Library Support
Department of French, Italian and Spanish (FIS)
Unit Review
INTRODUCTION
The French, Italian and Spanish languages and literatures collection at the University of Calgary Library
supports the curricular, scholarly reading and research needs of the students and faculty in the
Department of French, Italian and Spanish. The Department also derives support from the collections
of other disciplines, most especially those in the humanities. Reciprocally, the Romance language and
literature collection enhances interdisciplinary teaching, reading and research in departments across
campus.
The Department of French, Italian and Spanish is supported further by the collaboration of a
professional librarian. While there has been some fluctuation in the staffing of this position in the past
several years, the library recently hired an academic liaison librarian, fifty percent of whose
departmental responsibilities are dedicated to FIS. In addition to the collection, the librarian is
responsible for liaising with the Department and for supporting the teaching and research needs of
faculty and students. This includes information literacy instruction, and research consultation with
faculty and students. As well, the librarian is available to participate on Departmental committees, and
to collaborate on Departmental projects.
The Department of French, Italian and Spanish offers a BA program for all three languages – a Major in
Italian being introduced in 2006. In addition, it offers a BA Honours program for French and Spanish, a
BA Co-operative Education Program in French and Spanish, and a combined BA (French) and BEd
(Master of Teaching) Program. The Department has an MA program in French and Spanish, as well as
a special-case PhD program for both those languages – Spanish being a new offering in 2005. The
Department also offers the Comparative Canadian Literature program with the Department of English.
Department of French, Italian and Spanish faculty engages in a broad range of language and literaturebased research and, increasingly, interdisciplinary research. As well, some faculty members are
engaged in research related to linguistics. Areas of significant faculty research include:
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French-Canadian Studies
Women’s Studies
Comparative Literature
Film Studies
Exile and Migration
Creative Writing
European Thought
Philology
Narratology
Linguistics
Semiology
Literature of the Maghreb
Baroque Literature
Pedagogy
Energy Discourse
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African Studies
Latin-American Studies
Arts and Literature
International Francophone Studies
Seventeenth Century Studies
Literary Theory
Second Language Acquisition
Computer-Assisted Language Learning
Philosophy of Language
Modern and Contemporary Italian Literature
French Literature of the Middle Ages and
Renaissance
Sephardic Studies
Theatre Studies
Source: http://fis.ucalgary.ca/research/default.asp Retrieved October 27, 2007
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COLLECTION STATUS AND ASSESSMENT
Funding
Collection development for French, Italian and Spanish is funded in part through designated base
budgets, the total of which increased by an average of $6289 (18%) over the past five years. The
collection is also supported through other library funds (see Table 1). For example, general library
funding (approval plans, reserve, reference, replacement) has augmented collection spending for
Romance language and literature by between 8 to 23% annually from 2000 to 2005. Also, funding from
Arts and Humanities collection budgets (primarily Canadian Studies and Drama), as well as funds from
the Students’ Union, enhanced the FIS collection during the same time period.
Table 1: French, Italian and Spanish Monograph Collection: Expenditures by Fund
Fund Category
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
French & Italian
$17,885 $25,664 $28,177
$22,293 $22,371
Hispanic
$11,136 $14,091 $13,414
$10,970 $10,548
Subtotal
$29,021 $39,755 $41,591
$33,263 $32,919
General Library
Arts and Humanities
Student Union
Social Science
Other
Total
$3,357
$4,953
$1,722
$538
$1549
$41,142
$1,858
$4,221
$2,267
$998
$1137
$50,234
$5,062
$3,640
$3,140
$1,087
$1641
$56,161
$5,517
$3,684
$2,351
$1,516
$84
$46,415
$10,933
$1,854
$1,601
$373
0
$47,680
Avg./Yr.
$23,278
$12,032
$35,310
$5,345
$3,670
$2,216
$902
$882
$48,326
While expenditures supporting the French, Italian and Spanish collection showed a net gain between
2000 and 2005, they also rose and fell over those five years. This may be owing to at least two factors:
a fluctuation in the staffing of the librarian position responsible for the collection and a reduction in the
amount of Students’ Union levy funding directed to FIS.
Tables 2a and 2b (next page) reflect this same rise and fall, though both demonstrate an average net
gain. Table 2a summarizes all expenditures – irrespective of source – on monographs for French,
Italian and Spanish subject areas. Table 2b summarizes the number of monographs purchased from
those funds. While the focus of the collection is on French literature, both Italian and French Canadian
literature saw increases between 2000 and 2005. Expenditures for both Spanish and Latin American
literature maintained a steady average.
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Table 2a: Total expenditures for French, Italian and Spanish subject-related monographs from
all funds
FIS Subject Areas
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Avg./Yr.
