Guidelines for Gerontology

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. Related Subject Policy Statements
5. Subjects and Collecting Levels
6. Methodology

---

1. Purpose.

To support teaching and research for the post-graduate certificate in Aging Studies and the MS program in gerontology concentrating in health care organization and planning, psycho-geriatrics, public administration, social services, and education. The programs train qualified professionals to work in administrative and instructional/staff development positions in programs and services for the elderly at the national, state, and local levels; provide an opportunity for those studying other disciplines, and whose work will encompass service to the aged, to integrate their own training with a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the aging process; and stimulate the design and execution of gerontological reseach across multiple disciplines.

The Departments of Gerontology and Physical Therapy jointly offer an MS degree in physical therapy with a specialty in geriatric physical therapy, and the Department of Gerontology and the School of Social Work jointly offer a certificate program in Aging Studies and a Master of Social Work degree.

2. General Collection Guidelines.

A. Language.
English is the primary language of the monograph collection. Foreign journal titles are acquired only if the majority of the articles are in English or have English summaries.

B. Chronology.
Primary emphasis is on the twentieth century, especially contemporary conditions.

C. Geography.
Major focus is on the United States and Canada. Other areas of interest include Great Britain and Western Europe.

D. Publication Date.
Emphasis is on materials published in the past 30 years. Retrospective purchasing will be selective and may involve microfilm or reprints rather than the original format.

E. Treatment of Subject.
History and development of the discipline are collected. Compendiums of case studies and descriptions of gerontological programs are also collected. Books on gerontological research and statistical methods are collected broadly. Works written on a popular level are purchased selectively. As a whole, lower undergraduate textbooks are not purchased. However, anthologies containing reprints of materials are considered for purchase.

ULS is a depository library for U.S. Government Documents and Virginia State Documents. ULS collects extensively from the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Education and from the U.S. Administration on Aging and the Bureau of the Census.

F. Types of Materials and Formats.
Most materials acquired in the gerontology collection are in book or periodical format. Indexes, abstracts, proceedings, publications of private agencies and associations, and statistical materials of all types are collected. Purchases of dissertations and theses from other institutions are restricted. Other instructional and research formats for the collection include microform research collections, online databases, data sets, CD-ROM products, films, videos, and audiocassettes.

ULS selects all documents published by the US Department of Health and Human Services, the Aging Administration, Council on Aging, Advisory Council on Social Security, National Institute on Mental Health, Special Committee on Aging (Senate), and Select Committee on Aging (House). ULS is a depository library for Virginia State documents.

3. Area Resources.

The Geriatric Education Center, located on the medical campus, serves to promote and enhance geriatric education and curricula in Virginia. The Center's information center offers access and lends materials to all professionals involved in providing health care for older adults.

Faculty and students also have access to the specialized collections of the Center for Research Libraries. CRL is a cooperative research library that acquires, stores, preserves, and provides bibliographic access to a collection which supplements and complements the collections of the major research libraries of North America.

4. Related Subject Policy Statements.

Because of the interdisciplinary character of the field, publications in gerontology are of interest to many subject areas. Among these are social work, nursing, geriatric medicine, adult education, geriatric psychiatry, psychology, physical therapy, occupational therapy, social policy, public administration, sociology, law, and health administration.

5. Subjects and Collecting Levels.

Subject	Call Number Range	Present	Desired
Gerontology	HQ1060-1064	C1	C1
Aged (incl: Social Work with the Aged)	HV1450-1490	C1	C1
Aging	QP86	C1	B
Bibliography	Z7164.O4	C2	C1

6. Methodology.

Collection-centered; list checking, either in its entirety or using samplings from the following specialized bibliographies:

Zito, Dorothea and George V. Zito. A Guide to Research in Gerontology. New York: Greenwood Press, 1988.

Edwards, Willie M. Gerontology: A Core List of Significant Works. Ann Arbor, MI: Institute of Gerontology, University of Michigan-Wayne State University, 1978.

Gerontology in Social Work Education: Faculty Development and Continuing Education. Washington, DC: Council on Social Work Education, 1988.

Current Literature on Aging. Washington, DC: National Council on the Aging. 1989.
AGELINE Database. Washington, DC: American Association of Retired Persons, 1990.

Place, Linna F. Aging and the Aged: an Annotated Bibliography and Library Research Guide. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1981.