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

• Library Liaisons:  Holly Snyder, Rosemary Cullen
  
  
• Departmental Library Representative (DLR): 
  Steve Lubar, John Nicholas Brown Center
  

• Description of the Academic Program:  
  The graduate program in the Public Humanities is a new initiative that forms part of Brown’s overall plan for Academic Enrichment. Established by the Department of American Civilization in conjunction with the John Nicholas Brown Center for the Study of American Civilization at Brown University, the program seeks to broaden and enhance an existing concentration in Museum Studies. See the following links for further information on the program:
  
  
  • John Nicholas Brown Center for the Study of American Civilization
    
  • Department of American Civilization
    
    
• Faculty: 
  
  • Steve Lubar
    
  • Rob Emlen
    
  • Susan Smulyan
    
  • Pat Malone
    
  • Paul Buhle
    
  • Matt Garcia
    
  • Jim Campbell
    
    

• Recent Courses: 
  
  • Museums, Memorials and Memories (AC190)
    
  • Material Culture (AC125)
    
  • The Neoclassical Ideal in America, 1775-1840
    
  • American Folk Art
    
  • Gravestones and Burying Grounds
    
    
  Database of Honors, Masters, and Ph.D Theses
  

• Library Links:  Public Humanities, American Civilization
  
  

  

  Collection Strategy:
  
  Public Humanities highlights the interpretation of the past for public purposes, as well as the cultural ramifications of interpretive practices. The program in the Public Humanities builds on the existing Museum Studies concentration at the Masters level in the Department of American Civilization, which has been offered since 1989. A similar program in Museum Studies, focusing on ethnology, has been offered by the Department of Anthropology through the Haffenreffer Museum since the early 1960s. However, the Museum Studies component in the collections of the Brown University Library has traditionally not been strong. In recent years, with the establishment of cross-registration and inter-institutional cooperation, Brown users have come to rely on the Museum Studies collection maintained by the RISD Library. RISD’s holdings in Museum Studies, however, are equally small and remain focused on museum theory and techniques of interest to RISD faculty and students, who come to the field from a fine arts perspective.
  
  In addition to Museum Studies, Public Humanities encompasses new fields of endeavor which have begun to emerge in recent years, specifically those arising from the historical profession. The most significant of these is Public History, which has become established as a new subfield over the course of the past twenty-five years. Other new areas of study include: history and memory, public memorials, historical museums, historic interpretation and preservation, the history of collecting and collections, cultural communities, and the evolving public sphere. Areas of future development may include humanities journalism and public diplomacy.
  
  To better support the new Public Humanities initiative, the Brown University Library is planning, in conjunction with the Library at the Rhode Island School of Design and the new Cogut Humanities Center at Brown, to strategically enhance its collections in museum studies, public history and other disciplines closely related to the public humanities.
  
  

• Overview of the Collection
  
  General Collections: The Public Humanities collection currently consists of more than 30,000 titles, of which many are periodicals, some received in both electronic format and hardcopy. These materials are housed in the John D. Rockefeller Library, and can be readily accessed through JOSIAH. A list of pertinent e-journals in public history and museum studies, with links to the journals themselves, is provided on the Library’s Resource Guide to Public Humanities. General works pertaining to the Public Humanities are typically found in the following call number ranges:
  
  

  SUBJECT AREA	LC CLASSES	NO. OF TITLES
  Museums, Collectors and Collecting	AM	274
  Historical archaeology	CC72 - CC81	326
  General history and historiography	D1 - D25	1,160
  United States history, in general	E151 - E181	2,752
  Material culture	GN	4,476
  Business history	HD, HF	14,098
  Social history and conditions	HM, HN	5,844
  Decorative Arts	NK	2,819
  Technology expositions	T391 - T995	101

  
  

  These categories, however, are not precise. Some of the above classes include materials un-related to the study of public humanities. In addition, works pertaining to public history and museums can be found interfiled throughout all LC classifications, especially those pertaining to archaeology (C), history (D, E, F), geography (G), the social sciences (H), art (N), technology (T) and information sciences (Z).
  