French Literature
$11,840 $14,293 $17,837 $15,579 $15,319 $14,974
$6,884
Spanish Literature
$6,595
$6,456
$7,087
$7,746
$6,539
$3,835
Latin American Literature
$3,426
$4,746
$4,476
$2,845
$3,684
$3,760
French Canadian Literature
$3,819
$2,389
$3,606
$2,919
$6,068
$3,414
Italian Literature
$1,945
$3,145
$3,600
$2,800
$5,582
$1,771
French Language
$1,076
$2,027
$2,560
$2,105
$1,088
$1,580
Spanish & Catalan Language
$1,825
$1,024
$1,678
$2,105
$1,268
$316
Romance Languages - General
$272
$379
$261
$153
$514
$234
Portuguese Literature
$314
$357
$0
$324
$177
$234
Italian Language
$40
$252
$404
$268
$206
$177
Spanish Film
$132
$83
$272
$254
$144
$167
Latin American Film
$83
$118
$377
$173
$86
$157
Spanish Theatre
$292
$179
$71
$114
$126
$147
French Film
$198
$181
$42
$201
$111
$132
French Theatre
$60
$0
$349
$128
$123
$80
Italian Film
$35
$118
$0
$167
$80
$72
Italian Theatre
$37
$24
$38
$206
$56
Total
$31,988 $35,773 $42,657 $38,089 $41,169 $37,935
Table 2b: Total number of French, Italian and Spanish subject-related titles purchased from all
funds
FIS Subject Areas
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Avg./Yr.
304
French Literature
246
321
351
293
308
159
Spanish Literature
197
168
147
150
131
149
French Canadian Literature
185
141
101
151
166
86
Latin American Literature
83
111
96
53
86
49
Italian Literature
29
51
50
42
75
36
French Language
18
45
50
44
25
27
Spanish & Catalan Language
33
17
27
35
22
5
Italian Language
1
5
8
7
3
5
Portuguese Literature
8
8
0
4
3
3
Spanish Theatre
7
4
3
2
1
3
Spanish Film
4
2
3
5
3
3
French Film
5
5
1
3
2
3
Latin American Film
3
3
5
2
2
3
Romance Languages - General
3
4
2
1
4
2
Italian Theatre
1
1
1
5
2
2
Italian Film
1
2
0
5
1
1
French Theatre
1
0
2
2
2
Total
825
888
847
804
836
840
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Tables 3a and 3b demonstrate how French, Italian and Spanish base budgets effectively support
research and teaching in other disciplines (mostly humanities), which is indicative of the interdisciplinary
nature of FIS activity; that is, the data reflect the purchase of materials requested by FIS faculty to
support departmental teaching and research that goes beyond the parameters of language and
literature. Again, these data show a rise and fall over the period between 2000 and 2005.
Table 3a: Total expenditures for monographs purchased from French, Italian and Spanish funds
for other subject areas
Other Subject Areas
Literary History & Collections
Other Languages & Literatures
Philosophy. Ethics. Religion
French History
Aspects of Linguistics
Spanish & Portuguese History
Selected World History
African History
Latin American History
Asian History
Italian History
Social Sciences
Fine Arts
Science & Technology
Total
2001
$1,990
$1,129
$324
$565
$248
$717
$53
$369
$288
$94
$348
$1,372
$1,243
$416
$9,154
2002
$1,912
$2,846
$1,497
$1,893
$305
$359
$389
$565
$218
$0
$0
$3,167
$715
$596
$14,462
2003
$1,641
$1,457
$1,854
$1,639
$770
$272
$781
$203
$287
$304
$0
$2,600
$1,031
$663
$13,504
2004
$1,879
$785
$895
$720
$699
$380
$109
$137
$161
$429
$155
$1,067
$737
$173
$8,326
2005
$1,448
$678
$1,099
$216
$652
$91
$331
$85
$76
$125
$0
$953
$674
$82
$6,511
Avg./Yr.
$1,774
$1,379
$1,134
$1,007
$535
$364
$333
$272
$206
$190
$100
$1,832
$880
$386
$10,391
Table 3b: Total number of titles purchased from French, Italian and Spanish funds for other
subject areas
Other Subject Areas
Literary History & Collections
Social Sciences
Other Languages & Literatures
Philosophy. Ethics. Religion
French History
Fine Arts
Aspects of Linguistics
African History
Spanish & Portuguese History
Science & Technology
Selected World History
Latin American History
Asian History
Italian History
Total
2001
50
33
30
8
14
26
9
12
17
11
2
7
2
2
223
2002
51
69
42
45
19
20
11
17
10
10
12
5
0
0
311
2003
34
47
33
36
28
18
16
7
5
14
12
3
6
0
259
2004
39
26
15
13
20
8
12
3
5
4
3
2
7
2
159
2005
30
24
14
14
5
11
10
2
3
1
4
2
3
0
123
Avg./Yr.
41
40
27
23
17
17
12
8
8
8
7
4
4
1
215
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Historically, a distinguishing factor of library funding for FIS has been the combining of French and
Italian budgets into one. Figure 1 demonstrates the distribution of that shared fund over a five-year
period.
Figure 1:
Distribution of French/Italian fund (2518).
$18,000
$16,000
$14,000
$12,000
$10,000
French Lang. & Lit.
Italian Lang. & Lit.
$8,000
$6,000
$4,000
$2,000
$0
2001
2002
2003
Fiscal Cycle
2004
2005
In July 2005, FIS hired a contractually limited faculty member for Italian who, in July 2007, accepted a
new tenure track position in Italian. In September 2006, FIS implemented an Italian Major program.
These developments catalyzed a significant increase (over 100% from the previous year) in spending
for Italian monographs; this reciprocally reduced monies available for French purchases. From 2005/06
and 2006/07, the number of students pursuing a Major in Italian grew from one to nine – a factor that
will exert further pressure on the current French/Italian budget to support Italian monograph purchases.
