Subject Librarian: Kathryn Elder
Description of Current Collection and Programmes Supported
The Libraries' collections support teaching and research in Mass Communications to the B.A. (Honours) level. Mass Communications is an interdisciplinary Honours (Double Major) programme providing a comprehensive understanding of the traditional forms of mass communications: newspapers, magazines, radio, film, television as well as the emerging interactive telecommunications networks and computer systems. The social and political functions of mass communications in Canadian society and the relationship between communications and culture are explored. Central themes of the programme are: social implications of mass communications; popular culture; communications technologies; media analysis; political economy of the media; communications policy and law. The Mass Communications major must be combined with one of the following disciplines: Anthropology, Computer Science, Creative Writing, Economics, English, French studies, German, Italian, Linguistics, Psychology, Political Science, Russian, Spanish or Sociology. The Institute for Social Research is the research unit most closely connected to the programme. Description of the current collection The emphasis of the Mass communication programme is academic rather than technical and the library collection reflects this slant. The programme always has an exceptionally large number of students and additional copies are essential for many topics.
Related Collections at York
Works on television and video production and their technical aspects are selected by the Film and Video Librarian. Some popular culture material is selected by the Visual Arts Bibliographer; telecommunications, statistical and computer aspects by the Computer Science Bibliographer; political aspects by the Political Science Bibliographer and economic and business aspects by the Economics Bibliographer. The focus of the material is the deciding factor on overlapping items . However the fact that mass communications is such an interdisciplinary subject means that extra vigilance is required to see that material is not missed. Government documents material is acquired by the Documents librarian and legal material by the selectors at the Law Library.
Languages English is the language of the collection. Materials in French, German, Italian, Spanish and Russian are considered but acquired selectively.
Geographical Coverage
Most material is acquired from North American and British publishers. Canada is the major focus of study and of selection. International aspects are also important and so efforts are made to obtain foreign publications.
Chronological Coverage
There are no limits on the time period covered by the collection but the contemporary period is the most relevant.
Date of Publications
Emphasis is on current publications. Retrospective purchasing is done on a selective basis.
Duplication
Multiple copies are purchased for most Canadian publications and for areas of major interest to the students. Circulation reports are monitored and more copies acquired as needed.
Gifts
Paperback gifts are accepted more readily than in other subjects because of the number of students using the collection.
Relegation and Weeding
There is no systematic relegation or weeding. Publications in poor condition are discarded or replaced, according to the student demand and importance.
- Paperback is preferred to hardback.
- Textbooks are purchased if the author is well known in the field or if the publication is a standard text.
- Journals subscriptions are maintained for significant periodicals.
- Microform backruns are selected are backups to heavily used or frequently mutilated journals.
- Dissertations are bought in subjects of major interest, especially if they are Canadian. They are purchased in paper format.
Resources Elsewhere in the Toronto Region
The University of Toronto and the Metropolitan Toronto Library are the two main sources of material on mass communications.
Last updated 1995