  Special Collections: In its first two centuries, the Brown University Library has built strong collections in American history, American literature, and American popular culture, particularly in its rare book, manuscript, and archival holdings housed in the John Hay Library. The Library’s specialized collections have particular strengths in magic and the occult, the history of science and mathematics, genre fiction, children’s literature, gay and lesbian literature, the history of medicine, alcoholism and temperance, and legal and diplomatic history. A number of these collections include sets of material objects which have previously been underutilized for scholarly study. Among the collections which have object value for the study of the Public Humanities are the following:
  
  

  • AMES COLLECTION OF ILLUSTRATED TRAVEL BOOKS
    
    
  • EBERSTADT COLLECTION (Narratives of the American West)
    
    
  • CARRIERS ADDRESSES
    
    
  • SHEET MUSIC COLLECTIONS
    
    • African American Sheet Music
      
    • World War I Sheet Music
      
    • Yiddish Sheet Music
      
      
  • ALCOHOLISM COLLECTIONS(Including Dr. Bob and Chester Kirk collections)
    
    • Alcoholism Digital Collection
      
    • Alcoholism Exhibits
      
      
  • DUPEE FIREWORKS COLLECTION
    
    
  • GORHAM COMPANY ARCHIVES
    
    
  • MCLELLAN COLLECTION OF LINCOLNIANA
    
    
  • ALBERT LOWNES THOREAU COLLECTION
    
    
  • SMITH COLLECTION OF CONJURING AND MAGICANA
    
    
  • MILLER COLLECTION OF WIT AND HUMOR
    
    
  • WANDERING JEW COLLECTION
    
    
  • HARRIS COLLECTION OF AMERICAN POETRY AND PLAYS
    
    
  • MORSE WHALING COLLECTION
    
    
  • METCALF COLLECTION OF 19TH CENTURY PAMPHLETS
    
    
  • SIDNEY S. RIDER COLLECTION ON RHODE ISLAND HISTORY
    
    
  • ANNE S. K. BROWN MILITARY COLLECTION
    
    
  • CIARALDI COLLECTION OF COMIC BOOKS AND COMIC ART
    
    
  • BROWN UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES
    
    
  (Further details of each of these collections can be found in Collections A to Z on the Library’s main webpage)
  
  
  

• Collecting Guidelines
  The primary purpose of the Public Humanities collection is to support the needs of graduate students and faculty in the John Nicholas Brown Center’s Public Humanities program. A secondary purpose is to meet the needs of all students and faculty at Brown and, through Brown/RISD collaborative programs, at the Rhode Island School of Design, for information resources pertaining to museum studies, public history and related disciplines in the humanities. In pursuance of that goal, the following guidelines have been established:
  
  
  • Circulating collections: The focus of the circulating collection for the Public Humanities is to purchase current imprints (in whatever format) in the fields of museum studies, public history, and related disciplines, as appropriate to meet the needs of the Public Humanities program. These materials include serials, monographs, audiovisual resources and online databases. Following is a breakdown of collecting goals for the primary classification areas that document public history and museum studies:

    Call No. Range	Subject Area	Current level	Desired level
    AM 1 – AM 501	Museums	Basic	Research
    CC 72 – CC 81	Historical archaeology	Study	Research
    D 1 – D 25	Public history (general)	Basic	Research
    E 151 - E 181	Public history (U.S.)	Research	Research
    F 1 – F 1000*	U.S. local history	Study	Study
    GN	Material Culture	Study	Research
    HD, HF	Business history	Study	Study
    HM, HN	Social history (U.S.)	Study	Research
    NK 600 - NK 1498	Decorative arts - history	Study	Research
    T 391 – T 995	Technology - expositions & fairs	Basic	Research

    
    * Not all works in this range will pertain to the public humanities
    
    
    

    As noted above, works in the public humanities encompass a wide variety of fields, and related works are classified in almost every section of the LC classification scheme. Acquisitions will therefore include, as a secondary focus, LC classes where works in the public humanities have previously appeared, and all LC classes more generally.

  • New Titles Cataloged in Public Humanities
    
    
  • Special Collections: Acquisitions in Public Humanities for the John Hay Library are aimed at building on the existing strengths of the Library’s special collections. These materials complement the general and special collections in American history and literature, but focus on topics of particular interest to the goals of the Public Humanities program and the study of the public humanities more broadly. Acquisition targets for special collections in public humanities include museum objects as well as manuscripts and books, and cover a range of topics including collectors and collecting, early technologies, American diplomacy, museums and memorials.
    
