GENERAL PURPOSE

For the interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program, the purposes of the library collection materials are to support the academic, pedagogical and research goals of the Program and the College. Specifically, the Program's collection is for the following purposes:

1. Serve the educational needs of the students in Neuroscience courses as a resource for assignments, papers, and the Senior Exercise (for majors); student-faculty and student-student discussions of the neuroscience literature; and as the foundation for independent student research in the neurosciences.
2. Serve the pedagogical needs of the Neuroscience faculty for researching materials and methods to be used in classrooms and laboratories, and as the base for student-faculty and faculty-faculty discussions of the literature.
3. Serve the research and scholarship needs of the Neuroscience faculty within the context of an undergraduate institution. Specifically, collect appropriate materials for keeping up-to-date with the current work in their fields; materials to help write grants to support academic work; and materials that will assist in writing papers, chapters, books, and websites that will be used to distribute scholarly work. These research needs are addressed as resources allow.
4. Serve the needs of the College community as a resource for people with general interest in neuroscience topics. Areas of special interest include: physical and mental health, developmental processes and disorders, pharmacological treatments, and biogenetic processes.

GENERAL SUBJECT BOUNDARIES

The Program's faculty have research and teaching interests that are broadly based, including: biopsychology, neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, neuroimaging, perception, consciousness, sensorimotor systems, hormones, circadian rhythms, psychopharmacology, learning, memory, and language. The library must keep, maintain, and improve the circulating and reference collections across a wide range of neuroscience topics, including subject fields that may not now exist.

TYPES OF MATERIALS COLLECTED

Books, serials, and videos on topics related to neuroscience. Of these, serials (including on-line journals) and books are most frequently used.

FORMAT OF MATERIALS COLLECTED

The Program's current holdings are predominantly journals and books. Holdings in the future should be mostly on-line, for ease of access and lower cost. Other than print and on-line materials, other formats in the collection should include more videos, and possibly CD-ROMs, photographs, and plates.

LANGUAGES

Predominantly English.

GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS

Predominantly North American and European publishers.

CHRONOLOGICAL GUIDELINES

Neuroscience is a rapidly changing, interdisciplinary field. Therefore, the collection needs to reflect the current trends in the field by increasing the holdings of serials, both paper and on-line journals. As has been done in the past, these new acquisitions should be submitted by the faculty members from the many departments that are affiliated with the Neuroscience Program. If the College has several editions of certain books, it may be necessary to retain only the most recent editions.

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND MANUSCRIPTS

None at this time.

OTHER RESOURCES AVAILABLE

Participation by the Kenyon libraries in CONSORT and OhioLINK allows access to materials not directly in Kenyon's collections. The Neuroscience faculty members encourage these and further efforts at increasing the availability of different information resources for our students, faculty, staff, and community members.

CREATION DATE AND REVISION HISTORY

Jim Baillie and Jasmine Vaughan, Librarian and Technology Consultants, wrote a policy draft in April 2000; and a revision was done by Professor Jon Williams, Chair of Neuroscience, and Susan Palmer in June 2000. Current version approved September 2001.

LC CLASS

Includes, but not limited to: BF, QH, QL, QP, RA, RC, RG, and RJ.