GENERAL PURPOSE

German at Kenyon offers three types of major: German Literature, German Area Studies, and Modem Languages (the latter combines German with one of the other six languages offered in the department). The majority of courses requiring library support are in German literature from the 18th Century to the present. Related areas such as contemporary German civilization, German film, and literary criticism and history are also covered in our advanced courses.

GENERAL SUBJECT BOUNDARIES

The most intensive collection development is of major German literary texts and major German films. We also acquire secondary works on German literature, literary theory, and film criticism, all of which may be in English or German. Related areas of special interest to our faculty and students include 20th century German literature, especially poetry, German drama, literary theory and contemporary German film.

TYPES OF MATERIALS COLLECTED

Our collection consists primarily of monographs dating back to the nineteenth century, as well as a selection of periodicals, including both journals and newspapers. Major encyclopedias, dictionaries, periodical indexes and bibliographies complement our collection.

FORMAT OF MATERIALS COLLECTED

Printed books, for the circulating collection and for the reference collection, continue to be by far our major area of collection development. We are in the process of acquiring a significant collection of German feature length films and some documentaries, on VHS and DVD. DVD is the current preferred format. When VHS materials need to be replaced, we will try to do so with DVDs. If available, we also try to acquire DVD Region 1 format with English subtitles. Electronic resources, including books, journals, and databases, are an area of interest as well.

LANGUAGES

Literary works in German are the backbone of our collection. We also acquire English translations of major works, especially poetry. Secondary works and criticism can be either in English or German, with a preference for works from university presses over those from commercial presses.

GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS

Germany and the German-speaking world.

CHRONOLOGICAL GUIDELINES

18th Century to the present. We acquire contemporary works, using as a guideline the importance of the author on the German literary scene and interest received from contemporary American criticism.

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND MANUSCRIPTS

Holdings include: The Nuremberg chronicle, some editions of Brecht and other authors in German, and some English translations of German authors.

OTHER RESOURCES AVAILABLE

CONSORT and OhioLINK increase our access to less commonly-used materials. Students and faculty also make use of ILL for their research.

CREATION DATE AND REVISION HISTORY

Created January 2008 by Karen Greever, in consulation with Paul Gebhardt.

LC CLASS

PT