Subject Librarian: Scott McLaren
Policy wriiten by: Brent Roe
Description of Current Collection and Programmes Supported The Classical Studies Programme offers courses in Greek and Latin language and literature, in ancient history, art and architecture, and philosophy leading to the B.A. degree in Ordinary and in various Honours Programmes either in Classics or in Classical Studies. The Classics programmes have minimum course requirements in Greek and Latin; the Classical Studies programmes do not. There is currently no graduate programme in Classical Studies, but individual graduate-level courses in ancient history are now offered and an ancient history stream in the Graduate Programme in History is being developed. The undergraduate courses are offered mainly through the History, Humanities, and Philosophy units in Arts and Atkinson, and through the Faculty of Fine Arts. The history courses focus on Greek and Roman political, social, and cultural history. Other courses focus on the major Greek and Roman authors, philosophies, and artistic works and themes. The largest numbers of courses are in the history and literature areas.
The Classical Studies collection at Scott Library is intended primarily to support the undergraduate set of courses offered as part of the Classical Studies Programmes based in the Faculty of Arts and in Atkinson College. To the extent that the acquisitions budget for Classical Studies allows, more specialized materials are also purchased to support the particular research needs of graduate students and faculty members. Inasmuch as students and researchers in any field at York may need access to Classical Studies materials, collection development in this area attempts to address these needs as they become known.
In general, works in the art history of Greece and Rome are purchased by the Fine Arts Librarian, works in ancient history are purchased by the History Librarian, works in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy and religion are purchased by the Philosophy Librarian. Greek and Latin languages, literatures, and associated criticism are purchased by the Classical Studies Librarian. Reference works are purchased by the Reference Collection Librarian in consultation with subject librarians. Since, however, Classical Studies is an interdisciplinary field, collection development in must occur in a spirit of consultation and cooperation among subject librarians who collect in such diverse areas as anthropology, archaeology, art history, history, literature, philosophy, religion, and others. Because of this, the division of labour among subject librarians can be somewhat unclear or arbitrary. Users of the Classical Studies collection who wish to express a collection-related need or concern are encouraged to communicate with the Classical Studies Librarian, who will deal with the matter directly or refer the concern to another subject librarian if necessary.
Languages Primary materials, principally editions of Greek and Roman authors, are available in Greek or Latin, often in more than one edition. For most authors that are studied in the undergraduate curriculum, there are also English-language translations, often various translations for a given work. Suggestions from faculty as to priority purchases are most welcome since critical editions of ancient works tend to be quite expensive.
The collection of secondary materials is primarily in English because it must first address the needs of the undergraduate curriculum where almost all assigned reading on the Keele campus is in English, and undergraduate students tend to avoid materials not in English. Because of budgetary limitations, purchase of particular non-English-language secondary materials is considered primarily upon request.
Date of Publications
Most Classical Studies collection funding is devoted to the purchase of current materials. Purchase of older and out-of-print materials is considered upon request for particular items. Retrospective purchasing of particular items is often necessary with the advent of a new course, and course directors are encouraged to bring such needs to the attention of the Classical Studies Librarian. Whenever possible, back issues of journals are purchased when a journal subscription is initiated. As a general observation, because York University is a young institution, YUL does not have as dense a retrospective collection as libraries at older institutions may have and we lack many pre-1960s books and journal backruns.
Duplication
Duplicate purchasing is kept to a minimum except in cases of proven or anticipated heavy use. Scott Library Circulation alerts the Classical Studies Librarian of particular titles for which an added copy may be necessary based on the number of "holds" placed on the title. As well, for reserve items, an additional copy of a current book may be purchased by Scott Library Reserves staff if circulation warrants. We attempt to replace missing books if proven or anticipated circulation warrants, and replacement of missing periodical issues when possible is a high priority.
Gifts
Donated books, journal issues, or other materials may be accepted if they are appropriate for our collection, if they are in good condition, and if either we do not already have the title or if we need an additional copy because of high use. Persons wishing to donate Classical Studies materials are encouraged to confer with the Classical Studies Librarian.
Material Formats
The collection consists, primarily, of books and journals. YUL is attempting to provide for the York University community electronic full-text access to as many journals as possible, though so far, there is only a small number of Classical Studies periodicals available electronically full-text. Recent past volumes of a few journals (e.g., Classical Antiquity, Classical Philology, Classical Quarterly, and Greece & Rome) are available online through Expanded Academic ASAP. Questions, or concerns about access to online journals in Classical Studies should be expressed to the Classical Studies Librarian, who will confer with or refer the issue to the Electronic Resources Librarian if necessary.
Whenever appropriate, possible, and affordable, we attempt to provide electronic access to reference tools in Classical Studies, either on CD-ROM at one or more library workstations or over the Web. Such indexes as the Humanities Index, the Art Index, or the Philosopher's Index are all available from the YUL website even from off campus. As well, the Database of Classical Bibliography (an electronic equivalent of volumes 45-60 [1974-1989] of l'Année Philologique, of which the complete run is held in paper), is available at workstations in the Libraries. An increasing effort is being made to provide on the YUL website annotated links to internet resources in Classical Studies that may be of value for York students.
Related Collections at York
There are some Classical Studies materials in the Map Library (historical atlases and maps) and in the Sound and Moving Image Library (numerous videos and other products such as the Perseus Project on CD-ROM). There are some works on ancient science and technology in the Steacie Science Library and a separately assembled Classical Studies collection at Frost Library at the Glendon campus. All of the items in libraries are listed in Yorkline, the YUL library catalogue.
The Classical Studies Programme (Arts) has a small resource room that can be used by its students, but the collection includes mainly books that are already held by YUL. More importantly, at the Humanities computer lab (246 Vanier College), students and researchers have access to the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, a CD-ROM product that gives searchable access to a great part of the corpus of Greek literature from Homer to the present. The lab also has the Packard Humanities Institute's PHI Latin CD-ROM product that includes the entire corpus of Latin literature from earliest times to AD 200 (and beyond).
Resources Elsewhere in the Toronto Region
York faculty and graduate students have access to the John P. Robarts Research Library at the University of Toronto and can exploit the potential of that research collection, which has many excellent resources that can serve to augment those available in the YUL collection. Researchers also have access to other University of Toronto collections of occasional importance to classisists, notable among these are the Pontifical Institute for Mediaeval Studies Library and the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library.
Collecting Levels
| Description | Current | Desired |
| Art and Architecture: | ||
| Greece | 3b | 3a |
| Rome | 3b | 3a |
| History: | ||
| Mediterranean Region | 3a | 3b |
| Greco-Roman World | 3a | 3b |
| Greece | 2 | 2 |
| Italy | 3b | 3a |
| Languages and Literatures: | ||
| Greek | 3b | 3a |
| Latin | 3b | 3a |
| Philosophy: | ||
| Greek | 3b | 3b |
| Roman | 3b | 3b |
Last updated 2000