ECONOMICS
{Including Pliny Fisk Library of Economics and Finance}

Revised January 2004.

I. General Collecting Guidelines

A. General Purpose

The collection is intended to support the teaching and research needs of
(1) The Economics Department (faculty, Ph.D. students, undergraduate students)
(2) The Bendheim Center for Finance (faculty, Masters students, undergraduate certificate program)

It also provides a substantive portion of the research collections for
(1) The Department of Operations Research and Financial Engineering (the faculty, Masters and Ph.D. students, and undergraduates specializing in Financial Engineering)
(2) The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs (one of the two major research collections supporting the faculty, undergraduate students, and graduate students working toward the M.P.A. M.P.P., and Ph.D. degrees; the other being the Politics/Law Collection).

The material is also used by faculty and students in many departments most notably Politics, History, Sociology, Architecture, Engineering, Mathematics, Population Research, and the area study programs (African-American Studies, African Studies, East Asian Studies, Latin American Studies, Near East Studies, and Russian Studies). Due to the statistical nature of the field, the collection is used by all portions of the campus. In addition, the collection is used by University offices and by non-University patrons who purchase access. In essence, it is the de-facto general business collection for the University. Some databases are contractually restricted to academic purposes by Princeton University students and faculty only.

B. Subjects Excluded

Materials on the non-economic aspects of Agriculture (i.e. how to grow crops or raise animals) are not routinely collected. However, materials on these subjects are sometimes acquired because they are included in series which cover the economics aspects of agriculture. The chief source of series covering the non-economic aspects of agriculture is the microfiche collection from the Food and Agriculture Organization.

C. Overlap with other Collections or Subjects: Division of Responsibility

Architecture Library: The Architecture Library collects in the fields of building, housing, real estate, and urban economics. In general, if economics is the primary subject, the Economics selector buys the material. The Economics selector buys material on the economic aspects of land use planning while the Architecture Library collects material on land use planning which has an emphasis on the planning aspect.

Data and Statistical Services Library: The collections are coordinated through constant interaction between the Economics Librarian and the Data Librarian.

East Asia: In collecting materials on the East Asian countries, the general rule is the Economics selector orders for Firestone stacks if there is enough English or other Western European language in it so that it can be cataloged by Firestone’s Catalog Division. The East Asian Library is relied on for economic material entirely in Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, or Korean. However, some more specialized Western Europea languague works will be purchased by the East Asian Library.

Engineering: The Engineering Library collects on all aspects of the environment. The Economics selector acquires material relating to the economic aspects of the environment. Many policy related works are referred to the Environmental Selector. The Economics selector buys materials on the economic aspects of energy, leaving the technical aspects of energy to the Engineering Library. The Engineering Library will purchase materials on the technical aspects of transportation and communications. The Economics selector buys materials on the economics aspects of transportation and communication. The Engineering Library is primarily responsible for materials in the area of operations research. Coordination will take place between Economics and Engineering in areas in the field of Financial Engineering. Due to budgetary constraints, duplication will be avoided and the Economics Collection will continue to house most reference materials. As new items arise, coordination will be made for funding.

European Union Depository Collection: The materials that make up the European Union Depository Collection is also used by Economics.

History: There is no clear dividing line in the field of economic history between what the Economics selector orders and what is ordered by the History Librarian. Since both are ordering for Firestone stacks, duplicate orders will be eliminated in the ordering process. By not having a clear division, situations can be avoided where each thought the other would order the material. In general, items that are clearly historical will be purchased by the History Librarian.

Industrial Relations: The Industrial Relations selector is primarily responsible for United States, Canadian, and British coverage of wage controls, manpower, labor, occupations, wages, unemployment insurance, productivity, trade unions, collective bargaining, social security, personnel administration, guaranteed income, and income maintenance. The Economics selector is primarily responsible for the above subjects for all other countries. The two selectors share responsibility for labor economics, management, and other areas as defined in the Subjects and Collecting Levels statement.

Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula: The Latin American Librarian is relied upon heavily for assistance in collecting materials in Spanish and Portuguese on economic conditions in Latin America, Spain, and Portugal.

