Collection Development Policy

Prepared by: Lori Jahnke Date: May 31, 2018 Next Revision: 2023

Department Name: Anthropology

Departmental Profile Overview of Research and Teaching Focus The Department of Anthropology offers B.A., B.S., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees. Faculty in the department represent all four sub-disciplines within anthropology (biological, cultural, archaeology, and linguistics), with the greatest number focusing on areas of social and cultural anthropology, or on domains of biological anthropology. The department is well-known for the academic dialogue between its cultural and biological anthropologists, and the biocultural approach to research and teaching is a distinctive aspect of this department.

Most research and teaching within the department cuts across the sub-disciplines, although foci within sub-disciplines are also present. Areas of focus include Behavioral Biology and Ecology; Development, Political Economy and Sustainability; Early Hominin Ecology, Subsistence and Cognition; Food, Nutrition and Anthropology; Gender, Sexuality and Body Politics; History, Narrative and Politics; Human Development, Diversity and Life History; Media, Communication and Culture; Medical Anthropology; Practice, Power and Representation; Primatology; Psychological and Cognitive Anthropology; Race and Racism.

The department supports a variety of research facilities including the Ancient DNA Laboratory, Behavioral Ecology Lab, Laboratory for Comparative Human Biology, Laboratory for Darwinian Neuroscience, Human Health Laboratory, Media Publics and Critical Discourse Laboratory, Paleolithic Technology Laboratory. Faculty and graduate students also collaborate with and utilize research facilities outside of the department including the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience (CBN), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rollins School of Public Health, and Yerkes National Primate Research Center.

The graduate program in Anthropology foregrounds cultural and biological anthropology, placing special emphasis on cultivating dialogues that connect, and transcend the field’s four sub- disciplines. Faculty encourage a diversity of doctoral research agendas across the entire range of cultural and biological anthropology. Specialization within cultural or biological sub-fields is encouraged, as are combinations and creative dialogues between them. Department/Program Demographics The Department of Anthropology, which was founded in 1978, has established itself as one of the nation's foremost programs, and is consistently ranked in the top 10 of U.S. anthropology departments by the National Research Council.

1 In 2017, there were 144 undergraduate majors, 31 undergraduate minors, 41 graduate students, 27 faculty, 2 post-doctoral fellows, and 24 associated faculty in other departments. The department also has an undergraduate honors program, which typically accepts 5-10 students annually.

The above numbers represent substantial growth since 2003, which has been accompanied by an increase in the diversity of faculty research areas. Research specializations of more recently hired faculty include population genetics, the cultural and political economy of racism, paleoanthropology, African archaeology, zooarchaeology, political anthropology and development, and cognitive neuroscience. Research Requirements (Methods, Skills, Competencies, Use of Materials) Anthropology incorporates the knowledge and skills of fields as diverse as language arts, biology, chemistry, history, economics, visual and performing arts, statistics, psychology, and epidemiology, among other areas. It is often described as the "most scientific of the humanities and the most humanistic of the sciences," and practitioners use an eclectic toolbox of qualitative and quantitative research methods in pursuit of understanding the human condition.

Anthropologists rely on fieldwork (ethnographic, archaeological, or primatological) as their source of primary data, although laboratory analysis, published datasets, and written sources of information provide primary data as well. Travel accounts, newspapers, and government records are some of the genres of written material of possible interest.

In general, library collections are most heavily used for secondary literature rather than as a resource for primary material. Anthropologists will often conduct extensive literature reviews that ignore disciplinary boundaries in the course of their research. Reference resources are not extensively used, but bibliographies, review articles, and methodological works are of interest.

Faculty and graduate students frequently request books and films on a variety of subjects. The book requests often relate to emerging areas of interest or topics that do not clearly fit into other subject areas. Language acquisition software and other materials are also frequently requested, but this is out of scope for the library collection. Related Departments and Programs and Collaborations at Emory Owing to the interdisciplinary nature of anthropological research and teaching, the list of related programs and collaborations is extensive. Several faculty are jointly appointed and many others frequently teach cross-listed courses.

Related departments include African Studies, African American Studies, Biology, East Asian Studies, Environmental Studies, History, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Linguistics, MESAS Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies, Psychology, Religion, Sociology, Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies, School of Law, School of Medicine, and the Rollins School of Public Health.

