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Pat Knight, Divisional Collection Management Librarian - Arts & Humanities, with the assistance of Margaret Black, Assistant Divisional Collection Management Librarian - Arts & Humanities
April 1997
1. To evaluate the Philosophy collections throughout the University of Melbourne Library
1.2 To evaluate those areas of the Religion collections in the University Library which are of direct relevance to the Universitys teaching and research programs.
1.3 To identify areas of the collection which need improvement in currency and scope
1.4 To lay the foundation for a collection management policy for the Philosophy and Religion areas.
The collections were assessed using criteria set out in the Australian Conspectus Manual:
Note: Low use materials are housed in the Kidds Warehouse. Items held in Kidds have not been included in this Conspectus evaluation.
Religion, as a separate discipline, is not included in the Universitys teaching and research programs. Some aspects of religion however are covered within other subject disciplines, not all of which will be represented by materials classified in the 200s. Specific subjects include the following:
The major resource for religious studies is in the theological colleges associated with the University - see section 8.3 of this report
Philosophy is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, scholarly disciplines in the world. The development of philosophical thought worldwide has traditionally followed two quite distinct and separate paths; those of eastern and of western philosophies. Within western philosophy there is further divergence into analytic and continental approaches. The analytic approach is most common in universities in the English-speaking countries and in Scandinavia, while the continental approach has been favoured by European universities and those in South America and some parts of the United States. In recent years there has been some blurring of these distinctions, with philosophers using an analytic approach to study eastern philosophies, and others exploring eastern ideas through approaches used by western philosophers.
Philosophy departments in Australian universities have a very strong foundation in the anglo-american analytic approach to the study of philosophy, but most are now looking more widely than the traditional areas of philosophical inquiry (metaphysics, ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of science and logic [1]) and including Asian philosophies, feminist approaches as well as a range of philosophies of other subject disciplines (e.g. philosophy of language, philosophy of aesthetics, professional and applied ethics).
The types of sources used by the philosopher are no different than those used by any other scholar in the humanities - mainly monographs and academic journals. Both are of equal importance. Specific tools most commonly required by the philosopher include scholarly treatises (in the original language and in translation), critical works, journal articles, conference papers, proceedings and transactions of philosophical societies, as well as abstracting and indexing sources.
It should be noted that within philosophy departments in Australian universities, it is a widely accepted convention of the discipline that works of the modern philosophers do not always need to be read in their original language; that English translations can suffice. Although there are projects which do require reading knowledge of modern European languages for their successful completion, it is often possible to write a doctoral thesis on a French or German philosopher - Descartes or Husserl, for example - without reading primary or secondary sources in the original French or German. The guideline given in the Australian Conspectus Manual, that for a collection to be assessed at level four, Research, the collection will provide materials in all appropriate formats and languages... [2] needs to be applied in the context of this local convention.
The following entry from the Department of Philosophys Home Page on the Internet provides an historical overview of the development of Philosophy in the University of Melbourne.
Professor Brian Scarlett, the Head of Department, gives an update of where the Department of Philosophy sits today.
The Department undertakes research across a number of areas including,
The entry from the Department of History and Philosophy of Sciences Home Page on the Internet provides an overview of the Department and its aims.
Members of the Department are engaged in a number of areas of teaching and research. Those relating specifically to the philosophy of science include:
A number of departments, other than the Departments of Philosophy and History & Philosophy of Science, also have research interests which fall within this Conspectus Division. Areas of research include the following:
The Librarys collections are housed in a total of 20 libraries, some of which are small branch libraries and others which are quite sizeable. The collections relating to the subjects covered by the Philosophy and Religion Conspectus Division are housed in three main collections in the University Library; the main collection of the Baillieu Library, the Research Collections (the B and AB collections) in the Education Resource Centre (the ERC), and the ERCs main collection.
The Library also has an extensive microform collection of some 1,347,000 items which is housed in the Baillieu Library. The collection covers both serials and monographs, many of which are of importance for scholars doing historical research. Material is arranged by accession number so cannot be browsed by subject
In addition the Library has a number of special collections, collectively housed in the Special Collections Section of the Baillieu Library. These collections include an extensive range of material, much of which is rare and/or of historical value.
The Baillieu Library has a separate East Asian Collection of Chinese and Japanese language material which is classified according to the Harvard-Yenching Classification. A separate Conspectus evaluation of this material has been completed.
Material in microform is not included in the number of volumes recorded in the Conspectus database. The following examples will serve as an indication of the type of material in microform:
The information recorded on the Conspectus database does not include a
count of material in these Special Collections.
8.2.1 BX
Collection
This collection houses almost 600 volumes on Philosophy
(including approximately 200 volumes on temperance and abstinence published in
the late 19th and early 20th centuries) and about 1,200 volumes on Religion
published from the 1600s to the early part of the 20th century
8.2.2 McLaren Collection
The McLaren collection contains
approximately 800 volumes on Christian theology published in the 19th and 20th
centuries (up until the 1970s).They are either Australasian works or works
about theology in Australasia. Included are the Minutes of the First Conference
of the Australasian Wesleyan Methodist Church, 1855. In addition there are 55
boxes of pamphlets on theology.
