern states, and Europe.

Chronological Scope

All chronological periods are covered except the Classical period for Greece and Rome. Also Archaeological material is generally not purchased from the history fund.

Dates of Publication

Emphasis is on current publications although some retrospective purchasing is done to support research interests of faculty.

Retrospective Acquisitions

See above.

Types of Materials Collected and Excluded

Generally, textbooks are not purchased unless deemed important for the collection as a whole. Travel guides, although they are shelved in call number areas for history (D, E and F), are not purchased with History funds. Books, audio-visual materials, backfiles of newspapers and collections of primary sources in both microformats and on compact disc are all purchased through the History fund.

Cooperation with Other Libraries

Although no formal arrangement exists, the McClung collection at the Knox County Library System is the local repository of genealogical material.

Alternative Acquisition of Resources

Material purchased by The Center for Research Libraries is not duplicated in our collection.

Position Responsible for Collection

Humanities Reference Librarian, Anne Bridges

Corresponding Fund

The History fund is used for firm orders in this area. Two restricted funds, Formsby and Fink, are designated for history purchases. In addition, history purchases are made from the Lindsay Young fund and other appropriate restricted funds.

Other factors

The History Department has a large and active graduate program, offering degrees at both the Mastes and Doctorate level.

May 3, 2002