Western European Literatures Houston Cole Library Collection Assessment Submitted by Harry D. Nuttall September 2012 Introduction Following guidelines established by the WLN Collection Development Program (which provides an overview of a library’s current holdings and the level of activity at which the collection is being developed), the Western European Literatures collection is rated an overall 2bD (Basic Information Level Advanced, Dual Languages), indicating a collection which “is sufficient to support the basic informational and recreational reading needs of an educated general public and of students through the first two years of college.” The Jacksonville State University Foreign Languages department offers a Bachelor of Arts degree in foreign languages with a concentration in French or Spanish, with minors in the two languages offered as well. However, faculty turnover due to retirement and consequent changes in class assignments have shifted the emphasis for this collection, so at present the Western European Literatures collection principally supports classes offered by the English and drama departments; the focus is less on national literatures than on individual authors and works. The foreign language programs focus far more on the languages than on the related national literatures, so in the future the targeted collection levels for the literatures as a whole will be 2aD, with the present 2bD collection level maintained in certain areas and for certain authors. The funds saved by this collection strategy will be directed to the American and English Literature collections, which are more heavily used. For a more detailed presentation of the Library’s holdings in Library of Congress classifications PQ and PT, refer to the Western European Literatures Conspectus Sheets and Checklists at the end of this assessment. Holdings Vger collection counts indicate that the Western European Literatures collection holds 13,064 print titles in the classifications PQ and PT, representing an increase of 589 items and a percentage increase of 4.5 over the previous assessment (June 2005) . This number includes titles in the circulating, print periodicals, reference, audio-visual, and juvenile collections. In addition, there are 75 electronic books (ebooks) in class PQ and 13 in class PT, for a grand total of 13,189 titles. The grand total for Library of Congress classification PQ (Romance Language Literatures) is 9,319, while that for classification PT (Germanic Language Literatures) is 3,833. Withdrawals in these classifications between 2005/06 and 2009/10 are 13 for class PQ and 5 for class PT. Expenditures Because the category of Western European Literatures does not have a separate fund code in the Houston Cole Library acquisitions budget, a formula is required to derive a cost estimation. The method used here takes the number of titles in 1 REV 2012 classes PQ and PT collected by Houston Cole Library for the years surveyed and multiplies them by the combined mean average cost per book in the two classes, as listed in the Yankee Book Peddler Approval Program Coverage and Cost Study for the particular year. This provides a useable approximation of annual expenditures for the subject areas in question. Monographs Expenditures Fiscal Year (October – September): # titles purchased x avg. cost 2005/06 (67 x $48.16) 2006/07 (88 x $50.90) 2007/08 (88 x $100.10) 2008/09 (63 x $54.30) 2009/10 ( 47 x $53.84) Total PQ & PT: 353 Expenditure $3,226.39 $4,479.20 $8,808.80 $3,420.90 $2,530.48 $13,745.85 Comparison of Acquisitions Levels to Publication Rates* Fiscal Year Titles Added to Collection: PQ & PT 2005/2006 2006/2007 2007/2008 2008/2009 2009/2010 Sub-total: PQ 2005/2006 2006/2007 2007/2008 2008/2009 2009/2010 Sub-total: PT Total: PQ & PT 60 66 77 53 34 290 17 22 11 10 13 73 363 YBP’s All Publishers Approval Plan Coverage* 540 610 603 605 605 2,963 170 237 210 219 258 1,094 4,057 % 11 10 12 8 5 9 10 9 5 4 5 6 8 *Compiled from Yankee Book Peddler New Title Reports 2005-2010 (http://www.ybp.com/title_reports.html). Using the WLN conspectus, a “reasonable guideline to consider for assigning an acquisitions indicator of 2 or higher would be a book acquisitions rate that is up to 10% of the appropriate universe of titles published annually in a division.” The suggested percentages of book publishing output are: 2 REV 2012 1 – 2a = less than 5% 2b = 5 – 10% 3a = 10 – 15% 3b = 20% 3c = 25% 4 – 5 = 30% The percentages in the above table conform to the suggested percentages, falling in the 5 to 10 per cent range recommended for a 2b ranking. It should be noted that the figures for class PQ (Romance Language Literatures) are higher than those for class PT (Germanic Language Literatures) because the JSU Foreign Languages department offers classes in French and Spanish leading to a degree; no classes are offered in German. The following bibliographies were checked against the Library’s holdings, revealing the corresponding percentages: Title American Reference Books Annual (ARBA) ARBA 2006 ARBA 2007 ARBA 2008 ARBA 2009 ARBA 2010 Five-year total Recommended Reference Books for Small and Medium-sized Libraries and Media Centers (RRB) RRB 2006 RRB 2007 RRB 2008 RRB 2009 RRB 2010 Five-year total Best Books for Academic Libraries (2002): PQ Best Books for Academic Libraries (2002): PT Total Best Books for Academic Libraries -- Supplement (2004): PQ Best Books for Academic Libraries # Held # Listed % 2 1 3 4 0 10 5 4 4 4 2 19 40 25 75 100 0 52 1 0 2 2 0 5 896 2 1 2 2 1 8 1,762 50 0 100 100 0 62 50 409 797 51 1,305 42 2,559 149 51 28 12 56 21 3 REV 2012 Title American Reference Books Annual (ARBA) -- Supplement (2004): PT Total The Humanities: A Selective Guide to Information Sources: PQ The Humanities: A Selective Guide to Information Sources: PT The Humanities: A Selective Guide to Information Sources (2000): Total # Held # Listed % 54 13 205 20 26 65 3 7 42 16 27 59 Periodicals and Serials Houston Cole Library presently holds 9 periodicals or serials in print format which focus exclusively on Western European Literatures, all of them in class PQ. This includes both current subscriptions and cancelled titles. The absence of titles in class PT can be attributed to the fact that the Foreign Languages department does not offer classes in German. The table at the very end of this assessment provides a representative sampling of the full text journals to which the Library provides access in print and/or electronic format, in which articles pertaining to Western European Literatures may be found. The diversity of titles and call numbers illustrates the obstacles encountered in trying to create a complete, comprehensive list of relevant journals for Western European Literatures. In an academic discipline such as literature, obtaining accurate numbers for periodicals and serials holdings always has been difficult due to the embedding of relevant subject articles in journals not necessarily within the scope of the subject being assessed. For example, articles on French literature can be found in journals dealing exclusively with French literature but also in journals whose focus is Western European literature or even just literature, as well as more general humanities reviews. It is easy for relevant items to be missed, a situation encountered even when checking holdings against a standard checklist source such as Magazines for Libraries, against whose 15th edition (2006) Houston Cole Library shows 39 titles held (print and/or electronic) of 64 listed, for a percentage of 60. The increasing presence of protean technology such as electronic databases and freely accessible internet websites has made obtaining stable, completely accurate counts now virtually impossible. Houston Cole Library collects a small number of print titles for Western European Literatures, which is expanded by relevant content in the more than two hundred electronic databases to which the Library subscribes. These databases in turn are supplemented by content provided through “free internet resources.” These 4 REV 2012 resources can appear or disappear in a moment, thereby creating statistics which are both dynamic and ephemeral. A snapshot of these holdings can be found using the Library’s Serials Solutions link located at http://we8af9qh2e.search.serialssolutions.com, and performing a search for the subject being investigated, as the following screen capture illustrates (most relevant headings in boldface). Subject Headings in Languages & Literatures English o American Literature (174) o English Language (77) o English Literature (175) Germanic Languages (21) Germanic Literature (17) Greek & Latin Languages & Literatures (64) Indo-Iranian Languages & Literatures (5) Literature - General (516) Middle Eastern Languages & Literatures (23) Native American & Hyperborean Languages (7) Philology & Linguistics (351) Romance Languages (55) Romance Literatures o French Literature (30) o Italian Literature (14) o Portuguese Literature (5) o Spanish Literature (53) The following screenshot is a representative example of a Serials Solutions “contents” screen. 