Subject Librarian: Tom Scott
Policy wriiten by: Brent Roe
Description of Current Collection and Programmes Supported
The history collection at Scott Library is intended primarily to support the undergraduate and graduate history (or history-intensive) courses offered through the History, Humanities, and Social Science units in both the Faculty of Arts and in Atkinson College. To the extent that the acquisitions budget for history 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 may need historical information not specific to that field, collection development in history attempts to address these needs as they become known.
The Scott Library history collection covers, to greater or lesser thoroughness depending upon the topic, any and all geographical areas, historical periods, and thematic approaches.As closely as possible, the collecting emphases in the Scott Library collection attempt to respond to the emphases in the undergraduate curriculum.These emphases are, broadly and in roughly descending order, as follows:
- York has a strong Canadian history curriculum, but its strongest focuses have been on the 19th and 20th centuries; on Ontario and Quebec; and on political, social, and economic history.
- In modern European history, the focus has been mainly on the 19th and 20th centuries; on France, Russia (and Eastern Europe generally), Germany, Spain, Portugal, and Italy; and in political history, history of international relations, and cultural and intellectual history.
- In medieval, Renaissance, and early modern European history, themes in social, cultural, and economic history are most frequently treated in courses.Aside from Great Britain, France and Italy are the most thoroughly covered.
- Asian history at York has emphases in the 19th and 20th centuries; in China, Japan, and India; and in political history, history of international relations, and in the history of imperialism.A newer area of emphasis is the Islamic world.
- The history of the United States at York focuses mainly on the 19th and 20th centuries; and on social history, politic history, and the history of international relations.
- The history of Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean is treated in the curriculum from the time of European contact (or even before for Africa).Political history and the history of imperialism and slavery are especially well covered.
- Ancient history of Greece, Rome, Israel, and Mesopotamia, is covered in a range of courses mainly in political, social, and cultural history.
- British history is covered, with courses covering 17th to 20th century periods, with emphasis on political, social, and economic history.
- There are a number of courses in historiography and comparative history.The latter have focussed on such themes as diaspora cultures; women's history; Jewish and Holocaust history; environmental history; history of science, medicine, or the church.
Languages
The history collection is primarily an English-language collection because it must first address the needs of the undergraduate curriculum, and almost all assigned reading in history courses on the Keele campus is in English, and undergraduate students tend to avoid materials not in English.Because we try to maintain a comprehensive collection in Canadian history, however, any appropriate French-language materials relevant to Canadian history are collected.Because of budgetary limitations, purchase of particular non-English-language history materials is considered primarily upon request.Notwithstanding the fact that our active collection development privileges English-language (and to some extent French-language) materials, there are in the YUL collection considerable primary and secondary works in German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, and to a lesser extent other languages.
Geographical Coverage
Inasmuch as English-language materials are mainly purchased for the YUL history collection, publications are acquired principally from American, British, and Canadian publishers.A number of Dutch, German, and Australian publishers are also frequent sources of English-language works.We also purchase many English-language titles from Indian presses with the assistance of the Shastri Foundation.Some works in the vernacular are purchased from French, German, Italian, Spanish, Latin American, and other publishers or distributors.
Date of Publications
Most history 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 subject specialist librarian for history.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 deep 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, a situation most common for significant works in Canadian history. Scott Library Circulation alerts the History 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 is often purchased by Scott Library Reserves staff if circulation warrants.For some heavily used journals we have purchased a microfilm backup to the paper subscription, and now we seek to provide online versions of journals whenever these are available and affordable.We attempt to replace missing books if proven or anticipated circulation warrants, and replacement of missing periodical issues 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 history materials are encouraged to confer with the History Librarian.
Material Formats
The collection consists, primarily, of books and journals. Theses and dissertations are purchased selectively, although an attempt is made to acquire all Ph.D. dissertations in Canadian history.When purchased, theses and backruns of journals are often bought in microform.Pamphlets, mostly for the Canadian pamphlet collection, are purchased or accepted through donations.Microform collections of research materials are occasionally purchased when special funding becomes available, recent among these is the large Clipping File of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.York University Libraries is also a full subscriber to the microfiche series from the Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions (CIHM) that seeks to make available to libraries Canadian or Canada-related books, periodicals, and, more recently, government publications to the early twentieth century.
YUL is attempting to provide for the York University community electronic full-text access to as many history journals as possible.To this end, we are subscribers to JSTOR, which provides searchable access to the entire backrun, though not to the most recent years, of a growing number of key journals in history and other fields.Current volumes of many other history journals are available online through partially full-text periodical indexes such resources as Expanded Academic ASAP and CPI.Q (both from the Gale Group), or through bundles of online journals such as Project Muse (from Johns Hopkins Press).Needs, questions, or concerns about access to online journals in history should be expressed to the History 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 history, either on CD-ROM at one or more library workstations or over the Web.The most important of these are the ABC-Clio indexes, Historical Abstracts and America: History and Life, both available (retrospectively to the mid-1960s) through the YUL website.We are also licensees of such products as the Database of Classical Bibliography (an electronic equivalent of volumes 45-60 (1974-1989) of l'Année Philologique), ITER: Gateway to the Middle Ages & Renaissance, and Poole's Plus: The Digital Index of the Nineteenth Century among others that are not primarily of historical use.An increasing effort is being made to provide on the YUL website annotated links to internet resources in history that may be of value for York students and researchers.