The French, Italian and Spanish monograph budgets do not support significantly the linguistics
collection. Rather, that collection has its own dedicated budget which, like FIS budgets, is augmented
by other funds. Between 1999 and 2004, the average expenditure per year (from all funds) in support of
the linguistics collection was $30,742. (Source: Library Support, Department of Linguistics Unit Review.
2006)
Monographs
Between 2000 and 2005, the library added 4200 monographs to the French, Italian and Spanish
collection from all funds. In addition, FIS funds purchased 1075 monographs supporting the
department’s interdisciplinary teaching and research. Owing to the complexity of purchasing
monographs both in and about languages other than English, the library takes a multi-faceted
approach.
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YBP Library Services
Between 2000 and 2005, YBP Library Services (YBP) a major North American book vendor, has been
one source of English monographs whose subject is French, Italian and Spanish literature. In 2004, the
library initiated a YBP approval plan for Cambridge and Oxford imprints. In 2005, the plan was
extended to 23 other major academic publishers, which has facilitated the purchasing of material for
Romance language and literature.
However, for the level of study and research in the Department of French, Italian and Spanish, the
percentages of available YBP monographs purchased by the library fall significantly below its
acquisition rate standard, which would be approximately 80% of titles offered. This leaves an average
shortfall of 43%. Latin American Literature, which demonstrates the lowest average percentage, will
benefit from a change in YBP beginning autumn, 2007; YBP will add 64,000 Spanish language titles to
its offerings – including monographs from 40 university presses in Spain as well as UNAM, the major
university press for Mexico. While the majority of Italian and French monographs must be sought
elsewhere, the percentage of funds spent for YBP titles for these languages, as well as for Spanish,
must increase to appropriate levels.
Table 4
French, Italian & Spanish: Comparison of the number of published titles provided by YBP**
versus the number of titles purchased by the University of Calgary
French Literature
YBP number of published titles
University of Calgary number of purchased titles
Percentage of titles purchased by UofC
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Avg./Yr.
342
83
24%
311
102
33%
352
141
40%
325
114
35%
318
123
39%
330
113
34%
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Avg./Yr.
85
22
26%
99
49
49%
93
45
48%
87
34
39%
73
47
64%
87
39
45%
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Avg./Yr.
74
27
36%
84
31
37%
100
37
37%
105
22
21%
90
50
56%
91
33
37%
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Avg./Yr.
112
17
15%
147
33
22%
130
51
39%
119
42
35%
101
50
50%
122
39
32%
Italian Literature
YBP number of published titles
University of Calgary number of purchased titles
Percentage of titles purchased by UofC
Spanish Literature
YBP number of published titles
University of Calgary number of purchased titles
Percentage of titles purchased by UofC
Latin American Literature
YBP number of published titles
University of Calgary number of purchased titles
Percentage of titles purchased by UofC
**Titles considered in the above comparison reflect English language titles only
Electronic Book Collections
The Library’s monograph collection also has been enhanced recently by the acquisition of electronic
book collections. These include The ARTFL Project, a full-text retrieval database of classical French
writings, Eighteenth Century Collections Online, the digital edition of a significant portion of the literature
published during the 1700’s (including over 4,000 French, 429 Italian and 45 Spanish works), Literature
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of the Spanish Caribbean to 1900, and Early Canadiana Online. In addition, with financial support from
the University of Calgary Students’ Union, the library acquired Ebrary-Academic Complete, a collection
of 30,000 titles, approximately 25% of which are humanities-based. The Library’s membership in the
Center for Research Libraries provides the University of Calgary community with access to a rich
resource for research support, particularly in the areas of French and Italian literature.
Other Vendors
To augment the collection with monographs written in French, Italian and Spanish, the library uses
vendors such as Coutts, Aux Amateurs de Livres, Casalini Libri, Puvill Libros, and the Latin American
Book Store. Other booksellers and publishers (including associations & societies) are used whenever
necessary or expedient.
Pro Helvetica
The library receives annual book donations from Pro Helvetica, the Swiss Arts Council, whose mandate
includes the promotion of Swiss culture. The library catalogue currently holds in excess of 375 such
items, the records for which acknowledge Pro Helvetia. These works have helped the library develop a
strong literary collection representative of Swiss authors writing in French.
Literary prizes standing orders
To ensure ongoing additions to the collection of primary works by notable authors, the liaison librarian
for FIS has begun establishing standing orders for major literary prizes in the French, Italian and
Spanish languages.
Consultation with Faculty
While the liaison librarian is responsible for the determining purchases made for the FIS collection,
great import is put on consultation with faculty. The liaison solicits advice on collection needs for
teaching and research from Department representatives for French, Italian and Spanish, as well as
from the Department Head. The librarian also invites collection suggestions from all faculty members
and graduate students.
Comparative Monograph Assessment
The sizes, offerings and configurations of French, Italian and Spanish departments at other universities
(having an enrolment similar to the UofC) are diverse. Therefore, it is difficult to conduct an “apples to
apples” assessment of the library’s French, Italian and Spanish collection with that of other university
libraries. However, it is possible to draw some general conclusions from broad data sets. To that end,
an assessment was conducted of library holdings at five other university libraries where – with the
above-noted caveat – some comparisons could be drawn between departments of Romance
languages.1 Specifically, the assessment considered the number of monographs held in a sampling of
pertinent Library of Congress Subject Headings. Below are some results of that assessment as well as
other observations about the collection.
