Collection Policies

 The collection supports teaching and research in the fields of exercise science, physical education, and recreation. Undergraduate programs cover the following areas: (l) physical education with an emphasis in (a) sports management, (b) sports medicine, or (c) teaching physical education; (2) recreation and leisure studies with emphasis in (a) recreation and park management, (b) therapeutic recreation; and (3) health education. At the graduate level (M.S. in Physical Education), coursework is done in one of the following areas: (l) administration and supervision in physical education; (2) athletic training; (3) exercise science and wellness; (4) administration in recreation, leisure and tourism; (5) sports and leisure counseling including sport psychology; (6) sports management; and (7) curriculum and instruction.

Language: Works in English are primarily collected. Works in foreign languages may be purchased in English translation.

Chronological Guidelines: The collection focuses on current works about present practice and research in health education, physical education, and recreation.

Geographical Guidelines: For physical education and health education teaching, American practice is emphasized. In other subject areas, research done in other countries is included. Sports and recreation practices in other countries are covered on a selective basis.

Treatment of Subject: Scholarly, upper-division undergraduate to graduate level materials are collected in all of the subject areas. Works on teaching techniques, individual sports, histories, and general exercise and wellness are added selectively. Clinical studies in sports medicine, sports psychology and sociology, kinesiology and biomechanics are also included.

Types of Materials: The types of material collected include serials and monographs of national societies and institutions, state and federal publication, and conference proceedings. Theses and dissertations from other universities are occasionally added if available on microform. Classroom materials are generally not collected but may be available at the Learning Resource Center (Room 224 in the Education Building).

Date of Publication: Current materials published within the last ten years are generally collected. Older materials such as basic works or histories may be selected to improve the collection in certain areas.

Other General Considerations:

• Related Policy Statements:

• Other Area Resources:

• Eastern Virginia Medical School Library: for medical materials in the areas related to health education, sports medicine, exercise and wellness.
• Norfolk State University Library: for the CD-ROM index Sport Discus.
• Virtual Library of Virginia: The virtual Library of Virginia Project will bring increased access to the Medline, ERIC, and PsycLit indexes and most likely increase demand for journal and other periodical publications in these subject areas.
• Government Publications are used in all areas of HPER, especially in the areas of recreation and leisure.

• Other Collection Considerations:

• The Department supports the Wellness Institute and Research Center (WIRC) whose faculty and graduate students do research in the areas of wellness and exercise. The Institute also runs the university-wide Commonhealth program. In addition, the WIRC offers a variety of assessment services (i.e. health risk appraisal, body composition analysis, musculoskeletal screening, cardiopulmonary exercise testing, and nutritional analyses to individuals and groups.
• The department supports the Laboratory of Kinesiological and Biomechanical Studies (LKBS) which serves as a training facility for undergraduate and graduate students in physical education, sports management, athletic training, sports medicine, and exercise science. The LKBS is designed to study the human musculoskeletal system and complete biomechanical analyses of human movement.
• The Human Performance Laboratory (HPL) secures research grants through the ODU Research Foundation in order to conduct research on various aspects of exercise, health, and wellness. Recent research has been conducted on overtraining, immune function, ergogenics, ultraendurance performance, and sports psychology.
 

Bibliographer: Nancy McAuliffe