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Veterinary Medicine Collection

I. Collection Description

Purpose:

To support teaching and research in the College of Veterinary Medicine through, and beyond, the doctoral level, for the Departments of Veterinary Biosciences, Veterinary Clinical Medicine, and Veterinary Pathobiology and practicing veterinarians through the College's Continuing Education and Public Service Unit. The library also supports the information needs of the Dixon Springs Agricultural Experimentation Station as well as teaching and research in related fields such as agriculture, applied life studies, biology, chemistry, health sciences, home economics, natural history, physical education, and psychology.

History of Collection:

In October 1947, the Senate Library Committee allocated $1,000 for the purchase of books in the field of veterinary medicine for fiscal year 1948. In the spring of 1948, fourteen cases of books were transferred from the University of Illinois College of Medicine Library in Chicago to the College of Veterinary Medicine in Urbana. The Veterinary Medicine Building was completed in January 1952. At that time, the monographs held by the College of Veterinary Medicine, the serials related to veterinary medicine held by the Agricultural Library were transferred to the new building. This was a collection of 130 journal titles bound into 2,923 volumes, 1,727 cataloged separates, and 89 foreign dissertations for a total of 4,339 pieces. On February 4, 1952, the first day of spring semester, the University of Illinois Veterinary Medicine Library began offering public service hours. In January 1983, the veterinary medicine collection of 23,892 items was transferred to the new Veterinary Medicine Library, 1257 Veterinary Medicine Basic Sciences Building. Integrated into this collection were 3,586 pieces from the main library Bookstacks for a total of 27,500 pieces.

Estimate of Holdings:

32,500 (June 1985).

State, Regional and National Importance:

The veterinary medicine collection is the only collection of its kind in the state and one of only 26 in the nation.

Unit Responsible for Collecting:

Most of the selection of veterinary literature originates in the Veterinary Medicine Library. There are collection activities in the libraries that support the disciplines listed in the purpose section.

Location of Materials:

The majority of the veterinary medicine collection is located in the Veterinary Medicine Library and in the Bookstacks. Related materials are also held in the Agriculture, Applied Life Studies, Biology, Chemistry, Documents, Engineering, Health Sciences, Home Economics, Law, Natural History Survey, and Undergraduate Libraries.

Citations of Works Describing the Collection:

Ash, Lee. Subject Collections. 5th ed. New York: Bowker, 1978, p. 1126.

II. General Collection Guidelines

Languages:

Standard statement. English translations, if they are available, are usually preferred to the original foreign language work.

Chronological Guidelines:

No restrictions.

Geographical Guidelines:

Worldwide scope.

Treatment of Subject:

Standard statement with the exception that textbooks are collected selectively. Historical and biographical works are collected selectively. Companion animal literature on care, grooming, and/or showing are accepted as gifts but not acquired. Materials from interdisciplinary areas are collected selectively as they pertain to veterinary medicine. Clinical medicine and pharmacology are collected primarily as related to animals but also related to humans. The Health Sciences Library, which is not part of the library system but has a library on the Urbana-Champaign campus, is the primary repository of clinical medicine locally.

Types of Materials:

Standard statement.

Date of Publication:

Standard statement.

Place of Publication:

No restrictions.

III. Collection Responsibility by Subject Subdivisions with Qualifications, Levels of Collecting Intensity, and Assignments

Below is a table that lists specific subject subdivisions within the collection. Each row in the table lists a specific subject subdivision, followed by three columns noting: Collection Strength, Primary Assignments and Secondary Assignments. The Existing Collecting Strength column notes how well the existing collection covers that topic on a 1 to 5 scale with 5 being very strong. The Primary Assignments column lists departmental libraries that have the greatest collection intensity of subject materials, respectively. In the case of 2 or more libraries listed, the collection intensity is comparable. The Secondary Assignments column list departmental libraries where additional materials may be found.

Version Date: November 2005

For comments on this page contact: Collections Webmaster

Last modified by: David Vess on 10/14/08