Subject Librarian: Patti Ryan
Policy written by: Joan Carruthers (retired)
Academic Programmes Supported The purpose of the Scott Reference collection is to provide the York community; faculty, students, and staff with reference material of high quality, currency, and relevance to their needs. The material chosen reflects the curriculum and supports teaching and research needs to the PhD level for the social sciences and humanities. It has always been a policy to maintain a strong reference collection even in times of financial constraints because it is through the use of various reference sources that research materials are identified and located.
Description of Current Collection
Major Areas of Collection
Bibliographies
Scott Reference collects two major types of bibliographies, National bibliographies and Subject bibliographies. Indeed, these make up an important and large segment of the collection. Current and/or annual bibliographies are bought as well as select numbers of retrospective titles. The aim is to maintain as useful a collection as possible. Space constraints make weeding necessary from time to time, but titles are transferred to the general stacks and are rarely withdrawn.
National Bibliographies
The Reference department maintains a collection of major national bibliographies, housed in the Bibliographic Centre. They are the major sets from Canada, the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and a few other political jurisdictions. Current "books in print" are bought for Canada, the United States, Great Britain, Quebec, France, Germany, Spain and Italy.
Subject Bibliographies
Subject bibliographies are selected to complement the curriculum in the social sciences and humanities. They may be current or retrospective, serial or separately published. Bibliographies of individual authors are selectively collected, emphasizing bibliographies that include secondary material. Space constraints mean that correspondence, letters and catalogues of private collections are housed in the general stacks.
Biographical Dictionaries
The department collects scholarly national biographical sets, most current biographies (who's who type) preferably in English, and most Canadian biographical material. Biographical dictionaries by occupation, country, subject or any combination are bought selectively on their individual merit. Scholarly biographical works reprinted are bought if they are relevant to research needs and if funds permit.
Dictionaries
In English and French the department provides an extensive collection of general, etymological, and specialized (dialects, slang, synonyms, periods, regional variations) dictionaries currently considered authoritative, including the scholarly monolingual dictionaries. A selection of current bilingual dictionaries is also maintained. Reference collects translation dictionaries in English and French, although the Frost Library at Glendon College has comprehensive holdings in this area.
In languages other than English or French a representative collection is bought, including general and specialized titles. Emphasis is on languages taught at York, although every effort is made to include bilingual dictionaries for most modern languages.
Thematic dictionaries are collected for the social sciences and humanities. Polyglot subject dictionaries are collected only if there is a known need. Dictionaries for science, law and business are bought very selectively, usually one basic title.
Dissertation Lists
The department maintains Canadian, American and U.K. dissertation lists as well as all Canadian lists in specific subject areas of the social sciences and humanities. Comprehensive lists of theses from individual Canadian universities are bought. Lists by subject in geographical areas other than Canada are bought selectively according to need.
Encyclopedias
Scott Reference maintains a collection of encyclopedias in English and major international languages. Americana, Britannica and Collier's are bought every 5 years or so in rotation to maintain up-to-date editions of these "continuously revised" encyclopedias. Recent editions of important French, German, Italian, Spanish and Russian encyclopedias are bought. Other than the languages mentioned, no attempt is made to collect a comprehensive collection of current or historical encyclopedias.
Encyclopedias are collected for specific subjects according to demand and usually in English. If there is significant scholarly activity in a specific discipline, encyclopedias may be bought in languages other than English.
Government Documents
Government documents are included in the reference collection if their content is in keeping with the general reference criteria.
Types of government documents collected include bibliographies, indexes, and abstracts that list a reasonable amount of non-government publications in the humanities and the social sciences. Statistical yearbooks for Canada, the United States and the United Nations are maintained as are catalogues of government publications for Canada, Ontario and Quebec.
Newspaper and Periodical Indexes
Scott Reference maintains an extensive collection of general and interdisciplinary indexes and abstracts to support the curriculum in the social sciences and humanities. These indexes are almost entirely in English with a few French titles. New indexing and abstracting services are considered on their prospective use and on price.
Newspaper indexes are bought for Canadian newspapers and for the large international dailies such as the New York Times and the Times of London.
Annual Almanacs, Surveys, Yearbooks
Scott Reference maintains a collection of current standard informational surveys e.g. Europa Yearbook, Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs. The department buys current editions of Canadian almanacs in E nglish, in French, and a selection from the United States and Great Britain.
Atlases
The reference collection contains a recent, scholarly world atlas and one standard atlas for Canada, Ontario and Toronto. Thematic atlases are bought very selectively. The major collection of atlases is in the Map Library.
Bibles
The collection contains current versions in English, French, Latin and Hebrew.
Book Review Indexes
Scott Reference maintains all the major book reviewing indices for the social sciences and the humanities.
Concordances
Scott Reference acquires concordances only for the Bible and Shakespeare. All other concordances are shelved in the general stacks.
Film and Filmographies
Reference material for the study of film and major film catalogues that are essentially national bibliographies are bought for the collection. Subject bibliographies of films are not collected for reference.
Genealogy
Works on genealogy are bought very selectively, except those that have a significant historical value or those that are essentially Canadian in content.
Heraldry
A few standard texts are bought.