French
With university sizes and departmental programs taken into account, the assessment demonstrated
that the French collection is generally comparable to those in other university libraries to support
undergraduate study and, in some areas, graduate study and faculty research at the University of
Calgary. In some specific subject areas, like French Literature History and Criticism, it is relatively
strong. In others, like French Literature it is weak. In French Literature 19th Century History and
Criticism and French African Literature, it requires enhancement – especially in light of the department’s
hiring of two new faculty members whose research involves these areas. See Table 5 for examples.
1
McMaster, UWO, UofS, UofA, and UBC (See Appendix A)
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Table 5
LC SUBJECT HEADING
FRENCH LITERATURE
+ HISTORY AND CRITICISM
+20TH CENTURY HISTORY AND CRITICISM
AFRICAN LITERATURE HISTORY AND CRITICISM
NORTH AFRICAN LITERTURE HISTORY AND CRIT
UofC
UWO
McM
UofS
UBC
UofA
93
607
406
38
17
216
781
621
46
24
105
379
272
22
7
195
434
342
34
15
170
706
560
46
24
274
780
521
70
24
Spanish
With university sizes and departmental programs taken into account, the assessment demonstrated
that the Spanish collection is generally comparable to those in other university libraries to support
undergraduate study and, in some areas, graduate study and faculty research at the University of
Calgary. It shows strength in the subject areas of Latin American Literature History and Criticism, and
Spanish Drama. It is particularly weak in Spanish Literature. A subject area also needing attention is
Spanish Literature 20th Century Literature and Criticism. See Table 6 for examples.
Table 6
LC SUBJECT HEADING
SPANISH LITERATURE
+ HISTORY AND CRITICISM
+20TH CENTURY HISTORY AND CRITICISM
LATIN AMERICAN LITERATURE HISTORY AND CRIT
SPANISH DRAMA 20TH CENTURY
UofC
UWO
McM
UofS
UBC
UofA
65
333
181
125
22
134
388
252
90
26
74
165
63
37
4
66
124
64
41
13
100
359
303
108
17
159
423
215
112
20
Italian
Because the UofS doesn’t offer Italian at all, only the remaining five university libraries were compared
for Italian. Of those five, only the UofA and UofC offer a major in Italian. The UofA also offers an MA in
Italian. In a few instances, the collection was on par (e.g. Italian Drama 20th Century History and
Criticism), but in the vast majority of cases, the UofC held the lowest, or second lowest, number of
monographs. Table 7 demonstrates some remarkable examples.
Table 7
LC SUBJECT HEADING
ITALIAN LITERATURE
+20TH CENTURY HISTORY AND CRITICISM
+HISTORY AND CRITICISM
+HISTORY AND CRITICISM PERIODICALS
+PERIODICALS
ITALIAN LANGUAGE
+DICTIONARIES
+ETYMOLOGY
+GLOSSARIES, VOCABULARIES, ETC.
+GRAMMAR
+HISTORY
UofC
25
55
113
13
1
15
24
2
4
39
24
UWO
McM
UBC
UofA
59
217
250
22
7
37
33
8
8
74
42
69
171
241
22
0
28
73
8
11
26
49
76
257
324
13
8
56
39
9
13
52
56
128
321
449
27
9
57
137
22
17
74
82
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While the Italian collection has grown since the inception of the Major program and the hiring of a Full
Time faculty member, it will require significant, additional attention and funding for both teaching and
research. 2
Recent Acquisition Rates
To assess recent UofC monograph acquisition rates, a university comparison – using broad subject
headings and the date limiter “>2000” – was conducted. Results can be found in Table 8. Taking into
consideration differences in university size and Romance language programs, some useful
observations can be made. For example, the recent acquisition rate for French Literature monographs
is strong, but for French and Spanish Languages is relatively weak. Though Table 4 demonstrated
relative general strength in Latin American Literature History and Criticism, Table 8 indicates that there
may be a gap in collecting in recent years.
Table 8
LC SUBJECT HEADING3
FRENCH LITERATURE
FRENCH LANGUAGE
SPANISH LITERATURE
LATIN AMERICAN LITERATURE
SPANISH LANGUAGE
ITALIAN LITERATURE
ITALIAN LANGUAGE
UofC
554
391
248
59
164
92
43
UWO
McM
UofS
530
891
234
70
246
57
44
301
99
24
14
49
10
28
227
412
86
42
62
n/a
n/a
UBC
621
540
284
85
308
73
47
UofA
595
547
311
116
365
203
181
Monographs: Primary Texts in Original Language
In all language areas, there are gaps in primary 20th century texts by authors of significance. For
example, the French collection requires significant augmenting in the areas of African literature (e.g.
Ahmadou Kourouma, Rachid Mimouni, Mariama Ba, Aminata Sow Fall, Sony Labou Tansi, Tierno
Monenembo, Abdourhamane Waberi, Kossi Efoui, Gaston-Paul Effa, Eugène Ebode, Sembene
Ousmane), and post-1975 French literature (e.g. Patrick Lapeyre, Antoine Volodine, Yazmina Reza,
Michèle Desbordes, Jonathan Little, Pierre Michon). The Spanish collection requires augmenting in the
area of contemporary Latin American literature (e.g. Enrique Serna, Ana García Bergua, Daniel Sada,
Rosa Beltrán, Juan Villoro, Pedro Ángel Palou). 4 In consultation with the library representative for
Italian, work has just begun to add primary works in Italian to the collection – especially for the 20th
century. However, because the collection is not adequate even for undergraduate studies, this work
must continue apace.