Several faculty direct or participate in interdisciplinary programs and institutes including the Center for Global Safe Water, Center for Mind, Brain and Culture (CMBC), Center for the Study of Human Health, Development Studies Program and Minor, Emory-Tibet Program/Emory-Tibet Science Initiative (ETSI), Global Health Institute (GHI), Institute for Developing Nations (IDN), James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race and Difference, Masters in Development

2 Practice (MDP), Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology (NBB), Predictive Health Institute, QuanTM- Institute for Quantitative Theory and Methods, and the Sustainability Minor.

Collections Language, Chronology and Geographical Focus Materials collected through the anthropology funds are primarily in English or English translation. Works written in other languages and are acquired depending on the availability of the items and research needs of the faculty members and graduate students.

There are no chronological limits for this collection. The anthropology fund is used largely for current material, although older imprints are acquired when requested, to fill gaps in the collection, or to replace lost or damaged copies. Retrospective purchasing is done when funding is available to fill collection gaps, and to support new faculty members.

All periods are covered in the anthropology collection, with focused attention on current developments and recent history.

Geographical coverage of the collection is worldwide, with particular emphasis on North America, Africa, Mediterranean Europe, Asia (South, Central, and East), and Oceania. Formats Collected All formats are acquired.

Monographs and Texts/Format Monographs, monograph series, edited volumes, critical editions, edited essay collections, handbooks, bibliographies, encyclopedias are collected. Both electronic and print format are purchased; preference of the patron is respected. Preference for reference materials in the discipline is electronic. Generally, paper is preferred for monographs unless available only in another format. Electronic format without DRM is preferred for edited volumes.

Journals Journals are essential to anthropological research. E-journals are generally preferred over print and back issues are used regularly.

Databases & Electronic Resources Anthropologists regularly use a variety of databases, including bibliographic, primary source, and data repositories.

Audiovisual Materials Ethnographic films constitute a significant part of the anthropological literature and they are of particular importance at Emory. However, films present a challenge because of their substantial cost and the additional burden of purchasing time-limited streaming licenses could have a significant negative impact on collection development. Faculty purchase requests are prioritized and every effort is made to maintain the currency and breadth of the collection. Streaming format is preferred for teaching, and DVDs are preferred for the collection.

3 Other Materials (Government Documents, Data, Specialized Software) When appropriate, resources such as manuscripts, archival materials, conference proceedings and society publications, directories, theses and dissertations, specialized microform collections, and government publications are collected. Published datasets are of interest to anthropologists. Dataset purchases are subject to the overarching Research Dataset Policy.

Exclusions (Textbooks, Conference Proceedings) Introductory textbooks, anthologies of previously published works, unedited dissertations, software, and manuals for software or programming languages are generally not acquired. Advanced textbooks are acquired selectively and by request. Exceptions are considered by the subject librarian. Methods of Acquisition (Approval, Book Fairs, Exclusive Vendors) The majority of books and ebooks are acquired through the YBP approval plan and firm order. Films are acquired through a variety of film vendors and also through contact with individual filmmakers. Film Festivals are an important means for identifying materials and new filmmakers. LC Classifications It is impossible to define the anthropology collection in terms of a set of Library of Congress call number ranges. Only a small portion of anthropological material is assigned a GN call number and approximately half of all anthropological material ends up with regional call numbers DA-F. Many anthropology books are classified in the H's and some anthropological material is assigned call numbers in the A's, B's, J's, L's, M's, P's, Q's, R's, S's, T's, and Z's. Given the research and teaching focus at Emory, the Q's, R's, S's, T's are relatively important. Little attention is paid to call number in doing selection work. The anthropology collection consists of works by anthropologists, works on subjects that would widely be considered to be anthropological in nature, and works requested by anthropologists. The anthropology collection also includes works on paleoarchaeology, archaeological techniques, method, and theory.

Scholarly material in the GV (non-discipline-specific material on sports and play) and GT (folklore) ranges are acquired only selectively. Related Collections and Library Resources Health Sciences Center Library: The Health Sciences Center Library holds a wide variety of material that is of interest to anthropologists, particularly for individuals working in the areas of medical anthropology, global health and development, sociocultural aspects of infectious disease, human behavioral biology, and human evolution, among other areas.

Pitts Theology Library: Pitts Library collects some ethnographic works on religions from around the world. There is also anthropologically relevant material on ethics and philosophy in the Pitts Library.

Law Library: The Law Library’s collection is useful for those in the department who study anthropology of law (e.g. discipline, social justice, and indigenous law).

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