Section VIII - Reference: Geography & History (900)

This small collection provides quick access to information concerning geography, history, and the auxiliary disciplines of travel, biography, and genealogy. The collection's emphasis is on biography, U.S. history, and atlases. Overview coverage is provided for history of all continents.

Development Plan

R 900 Geography, history, and auxiliary disciplines. Sources on world history are heavily developed and maintained.
R 910 Geography and travel. The atlas collection is heavily developed and maintained. Travel sources are minimally developed.
R 920 Biography, genealogy, insignia. A large collection of biography sources is maintained. Brief entry sources and those providing more extensive coverage are kept balanced, and both general biography and biography by field of endeavor are developed. The reference genealogy collection is the principal genealogy collection in the Library. (See also Section IX, Wyoming Collection and Section VII, Adult Nonfiction 920s.) The genealogy section is maintained primarily as a how-to collection, avoiding sources containing actual genealogical records and name books. Flag/insignia sources are minimally developed.
R 930 History of the ancient world. Sources on archaeology and the ancient world are minimally developed.
R 940 General history of Europe. Minimally developed.
R 950 General history of Asia. Minimally developed.
R 960 General history of Africa. Minimally developed.
R 970 General history of North America. The largest of the 900s collection, its major emphasis is on the United States, with some focus on the West. A general U.S. history coverage is maintained, but without attention to individual states. Sources on ethnicity need future development. Sources emphasizing Native American history are maintained.
R 980 General history of South America. Minimally developed.
R 990 General history of other parts of the world, extraterrestrial worlds. Sources on Australia/New Zealand, and the Polar regions are minimally developed.

Influencing Factors

Purchases and buying patterns are determined in large part by:

electronic/Internet sources availability.
new works.
budget constraints.
use.
patron requests.
present and potential relevance to the community.
shelf space.

Retention/Weeding

Geographical and subject atlases are weeded as world situations change.
Historical atlases are replaced when newer titles are available.
Biographical dictionaries are weeded as sources with more extensive entries become available.