SFU Library History Collections Policy

The Department of History at Simon Fraser University provides a wide range of courses covering history. Faculty members in the Department have expertise in the History of Canada, the United States, The World, Europe, The Middle East, Asia, Africa, Latin America as well as the History of Religion and Environmental History. The Department offers a wide variety of courses in each of these areas and students are provided with an opportunity to study a wide variety of time periods and places.

The SFU History program features a variety of approaches and themes including social, cultural, political, economic, intellectual and international history. Students may specialize in the study of The World, Canada, the United States, Europe, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.

In addition to the undergraduate level, there is a master's degree and a doctoral programme.

SFU Resources

The W.A.C. Bennett Library is the major location for the University's History collection. Due to the multidisciplinary nature of the field, there is a wide overlap with other SFU Library collections such as english literature, sociology, political science, philosophy, and many other social sciences.

Regional Resources

The University of British Columbia also carries a significant History Collection..

Consortia and Document Delivery

SFU belongs to three consortia (Electronic Library Network; Council of Prairie and Pacific University Libraries; and the Canadian Association of Research Libraries). Document delivery agreements exist with all three of these consortia which allow delivery of journal articles and books from these libraries in a timely manner. Holdings and direct requesting from over 40 libraries are accessible through the Interlibrary Loan Web page and from many databases.

The Department’s course and research areas are:

A listing of the research interests of faculty is available from the School’s web site:  (http://www.sfu.ca/history/faculty/FacultyandStaff_areaofstudy.html)

Collection development is the responsibility of the History Liaison Librarian. Liaison with the History Department is maintained through the Departmental Representative as well as with other faculty members when required. Regular contact with other liaison librarians and teaching departments is nurtured through the sharing of relevant review material.

General Collection Guideline

Languages: the emphasis is on the acquisition of materials in English and French. Materials of major importance in other Western European languages will also be collected.
Chronological guidelines: not applicable.
Geographical guidelines: not applicable.
Treatment of subject: selection will be primarily from - biographies, bibliographies, reference works, etc.
Types of materials: collecting is split between books and journals. There will also be a future emphasis on e-journals and web resources.
Date of Publication: emphasis is on current publications but retrospective acquisitions will be made where funds are available and faculty interests need to be met.
Coordination and cooperation with other campus resources: the requirements of History students are often met by the collections developed by the English and Political Science Departments.
Other factors for consideration: none at this time.

Subjects and Levels of Collecting

The following table lists the main subjects collected by the SFU Library in support of the History Department's teaching areas and research interests. Subjects listed are collected to varying depths. The method in which the library selects books on each subject is listed in the second column of the table. A designation of “Books” in this column means that items which fit the General Guidelines (above) for the subject in question are sent on an approval basis to the library. In such cases, a significant portion of the books on that topic will be acquired for the collection. A designation of “Forms,” on the other hand, means that only brief descriptions of the books on the subject in question are sent to the library. The liaison librarian, often with the assistance of the department or faculty representative or other faculty members, then selects the relevant items for acquisition by the library.

1. General Civilization Surveys	Books
2. History division
i. History - general	Books
ii. Political History	Books
iii. Social History	Books
iv. Cultural History	Books
v. Intellectual History	Books
vi. Constitutional History	Forms
vii. Legal History	Books
viii. Religious History	Books
ix. Colonial History	Books
x. Diplomatic History	Books
3. Military history division
a. Military history - general	Forms
i. History of specific wars	Forms
ii. Napoleonic wars	Books
iii. World War I	Books
iv. World War II	Books
v. Korean War	Books
vi. Vietnam War	Books
3. b. Naval history division	Forms
i. Naval history - general	Forms
ii. Sea Voyages	Forms
iii. Piracy	Forms
4.Science and Technology history division
i. Exploration and Discovery	Books
ii.Voyages and travels	Books
5.Special U.S. History topics	Forms
i. U.S. Colonial History	Forms
ii. U.S. Revolutionary Period	Forms
iii.U.S. Period of Expansion	Forms
iv. U.S. Civil War Period	Forms
v. U.S. Reconstruction Period	Forms
vi. The South	Forms
vii. American West	Forms
6. Auxilliary history division
i. Historiography	Books
ii. Historical Chronology	Books
iii. Manners & customs - general.	Forms
iv. General biographies	Books
7. Special Period Studies	Books
i. Ancient History	Books
ii. Classical Studies	Books
iii. Medieval Studies	Books
iv. Reformation Studies	Books
v. Renaissance Studies	Books
8. Special Area Studies	Books
i. African Studies	Books
ii. Eastern European Studies	Books
iii. Western European Studies	Books
iv.Soviet Studies	Books
v. Middle East Studies	Books
vi. Central Asian Studies	Books
vii. Near East Studies	Books
viii. Islamic Studies	Books
ix. Arab Word Studies	Books
x. East and Southeast Asian Studies	Books
xi. East Asian Studies	Books
xii. Southeast Asian Studies	Books
xiii. Pacific Rim Studies	Books
xiv. Hispanic Studies	Books
xv. Latin American Studies	Books
xvi. Caribbean studies	Forms
xvii. Third World Studies	Books
9. Applied Interdisciplinary Social Studies Division
i. Sustainable Development	Forms