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Collection Policy Statement Index
(Subclasses QE, GC, GE, and selected portions of Z)
Contents:
I. Scope
II. Research strengths
III. General policy and collecting intensity levels
I. Scope
This section of the Collections Policy Statement on Science and Technology covers the subclasses QE (Geology), GC (Oceanography), GE (Environment) and applicable subclasses of Class Z. In addition, some of the numerous abstracting and indexing services, catalogs of other scientific libraries, and specialized bibliographic finding aids for these fields are classed in Z.
II. Research strengths
- General
The Library's holdings in geology, oceanography, and general environmental science are quite substantial. Collecting in most of the subject areas within these fields is both historically and currently at a Research Libraries Group Conspectus level 4 - indicating that the collections would support researchers working on dissertations or writing professional books or articles.
- Areas of distinction
The Library's holdings in the earth and environmental sciences are extensive in dates covered and in the range of topics and languages included. Long runs of serials of a research or bibliographic nature and long runs of Federal and state publications are particularly notable. Along with items obtained through copyright and Smithsonian deposits, these materials make the Library's collections especially strong in their historical research value.
The Library's collecting of regional geology publications has approached the comprehensive level for both foreign and U.S. materials. Holdings in mineralogy and stratigraphy are also very strong.
The Bibliography on Cold Regions Science and Technology and the Antarctic Bibliography have been published for several decades by the Special Projects Section of the Science and Technology Division. As a result of these bibliographic efforts, the Library's research material on polar and alpine areas approaches the comprehensive level.
Special collections in the Library also contain significant research materials. The Manuscript Division holds the papers of such eminent figures as, for example, president and scientist Thomas Jefferson, paleontologist John C. Merriam, associate Supreme Court justice and environmentalist William O. Douglas, and Naval officer Matthew Fontaine Maury, one of the founders of modern oceanography. In the early 1970's, a decision was made not to compete with other Federal libraries in pursuing the papers of earth scientists. Prior to that decision, the Library had obtained the papers of several U.S. Geological Survey officers and of various government officials who participated in surveys.
The Rare Book and Special Collections Division boasts early editions of many works on geology and related fields. These include such items as a 1491 edition of Albertus Magnus's De mineralibus and a 1556 edition of Agricola's De re metallica.
The Geography and Map Division holds an outstanding collection of geological maps, particularly for the United States. According to the Research Libraries Group Conspectus, the Library collects comprehensively in the category of geological maps as well as in regional geology of the Arctic and Antarctic. Other types of maps held by the Division provide an invaluable picture of environmental changes over time, going back as far as the 14th century.
Perhaps one of the best illustrations of the Library's holdings of significant materials in the environmental sciences is the posting of the American Memory exhibit entitled "The Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920" on the Library's WorldWide Web site. This presentation, documenting the historical formation and cultural foundations of the movement to conserve and protect America's natural heritage, uses materials from the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division, the General Collections, the Rare Book and Special Collections Division, the Law Library, the Manuscript Division, and the Prints and Photographs Division. The Library continues to collect research material at a level that would support scholars studying the environmental sciences, particularly as they relate to the governmental and societal aspects of these sciences.
III. General policy and collecting intensity levels for Earth Sciences (Classes QE, GC and GE)
The Library's goal is to collect materials in the earth, oceanographic, and environmental sciences primarily at the Research Level (collecting intensity 4) as defined by the RLG Conspectus. Materials about the Arctic and Antarctic and geological maps are collected at an even more intense level (level 5), approaching comprehensiveness. Juvenile works, vocational guidance materials, and materials on the study and teaching of the earth and environmental sciences are generally collected at level 3 (Instructional Support) while materials on museums and exhibitions are collected at level 2 (Basic Information). Agricultural geology is considered out of scope for the Library of Congress, which defers to the National Agricultural Library on topics related to applied agriculture.
The following lists are arranged according to the major subclasses of Classes QE, GC, and GE of the Library of Congress classification. The collecting intensity levels are numbered to conform to the RLG Conspectus. For a complete definition of the Conspectus collecting intensity levels, see the General Introduction to these statements.
This section of the policy statement is intended to cover the Library's collections of materials in class QE and corresponding sections of Z. These classes include the subject areas of general geology, mineralogy, petrology, dynamic and structural geology, stratigraphic geology, and paleontology. Bibliographies, indexes, and abstracts on these subjects may be classified in Z6031-Z6035 and Z6041-Z6045.
Class GC encompasses publications on oceanographic expeditions, underwater exploration, submarine topography, estuaries, ocean dynamics, marine sediments, and marine resources. Related publications may be classed as follows: hydrology in GB651-GB857, geophysics in QC801-QC809, submarine geology in QE39, geology of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in QE350.2 and QE350.4, marine biology in QH91-QH95.9, marine flora in QK103 or QK108, and marine fauna in QL121-QL138. The bibliography of oceanography is classed in Z5322.M3 and Z6004.P6.
Collecting intensity for oceanography is generally at the Research Level (level 4) with some exceptions: museums and exhibitions at Minimal Level (level 1); sea-level at the Basic Information Level (level 2); and underwater exploration, submarine topography, estuarine oceanography, seawater, and chemical and physical oceanography at the Instructional Support Level (level 3). When interpreting the intensity levels given below, it should be noted that a "3" for many of these topics represents a collecting intensity not exceeded by any of the other RLG Conspectus institutions except Brown University and the University of California at Berkeley.
