The Center for Old World Archaeology & Art has offered a Ph.D. program since 1986 and an undergraduate concentration since 1990. Its courses are cross-listed with the departments of Classics, History of Art & Architecture, and Anthropology. Other related departments and programs include Egyptology, History of Mathematics, Judaic Studies, and Ancient Studies.
It is impossible to estimate how many titles or volumes the Library holds that support Old World Archaeology & Art, as there is so much overlap with these other, related, collections, and they span much of the Library of Congress Classification. In general, Brown’s Library is very strong in almost all areas of ancient history and archaeology, due to the great interest here from many different departments. At the close of the 1998/99 fiscal year, 220 serial titles were being received for Old World Archaeology & Art. The Center’s faculty contend that Brown has one of the strongest collections in Classical Archaeology in North America.
During the last five years, the Library expenditures for material in Old World Archaeology & Art were as follows:
| Library Expenditures | 1994/95 | 1995/96 | 1996/97 | 1997/98 | 1998/99 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firm Orders | $7,986 | $9,818 | $13,784 | $11,500 | $10,636 |
| Approvals | $2,000 | $1,748 | $2,612 | $1,703 | $1,904 |
| Serials | $15,980 | $20,409 | $21,737 | $16,808 | $14,662 |
| Total | $25,966 | $31,975 | $38,133 | $ 30,011 | $27,202 |
The Center for Old World Archaeology & Art itself made substantial contributions each year to the materials budget. The expenditures shown above include funds transferred from the Center. This may explain the variation in spending from one year to another. We also see variation in the amount spent for serials over the years, which is probably due to the fact that these include many standing orders for series, which are not published on a regular schedule.
The Library collection provides excellent support for undergraduate and graduate instruction. The long history of the Classics Department, commencing with the founding of the University, has resulted in large retrospective holdings that also benefit the faculty and students of the Center for Old World Archaeology & Art.
While the current serials title list for Old World Archaeology & Art is impressive, funding of monographic purchases is adequate for only selective rather than comprehensive acquisition of Research-level titles. According to the collection development criteria developed in 1983, the desired level of coverage in nearly all areas of the discipline is Research. A Research level collection is one that includes the major source materials required for dissertations and independent research, as well as all important reference works and a wide selection of specialized monographs and a very extensive collection of journals and major indexing and abstracting services in the field.
With funding from an endowment established with an NEH Challenge Grant, a new Preservation Librarian position was established and recently filled. A portion of the income from the endowment is earmarked to support the preservation of the Library’s distinguished print collection of resources relating to the Ancient World.
The core area of interest to Old World Archaeology & Art, in which the Library collection has its greatest strength, includes Italy, Greece, and the Aegean Islands during the time period dating from the Bronze Age to the 5th century C.E. The collection offers less complete coverage of Roman provincial archaeology, European prehistory, and the ancient Near East. Publications in English, Western European languages, Slavic languages, Arabic, and Turkish are acquired. Each year, the Parker Visiting Scholar is encouraged to provide guidance in assessing the Library's needs for publications in his or her area of expertise. The weakness of the collection lies in areas in which recent political changes have permitted greater archaeological activity and consequently an increased volume of publication, as in Spain, Portugal and Eastern Europe.
Electronic resources supporting scholarly research in Old World Archaeology & Art include DYABOLA and the Perseus Digital Library. DYABOLA is an electronic version of the "Realkatalog" of the Library of the German Archaeological Institute in Rome, providing subject access to monographic and serial literature. Annual updates are on standing order, and a new "intranet" version is expected in 2000. The current CD-ROM version is difficult to master, and is available only on a single dedicated PC in the Rockefeller Reference area. The Perseus Digital Library web site at Tufts University is accessible via Brown’s Library Web. A recent addition to the site is an Image Browser tool that enables the user to manipulate the display of some 30,000 digital images; additional tools and more images will be added. The Perseus Project as a whole is "an evolving digital library," incorporating new resources for research and teaching.
In addition to the Center’s own small collection of visual resources, approximately 32,000 slides within the Art Slide Library's collection cover subjects useful to teaching courses in Old World Archaeology & Art. Among the Library’s additional uncataloged resources are some 5,000 original slides of ancient art, architecture, and archaeology (about 40% of them Near Eastern), donated by Jean Keith, retired professor from the University of Connecticut, who also granted Brown the right to digitize these images for educational purposes. The Keith slides are not in use at present, awaiting special funds for purchase of binding materials and student labor.
Norine Duncan, Collection Development Librarian
Department of Old World Archaeology & Art
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