Collection Development Policies

Community Health

Purpose - General Collection Guidelines - Collection Codes

PURPOSE

The School of Community and Environmental Health offers degrees in a variety of areas in the health care industry. Graduate and doctoral programs offer fexible scheduling as many participants are already working in the health care field and wish to pursue continuing educational opportunities. Current degree programs include:

Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences (B.S.H.S.)
Bachelor of Science in Environmental Health
Master of Science in Community Health
Master of Public Health (joint program with EVMS)
PhD in Health Services Research (new)
Certificate Programs (cytotechnology, health care management, occupational safety and ophthalmic technology)

Areas of emphasis in the graduate program in community health include: community health education/promotion, long-term care administration, health-care management and environmental health. The Master of Science in Community Health – Health Care Management was offered via TELETECHNET in Fall 2003.

This policy will focus on community health collections as a separate collections policy was created for environmental health in 2000. Special emphasis will be placed on graduate and doctoral programs with an emphasis on research in health care policy, heath care economics and health care administration.

GENERAL COLLECTING GUIDELINES

Language Guidelines :   English will be the primary language of the collection. English language translations of foreign works will be collected on a selective basis. Non-English language materials will generally not be collected except in special circumstances.

Chronological Guidelines:   The collection focuses on works of current practice and research in community health education, health care policy, health care economics, health care administration, health promotion, aging, nutrition, public health issues, long-term care and trends in the overall health care system. Historical works will be collected selectively. Recent additions to the core collection are based on three studies compiled by Academy Health in 2000, 2003 and 2004 and funded by the National Library of Medicine.

Geographical Guidelines:   In all subject areas American practice is emphasized. However, the areas of communicable diseases, public health, health care management, global health perspectives and health promotion offer opportunities to selectively review materials published internationally.

Treatment of Subject:   Materials at the Undergraduate level will be collected broadly in all subject areas to support various health sciences programs. Core, classic, and current materials will be collected at the Graduate/Doctoral level in community/public health policy, health economics and health outcomes. Additional materials supporting specialty areas of faculty research and teaching are also collected on a more selective basis.

Types of Material:   The Library will collect scholarly monographs including bibliographies, conference proceedings and reference works. Serials that support the curriculum will be collected with an emphasis on those involving health care administration, health economics, community mental health, aging, public health, preventative health services, health education, community health nursing, managed care and home health care. Many state and federal publications support research particularly in the area of statistics. For detailed information please refer to the "Other Resources" section of this policy.

Indexes to scholarly journal articles may be available in print or via the Internet. For detailed information regarding online databases and/or journals please refer to the "Other Resources" section of the policy.

Date of Publication:   Current materials published within the past five years will receive priority, particularly in the areas of health care management, health economics, aging, community/public health, nutrition, case management, and promotion of wellness.

Other General Considerations:

Related Subject Policy Statements:

Physical Therapy
Nursing
Dental Assisting
Environmental Health

• Other Resources:

The Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA) project offers a number of electronic resources that will assist patrons in locating articles in scholarly journals, and in some cases, full-text of the articles. This consortium allows the library to maximize buying power and reduce overall costs for databases and journals. In addition to VIVA, the library participates in other selective cooperative buying efforts with Virginia institutions particularly regarding purchases related to graduate and doctoral program needs. When needed, the library also independently purchases unique databases to support local curriculum interests.

The interdisciplinary aspect of this program requires scholarly research in the social sciences and health sciences. Online databases that support the program include: ABI/Inform, CINAHL, the Cochrane Library (Ovid), EconLit, Health and Psychosocial (HaPi), Medline (via Cambridge Scientific, EbscoHost and PubMed), ERIC, Sage Nursing and Health Sciences, LexisNexis Academic, PsycInfo, Sociological Abstracts, Web of Science, Science Direct, Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins and InfoTrac Onefile.

Emphasis is placed on acquiring full text articles online whenever possible to support research on campus as well as distance learning programs.

United States Federal Documents:  The federal documents collection offers a number of publications that are useful in statistical research in the areas of vital statistics, morbidity and mortality, communicable diseases, health care financing, smoking, aging, and general health care guidelines. Some of these include the Statistical Abstract of the United States , the Centers for Disease Control's CDC Wonder and other database warehouses, National Center for Health Statistics, Healthy People series and Census publications.

General publications from the National Institutes of Health and the National Library of Medicine also focus on topics related to promotion of wellness including smoking and substance abuse. Publications from the Agency for Healthcare Services Research & Quality provide clinical information, evidence reports, research findings and data/surveys.

Laws and regulations governing health care provision, food and drug approval, and health care financing and reform are also collected. Key resources for laws and regulations include: Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, Statutes at Large, and the United States Code. Online access to legislative materials is via GPO Access at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov

Many full text publications and data series related to community health professions can be found via the Internet. Key sites include the Dept. of Health and Human Services , the Centers for Disease Control , GPOAccess and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality AHRQ.

SUBJECT DIVISIONS

1. Community Health Education/Promotion :  Works are collected on methods of assisting the health care professional in educating patients, developing programs for the health care community and for managing illness/disease within the community. Works are also collected on methods of designing, developing, and presenting training in promoting wellness and the prevention of illness. Attention is given to materials addressing nutrition, exercise, and routine health assessment.
2. Health Care Management :   Works are collected on methods of identifying changing managerial roles, assessing policies and reforms, and implementing policies reflecting legal and social changes in the health care system. There is a growing emphasis on health economics.
3. Environmental Health:   Works are collected on the effects of the environment and workplace on individuals' health. Materials addressing assessing and safeguarding the workplace are also collected. There is a growing interest in bioterrorism.
4. Long-Term Care Administration:   Works are collected concerning the legal and financial issues related to long-term care. Attention is paid to materials related to nursing home care, managed care facilities, health maintenance organizations, and home health care. The program is designed to prepare students to meet Virginia's eligibility requirements for licensure as a nursing home administrator.
   

Collecting Codes

key to collecting codes

SuDoc Class (federal depository collections)

 Bibliographer:  Janet L. Justis
 11/12/2003
Revised 10/26/2005