Mathematics-Physics Library: The Mathematics-Physics Library collects materials on the mathematical aspects of statistics. They would buy material in which the statistics might be on a particular subject only if the primary purpose of the material is to study statistics. Another general guideline is the Economics selector would order a work on statistics if the author is an economist whereas the Mathematics-Physics Library would order if the author is a mathematician or statistician. However, there will always be exceptions to this rule and no clear dividing line is possible. The Economics Collection will serve as the primary facility for reference materials regarding derivatives.

Near East: The Near East Bibliographer is responsible for ordering materials on economics in languages of the Near East. The Economics Selector is responsible for ordering English and other Western European language materials on economic conditions in the Near East region. However, certain specialized Western European language materials will be purchased by the Near East Bibliographer.

New Jersey Depository Collection: The materials that make up the New Jersey Depository Collection is also used by Economics. The New Jersey Documents selector is responsible for the above collection.

Politics & Law: The Politics Selector and the Law selector are responsible for regional, state and local governmental authorities involved in transportation, population, state and local government finance, and revenue sharing. The Economics selector is responsible for economics of crime and anti-trust. The selectors for Politics, Law and Economics selector share responsibility for political economy, housing, law and economics, and federal finance. Items pertaining to business, investment, tax, or commercial law will generally be considered by the Economics selector.

Slavic Studies: The Slavic Studies Bibliographer is responsible for ordering materials on economics in Slavic and Russian languages. The Economics Selector is responsible for ordering materials on Central European and Russian economics in English and other West European languages.

United Nations Depository and the United Nations Independent Agencies: The materials that make up the United Nations Depository Collection and the materials issued by its specialized agencies (particularly the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank) are very heavily used by Economics and play a vital role in economic research. For non-depository items, the United Nations Librarian and the Economics Librarian collaborate if the material is economic in scope.

United States Depository: The materials that make up the United States Depository Collection also play an important role in economic research. Of particular interest are the publications issued by the Treasury Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commerce Department, and the Labor Department. The United States Documents Librarian is responsible for acquiring these materials. The Economics selector is responsible for materials published by the Federal Reserve System.

D. Languages Collected and Excluded

The principal language collected is English, especially for monographs. Monographs are also collected selectively in French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. Monographs in Russian, Slavic, Near Eastern languages, and East Asian languages are selected primarily by their respective bibliographers. All other languages are collected very selectively. We try to obtain the important scholarly economics journals (particularly those indexed in ECONLIT), stock exchange publications, and central bank publications issued in foreign countries. Since much of the basic source material used by economists is issued in the form of statistical series, these materials are collected in many languages. Very often these statistical publications will have sub-headings in English which make them useable by even those who do not know the language.

E. Geographical Limits

There are no geographical limits.

F. Chronological Limits

There are no chronological limits. However, contemporary economics is emphasized. We are increasingly selective as we go backward in time.

G. Retrospective Acquisition

There is almost no retrospective acquisition.

H. Types of Material Collected and Excluded

In general, the types of material collected are serials, working papers, electronic resources, monographs, newspapers, pamphlets, and microforms. Preference will be given to serials indexed in ECONLIT and/or ABI Inform. Data in machine readable form is preferable to paper. Every attempt will be made to purchase or acquire access to electronic databases containing economic and/or financial data. Dissertations are purchased only on request. Textbooks and books of readings are purchased selectively. Rare books and manuscripts are purchased only by the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. Pamphlets are collected selectively; some of these are cataloged immediately, some are cataloged later, and other may be discarded when no longer needed. Photocopies are collected when necessary. Audio-visual materials would be collected if appropriate to the research/teaching mission. Juvenile material and maps are excluded.

I. Agreements/Arrangements with other Libraries

There are no formal agreements or arrangements with other libraries.

J. Other Factors

Economics participates in the Anglo-American plan and selectively in the Canadian, French, German, and Italian approval plans.

II. Subjects and Collecting Levels

The H-HJ classification scheme is the primary area where economics works are collected. However, works will fall throughout the classification scheme. In general, the rule should be to follow the area below that closest matches the subjects below. Collecting levels represent ideal situations and may not be achieved due to budgetary constraints.

