English Language and Literatures:
Collection Development Policy Statement
|
Subject Definition | Departmental Statement | Scope |
| Exclusions | Location Statement | System Coordination |
| Resource Sharing | Other | Collection Levels|
English as a discipline concentrates on the study of the literature and language of regions wherever English in spoken. Such study employs the methods of literary criticism and scholarship and mastery of the techniques of expository or creative writing. The aim is to recognize not only inherent value of a literary work, but also to increase our understanding of the culture and the society from which the literary work emanates.
b. Subject classification analysis.
English and American literature is represented in PR and PS schedules, respectively. English philology and language is covered by PE. American languages are included in the PM schedule. Celtic languages and literatures are classified as PB1001-3029. The PN schedule includes a wide variety of subjects relevant to the study of English literature, including literary criticism and history, the theater, diaries, quotations, satire, and so on. Other relevant schedules include P, philology, linguistics; and Z5051- 8999, subject and personal bibliography.
The primary classification number for English and Anglo-Saxon literature is 820. American literature in English is represented by 810. English and Anglo-Saxon languages are covered by the 420's. Celtic languages and literature is classified in 491.6 and 891.6, respectively. Other relevant schedules include 400-419, language and linguistics; 800-809, literature (belles lettres); 010, bibliography; 080, general collections of essays, quotations, etc. in English; and 920, which includes literary biography. Works cataloged prior to 1967 and some currently received serial publications are found in these classes.
The Department of English provides undergraduate programs of study leading to the Bachelor of Arts in Language and Literature and the Bachelor of Arts in Composition and Advanced Writing degrees. An honors program awards the baccalaureate degree "With College Honors in English" or "With Distinction in English." The teaching program offers a major or minor in English in cooperation with the College of Education.
The graduate program offers the Master of Arts, Master of Arts in English in Advanced Writing, Master of Arts for Teachers in English, Master of Arts for Teachers in English as a Second Language and the Doctor of Philosophy with a field of concentration in literature. The central concern of the English graduate program is with reading and writing on a scholarly level, together with essential methods of research.
Materials date from, or are concerned with, the period from the beginnings of the language and literature in the Anglo-Saxon period to the present. Emphasis is on the major periods and writers from the 14th through the 20th centuries.
b. Geographical
Primary emphasis is on the language and literature and related criticism of England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the United States. English language literature from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the West Indies are of secondary interest and collected selectively. Other geographic areas, not major producers of English scholarship, are collected selectively.
c. Language
Primary and secondary works are in English, historical forms of the English language and the Celtic languages. The study of English language and literature requires material in many languages. Secondary materials in German and French which provide critical and/historical treatment of English language and literature are purchased on a broad basis. Material in other European languages, particularly Italian and Spanish, and in Japanese are purchased selectively.
d. Format
Monographs and sets, serials, facsimiles, reprints, microforms, and xerox copies of out-of-print titles are included in the collection.
e. Exclusions
Literature of a purely popular nature, workbooks, dissertations, and anthologies of primary works containing material already in the collection, are generally not collected. Textbooks are not collected unless a particular text is useful for the study of theory of composition and rhetoric.
Suzzallo Library is the major location for the English language and literature collection. Microforms are in the Microforms-Newspapers Section.
b. Other related collections
There are duplicate and related titles in the Odegaard Undergraduate Library and Drama Library. Material of interest to users of the English language and literature collection may also be found in the University Archives and Manuscripts Division, Rare Book Collection, Pacific Northwest Collection, the Reference Section in Suzzallo Library, the Odegaard Undergraduate Library and in the Media Center.
The English selector has primary responsibility for publications dealing with English and American literature and literary criticism, and with the English language.
The English selector also has major responsibility for literature, criticism, and history of English and American drama treated as literature. The drama selector is responsible for acting editions, scripts, volumes containing single plays, and selected anthologies and collections of plays in English.