5 REV 2012 30 journals found in Languages & Literatures: Romance Literatures: French Literature @nalyses Look up Article More full text options from 2006 to present in Directory of Open Access Journals ALERT! Free access to some/all content in this journal may change without warning. This is a free Internet resource. It is not part of a Library subscription. from 2006 to present in Freely Accessible Journals ALERT! Free access to some/all content in this journal may change without warning. This is a free Internet resource. It is not part of a Library subscription. Cahiers du dix-septième Look up Article More full text options from 1992 to present in Freely Accessible Journals ALERT! Free access to some/all content in this journal may change without warning. This is a free Internet resource. It is not part of a Library subscription. Carnets revue electronique d'etudes Françaises Look up Article More full text options from 2009 to present in Directory of Open Access Journals ALERT! Free access to some/all content in this journal may change without warning. This is a free Internet resource. It is not part of a Library subscription. Diderot studies (0070-4806) Look up Article More full text options from 01/01/1949 to 01/31/2003 in JSTOR Études françaises (Montreal) (0014-2085) Look up Article More full text options from 2000 to 2003 in Freely Accessible Arts & Humanities Journals ALERT! Free access to some/all content in this journal may change without warning. This is a free Internet resource. It is not part of a Library subscription. Féeries (1766-2842) Look up Article More full text options from 2004 to present in Freely Accessible Journals ALERT! Free access to some/all content in this journal may change without warning. This is a free Internet resource. It is not part of a Library subscription. Femelle du requin Look up Article More full text options from 11/01/1995 to present in Freely Accessible Arts & Humanities Journals ALERT! Free access to some/all content in this journal may change without warning. This is a free Internet resource. It is not part of a Library subscription. Flaubert Look up Article More full text options from 2009 to present in Directory of Open Access Journals ALERT! Free access to some/all content in this journal may change without warning. This is a free Internet resource. It is not part of a Library subscription. French forum (0098-9355) Look up Article More full text options 6 REV 2012 from 01/01/1976 to 10/31/2006 in JSTOR from 01/01/2001 to present in Academic OneFile from 01/01/2001 to present in Expanded Academic ASAP from 01/01/2001 to present in General OneFile from 04/01/2004 to present in ProQuest Research Library from 04/15/2004 to present in Humanities Full Text (H.W. Wilson) from 04/15/2004 to present in OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson) French review. Special issue (0271-3349) Look up Article More full text options from 01/01/1970 to 07/31/1982 in JSTOR French studies (0016-1128) Look up Article More full text options from 1996 to present in Oxford Journals in JSU Library's Print Holdings Access to periodicals and serials is triple-tiered and is complemented by the content in Gale/Cengage’s various “Literary Criticism” book series such as Poetry Criticism and Short Story Criticism, whose content is accessible through electronic and print indexes specific to these series. For a library collection, the particular strength of these books is that they contain article excerpts from scholarly journals which the library never had the budget to subscribe to and for which the database backfiles are not deep enough to provide full text. When viewed in this manner it can be seen that Houston Cole Library offers a four-deep system of access to content in serial publications: 1) Magazines, newspaper, and scholarly journals in print format, supplemented by 2) Selective full text access in some two hundred plus electronic databases which may be searched individually by subject or title and