Collection Policies

DEPARTMENT OF JUDAIC STUDIES
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Subjects covered :  The Judaic studies collection supports teaching and research conducted by faculty in the Department of Judaic Studies.  The collection primarily includes materials relating to Jewish culture, literature, philosophy, history, and religion.  The collection also includes materials that support the department's Hebrew language courses.

Departments and users Served :  The Judaic studies collection serves students and faculty in the Department of Judaic Studies.  Through direct patron borrowing the collection also serves faculty and students of Judaic studies in the OhioLINK system.

Within the University of Cincinnati, other users of the Judaic studies collection chiefly include faculty and students in classical studies, English and comparative literatures, history, philosophy, and women's, gender, and sexuality studies.

Quantitative information :

Faculty:  http://www.artsci.uc.edu/departments/judaic/fac_staff/byDeptMembers.html

Degrees granted : 

Undergraduate Program: http://www.artsci.uc.edu/departments/judaic/undergrad.html

Graduate Certificate in Judaic Studies: http://www.artsci.uc.edu/departments/judaic/grad.html

Grants and special funding : The Department of Judaic Studies receives an annual grant from the Jacob and Jennie L. Lichter Fund to provide the Lichter Lecture series on topics in Judaic studies that have broad, popular appeal. http://www.artsci.uc.edu/departments/judaic/lichter.html

The Center for Jewish Culture and Ideas http://www.artsci.uc.edu/departments/judaic/cjci.html is a new initiative under development.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

Location of the collection :  The Judaic studies collection is located in Langsam Library.  Older, little circulated material is placed in the Southwest Ohio Regional Depository.

Other collections supporting the program :

Internal :  The Judaic studies collection draws on library collections developed for classical studies, English and comparative literatures, history, philosophy, political science, and women's, gender, and sexuality studies.

External :  The collections of the Klau Library at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and the American Jewish Archives are major sources of support for Judaic studies faculty and students.

Collection history:   The library established a separate fund for Judaic studies in the mid-1970s.

General level of collecting :  Although the Judaic studies library allocation is modest, because of its interdisciplinary nature and the support it receives from other areas of collection development, especially classical studies, English and comparative literatures, philosophy, political science, history, and women's, gender, and sexuality studies, Judaic studies materials range in quality and quantity from basic through research level.  The collection is deliberately weakest in theological materials since the faculty and students have ready access to the outstanding collections developed for rabbinic studies by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF THE COLLECTION

Call numbers :  As a discipline of study, Judaic studies concerns itself with the history, culture, literature, philosophy, and religion of the Jewish people.

As practiced at the University of Cincinnati, these call number sections from the Library of Congress classification code represent the areas of Judaic studies most generally collected:
 

B69-5739 Jewish philosophers, Jewish philosophy BJ Ethics BM Judaism BS The Bible (Hebrew scriptures especially), Biblical archaeology D802-810 Holocaust studies DD253 Jews in Germany DS101-151 Israel, the Jews, Jews in Diaspora 
Especially: E184 in the USA F1419 in Latin America GR Jewish folk literature, manners and customs HQ1172 Jewish women JQ Israel politics & government PJ4501-5192 Hebrew language & literature Z1001-8999 Subject bibliographies

[Note: Jews in Greece is a subject collected for the most part by the Classics Library]

Current and retrospective collecting :  Although some retrospective collecting is practiced, emphasis is placed on the acquisition of current material.

Time period collected :  All time periods are collected.

Level and treatment :  Undergraduate material, reference materials, and material supporting faculty research are collected.  Textbooks are generally excluded.

Language :  English or works translated into English are collected.  Hebrew language dictionaries are collected by the library's reference and world languages funds. 

Geographical area :  Material is collected about Jews in Israel and about Jews living in Diaspora.

Types of resources :  The Judaic studies collection includes monographs, series, society publications, journals, indexes, abstracts, bibliographies, handbooks, encyclopedias, dictionaries, films, and web sites.

Resource formats :  The Judaic studies collection includes print, microform, video, and digital formats.

ACQUISITION PROCESS

Approval plans :  The Judaic studies collection participates in the approval plan supplied by Yankee Book Peddler.

Firm orders :  Firm orders for Judaic studies materials are selected from a variety of sources including vendor notification slips, direct mail brochures, publisher catalogs, and book reviewing publications.

Standing orders :  The Judaic studies collection maintains standing orders for journal publications.

Document suppliers :  The Judaic studies collection relies on direct patron access through OhioLINK and the Interlibrary Loan Department for access to items that are not in the University of Cincinnati collection, are in circulation, or are missing from the collection.  Judaic studies faculty and students also use the collections at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

Special vendors:   The Judaic studies collection relies on the Acquisitions Department to determine if a special vendor is needed to acquire requested materials.

Sally Moffitt
July 2014