Selection of materials in comparative literature is shared with the comparative literature selector and with selectors for literature in other languages, as is selection of folklore. Scholarly works on English and Celtic folklore are collected by the English selector, but folktales for children in English and other juvenile literature in English are the concern of the children's literature selector.
The English selector also purchases materials for the Undergraduate Library. The undergraduate library maintains the basic works required to support the undergraduate curricula in English language and literature. This core collection includes standard editions of major authors and representative works of criticism. The Undergraduate Library contains representative contemporary works of fiction and poetry which may not be held in the research collections. The Odegaard Undergraduate Library may also contain selected science fiction and mystery titles as well as representative works of criticism in these genres. Scholarly studies about English language science fiction and mystery works are the primary responsibility of the English selector.
The South Asia selector acquires Indian literature in English. African literature written in English is the primary responsibility of the African studies selector. The English selector has primary responsibility for Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the West Indies.
American Indian literature is the primary responsibility of the selector for American Indian Studies. Black-American and Chicano literature in English is the primary and responsibility of the English selector.
Poetry by writers residing in the Pacific Northwest and fiction set in the Pacific Northwest is the primary responsibility of the Pacific Northwest selector. Circulating copies of such works may also be acquired by the English selector when the works have particular literary merit. Recommendation for such duplication is usually made by the Pacific Northwest selector.
The Rare Book collection selector has major responsibility for English language rarities, especially in 19th century American literature.
Responsibility for materials in general and comparative linguistics is shared with selectors for other languages and with the linguistics selector. The linguistic focus of a publication determines selector responsibility.
Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) materials are the joint responsibility of the English language and literature, and linguistic selectors. TESL classroom instructional materials are the responsibility of the curriculum materials selector.
Not applicable.
b. Related local and regional collections.
The Seattle Public Library and the King County Library System have extensive collections of English and American Contemporary popular literature, such as science fiction, fantasy fiction, historical fiction, romance fiction and teen literature. The Contemporary Literature Collection at Simon Fraser University Library contains materials for the study of recent English language literature. The University of British Columbia in Vancouver, B.C. is the major resource for the study of Canadian literature in the Pacific Northwest.
c. Cooperative loan arrangements.
English and American literature are widely represented in the collections of the The Center for Research Libraries in original format and in microform. The Center provides access to foreign dissertations, newspapers, retrospective serials, and other research materials.
d. Cooperative acquisition projects.
The University of Washington makes recommendations to the The Center for Research Libraries for the purchase of materials not in the English language and literature collection.
The MLA International Bibliography, Language and Language Behavior Abstracts, Dissertation Abstracts International and ERIC are databases of interest to users of the English language and literature collection. For additional databases of interest to English language and literature studies, see the English Subject page. All these databases are UW Restricted, which means that you must have a UW NetID to search them remotely.
b. Contemporary English Literature.
Collecting efforts in contemporary literature written in English support the graduate and undergraduate curriculum offerings in literature and creative writing in the English department. The collection also serves to support the research and study needs of Women's Studies, Black Studies, Chicano Studies, and American Indian Studies programs at the University of Washington.
The goal of the English and American language and literature collection is to provide a record of the cultural legacy that is contained in the literature of the English-speaking peoples. The aim is for a depth of coverage of the major periods and authors of English and American literatures which will insure that the specialized research needs on undergraduate and graduate students and faculty of the University of Washington are met. More selective coverage of other English literature supports graduate study at the Master's level in these areas.
A. Comprehensive level
B. Research level
C. Study level
D. Basic level
E. Minimal level
| British Commonwealth literature, Australia | C |
| British Commonwealth literature, Canada | C |
| British Commonwealth literature, New Zealand | D |
| British Commonwealth literature, West Indies | D |
| British Commonwealth literature, Other | E |
| Celtic language | C |
| Celtic literature | C |
| English/American language | B |
| English/American literary criticism | B |
| English/American literature | B |
| Reference materials | B |
| Rhetoric | B |
| Teaching English as a second language | C |
| Teaching of English language/literature | C |
| Theory of composition | B |