Circulation Statistics
Between April 2001 and March 2006, a total of 3813 PQ-classed monographs was added to the
collection; that is, monographs on the subject of French, Italian, Spanish and Latin American Literature.
39% of these monographs have circulated. However, there is significant variance in the circulation
percentage between these four literatures. The highest circulation percentages were for Italian (51%)
and Latin American (46%) literatures. The least circulated material was Spanish literature (31%) with
French following at 40%. (See Figure 2 below)
2
The collection is notably weak with respect to monographs on Luigi Pirandello, a major research
subject for the new faculty member in Italian.
3 These retrieve monographs that begin with the broad subject heading, as well as those that have
additional qualifiers (e.g. French Literature History and Criticism, etc.)
4 These lists of examples represent only a fraction of the authors either absent or poorly represented in
the collection.
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Figure 2
The Circulation of PQ Classed Copies by Subject Area
Added Between April 1, 2001 and March 31, 2006
1400
1205
1200
Number of
Added Titles
1000
787
Circulated
Not Circulated
670
800
600
295
400
312
261
140
143
200
0
60%
40%
French Lit.
69%
31%
Spanish Lit.
54%
46%
Latin
American Lit.
49%
51%
Italian Lit.
While it is not expected that all monographs purchased for Romance languages will circulate
immediately or with regularity, the figures for Spanish and French are low relative to all recently
acquired P-classed monographs, where the average circulation rate was 51%. The reasons for the low
circulation are unknown, but may be owing to: librarian fluctuation; changes in faculty teaching and
research foci over the past five years that have not been communicated to the library; faculty deemphasis on the monograph in teaching; a heightened faculty interest in journal literature; student
unfamiliarity with use of the library catalogue. To augment and monitor monograph circulation relative to
acquisition, the following is recommended: enhanced consultation regarding collection development
between librarian and faculty; investigation into the possibility of increased bibliographic instruction for
FIS students, where emphases include catalogue searching; ongoing, yearly analysis of monograph
circulation and acquisition statistics.
Journals
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, budgetary
freezes and serial inflation resulted in a
Figure 3: Format of Journal Collection
number of journal cancellations. Recent
purchases of journal aggregator packages
such as JSTOR, Science Direct, Project
Electronic with recent volumes unavailable: 28
Muse, Literary Reference Centre, Academic
Onefile, Wilson OmniFile, Informaworld
(Taylor and Francis and Routledge Journals),
Oxford University Press Journals and
Electronic:
Cambridge Journals Online have enhanced
124
Print: 190
the University of Calgary’s holdings of
journals relevant to French, Italian and
Spanish Language and Literature. However,
the collection is still predominantly print. (See
Figure 3). Research support in this area has
also been significantly enhanced by a
considerable number of open access journals
focused on romance literature and languages including: Cedille: Revista des Estudios Franceses,
Lingua Romana: A Journal of French, Italian and Romanian Culture, Loxias, and La Torrey Del Virrey.
- 10 -
Additionally in 2000, 2003 and 2004 special funding was utilized to enhance our print journal collection
and a number of Romance language and literature titles were ordered. Table 9 below is a summary of
the monies spent on French, Italian and Spanish journal subscriptions from 1999 to 2005. Notable is
the increase in spending on electronic journals during that time period. The print serials allocations
drop over those years because the overall cancellation of print, in favour of electronic versions of
journals, outweighs the value of new subscriptions.
Table 9: French, Italian Spanish Serial Costs 1999 to 2005
#Titles
1
15
1
1
2
6
4
5
2
4
16
8
6
1
9
4
1
6
French/Italian Serials Allocation
Spanish Serials Allocation
E-Journal Package
ABI/Inform Trade & Industry
Academic Search Premier
Blackwell Synergy
Business Source Premier
Cambridge Journals Online
Canadian Reference Centre
CBCA Complete
Communications & Mass Media
Complete
CPIQ
Directory of Open Access Journals
Expanded Academic
International Index to Performing Arts
Literature Online
Oxford Journals Online
Project Muse
Sociological Collection
SWETS
Taylor & Francis
totals
1999
$19,684.00
$5,472.00
2000
$21,683.00
$5,678.00
2001
$20,518.00
$5,798.00
2002
$16,056.00
$6,272.00
2003
$18,495.00
$6,549.00
2004
$20,980.00
$7,890.00
2005
$17,876.00
$7,010.00
$87.00
$87.00
$5.80
$3.11
$87.00
$97.99
$5.80
$3.11
$87.00
$97.99
$5.80
$351.00
$3.11
$87.00
$97.99
$5.80
$351.00
$34.80
$80.76
$80.76
$80.76
$80.76
$80.76
$80.76
$80.76
$11.60
$11.60
$11.60
$92.80
$92.80
$11.60
$0.00
$92.80
$11.60
$0.00
$92.80
$11.60
$0.00
$92.80
$876.54
$876.54
$235.03
$313.65
$39.28
$876.54
$235.03
$313.65
$39.28
$21.26
$26,887.56
$31,085.82
$313.65
$313.65
$313.65
$313.65
$25,562.01
$27,859.81
$26,901.81
$23,796.15
$174.55
$11.60
$0.00
$92.80
$646.48
$876.54
$235.03
$313.65
$39.28
$21.26
$818.82
$28,776.47
Ulrich’s Journal Holdings Strength Assessment: French, Italian, Spanish
A sample of 164 scholarly, refereed journals covering French, Italian or Spanish and indexed in Modern
Language Abstracts was drawn from Ulrichsweb.com (the most comprehensive listing of journal
information available). The University of Calgary Library’s holdings for these titles were compared
against the holdings of 9 other institutions with an FTE over 20,000. 5 (See Table 10)
5
The holdings of the peer libraries are as of 2004. There are 9 institutions in the 20,000+ 4yr category
all being at the Doctoral/Research level in the Carnegie Classification. All are North American schools,
3 are Canadian. The names of the institutions are not available. More information is available at:
http://www.ulrichsweb.com/ulrichsweb/analysis/itemlocationdetail.asp?catalog=PEERS&listpeer=65474
4&issn=0001-8899&serial_uid=41185&
- 11 -
Table 10
Core
Specialized
Number
of peer
libraries
holding …
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
None
Total
… this
number
of titles,
9
8
4
11
12
8
13
11
28
60
164
compared to
number of the
same titles held
by UofC
9
100%
8
100%
4
100%
10
91%
10
83%
7
88%
10
77%
5
45%
7
25%
12
20%
82
50%
Calgary’s holding of titles held by 4 or more libraries is consistent. This would normally indicate a fairly
strong collection. However, given that language studies are not usually a strength, even of 4 year
schools, these numbers need to be viewed with some caution.
