Collection Policies

Urban Studies & Public Administration

PURPOSE

ODU’s Graduate Center for Urban Studies and Public Administration offers master’s degrees in public administration (MPA) and urban studies (MUS), and the Ph.D. in Urban Services-Management Concentration.  The primary mission of the MPA Program is to enhance the knowledge, skills and abilities of public sector professionals and to serve other students who desire careers in public and non-profit organizations. The MPA program is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA).  The MUS program is designed to meet the need for public and nonprofit sector administrators, analysts, and evaluators who have been exposed to multidisciplinary perspectives of urban problems and processes.  The urban studies program offers specializations in p olicy analysis and program evaluation, and community services and planning.  The Ph.D. in Urban Services is a multidisciplinary degree program designed to address the complex human, social and technological problems of contemporary urban society. This degree program provides conceptual and theoretical knowledge, as well as practical skills, within a broad urban context.

GENERAL COLLECTING GUIDELINES

Language Guidelines :

English is the primary language for urban studies and public administration programs.  The library purchases foreign language titles in this discipline upon special request from faculty. 

Chronological Treatment of Subject Guidelines :

Faculty and graduate student research in this discipline at ODU revolves around contemporary issues.  Therefore, the collection development emphasis is on new materials that address emerging subjects.  Historical materials may be selectively acquired to fill holes in the collection. 

Geographical Guidelines :

Most faculty and graduate student research in this discipline at ODU focuses on issues facing cities and administrators in the United States.  Most material purchased by the library will pertain to US cities and federal, state and local level government.  The library will purchase materials relating to public administration and cities in foreign countries on a selective basis.  Broader material relating to globalization is purchased for a wide variety of disciplines including urban studies and public administration.

Treatment of Subject:

The library primarily acquires new secondary source scholarship in public administration and urban studies.  Primary source document collections and electronic datasets may be purchased with input from faculty.  The library usually does not purchase popular non-scholarly works or textbooks.

Types of Material :

The focus of the library's urban studies and public administration collection is on scholarly monographs and professional journals in both print and electronic formats.  Biographies, bibliographies, conference proceedings, reference works, foreign government documents, intergovernmental organization publications, and primary source document collections will be collected on a selective basis.  The Library may also selectively acquire audio-visual materials and digital data sets. 

Date of Publication :

The library's collecting emphasis is on newly published materials.  Older monographs and journal back files may be purchased on a selective basis to meet changing research interests and fill in collection gaps.

Other General Considerations :

a. Interdisciplinary Relationships / Related Policy Statements: the library's urban studies and public administration collection is closely tied to many other areas/programs including: management, industrial psychology, educational leadership, sociology, criminal justice, political science, geography, health care administration, and international studies. 

b. Local/Regional/Consortial Resources: Norfolk State University offers a master’s degree program in urban affairs.  The College of William & Mary offers a master’s degree program in public policy and a number of joint graduate degree programs that combine public policy with other fields such as business administration, law and marine science.  William & Mary also operates the Center for Public Policy Research. 

c. Virtual Library of Virginia: Factiva, InfoTrac and the various publisher-based collections available through VIVA include selected urban studies and public administration journals. 

d. Government Publications: Government publications in print and electronic form are important parts of the urban studies and public administration collections.  Among the most important agencies supplying documents are the departments of Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban Development.  Data from the Census Bureau serves key statistical needs of faculty and graduate students.  Congressional hearings also often relate to current issues facing public administrators and cities.   

e. Distance Education: ODU does not currently offer the MPA or MUS degrees through distance education.  However, public administration graduate courses are regularly offered at the Virginia Beach Higher Education Center and Peninsula Higher Education Center.

Summary of Collection Strengths and Weaknesses:

The library’s collections in urban studies and public administration are comparable to those at institutions ranked in US News & World Report’s annual graduate school guide.  These collections also exceed criteria set by the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration .  However, faculty members have expressed the need to add new professional journals devoted to developing areas within the disciplines. 

Collecting Codes

Key to collecting codes

Discipline: Urban Studies and Public Administration
Bibliographer: Stuart Frazer
Date: 8/03

Stuart Frazer September 25, 2003