Collection Development Policy: Hispanic Studies
  • Subject Librarian(s):
    Patricia Figueroa

  • Departmental Library Representative (DLR):
    Enric Bou

  • Description of the Academic Program | Home Page
    The Hispanic Studies Department offers undergraduate and graduate courses on Spanish and Spanish Latin American literature, language and culture. Interdisciplinary courses including history, philosophy and film studies are also taught. Both undergraduate and graduate programs are designed to provide students with the opportunity to work in a range of periods, genres, and approaches. The graduate program leads to the Ph.D. degree, and its curriculum is coordinated in a system of seminars, study courses, independent studies and research projects. Hispanic Studies also prepares graduates for language teaching positions through training in language teaching theory, techniques, and practices.



  • Overview of the Collection
    The Hispanic Studies collection consists of more than 28,708 titles of which 120 are currently received serials. Most items are housed at the Rockefeller Library.

    Language (PC3800-4999):2,063
    Literature (PQ6000-8929):20,443
    History of Spain (DP1-402, BXs):2,947
    Social Sciences of Spain (Ls, Hs, Js):762
    Harris Collection (Lat. Amer.):2,200
    Bibliographies (Zs):286
    Online databases:7
    Total:28,708




  • General Collecting Guidelines
    The purpose of the Hispanic Studies collection is to support the needs of undergraduates, graduates, faculty, and other users within the Brown University community. Its collection development policy focuses in the curriculum of the Hispanic Studies Depart ment, collecting primarily on the language and literature of Spain and Spanish-speaking Latin America (LC classes PC and PQ). Works on cultural aspects of these regions and, more specifically, the history and social sciences of Spain (LC classes DP, BX, L , H and J) are collected selectively.

  • Detailed Subject Breakdown

  • Specific Collecting Guidelines
    • Language: Primary materials in Spanish language form the core of the collection. Primary materials in Catalan, Galician, Basque, and Latin American indigenous languages are selectively acquired to complement the collection. Secondary materi als are collected mostly in Spanish and English, however other Western European languages such as French, Italian and German, are also considered. English translations of classic Spanish and Latin American literary works are purchased to serve Hispanic St udies as well as the Comparative Literature Department.
    • Chronological Span: For literature and language, time coverage for Spain dates back to the Middle Ages, and for Latin America to the colonial period. Both geographical areas are collected up to the present. The periods and themes of Spanish history of interest to the collection are the Middle Ages, Al-Andalus, the reconquest, Sefarad, the Catholic Kings and discovery of the New World, Charles V, Phillip II, the Spanish Civil War (including antecedents and co nsequences, such as the post-war years and the republican exile), the Franco regime, the period surrounding the transition to democracy, and Spain's membership in the European Union. General histories of Spain are also collected. After the unification of the crowns under the Catholic Kings, the tendency of the collection toward history is national vs. regional.
    • Imprint Date: The Hispanic Studies collection is for the most part a circulating collection. While retrospective scholarly materials published after 1800 are acquired according to research needs, the selection is focused on current imprints. Original manuscripts, materials published before 1800, and those considered valuable or requiring special handling are housed in Special Collections at the John Hay Library where they do not circulate.
    • Geographical Range: While all geographical areas within Spain and Spanish Latin America are covered, the collecting emphasis for Latin American countries has been traditionally on Mexico, Cuba, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela and Puerto Rico. Literature texts by Latino authors in the United States are collected by the English literature/Race and Ethnicity selector at the Rockefeller Library, and the curator of the Harris Collection of American Poetry and Plays at the John Ha y Library. Both collections welcome the recommendations of the Ibero-American selector.
    • Types of Material Included: Circulating monographs are the main component of the Hispanic Studies collection, however other materials such as serials, non-circulating monographs, audiovisual and electronic resources are also collected.
    • Formats: The library acquires materials in all formats, with the exception of 8mm in the case of audiovisual items. The bulk of the collection is in print-based (monographs and serials), however microfilm is still purchased for periodical archives, pamphlet collections and pre-twentieth century publications. Materials in electronic formats such as CD-ROM, DVD, DVD-ROM and online access are acquired according to their licensing agreements and their compatibility with the library's system. Audiovisual materials are purchased on video, or preferably DVD format. Although the Media Services Laboratory is equipped with VCRs and DVD players that can play and copy films produced with the PAL system, the NTSC system is highly preferred. All videos purchased for this collection are housed at Media Services in the Sciences Library. Music CDs are for the most part purchased by the Music Librarian and are housed at the Orwig Music Library.
    • Excluded: Introductory general-purpose textbooks whose primary function is instruction are out of the scope of this collection.