in groups by provider, supplemented by 3) Selective full text in free access internet websites, supplemented by 4) Gale/Cengage’s literary criticism series books. Serials Expenditures (fluctuation due to NAAL funding of MLA database) Fiscal Year Expenditure 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 Total $11,469.70 $12,287.81 $10,626.08 $19,439.59 $17,291.45 $71,114.63 7 REV 2012 Nonprint Media The Houston Cole Library Audio-Visual Center contains 106 video titles for Western European Literatures. These items are classed in the Library of Congress classifications PN, PQ, or PT and represent cinematic treatments of fictional works from countries located in Western Europe. These titles are supplemented by omnibus all-subjects sources for streaming videos, such as Films on Demand and VAST Academic Video Online. As with the presence of freely accessible internet sites in the serials portion of this assessment, the protean nature of these streaming video services makes obtaining accurate title counts difficult and the creation of reliable statistical tables virtually impossible. But their presence as supplemental sources for video materials makes the Western European Literatures collection stronger in this area than it was in the previous assessment (June 2005). Defined Access The Library's defined access for Western European Literatures is rated a 2 (Basic Information level). Access is provided through an extensive collection of remotely accessible electronic resources, including bibliographic tools, texts, indexes, journals, etc. Houston Cole Library now collects books in electronic format in addition to the traditional print format, and through ALLIES has reciprocal borrowing agreements with other academic libraries in Alabama to give members of the JSU community access to the print collections of these other libraries. The Library's catalog is web-based, and an Electronic Reference Desk is available on the Library's web page. Analytic catalog entries with links to full-text are entered into the Library's catalog for those titles available through various aggregator databases. In addition, the subject specialist librarian routinely evaluates websites for inclusion (or removal). A descriptive catalog record for appropriate sites is incorporated into the catalog, providing links to the resources through URLs. Supplemental Support Holdings in the related subject collections of American Literature; English Literature; Languages and Related Literatures; History; Art; Drama; Music; Auxiliary Sciences of History; Philosophy, Ethics, and Religion; and General Works provide supplemental support to the Western European Literatures collection. 8 REV 2012 Summary Strengths: Western European Literatures is a support collection. Jacksonville State University does not offer a degree in this discipline. Therefore, the collection is entirely adequate to meet the University's needs, and a 2bD rating is reasonable and realistic. For a more detailed presentation of the Library’s holdings in Library of Congress classifications PQ and PT, refer to the Western European Literatures Conspectus Sheets and Checklists at the end of this assessment. Weaknesses: Houston Cole Library considers the most important aspect of its mission to be curriculum support. Conspectus counts indicate the Library's holdings are lowest in areas such as Afrikaans Literature (4 titles), Spanish Literature of Africa (2), and Faroese Literature (1), to name but a few examples. However, these subjects are not part of the University curriculum and are outside the scope of the Library’s collection development policy. Houston Cole Library does not have strong holdings in print periodicals in Western European Literatures, but this lack has been strengthened by the subscription databases and freely accessible internet sources. The principal weakness within the scope of this collection assessment now is in the area of contemporary post-colonial literature. This encompasses for the most part Spanish-language literatures of the western hemisphere. These literatures have a much higher profile in courses offered by the JSU English department than they did at the time of the 2005 assessment. Beyond this, and with regard to the University’s curriculum and the Library’s collection development policy, any weaknesses in the Western European Literatures collection are inconsequential. Recommendations: Monograph purchases should be reduced to a 2aD level with select areas maintained at 2bD. Purchases in post-colonial western hemisphere literatures should be increased to reflect increased attention from the curriculum. Serials holdings should be increased where possible. Reference encyclopedias and overview works should be added to the collection to provide basic coverage for areas which are not within the scope of normal collections activity. Better communication and liaising should be sought with the Foreign Languages and English department faculties to achieve optimum use of Library funds. 