LC Class Description Collecting Overlap
Level

H1-99 Social Sciences. 3 Politics,Sociology 3

HA1-4737 Statistics. 3 Math/Physics 3

HB1-3840 Economic Theory. Demography.
71-74 Economics as a Science. 4
75-130 History of Economics. 4 History 4
History of Economic Theory.
131-145 Methodology. 4
201-206 Value. Utility. 4
221-236 Price. 4
238-251 Competition. Production. Wealth. 4
501 Capital. Capitalism. 4
522-715 Income. Factor Shares. 4
801-843 Consumption. Demand. 4
846-846.8 Welfare Theory. 4
848-3697 Demography. Vital Events. 3 Population Research 4
3711-3840 Business Cycles. 4
Economic Fluctuations. 4

HC10-1085 Economic History & Conditions. History,Area Studies 4
HC79 Special Topics, A-Z. 4
92 Economic Geography of the Oceans. 4
94-1085 By region or country. 4

HD28-9999 Economic History & Conditions History/Area Studies 4
HD28-88 Production including 3
industrial management
HD101-1395.5 Land Use 4 Architecture 4
HD1401-2210 Agriculture 3
HD2321-4730.9 Industry 3
HD4801-8943 Labor. 3 Industrial Relations 4
HD9000-9999 Special Industries and Trades. 3

HE Transportation and Communications
HE199-199.5 Freight (General) 3
199.9 Passenger Traffic (General) 3
305-311 Urban Transportation 3
323-328 Geography. Trade Routes. 3
331-380 Traffic Engineering. Road & Highways. Streets. 2
380.8-971 Water Transportation 3
1001-5600 Railways. Rapid Transit Systems. 3
5601-5720 Automotive Transportation 3
5746-5870 Stage Lines, Ferries. 2
5880-5990 Express Service. 3
6000-7496 Postal Service. Stamps. Philately. 2
7511-7549 Pneumatic Service 2
7601-8700.9 Telecommunication Industry. 3
8701-9680.7 Telephone Industry. 3
9713-9715 Cellular Radio. Wireless Telephone Industry. 3
9719-9737 Artificial satellite telecommunications, Signaling. 3
9751-9756 Messenger Service. 3
9761-9900 Air Transportation. 3

HF1-6182 Commerce
294-343 Boards of Trade, etc. 3
1014 Balance of Trade. 4
1021-1027 Commercial & Economic Geography. 3
1040-1054 Commodities. Commercial Products. 4
1701-2701 Tariff Policy. 4
3000-4055 By region or country. 3
5001-6182 Business.
5381-5386 Vocational Guidance. Career Development. 2
5387 Business Ethics. 2
5410-5481 Marketing. 2
5482-5482.4 Secondhand Trade. 2
5482.6-5482.65 Black Market. 3
5484-5495 Warehousing & Storage. 2
5520-5541 Equipment. 2
5546-5548.6 Office organization & management. 2
5548.7-5548.85 Industrial psychology. 2
5549-5549.5 Employee management. 2 Industrial Relations 3
5601-5689 Accounting. 3
5691-5716 Business Mathematics. 3
5717-5746 Business Communication. 3
5761-5780 Shipping of Merchandise. 2
5801-6182 Advertising. 2

HG1-9999 Finance
178 Liquidity 4
179 Personal Finance. 3
201-1496 Money. 4
1501-3550 Banking. 4
3691-3769 Credit. Debt. Loans. 4
3810-4000 Foreign Exchange. International Finance.
International Monetary System. 4
4001-4280.7 Finance Management. 4
4301-4480.9 Trust Services & Companies. 4
4501-6051 Investment. 4
6105-6270.9 Lotteries. 4
7920-7933 Thrifts and Savings. 4
8011-9999 Insurance. 3

HJ9-9995 Public Finance
9-99.6 Documents. By country. 3 Area Studies 3
210-1620 History & Conditions. 4 History 4
2005-2216 Income & Expenditure. The budget. 4
2240-3192.7 Revenue. Taxation. 3
3231-5957 Taxation. Administration & Procedure. 3
6603-7390 Customs Administration. 3
7541-7980 Expenditure. 3
8003-8899 Public Credit. Debt. Loans. 3
8903-8963 Claims. 3
9011-9695 Local Finance. 3 Politics 4
9701-9995 Public Accounting. 3

A notable area that is not listed above is the K classification schedule. Works pertaining to business law, investment law, tax law, commercial law, or other economic law will be collected on a Level 2 basis. Other areas are Economics of Sports which is often classified in the GV's; Economics of Healthcare (R's); Economics of Education (L's); Economics of Art and Culture (N's). An effort is made to collect at Level 4 for these areas.

Bobray Bordelon, Economics Librarian
1/20/2004