Also included are approximately 1,400 19th and 20th century pamphlets, some of which are unique. The pamphlets include official documents from church bodies in Australasia (e.g. Wesleyan Mission).
About 40 bibles translated into Pacific Island languages are also housed in this collection.
McLaren also has a number of volumes on temperance, including The Rechabite and Temperance Magazine, 1906-07 to 1979 - 82, which replaced Temperance News.
8.2.3 The Rare Books Collection
The Rare Books Collection
consists mainly of material which is of value as a physical object rather than
for its content. The collection includes various Polyglot editions of the Bible
(e.g. the Waltons Biblia Sacra Polyglotta published in 1657 and
a facsimile reprint of Plantins Biblia Sacra), other versions of
the Bible (e.g. facsimile editions of Tyndales New Testament), and about
65 volumes of works by and about Cicero published between 1534 and 1904.
8.2.4 The Morgan Collection
This collection contains over
200 books for children on the Christian religion (including prayer books,
tracts, texts on religion and morality, and books awarded to children as Sunday
school prizes) as well as approximately 60 volumes on Philosophy.
8.2.5 Ormond College Rare Books Collection
The University
Library also acts as caretaker to the Universitys Ormond College Rare
Books Collection. This comprises about 220 books, mostly on religion and
theology.
8.3.1 The Gibson Memorial Library
This library is the
departmental library of the Department of Philosophy and is independent of the
University Library system. It contains over 7,500 monograph volumes on
philosophy and about 45 journal titles. These are all duplicates of titles held
in the University Library which is in keeping with the Faulty of Arts
policy on departmental libraries. Due to decreases in funding for this library
in recent years the collection is growing only slowly. The librarys
catalogue is available through the World Wide Web -
http://www.arts.unimelb.edu.au/dept/Philosophy/Phillis.
8.3.2 Joint Theological Library, Ormond College, The University of
Melbourne
The collection consists of approximately 130,000 volumes
specialising in the areas of theology, biblical studies, ministry and
liturgy.
8.3.3 Queens College Library, The University of Melbourne
This Library specialises in Wesleyania and Methodistica. It includes an
18th century collection of books published by John and Charles Wesley in their
lifetimes and an extensive collection of 19th and 20th century, British and
Australian, Wesleyan and Methodist books. Formats include books, microform,
manuscripts and memorabilia.
8.3.4 Ridley Colleges Theological Library, The University of
Melbourne
This collection contains approximately 35,000 volumes. Its
main areas of specialisation are bibles, theology, ethics, church history and
practical ministry. It subscribes to approximately 130 journals.
The following bibliographies were used to check how representative the Librarys collections are:
9.1.1 Monographs
Results from list checking reveal some
consistency between the two older bibliographic sources used, Tice and
Slavens Research Guide to Philosophy, and List and Plums,
Library Research Guide to Philosophy. A significantly lower percentage
of titles were held from the most current source, Bynagle. This may, in part,
be due to the different emphasis of Bynagle which concentrates more on
bibliographies and reference works in philosophy. Bynagle also includes a
larger percentage of non-English language titles (27.9% of the number sampled),
while 16% of titles sampled from List and Plum were non-English titles and just
over 2% of Tice and Slavens. Further investigation may need to be carried out
to see whether the acquisition rate of new material has dropped in recent
years.
Table 1 Monographs
|
Bibliography |
Number Checked |
Number Held |
Percentage |
|
Bynagle |
183* |
95 |
51.5% |
|
List & Plum |
125 |
100 |
80% |
|
Tice & Slavens |
297 |
248 |
83.5% |
|
Overall |
605 |
443 |
73.2% |
* As well as monographs this number includes a few serial titles.
9.1.2 Serials
Results of checking the bibliographic
sources for serial titles varied according to the source used, with the highest
percentage of titles being held from Bynagles Philosophy: A Guide to
the Reference Literature, and the lowest from Philosophers
Index. This might well be a reflection of the purpose and extent of the
lists. Bynagle lists a total of 32 core journals, while
Philosophers Index includes over 430 serials on all aspects of
Philosophy and some related disciplines.
Table 2 Serials
|
Bibliography |
Number Checked |
Number Held |
Percentage |
|
Bynagle |
32 |
25 |
78.1% |
|
De George |
134 |
73 |
54.5% |
|
Philosophers Ind. |
107 |
38 |
35.5% |
|
Overall |
273 |
136 |
49.8% |
In addition to list checking, shelves were also scanned to count the number of volumes at each subject line, the date ranges, the languages, and any titles worth noting.
A number of academic staff from the Departments of Philosophy and History & Philosophy of Science were consulted and asked to assign levels to subject lines on the Conspectus worksheets. In addition, some of the academic staff from other departments with an interest in religion were also consulted. Specific information is supplied in sections 12 and 13.