    
  • Chronological span and geographical range: The focus of the Public Humanities program is the United States, from its inception to the present day. However, as appropriate opportunities arise, the collection will encompass materials pertaining to the public humanities in other geographic areas. For example, a library endowment for the acquisition of materials on Canada allows us to supplement the collections in American history and civilization with related materials on the public humanities in Canada. Other pertinent opportunities to expand the public humanities collection beyond the geographic range of the United States will also be pursued, as appropriate.
    
    
  • Electronic resources: The Library subscribes to a wide range of electronic resources that support research in the public humanities. Resources that support courses previously taught include America: History and Life, Early American Imprints I (Evans Digital), Early American Imprints II (Shaw-Shoemaker), Nineteenth Century Masterfile, Early American Fiction, Chicano Database, American Humanities Index, Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Bibliography of Asian Studies. The Library also acquires e-books and e-journals for its collections. Further information on electronic holdings pertaining to the public humanities can be identified through the Library’s website, the Resource Guide for Public Humanities, and JOSIAH.
    
    
  • Serials: During Academic Year ’04-’05, the Library purchased backfile of Public Historian (back to Vol. 1, 1979) and Curator (back to Vol. 1, 1958). These have greatly expanded the Library’s holdings in the field. A few older serials, no longer in print, provide some historical background on the development of the field. New serials, often in electronic form, are emerging and will be considered for acquisition where the demand warrants. In addition, the Library is continuing to add newspapers, in both electronic databases and microfilm versions, for the purpose of strengthening its research collection for American History. An updated listing of historical newspapers and journals useful for research in the Public Humanities will be maintained on the Resource Guide for Public Humanities
    
    
  • JNBC Reference Library: Although it is not a part of the Brown University Library, the JNBC in-house reference library is an important component in the graduate program for the Public Humanities. Where it does not conflict with the Library’s mission to build its own collections in the Public Humanities, the Library will help to identify items that the JNBC may wish to consider for addition to its reference library. Such items may include duplicates from the Library’s collections that have been identified by Library staff for deaccession, as well as gift items that are not wanted for the Library’s own public humanities collection.

  

  
  RELATED COLLECTIONS AT BROWN AND RISD:
  
  
• The Virginia Baldwin Orwig Music Library. In addition to a large music collection in all formats, the Orwig Library includes a significant collection on ethnomusicology from the United States and around the world. See “Guide to the Loraine Wyman Collection 1859-1952”.
  
  
• The John Nicholas Brown Center. Although the papers of the Brown family will soon be transferred to the John Hay Library, the JNBC maintains a sizeable collection of family photographs that document a wide range of early photographic technologies and techniques, as well as materials documenting the restoration of the Nightingale-Brown house.
  
  
• The John Carter Brown Library. Administered independently from the Brown University Library as an advanced center for research in history and the humanities, the JCBL collections document every aspect of the Americas up to 1830, including voyages of discovery, natural history, colonization and the African slave trade. The JCB’s collections of original maps and prints is known throughout the scholarly world. The JCB’s holdings also include a significant portion of the archives of the Brown family as well as other manuscript materials on the history of early Rhode Island.
  
  
• The Rhode Island School of Design Library. Founded in 1878, the RISD Library is one of the oldest art college libraries in the country, with more than 115,000 volumes and 400 periodical subscriptions. The collection provides strong historical and contemporary perspectives, and the areas of architecture, art, design and photography are particularly well covered. Additional materials in landscape architecture, ceramics, textiles, and jewelry support upper-level research. Among its signature collections are artist’s books, rare books and visual resources; it also offers some unique electronic resources, such as the Design and Applied Art Index -- a useful tool for research in the decorative arts.
  
  
• The Rhode Island School of Design Archives. The RISD Archives collect and provide access to the historic materials related to RISD’s academic programs and the RISD Museum, documenting their development since RISD’s founding in 1877. The Archives collections are a unique and valuable resource for understanding and appreciating the significant role that RISD has played in teaching and advancing the disciplines of art, design, and art education--regionally, nationally, and worldwide, and illuminate the contributions of individuals and organizations associated with RISD, as well as shedding light on Museum techniques.