  • Special Collections
    The John Hay Library houses materials requiring special handling and preservation, as well as large subject-oriented collections that are maintained as discrete units. While the John Hay does not maintain any collections specific to Spanish and Latin American literature, language and culture, Hispanic Studies researchers may find titles relevant to their field of study. The John Hay houses 600 volumes in the LC class PQ6000-8999 (Spanish and Latin American literature) and 30 volumes in PC3800-4999 (Spanish language). The Harris Collection of American Poetry and Plays, contains 2200 Latin American titles (not classified under LC).

    Another special collection of interest to Hispanic Studies may be the Sheet Music Collection which includes music from Cuba and other Latin American countries.

  • Related Collections
    The Language Resource Center (LCR)
    LCR houses a variety of materials such as audio, video, laserdiscs, DVDs, computer software and television news broadcasts and develops electronic resources in support of the learning and teaching of languages. LRC is affiliated with the Center for Language Studies which "aims to promote the teaching and learning of languages at Brown University."

    The John Carter Brown Library (JCB)
    The JCB is an independently administered and funded center for advanced research in history and the humanities, located at Brown University since 1901. Its internationally renowned collection of Americana focuses on historical sources describing the d
    iscovery, exploration, settlement, and growth of the European colonies in the New World from 1492 to 1835.

    The collection includes over 45,000 rare books (printed before ca. 1825) and over 16,000 reference books and secondary sources (printed after ca. 1825). Most well-known, perhaps, are the Library's extensive holdings in the literature of European exploration and travel in the Western Hemisphere, from the first Latin edition of the Columbus letter of 1493, through nearly all of the contemporary narratives of Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, and English discovery, exploration, and settlement. The Library's collection of pre-1800 German and Italian books about America is among the richest in the United States.

    The JCB provides a fellowship program for scholars pursuing academic research on the colonial Americas. Approximately twenty-five fellowships are awarded each year for periods of time ranging from two to ten months. Fellowships are offered to qualified researchers, the main criteria for appointment being the merit and significance of the candidate's proposal, the qualifications of the candidate, and the relevance of the project to the holdings of the Library.

    Annmary Brown Memorial Collection
    The Incunabula Collection is part of the Annmary Brown Memorial Collection and contains two works published by Juan Pablos, the first printer in the New World. These works are:

    • Jeannes Gerson. Tripartito del christianissimo y consolatorio doctor Juan Gerson de doctrina christiana: a qualquiera muy p[ro]uechosa. / Traduzido de latin en le[n]gua castellana para el bie[n] d[e] muchos necessario. Impresso en Mexico: En ca
      sa de Juan Cromberger. Por ma[n]dado y a costa del. R.S. obispo de la mesma ciudad fray Jua[n] ‚umarraga. Reuisto y examinado por su mandado., A–o de M.d.xliiij.       [1544]
    • Tenuxtitla, Mexico. Archdiocese. Constituciones del arcobispado y prouincia de la muy ynsigne y muy leal ciudad de Tenuxtitla[n], Mexico [1556]


    The Virginia Baldwin Orwig Music Library
    The Orwig Music Library, one of the libraries comprising the Brown University Library system, houses the general music collection on campus: music books, scores, periodicals, sound recordings, videotapes and microforms. The collection supports the curriculum of the Music Department and includes recordings of music from various regions in Latin America and Spain.


Illustration: La ni–a recluta, Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, John Hay Library.