Washington University in St. Louis
Collection Development Policy
Library: Olin
Subject: Linguistics
Collection: General
Date Revised: April 14, 2014
Subject Librarian: Daria Carson-Dussán
1. General purpose:
The Linguistics collection at Washington University supports the instructional and research needs of a special interdepartmental program that primarily serves undergraduates. Students may major or minor in Linguistics, and many of Linguistics courses can be used to fulfill cluster requirements.
In addition, the growing number of interdisciplinary studies programs creates curriculum-wide dependence on Linguistics materials at WU including the Reading and Language Lab in the Department of Psychology (see Overlap with other collections of subjects).
2. Subjects excluded :
None
3. Overlap with other collections or subjects:
4. Languages included and excluded:
Primarily English language materials are collected.
5. Geographical limitations:
While Geography is not a major concern for linguistics, the collection does reflect the strong concentration of research from the United States, Great Britain, Australia and Canada, as well the major European countries.
6. Chronological limits:
All periods are covered.
7. Retrospective acquisition:
Current material is emphasized, but older material is purchased at the request of faculty and budget adequacy.
8. Types of material collected and excluded:
9. Other factors to consider:
All works by current and retired faculty are collected. All rare books belonging to the library are kept in the Department of Special Collections, Olin Library.
10. Subjects and Collecting Levels:
(Most of the linguistics collection is at level 3B or 4).