Library Directories
Comprehensive directories of libraries, archives and manuscript collections in Canada are collected. Directories and guides to libraries in limited geographic areas or on special subjects are collected selectively.
Literary Handbooks, Dictionaries, Companions
All of these types of reference books are selected by an examination of reviews and of the existing material in Scott reference. Dictionaries of a very narrow range (e.g., reader's guides to a single author) are not collected by reference.
Quotations
Scott Reference buys major collections of quotations and proverbs in English. Quotations in French, German , classical languages etc. are acquired selectively.
Scholarships, Fellowships, and Grants
Basic guides are acquired, especially for Canada, the United States and Great Britain. The department does not attempt to maintain files of brochures as they are collected by various other agencies at the U niversity.
Style Manuals
The department maintains a selection of manuals to aid in the preparation of essays, theses etc. The emphasis is on the established reputation of the manual; American Psychological Association, Chicago or Modern Language Association.
Telephone Books
Telephone books are collected for most large Canadian centres. American telephone books are available only on microfiche. Others cities are selected according to need.
University and College Calendars
The department maintains a collection of calendars for Canadian universities and colleges, supplemented by the microfiche collection. Calendars for American universities and colleges are available only on microfiche. Calendars from other countries are selectively acquired as many of the major institutions are available in the microfiche collection.
University and College Directories
The department maintains a collection of standard international directories, including guides to study abroad and summer study in Europe. Canada, the United States and Great Britain are covered fairly extensively, by buying most general directories for undergraduate, graduate and professional schools. Guides to study in selected subjects are maintained, e.g. history, psychology, sociology, especially at the graduate level.
Areas not Collected The following is a list of the most obvious areas in which Scott Reference does not collect. These areas are in addition to the material not collected because it properly belongs in another library.
- Admission Tests — Admission tests are no longer acquired, but are bought for the general collection.
- Catalogues Raisonnés — Not collected for the Reference department, but by the Fine Arts Bibliographer for the general collection.
- City Directories — Not Collected. Current Toronto area city directories are subscribed t o by the Business and Government Publications Library and the Map Library.
- Cook Books — Not collected for Reference.
- Discographies — Not Collected by the Reference Department. Discographies are acquired by the Fine Arts Bibliographer and housed in the Sound and Moving Image Library.
- Travel Guides — Not collected. At present, this type of material is acquired by the Map Librarian and housed in the Map Library.
Related Collections at York
The Scott Reference collection covers the humanities and social sciences. In other areas, unnecessary duplication is avoided. Titles in pure science, law, business and statistics are bought only on a very basic level. Other libraries in the York system, such as the Steacie science library, buy reference material to support the research needs of their users.
Languages
English and French are the preferred languages, although certain types of reference books maybe bought in any language e.g. language dictionaries. Reference books in languages other than Englis h are acquired if they are more authoritative or more complete than their English equivalents. Canadian reference books are bought extensively in both English and French.
Geographical Coverage
All reference titles are selected for quality although every attempt is made to buy material for known areas of geographical concentration in the general collections.
Date of Publications
Both current and retrospective reference books are acquired, although the emphasis is on current titles. Any excellent older reference books may be bought if funds permit.
Duplication
Duplicate copies of very heavily used titles such as language dictionaries may be acquired, but on the whole the practice is discouraged. Duplicate reference books required for a particular course may be acquired by the Reserve section of Scott.
Gifts
Gifts are accepted if they fit the requirements of the reference collection policy, if they are current or if they represent a significant older title not owned.
Relegation and Weeding
Older editions of reference works are routinely relegated to the general stacks, particularly serials. In many cases, only the current issue of a particular title is kept in the reference area. The weeding of older material that has not been updated is an ongoing problem. It is certainly desirable to weed but the lack of time and staff, not only in reference, but also in Bibliographic Services, has meant that only the most glaring sections have been weeded.
- Books are generally bought in hard copy unless the material is available only in paperback.
- Journals — Journals are bought very selectively, and then only if their content is relevant to reference work or to some aspect of the collection.
- Microforms — Microform titles are acquired if the cost of hard copy is prohibitive or if the expected level of use is low. Some material is available only in microform, and if the content is important the format is irrelevant.
- Electronic Data Files — Titles on CD-ROM are acquired as funds permit and as use and interest dictate. For instance, the large number of students using Psychological Abstracts in paper form made PsycLit (Psychological Abstracts on CD) a natural acquisition. The ease of access for the user must be balanced by the cost which is considerable and ongoing, both for the CD itself and the equipment. Decisions are made in consultation with the staff of Scott reference and the relevant bibliographers.
- Online databases are searched regularly for users. These electronic files may duplicate paper indexes, abstracts and reference books or they may be available only online. Although to this point no paper copy has been cancelled, in the future lesser used titles may be dropped in favour of supplying the information electronically.
Resources Elsewhere in the Toronto Region
There are many excellent reference collections available in the Toronto area including the Robarts library at the University of Toronto and the Metropolitan Toronto Reference Library, as well as many special libraries such as the Addiction Research Foundation etc. On the whole, Scott Reference does not collect very expensive and little used catalogues of special collections such as those published by G.K. Hall because these are acquired by the University of Toronto. The staff refer users to the appropriate library for specialized items.
Last updated 1990