9 REV 2012 Checklist Tables Title American Reference Books Annual (ARBA): Totals ARBA 2006 Italian literature Latin American literature Spanish literature ARBA 2007 Latin American literature Scandinavian literature ARBA 2008 French literature Italian literature Latin American literature ARBA 2009 Italian literature Latin American literature ARBA 2010 German literature Latin American literature Recommended reference books for Small and MediumSized Libraries and Media Centers (RBB): Totals RBB 2006 Latin American literature Spanish literature RBB 2007 Latin American literature RBB 2008 French literature Latin American literature RBB 2009 Latin American literature RBB 2010 Latin American literature Best Books for Academic Libraries (2002) Romance Literatures (PQ) French literature # Held 10 # Listed 19 % 52 2 0 2 5 1 3 40 0 66 0 1 1 1 4 3 0 25 33 0 3 1 1 1 4 1 3 0 0 0 1 4 1 1 2 4 1 3 2 1 1 0 75 100 100 50 100 100 100 0 0 0 5 8 62 1 1 0 0 0 2 1 1 2 2 0 0 1305 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 2559 50 100 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 100 0 0 51 896 575 1,762 1,068 50 53 10 REV 2012 Title Literary history and criticism “ by Period “ Poetry “ Drama “ Prose and Prose Fiction Collections of literature Individual authors through the 15th c. Individual authors, 16th & 17th centuries Individual authors, 18th & 19th centuries Individual authors, 1900French literature outside of France Italian literature Literary history and criticism Individual authors Spanish literature Literary history and criticism “ by Period “ by Genre Collections of literature Individual authors to 1700 Individual authors, 1700 to 1868 Individual authors, 1868 to 1960 Individual authors, 1961 Spanish literature outside of Spain Portuguese literature Literary history and criticism; collections of literature Individ. authors thru 1960 Individual authors, 1961 Portuguese literature outside of Portugal # Held 18 # Listed 40 % 45 30 5 10 25 12 58 15 14 44 26 51 33 71 56 46 58 120 48 43 80 53 151 236 64 215 8 385 50 55 16 14 4 33 20 42 20 10 291 14 13 608 24 76 47 58 9 19 13 43 18 28 40 29 90 37 32 47 44 53 48 58 113 51 3 109 8 239 37 45 16 2 53 5 30 40 4 1 9 14 5 29 28 20 31 11 REV 2012 Title Germanic Literatures (PT) # Held 409 # Listed 797 % 51 315 67 629 115 50 58 9 70 166 3 16 164 324 10 56 42 51 30 4 2 18 14 36 20 54 11 6 39 30 51 31 205 36 33 46 46 70 64 26 42 17 5 149 57 15 28 29 33 1 13 10 3 5 37 24 7 20 35 41 42 0 7 13 0 0 17 65 7 0 41 20 0 1 11 0 12 8 1 1 57 3 56 49 11 100 19 0 21 16 9 0 7 1 2 1 1 37 2 3 2 0 18 50 66 50 German literature Literary history and criticism Collections of literature Individual authors to 1860 Individual authors, 1860 Provincial and Colonial literature Dutch literature Afrikaans literature Scandinavian literature Danish literature Norwegian literature Swedish literature Best Books for Academic Libraries –Supplement (2004) Romance Literatures (PQ) French literature Literary history and criticism Collections of literature Individual authors Italian literature Literary history and criticism Collections of literature Individual authors Spanish literature Literary history and criticism Collections of literature Individual authors Portuguese literature Germanic Literatures (PT) German literature Literary history and criticism Collections of literature Individual authors Danish literature Norwegian literature Swedish literature 12 REV 2012 Title The Humanities: A Selective Guide to Information Sources Romance Languages French Literature Italian Literature Spanish Literature Germanic Languages Magazines for Libraries (15th edition/2006) France Germany Italy Total Literary Reviews Literature Total # Held 19 # Listed 34 % 55 16 5 1 10 3 39 27 9 1 17 7 64 59 55 