The overall percentage of 50% coverage is lower than we would expect, and the steep drop-off for less
widely held titles indicates that this is a collection that most likely only supports advanced study, and
which is not adequate for the support of research.
Comparison with MLA Core Journal Lists
Using the Modern Language Association (MLA)IB database, three searches were conducted for peerreviewed journals using the subject limiters: French, Italian, and Spanish or Hispanic.6 The resulting
lists were compared to University of Calgary Library holdings. Excepting Italian, results were similar to
the Ulrich’s findings. Of 101 possible French titles, UofC holds 54 (53%). Of 108 possible
Spanish/Hispanic titles, UofC holds 54 (50%). However, of 35 possible Italian titles, UofC holds only 13
(35%).7
Consultation with faculty members from each of the language areas who act as representatives to the
library revealed the following about the MLAIB lists and about the journal collections generally:
French: In the MLAIB list, seven of the journals not held by the library are considered to be essential to
the collection. Eleven others are considered to be very important. Additionally, while the MLAIB
Periodical Directory is somewhat useful, it does not contain some important French journal titles from
France, Belgium and Switzerland. The best source for these, Bibliographie der französischen
Literaturwissenschaft, will need to be consulted in order to conduct a thorough assessment of the
French journal collection. Examples of journals – derived from the MLAIB list and faculty consultation –
considered essential that are not in the collection are: Ponts, Année Stendhalienne, Recherches sur
Diderot et sur l’Encyclopédie, Expressions Maghrébines, Lendemains: Etudes Comparées sur la
6
This subject search produced a general, not comprehensive, list of journals in the MLA directory.
7
The University of Calgary holdings are not always complete; i.e. the library may not hold issues from
the journal’s date of inception. In all cases, over half of the journal subscriptions are now available
electronically.
- 12 -
France, Nouvelles Etudes Francophones, Romance Review, Simone de Beauvoir Studies, Tangence,
Palabres (which is edited by a FIS faculty member, and for which back issues are required).
Spanish: In the MLAIB list, thirteen of the journals not held by the library are considered to be essential
to the collection. Nine others are considered to be very important. Examples of journals – derived from
the MLAIB list and faculty consultation – not in the collection that are considered to be essential are:
Revista Universidad de Antioquia, Revista de Estudios Colombianos, Alba de America: Revista
Literaria, Anuario de Letras Modernas, Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies, Caliope: Journal
for the Society for Renaissance & Baroque Hispanic Poetry, Colorado Review of Hispanic Studies,
Letras de Deusto, Nueva Literatura Hispánica, Revista de Estudios Hispánicos, Revista Electrónica de
Didáctica del Español como Lengua Extranjera, Romance Review, Torre de Papel, Torre: Revista de la
Universidad de Puerto Rico, Archivos de la Filmoteca: Revista de Estudios Históricos Sobre la Imagen.
Italian: In the MLAIB list, three of the journals not held by the library are considered to be essential and
six to be very important. Examples of journals – derived from the MLAIB list and faculty consultation –
considered essential that are not in the collection are: Dante Studies, Italian Quarterly, Pirandello
Studies, Studi sul Boccaccio, Esperienze Letterarie, Italianistica, Lettere Italiane, Filologia Italiana, and
Intersezioni.
Other Resources
Electronic Databases
The following are the most significant library databases supporting research in French, Italian and
Spanish:












ARTFL Project - full-text classical French writings. Consists of nearly 2000 texts ranging from
classic works of French literature to various kinds of non-fiction prose and technical writing
Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN)
Early Canadiana Online
FRANCIS
HAPI (Hispanic American Periodicals Index)
Humanities International Complete
International Medieval Bibliography
ITER: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance
JSTOR – full-text of core journals including Italica, French Review, Yale French Studies, and
Hispanic Review.