The total collection of monographs in Philosophy amounts to well over 20,500 volumes. A wide range of publication dates is represented (from the 16th century onwards) and the collection includes a wealth of materials in languages other than English. The acquisition rate of titles from the larger, mainstream publishers is good, but there is some concern that there are gaps in publications from some of the smaller publishers. There are also some subject areas which need to be built up - see section 14 of this report. Acquisitions plans need to concentrate more on these areas. Overall the philosophy monograph collection is rated a level 3b.
The Library currently subscribes to approximately 140 serials in Philosophy. Results of list checking indicate that the Library holds the core journals as well as those that are in fields in which there is a research interest. There is some concern among academics, however, that some individual titles of monographs in series are being missed by the approval plans currently in place. A review of approval plan profiles and of the Librarys subscriptions to monographs in series would seem to be appropriate. Overall the rating is level 3b.
The Library has a wide range of reference resources, both on philosophy in general and on specific philosophers, schools and periods. Results of checking Bynagles Philosophy: A Guide to the Reference Literature (see section 8.1) indicate that there are a number of potentially useful titles that the Library does not hold. Overall the reference material is rated at level 3b.
The University Library holds, or provides access to, a wide range of indexing and abstracting sources relevant to philosophy in both print and electronic form. Sources covering religion specifically are less numerous. The collection in philosophy is judged to be at a level 4, and in religion, at a 3a level.
Titles include:
The Library has a research level collection in the area of ethics in general. However, of the more specific applications of ethics political ethics, business ethics and professional/occupational ethics need to be developed to an intermediate level.
Although the overall assessment for critical philosophy (Dewey 142) is at Conspectus level 3a (Intermediate: Introductory), within that number existentialism is of a research level.
The collections strengths in modern western philosophy are mainly in the work of German and French philosophers such as Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Foucault and Derrida. Works of these authors are in their original language and in English translations. Secondary sources are primarily in English with some older titles also in European languages.
This is a specialised but developing area in which a great deal of research interest has been shown over the past two decades. The Library needs to not only insure current works are acquired, but that gaps in earlier publications are filled. English is the predominant language of publication. Most works, even those published in France, Germany and Italy, being in English.
Although the Library has a reasonably good collection of classical Islamic sources in Arabic (Quranic studies, Hadith texts and Islamic history in general), and of general works on Islam by western scholars, there are areas which need to be developed. These have been identified are as follows:
Contemporary research in logic depends, more than any other area of philosophy, on journal articles. The Librarys journal collection includes the core titles as well as a many of the more general philosophical titles with some logic content. In recent years the Library has subscribed to a number of new logic journals. During the evaluation a few gaps were identified in the more general philosophy journals, but no titles central to logic were noted as absent from the collection.
The monograph collection in logic was assessed as being reasonable in its coverage of materials up to the 1960s, but dropped off during the 1970s. There have been great improvements since then, particularly in the coverage of material from the major publishers (including the main monograph-in-series publications), but some important titles from the less mainstream publishers are being missed. This needs to be addressed and some mechanism put in place to insure that titles are identified at the publication stage. Some retrospective purchasing is also needed.
Some criticism was levelled at the readership level of some of the newer titles acquired, specifically, that many were undistinguished, base-level textbooks.
Although the collection has its strengths (e.g. holdings on Luther, medieval works on heresy), there are many areas which need to be built up. The collection reflects former teaching and research programs and has not always changed to reflect current research needs (e.g. Calvin, French Protestantism, the Roman Catholic Church in Europe which is a significant part of European church history, religious congregations and orders, primary resources on the Templars, and the Greek Orthodox Church in Cyprus). Until the late 1980s teaching and research was focussed almost entirely on Britain, or the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period. There has now been a shift in interest to Europe in the period, 1100-1300 AD.
There is a great deal of interest among research students in religious women in medieval Europe and both primary and secondary resources in this area also need to be built up
It was noted that the collection lacks some basic tools such as the histories of the Councils of Roman Catholic Church, the registers of the medieval popes and church penitential books which explain the penances for the various sins.
The collection on Daoism is reasonable, but needs to be further developed if it is to support the research needs of the University. This includes materials in both western languages and Chinese. Development in particular needs to concentrate on materials in English and French on the background of the wider range of Chinese traditional thought.
Although bioethics is not an area of research interest within the University, there is a need for at least a basic collection of books and, in particular, journals at an undergraduate level.
I would like to thank all of the academic staff who generously gave their time in assisting with this assessment. The greatest number of staff were from the Department of Philosophy, but also represented were the Departments of History & Philosophy of Science, Classics & Archaeology, History, Language Studies, and Japanese & Chinese.
1 Teichman, Jenny & Katherine C. Evans. Philosophy: A Beginners Guide. 2nd. ed. Oxford: Blackwell, 1995.
2 Henty, Margaret. Australian Conspectus Manual: A Collection Assessment Guide. Rev. ed. Canberra: Australian Council of Libraries and Information Services, 1992.
3 http://www.arts.unimelb.edu.au/dept/Philosophy/history.htm
4 Email correspondence, 20 January 1997
5 http://www.arts.unimelb.edu.au/dept/HPS
Last modified: August 18 2004.
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