The GE classification schedule was first published in 1992 to reflect the appearance of general and interdisciplinary literature on the environment; topics covered include communication in environmental sciences, environmental ethics, environmental education, environmental quality, global environmental change, environmental policy, the environmental movement, environmental management, and ecological engineering. Older and/or related materials are classed in other parts of the schedule. Major examples are human ecology in GF, natural resources and environmental policy in HC, the Green movement in JA, environmental law in K, environmental geology in QE, ecology in QH, environmental health in RA, conservation of natural resources in S, environmental engineering in TA, and environmental technology in TD.
Collecting intensity for environmental subjects must remain strong in order to serve the needs of the Congress, scholars, and the general public for current as well as historical materials. According to a spokesperson for the Congressional Research Service, the holdings of dictionaries, directories, and journals are particularly important to their work; the types of journals requested for Congressional use are most often "learned but not so esoteric that the lay person can't follow them easily."
Collecting in the environmental subject areas aims for the Research Level (level 4) on a worldwide basis. Publications on governmental and societal aspects of the environmental sciences are particularly important for the Library's collections. Collecting is somewhat less intense (level 3) for juvenile works, popular works, and environmental education, and considerably less intense (level 2) for works relating to museums and exhibitions.
Geology
LC Classification | Subject | Intensity | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
QE1-QE3 | Periodicals and societies | 4 | |
QE4 | Voyages and expeditions | 4 | |
QE5 | Dictionaries and encyclopedias | 4 | |
QE11-QE22 | History and biography | 4 | |
QE31 | Popular works | 3 | |
QE36 | Geological maps | 5 | |
QE37 | Agricultural geology | 0 | Out of Scope |
QE39 | Submarine geology | 3 | |
QE40-QE48 | Study and Teaching, research | 3 | |
QE50 | Collecting and preservation | 3 | |
QE65-QE350 | Geological surveys | 4 | Arctic and Antarctic regions 5 |
QE351-QE399.2 | Mineralogy | 4 | |
QE420-QE499 | Petrology | 4 | |
QE500-QE639.5 | Dynamic and structural geology | 4 | |
QE640-QE699 | Stratigraphy | 4 | |
QE701-QE760 | Paleontology | 4 | |
QE761-QE899 | Paleozoology | 4 | |
QE901-QE996.5 | Paleobotany | 4 |
Oceanography - GC
LC Classification | Subject | Intensity | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
GC1-GC63 | Periodicals, methodology, history, popular works | 4 | Methodology, history, and popular works 3 |
GC35 | Museums and exhibitions | 2 | |
GC57-GC63 | Research and expeditions | 4 | |
GC65-GC78 | Underwater exploration | 3 | |
GC83-GC86 | Submarine topography, including continental margins, shelves, and slopes | 3 | |
GC87 | Ocean floors | 3 | |
GC89 | Sea-level | 2 | |
GC96-GC97 | Estuarine oceanography | 3 | Estuarine ecology, biology, and pollution in QH, 4 |
GC100-GC103 | Seawater | 3 | |
GC109-GC149 | Chemical oceanography | 3 | |
GC150-GC190 | Physical oceanography | 3 | |
GC160-GC177 | Temperatures | 3 | |
GC200-GC376 | Dynamics of the ocean | 4 | |
GC205-GC228 | Waves | 4 | |
GC229-GC299 | Currents | 4 | |
GC300-GC376 | Tides | 4 | |
GC377-GC399 | Marine sediments | 4 | |
Polar oceans | 4 | ||
GCX1000-GC1023 | Marine resources | 4 | |
GC1080-GC1581 | Marine pollution | 4 |
Environment - GE
LC Classification | Subject | Intensity | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
GE1 | Periodicals and societies | 4 | |
GE5 | Congresses | 4 | |
GE10 | Dictionaries and encyclopedias | 4 | |
GE15 | Terminology, abbreviations | 4 | |
GE20 | Directories | 4 | |
GE25-GE35 | Communication in environmental sciences | 4 | |
GE40 | Philosophy and methodology | 4 | |
GE42 | Environmental ethics | 4 | |
GE45 | Special methods | 4 | |
GE50 | History | 4 | |
GE55-GE56 | Biography | 4 | |
GE60 | Vocational guidance | 3 | |
GE70-GE90 | Environmental education | 3 | |
GE95-GE100 | Museums and exhibitions | 2 | |
GE105 | General works | 4 | |
GE110 | Popular works | 3 | |
GE115 | Juvenile works | 3 | |
GE120 | Pictorial works | 4 | |
GE123 | Handbooks, manuals, etc. | 4 | |
GE125 | Public opinion | 4 | |
GE140 | Environmental quality and degradation | 4 | Juvenile works 3 |
GE145 | Environmental risk assessment | 4 | |
GE150-GE160 | Global environmental change | 4 | |
GE170-GE190 | Environmental policy | 4 | |
GE195-GE199 | Environmentalism, green movement | 4 | Juvenile works 3 |
GE300-GE320 | Environmental management | 4 | |
GE350 | Ecological engineering | 4 |