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Original Articles

Falling through the cracks: just how much “history” is history?

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Pages 97-106 | Published online: 03 Dec 2013
 

Abstract

As academic programs grow increasingly interdisciplinary, a library may fail to acquire some works of importance to a discipline, simply because the books have been classified in an area outside a selector’s purview. To gain a perspective on the issue of interdisciplinary gaps in the collection, the authors researched the case of American and British History. Book reviews published in four major history journals for 1978, 1988 and 1998 were examined, and a classification was assigned to each reviewed work per the LC classification scheme. The resulting data confirm that more than half of the works that historians generally consult tend to be outside the traditional “history” LC call numbers. While each institution is unique in its organization and collecting interests, various ways to resolve the issue are discussed. This kind of analysis could be used to justify funding for interdisciplinary purchases.

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