Related Collections at York
Inasmuch as there is a historical component to many fields of study at York University, collection development in history must occur in a spirit of consultation and cooperation among many subject specialist librarians.Such disciplines as political science, economics, anthropology, sociology, religion, and geography (among others), and such interdisciplinary programmes at York as Classical Studies, Women's Studies, Labour Studies, or Latin American & Caribbean Studies have significant overlapping collection concerns.Because of this, the division of labour among subject specialist librarians is often and inevitably somewhat unclear or arbitrary.Users of the history collection who wish to express a need or a concern, are encouraged to communicate with the History Librarian, who will consult with or refer the concern to another subject librarian if necessary.
Aside from the historical materials in the general and reference collections developed by subject librarians in such areas as reference, political science, anthropology, women's studies, etc., there are a number of specialized collections at York that also serve to support the history curriculum and/or the research activities of the faculty.Within Scott Library, the Map Library is a rich source of historical maps and atlases; the Sound and Moving Image Library holds many historical documentary films and videos; and Archives & Special Collections holds valuable archival sources for some topics in the history of Toronto, a large pamphlet collection (Canadian and general), and is the location of many rare or fragile historical books, especially in Canadian history.The government documents collection in the Business & Government Publications Library has extensive holdings in Canadian, British, American, and United Nations documents.A growing array of statistical datasets (as well as assistance with using them) are available to researchers through Library Data Services, also based in the Business and Government Publications Library.The collections of the Law Library in the Osgoode Hall Law School are rich in legal history materials, both Canadian and foreign.
Beyond the central library collections of York University Libraries and Osgoode Hall Law School, there are a number of resource centres at York whose collections can also be of service to history students and faculty.The following have some of the more notable collections of either primary or secondary historical sources:
- Andrew Forbes Refugee Resource Centre, Centre for Refugee Studies: refugees and migration
- Canadian Institute of International Affairs - The John Holmes Library: Canadian foreign relations
- Centre for Research in Work and Society: the Canadian labour movement
- Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC): Latin America and the Caribbean
- East Asian Studies Reading Room, Faculty of Arts: books, periodicals, and media in East Asian languages
- Nellie Langford Rowell Library: Women's history topics
Resources Elsewhere in the Toronto Region
York University students and scholars are fortunate in having a number of important libraries and research institutions locally available to them. The Toronto Reference Library is strong in British history and it is extremely strong across the entire range of Canadian studies.Toronto Public Library's North York Central Library has a good Canadiana Collection and it is the home for the Ontario Genealogical Society holdings.The Ontario Legislative Library has excellent holdings in local newspapers, Canadian federal and provincial government documents, and American government publications.
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 importance to historians, notable among these are the Pontifical Institute for Mediaeval Studies Library, the Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library, and the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library.The Royal Ontario Museum Library, the holdings of which are listed in the University of Toronto Libraries catalogue, is useful for canadiana, especially that relating to aboriginal cultures.
In addition to libraries, Toronto is rich in archival repositories.The City of Toronto Archives is readily available to researchers and provides a rare opportunity for specialists in Toronto history, urban studies, and Canadian social history.The Archives of Ontario has a good collection of manuscripts, newspapers, pamphlets, genealogical material and printed sources, and most of the holdings of the Multicultural History Society of Ontario are there.There are also such varied and important archival collections as the Anglican Diocese of Toronto Archives and the Canadian Gay and Lesbian Archives.
Collecting Levels
| Description | Current | Desired |
| Auxiliary Sciences of History | 2 | 2 |
| History (General); Europe | 3a | 3b |
| Great Britain | 3b | 3b |
| Austria, Hungary | 2 | 3a |
| France | 3b | 3b |
| Germany | 3b | 3b |
| Mediterranean Region | 3a | 3b |
| Greco-Roman World | 3a | 3b |
| Greece | 2 | 2 |
| Italy | 3a | 3b |
| Netherlands | 2 | 2 |
| Eastern Europe, Balkans | 2 | 3a |
| Russia, USSR | 3b | 3b |
| Scandinavia | 2 | 2 |
| Spain and Portugal | 3a | 3b |
| Switzerland | 2 | 2 |
| Asia (General) | 3a | 3b |
| Southeastern Asia; Far East | 3a | 3b |
| (Modern China and Japan) | 3b | 3b |
| Africa (General) | 3b | 3b |
| (Includes slavery) | 3b | 3b |
| Africa (Southern; Western) | 3a | 3b |
| United States | 3b | 3b |
| Canada (Pre-Confederation) | 3b | 3b |
| Canada (Post-Confederation) | 4- | 4+ |
| Canada (Ontario and Quebec) | 4- | 4+ |
| Canada (British Columbia) | 3b | 3b |
| Canada (Alberta and Saskatchewan) | 3b | 3b |
| Canada (Manitoba) | 3b | 3b |
| Canada (Maritimes) | 3b | 3b |
| Canada (Newfoundland) | 3b | 3b |
| Mexico | 3a | 3b |
| Central and South America | 3a | 3a |
| West Indies and Caribbean | 3a | 3b |
Last updated 2000