LLBA (Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts
MLA Bibliography
Project Muse – full-text of 5 journals focused on French Studies ( L'Esprit Créateur (2006-)
French Colonial History (2003-), French Forum (2001-),French Historical Studies (fall 1999-2004;
archive only) and Nineteenth Century French Studies (spr/sum 2001-)
An important electronic database not in the collection is Repère, which “includes the content from the
print indexes Périodex, Point de repère and Repère: index analytique d’articles de pèriodiques de
langue française. Realized jointly by the national Library of Quebec (BNQ) and Services documentaires
multimedia (SDM), Repère is an index to information published since 1980 in French language
periodicals published in Quebec, elsewhere in Canada, in France, in Belgium and Switzerland. These
periodicals are of general or specialized nature and cover all fields of knowledge. Currently Repère
includes over 410000 references to periodical articles, with the full text of 21000 articles and the
addresses of 10000 full text article on the Internet.” (Source of translated text: University of Guelph
Library catalogue record for Repère.)
- 13 -
In addition to electronic indexes, the Library subscribes to major print indexes such as Romanische
Bibliography and The Year’s Work in Modern Language Studies. The recent acquisition of subscriptions
to major international indexes such as FRANCIS, International Bibliography of the Social Sciences and
British Humanities Index has significantly enhanced researcher awareness of the research output
outside of North America.
As well, digital primary text and image collections such as 18th Century Collections Online, ARTstor and
Past Masters have significantly deepened the research support offered by our collection. A number of
free digital resources such as Gallica (texts from the Bibliotheque nationale de France, Bibliotheque et
Archives nationales Quebec, Italinemo: Periodicals of Italian studies in the world and LAPTOC (Latin
American Periodicals Tables of Content) provide additional access to resources in Romance studies.
Reference Tools
Core digital reference tools include the Dictionary of Literary Biography, Dictionnnaire d’Academie
Francais Database (part of ARTFL), and Literature Online.
The Library has a collection of print dictionaries and encyclopedias including a number of editions of the
Grand Larousse Encyclopédique. The library also holds the major bibliography of French literature,
Bibliographie der französischen Literaturwissenschaft. Recent acquisition of the digital version of key
general reference tools such as Oxford Reference Online and Literature Resource Center have
enhanced the Library’s research support for Romance languages and literatures.
Films/Videos
The Media Library holds over 600 Romance language films, videos and DVDs (301 French, 219
Spanish and 110 Italian).
Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery
FIS has made considerable use of the library’s Document Delivery service, for both books and journal
articles. Table 11 demonstrates the usage over the past seven years. Notable is the recent sharp
increase in graduate student requests for monographs, and retiree requests for journal articles. Though
there has been some fluctuation, the average annual use of these services remains relatively constant.
Table 11
LOANS (MONOGRAPHS)
Faculty
Graduate
Staff
Undergrad
Retiree
Subtotal
2000/2001
140
80
4
6
0
230
2001/2002
157
61
2
14
0
234
2002/2003
140
80
4
6
0
230
2003/2004
105
57
1
6
0
169
2004/2005
42
18
23
4
0
87
2005/2006
114
89
0
3
7
213
2006/2007
84
124
0
2
18
228
2005/2006
58
34
0
0
13
105
333
PHOTOCOPIES (ARTICLES)
Faculty
Graduate
Staff
Undergrad
Retiree
Subtotal
Total
2000/2001
60
24
0
21
0
105
2001/2002
164
29
3
29
0
225
2002/2003
60
24
0
21
0
105
2003/2004
29
35
0
5
0
69
2004/2005
21
12
9
1
43
2005/2006
37
50
0
21
8
116
335
459
335
238
130
329
- 14 -
OTHER SERVICES
Information Literacy Instruction
Information Literacy is the ability to recognize a need for information and to be able to access, locate,
evaluate and appropriately use information.8 The French, Italian and Spanish Liaison Librarian offers
course based instruction on research techniques, information resources and the organization of the
literature of the discipline to undergraduate and graduate-level students.
During the past few academic years, Information Literacy instruction in French, Italian and Spanish has
been minimal. For example, from 2002 to 2006, faculty requested eighteen classes – an average of
three classes per year. Of those eighteen, sixteen were for Spanish.
Librarian fluctuation, and the need to provide more information to faculty members about Information
Literacy, could account for the limited use of this library service. The liaison librarian for FIS is available
to consult with faculty about ways in which Information Literacy can be incorporated into student
learning, and provide course-related information literacy instruction.
One-on-One Reference
The FIS librarian offers one-on-one reference to students and faculty. From 2001 to 2006, 30 Spanish
faculty or students received 1740 minutes of reference consultation. 15 from French received 460
minutes, and 7 people from Italian also received 460 minutes. While Spanish used this service to the
greatest extent, it did so far less after 2003. In fact, 75% of its usage was between 2001 and 2003. Use
by French and Italian, while lower, was more consistent.
These one-on-one reference statistics are relatively low, which may be owing to librarian fluctuation and
limited departmental awareness of this service. It is anticipated that a more stable librarian presence,
increased librarian visibility in the department, and the provision of more information about reference
consultation will augment its use by faculty and students.
FUTURE CONCERNS AND ISSUES
Budget
The Library’s acquisition budget has had a reinvestment of $3.6 million over the last three years, which
has made a significant difference in the level of purchasing to support the monograph and journal
collection for French, Italian and Spanish language and literature. However, it has not been sufficient to
keep apace with emerging teaching and research areas, nor to prevent gaps in the core collection.