100 58 42 60 4 1 0 5 8 26 34 12 5 5 22 11 31 42 33 20 0 22 72 83 80 Western European Literatures: Related Journals Held or Accessible (Representative Sample) Journal Titles Amsterdamer Beitrage zur neueren Germanistik L’Arbalete Bilingual Review Bulletin Hispanique Bulletin of Hispanic Studies Bulletin of Spanish Studies Christianity & Literature CLA Journal College English College Literature Comparative Drama Comparative Literature Comparative Literature Studies Contemporary French & Francophone Studies Contemporary Literature Contemporary Review Critical Inquiry Critical Quarterly Critical Survey 13 Electronic Print X PQ1104.A65x X PQ6001.B8 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X PC4008.B8 PC4008.B8 P1.A1C22 PE1.C6 PN851.C595 PN2.W55 AP4.C7 REV 2012 Criticism Daphnis-Zeitschrift fur Mittlere Deutsche Literatur Eighteenth Century Fiction Eighteenth-Century Life Eighteenth-Century Studies ELH Essays in Criticism Essays in Literature European Romantic Review Explicator X Extrapolation Fabula Fantasy & Science Fiction Feminist Studies Folklore Foro Hispanico Forum for Modern Language Studies French Cultural Studies French Forum French Studies Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide Georgia Review German Life and Letters German Quarterly German Studies Review Germanic Review Hispanic Review Historiographia Linguistica Hudson Review Italian Studies Italianist Journal of English & Germanic Philology Journal of Latin American Lore Journal of Latin American Studies Journal of Modern Literature Kenyon Review Kirkus Reviews Language & Literature Language & Literature (Trinity University) Latin American Literary Review LIT: Literature Interpretation Theory Literary Review Literature & Psychology Massachusetts Review X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 14 X X X X X X X X X X X X X AS30.W3A2 HN1.E42 D284.E5 PR1.E5 PR1.E9 PN3448. S45E9 HQ1101.F46 PQ1.F85 AP2.G375 PF3001.G3 DD1.G382 PD1.G4 PQ6001.H5 AP2.H886 PQ4001.I76 PD1.J7 F1401.J69 PN2.J6 AP2.K426 Z1219.B93 AP2.L6377 PN49.L5 REV 2012 Medium Aevum MELUS Metaphor & Symbol MLN Modern Drama Modern Fiction Studies Modern Language Journal Modern Language Quarterly Modern Language Review Modern Philology Monatshefte Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature Narrative Narrative Inquiry New German Critique New Literary History New York Review of Books New York Times Book Review X X X X X X X X X X X Nineteenth Century French Studies Nineteenth-Century Contexts Nineteenth-Century Literature Nouvelle Revue Francais Novel: A Forum on Fiction Orbis Litterarum Papers on Language & Literature Parallax Paris Review Parnassus: Poetry in Review Paterson Literary Review Paterson Literary Review Philosophy & Literature PMLA: Publications of the Modern Language Association of America Poetics Poetics Today Poetry Psychoanalytic Review Quadrant Reinardus Renaissance Quarterly Renaissance Studies Renascence Review of Contemporary Fiction Revista de Estudios Hispanicos Revista Hispanica Moderna X X X X X X X X 15 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X PB1.M4 PB1.M6 PN1861.M55 PS379.M55 PB1.M47 PB1.M642 PB1.M65 PB1.M7 PF3003.M6 PN2.M68 PR1.N44 AP2.N655 PR873.T76 PQ2.N6 PN3311.N6 PR1.P3 AP4.P245 PB6.M6 PS301.P6 CB361.R45 PN2.R4 PN3503.R45 PQ6001.R42 PQ6001.R47 REV 2012 Revue D’Histoire Litteraire de la France Romance Philology Romance Quarterly Romanic Review Sartre Studies International Scandinavian Review Scandinavian Studies Scando-Slavica Seminar - A Journal of Germanic Studies Seventeenth Century Sixteenth Century Journal Small Axe: A Caribbean Journal of Criticism South Atlantic Quarterly Southern Review Speculum Studia Neophilologica Studies in Philology Studies in Romanticism Studies in Short Fiction Studies in the Literary Imagination Studies in the Novel Symposium TDR: The Drama Review Texas Review Texas Studies in Literature & Language Textual Practice TLS Translation & Literature Twentieth Century Literature University of Toronto Quarterly Vivarium War, Literature & the Arts: An International Journal of the Humanities World Literature Today Yale French Studies Yale Review 16 X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X PQ2.R5 D220.S57 AP2.S75 AP2.S8555 PN661.S6 P25.S8 PN751.S8 PN3311.S8 P1.S7 PN3311.S82 PN1601.T8 AP2.S883 AS30.T4 AP4.T45 X X X X X X X X PN2.T8 Z1007.B717 DC1.Y3 AP2.Y2 REV 2012