Developing and Managing the Brown University Library Collections
Collection Policies by Subject:  English

• Library Liaisons:
  Stephen_L_Thompson@brown.edu
• Departmental Library Representative (DLR): 
  Leonard_Tennenhouse@brown.edu

• Description of the Academic Program | ENGLISH Departmental Home Page
  Departmental and faculty interests and approaches to the study of literature are varied and wide-ranging and include cultural-historical research, theoretical issues related to literature and sexuality, politics, mass media, and race and ethnicity. The literature faculty has organized itself into three research areas to explore these literary-historical problems: Medieval and Early Modern Literatures and Cultures; the Enlightenment and the Rise of National Literatures and Cultures; and Modern and Contemporary Literatures and Cultures. The Creative Writing program offers courses in beginning, intermediate, advanced, and graduate levels in poetry, fiction, and drama, while the Expository Writing program offers courses from beginning to advanced in developing critical reading and writing skills, as well as in journals, various non-fiction genres (memoir, travel writing, science and nature writing), and literary journalism. Undergraduate concentrations may focus on the literary-historical, research, Anglophone/post-colonial/multicultural, American literature, gender and sexuality, genre, theory, expository writing, and independent study. There are honors programs in literatures, expository writing, and creative writing. Masters and doctoral programs are offered in English Literatures and Cultures and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing. The Department has close ties with African Studies, American Civilization, Comparative Literature, Modern Culture and Media, Theatre, Speech and Dance, Ethnic Studies Program, and the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women.
  Database of Honors, Masters, and Ph.D Theses

• Overview of the Collection
  The collections for English, housed in the Rockefeller Library, total an estimated 150,000 titles, including 235 print journal subscriptions and over 100 electronic journals, supplemented, of course, by the holdings for the related disciplines listed above and other national literatures. This encompasses resources which directly support the study of English and American literature, primarily in the Library of Congress classifications PE, PR, and PS. Together these collections support the wide-ranging study and research interests of the English faculty and graduate and undergraduate students.

  See Library support statement for Graduate Program Review for English
  See Library support for External Cluster Review for Humanities

• General Collecting Guidelines
  Desired coverage is at the research level, with a few areas at the study level. A research level collection includes major source materials required for dissertation and independent research, particularly primary sources, specialized journals, important reference works, major indexing/abstracting services, and a wide selection of specialized monographs. A study level collection supports undergraduate and graduate course work, but may not hold the specialized primary sources and journals necessary for graduate and faculty research.

• Specific Collecting Guidelines
  • Language: Primary sources and works of literary theory and criticism are acquired almost exclusively in the English language.
  • Chronological Span: Medieval and early modern period to the present.
  • Imprint Date: Current imprints, with occasional purchase of retrospective materials in support of research needs.
  • Geographical Range: Emphasis has traditionally been on the United States, Canada, and Great Britain with an increasing interest in ethnic literature and any Anglophone country or area, for example, Africa or the Caribbean.
  • Types of Material Included: Books and periodicals. Selective acquisition of electronic formats: books, journals, databases. Occasional purchase of audio, video, out-of-print material, reprints, dissertations, and microforms in support of research needs.

• Areas of Distinction
  The collecting and teaching of literature, originally under the heading of rhetoric and belles letters, goes back to the beginnings of the University. Consequently, the present Library collections are extensive, both topically and chronologically, in the primary texts and the secondary, theoretical and critical literature in all the major areas of interest from medieval and early modern through the Enlightenment and into the modern and contemporary era. This includes an extensive collection of reference works from dictionaries, encyclopedias, and concordances to indexes and bibliographies. More recently, the addition of numerous subject-specific electronic databases, including the MLA Bibliography, the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature, Literature Online (LION), the Literature Resource Center (LRC), as well as numerous interdisciplinary e-resources, and various full-text databases of poetry, drama, and fiction, such as Early American Imprints and Early English Books Online (EEBO) have extended the scope and accessibility of the collections

• Special Collections
  The Harris of American Poetry and Plays, perhaps the largest and most comprehensive collection of its kind, which includes Canadian publications, provides major support for instruction and research in English. The John Hay Library also houses other relevant collections, including authors like Blake, Lovecraft, Orwell, Shaw, and Wells, and topical collections like comic books, gay and lesbian literature, and wit and humor. The Manuscript Collection includes holdings of Lovecraft, Perelman, Pound, and Thoreau among others.

• Breakdown of Subjects (forthcoming) and Collecting Levels

• New Titles Cataloged

• Related Collections and Other Resources
  In addition to the holdings of the John Hay Library, other potentially useful resources on campus for teaching and research can be found in the John Carter Brown Library, the Media Services’ video collection, and the Orwig Music Library. We can also draw on the resources of the Center for Research Libraries and virtually any other library in the world through our consortial, direct borrowing options and general interlibrary loan service.

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