Increased funding and strong collaboration between department and library are central to addressing
these gaps.
Internationalization and the Library
For more than a decade, the University of Calgary has been emphasizing the value in, and the need to
support, an “internationalized learning experience” for students. In fact, “[in] June 1996, GFC and the
Board of Governors approved plans of action recommended by the Task Force on Internationalization,
giving internationalization a high institutional priority. These plans called for each Faculty and
8
Basic information for faculty is available through the American Library Association (ALA) at the
following websites:
Info Literacy Information for Faculty
http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlissues/acrlinfolit/infolitoverview/infolitforfac/infolitfaculty.cfm
Standards Toolkit
http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlissues/acrlinfolit/infolitstandards/standardstoolkit.cfm
- 15 -
department to create a roster of activities to build our international focus. While this mandate includes
the possibility of internationalizing many activities, internationalizing the curriculum can be central to this
plan.”9 The Department of French, Italian and Spanish clearly plays a key role in this important campus
initiative, and the library an equally important one in ensuring its collection supports the department’s
growing international focus.
Language Learning and Literacy
Language Learning and Literacy is identified as an area of prominence and promise in the University of
Calgary’s Academic Plan.10 While the Library has allocated special one-time funding to build collections
in these areas, enhancing the ongoing budget allocation for French, Italian and Spanish would ensure
long term strength and growth.
Library Liaison
Librarian fluctuation may have affected collecting, reference services, information literacy instruction,
and ongoing contact with the Department over the past five to seven years. The recent hiring of a
librarian to assume ongoing responsibility for liaison with FIS creates renewed opportunities for
consultation and collaboration. The complex needs of a multilingual department may best be met by
increased librarian presence in the department – a liaison model that has demonstrated significant
success in other universities.11
SUMMARY
The review of library support for French and Spanish demonstrates a generally adequate
undergraduate collection focused on acquiring material to support the teaching needs of the program
and the faculty. The collection also demonstrates some areas of strength focused on the research
needs of graduate students and faculty. However, there are gaps – both historic and current – that
must be filled in order to bring the collection to an appropriate level for graduate and faculty research
and teaching. The Italian collection is inadequate – historically and currently – even for undergraduate
studies.
Using standard assessment methodology, a purchasing shortfall of 43% was demonstrated in YBP
comparative monograph acquisition rates. Owing to the complexity of assessing collection acquisition
from diverse sources for a multi-language department, a direct extrapolation to acquisition rates from
other sources is not possible. However, the YBP figure provides a bench mark – especially given other
comparative data, which also reflect significant areas of weakness in the collection.
While careful use of current budgetary allotments will play a role in addressing collection gaps, a
significant increase in ongoing funding for monographic purchases is required to strengthen
undergraduate support and to move the collection to the graduate/research level. As well, a one time
injection of funds is required for Italian. In this regard, the following is recommended:
From a “Working document of the Undergraduate Curriculum Redesign Team, 12 February 1998”.
http://www.ucalgary.ca/Transformation/internat.html Retrieved 3 Nov. 2007.
9
10
See http://www.ucalgary.ca/academic-plan/update/index.html
11
Seamans, Nancy H., and Paul Metz. "Virginia Tech's Innovative College Librarian Program." College
& Research Libraries 63.4 (2002): 324-32.
Johnson, Brenda L. and Laurie A. Alexander. "In the Field." Library Journal 132.2 (2007): 38-40.
- 16 -
-
base budget of $33,500 for French and Italian (with projected spending of $24,500 and $9,000
respectively)
additional one-time collection enhancement of $12,000 for Italian
base budget of $16,000 for Spanish
Furthermore, while aggregator packages have significantly increased access to the journal literature,
additional on-going funding is required to enhance the French, Italian and Spanish journal collection,
which is currently adequate only for undergraduate studies in French and Spanish, and below that
standard for Italian. Many Romance language and literature journals are available only in paper, which
should not preclude their purchase. A subscription rate search for essential journals mentioned earlier
in this report demonstrated that the cost for Italian journals is substantially higher than that for those
related to French and Spanish. Based on the cost of those essential journals, and on the need for
further assessment of gaps in the journal collection, the following is recommended:
- separation of the French and Italian allocations for serials
- additional, ongoing allocation of $1,500.00 for French
- additional, ongoing allocation of $1,500.00 for Spanish and Latin American
- additional, ongoing allocation of $2,500.00 for Italian
It is also recommended that a subscription be purchased for the database Repère, at a cost of
approximately $1,200.00.
The library provides professional librarian support to the department for research consultation and
information literacy. To augment the department’s benefit from the librarian’s consultation and
collaboration, the library supports increased and enhanced librarian involvement with the department –
wherever it is potentially beneficial to teaching, learning and research.
Melanie Boyd
Liaison Librarian for French, Italian and Spanish
With the support of Collections Services
November 5, 2007
- 17 -
Appendix A
2006 Enrolment Statistics*
University
University of Saskatchewan
McMaster University
University of Calgary
University of British Columbia
University of Western Ontario
University of Alberta
FT Undergrad
FT Grad
Comments
16,434**
19,400
20,320
26,410
26,500
28,810
2,145**
2,500
4,320
6,880
3,700
4,470
Includes Okanogan
Includes colleges
Includes Augustana Faculty
*Source: Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada
**Source: UofS Website
- 18 -