Guidelines for African-American Studies

Table of Contents

1. Purpose
2. General Collection Guidelines
    A. Language
    B. Chronology
    C. Geography
    D. Publication Date
    E. Treatment of Subject
    F. Types of Materials and Formats
3. Area Resources
4. Subjects and Collecting Levels

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1. Purpose.

Collections in African-American Studies support teaching and research consistent with the curriculum at a Carnegie Research Intensive (Very High Research) institution with an undergraduate program in the field.

The African-American Studies minor is designed to increase scholarly understanding of the historic and contemporary experiences of people of African ancestry throughout the world.  This diasporic approach is expected to yield critical scholarship that contributes to delineating the cultural and structural connections between the experiences of people of African ancestry.  The department applies this knowledge to the prevention and resolution of economic, political and social problems as they occur locally, nationally, and globally.  The strategies for developing and applying this knowledge and understanding are interdisciplinary research, scholarship, and teaching along with community service and the production of informed and skilled graduates.  In teaching, we will use the strengths of our location to develop two major themes, African-Americans in Museums and Reconstructing African-American History through Archaeology.  In pursuit of this mission, AAS will develop a program nationally recognized for its excellence that will help the university achieve its future goals and strategic mission.

2. General Collection Guidelines.

A. Language.
English is preferred, but material in African, Caribbean, or Creole languages may be purchased if no English-language translation is available.

B. Chronology.
No limitations, due to the two programs' strong historical component.

C. Geography.
No restrictions.

D. Publication Date.
Collecting efforts center on current imprints, but if the material is of importance to the historical coverage of the disciplines, there are no restrictions on date of publication.

E. Treatment of Subject.
Material providing critical, historical, bibliographic, or textual studies of the various areas are collected.

F. Types of Materials and Formats.
Monographic literature and a wide variety of reference works, including dictionaries, encyclopedias, and concordances, are acquired, as are relevant serial titles and selected proceedings. Unpublished theses and dissertations may be collected when they provide a unique source of information on a particular topic. In general, there are few restrictions on format if the material is deemed essential for instructional support.  Textbooks and popular materials are not actively collected.

3. Area Resources.

Virginia Union University in Richmond and Virginia State University in Petersburg are both Historically Black Universities.  Their libraries hold many materials which may offer assistance to students and researchers in African American Studies.

4. Subjects and Collecting Levels.

Resources for African-American Studies are collected at an instructional support level (3).