Collection Development Policy: Anthropology
  • Subject Librarian(s):
    Ronald Fark

  • Departmental Library Representative (DLR):
    William Simmons

  • Description of the Academic Program | Home Page
    The subject matter of anthropological study is the broadest and most international of all the social sciences. A diverse but comprehensive discipline, anthropology investigates the social and cultural life of human beings in all times and all places. A concentration in anthropology should provide students with an appreciation of other ways of life, different systems of belief and knowledge, and, perhaps most importantly, a better understanding of the world in which they live.

    Anthropology encompasses four sub-fields: 1) social/cultural anthropology, the study of contemporary groups; 2) archaeology, the investigation of the history of human groups, both preliterate and literate, through analysis of material remains; 3) anthropological linguistics, the study of the structure and use of languages; 4) physical anthropology, the science of human variation and evolution. Brown's anthropology faculty represents research and teaching interests in three of the four subfields. The department does not include a physical anthropologist.



  • Overview of the Collection
    Anthropology study and research is interdisciplinary; it is therefore not possible to quantify the number of volumes in the Library's collection. The holdings in the Rockefeller Library support research and teaching in Anthropology and Population, Archaeology, Circumpolar Anthropology, Development Studies, Ethnicity and Interethnic Relations, Gender Studies, Historical Anthropology and Archaeology, Linguistics, Medical Anthropology, and Museum Studies.



  • General Collecting Guidelines
    To support undergraduate and graduate instruction and research through the Ph.D. To support University-sponsored research by faculty in social and cultural anthropology, including archaeology and linguistics. The Department also offers a Masters deg ree in Museum Science. Emphasis is in the areas of Anthropology, Linguistics, Ethnology, and Archaeology. The desired coverage is at the research or study level. A research level collection includes major source materials required for dissertation and ind ependent research, including primary sources, specialized journals, important reference works, major indexing/abstracts services and a wide selection of specialized monographs. A study level collection supports undergraduate and graduate course work, or s ustained independent study; that is, which is adequate to maintain knowledge of a subject required for limited or generalized purposes, of less than research intensity. It includes a wide range of basic monographs, complete collections of the works of mor e important writers, selections from the works of secondary writers, a selection of representative journals, and important reference tools and fundamental bibliographic apparatus pertaining to the subject.

  • Specific Collecting Guidelines
    • Language: English is the primary language for Anthropology. Spanish is of secondary import with lesser emphasis on Russian, French, Portuguese, and German.
    • Chronological Span: Prehistory to 21st Century
    • Imprint Date: Occasional purchase of retrospective materials in support of research needs.
    • Geographical Range: Global
    • Types of Material Included: Books, periodicals, Government Documents, conference proceedings, microtexts, dissertations selectively, ethnographic films, maps and audiovisual aids. Excluded: Introductory, general purpose textbooks whose primary function is instruction.


  • Related Collections
    Because Anthropology is the "Study of Man", There is no discipline which does not have, at some point, a direct bearing on the field. The program at Brown has considerable overlap with American Civilization, Linguistics, History, Sociology, Psychology, and to a somewhat lesser extent, Biology and the Physical Sciences (Geology, Physics). There is direct involvement in the Portuguese-Brazilian Studies, Latin American Studies, Semiotics, Urban Studies, and the Watson Institute.

  • Selected List of Key Internet Resources