Guidelines for Recreation, Parks, and Tourism

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

 

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1. Purpose.

The Recreation, Parks, and Tourism program at VCU is one of the nation's oldest continuous programs of professional preparation in recreation, with courses first offered in 1917.  It focuses on preparing future professionals for the many responsibilities associated with creating parks, therapeutic recreation, and sport management.

The Master of Science in Recreation, Parks, and Tourism prepares students to excel as practitioners in one of three specializations:  Recreation management, Therapeutic Recreation, or Sport Leadership.  The Leisure Services Management option prepares professionals to enhance a community by developing, implementing, and managing quality leisure and sport services.  Students choosing this emphasis usually specialize in public administration, urban studies, or business courses beyond the core requirements.

Therapeutic Recreation (TR) focuses on the delivery of leisure and sport services to individuals with physical, mental, emotional, and social limitations in order to increase their independence and quality of life.  Therapeutic Recreation graduate students without an undergraduate TR degree use program electives to take qualifying courses for the National Council of Therapeutic Recreation Certification (NCTRC) exam.  Students who have already met the NCTRC standards may select courses from rehabilitation counseling, psychology, adult education, counselor education and the Virginia Institute for Developmental Disabilities.

The Sport Leadership track is a collaborative program between the Division of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, and the VCU SportsCenter.  Students prepare to work in athletic settings in coaching, management, or in a sport related business.

2. General Collection Guidelines.

A. Language.
English is the primary language of the collection.

B. Chronology.
Emphasis is on the last thirty years, especially more contemporary conditions.

C. Geography.
There is more emphasis on recreation, tourism, and therapeutic recreation in North America and Western Europe than in other geographical areas, but no area is excluded from consideration.

D. Publication Date.
Emphasis is on materials published since 1950.

E. Treatment of Subject.
Lower division textbooks are not generally acquired. Primary emphasis is on acquiring upper division, graduate and professional monographs and journals. U.S. tourism statistics are collected broadly. Professional association publications are collected widely. U.S. and state documents are widely collected in this discipline. Popular travel, park, and recreation guides are collected selectively. Juvenile literature is not purchased for the general collection.

VCU Libraries is a partial depository library for U.S. Government documents and a depository library for Virginia State documents. We collect publications from the U.S. Department of Interior's National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service, and from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We receive all documents produced by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Historic Resources' Division of Planning and Recreation Services, the Division of State Parks, the Division of Tourism, and the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

F. Types of Materials and Formats.
Most materials acquired for the recreation collection are in book or periodical format. Indexes, abstracts, handbooks, proceedings, symposia, and publications of private or quasi-public agencies are collected. Purchases of dissertations and theses from other institutions is restricted. Other instructional and research formats for the collection may include microform research collections, online databases, data sets, CD-ROM products, films, videos, and audio cassettes. Pertinent local, state, and federal government documents are acquired, as well as publications from the primary trade and professional associations: U.S. Travel Data Center, National Recreation and Park Association, Travel and Tourism Research Association, the National Therapeutic Recreation Association, and the American Alliance of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD).

3. Area Resources.

Faculty and students have access to the specialized collections of the Center for Research Libraries in Chicago. 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.

Therapeutic recreation faculty and students share interests with physical therapy and physical education disciplines.

5. Subjects and Collecting Levels.

Subject	Call Number Range	Present	Desired
Tourism	G155	C2	C2
Recreation	GV1-200.5	C2	C1
Therapeutic Recreation	RM735-736	C2	B
Parks	SB481-485	C2	B

6. Methodology.

The collection was assessed quantitatively by "list-checking" the following general and specialized bibliographies:

Enggass, Peter M. Tourism and the Travel Industry: an Information Sourcebook. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press, 1988.

Goeldner, C.R. Bibliography of Tourism and Travel Research Studies, Reports and Articles. Boulder, CO: Business Research Division, University of Colorado, 1980.