Collection Development Policy

The basic premise of this policy is to support the teaching and research needs of the Monash University scholarly community. All works, wherever possible, should be acquired in original editions and preferably in contemporary bindings. The emphasis is on printed material not on manuscript or archival collections, these being the responsibility of Monash University Archives.

Collection development should take place in the following areas:

1. Works by or about Jonathan Swift.
    
2. Swift-related material. This includes writings by and about Swift's contemporaries; and works by earlier writers considered to have influenced Swift.
    
3. Material, primarily from the period 1600-1800 relating to issues addressed by Swift:
    

   (i)    the politics of England and Ireland
   (ii)   the religious issues, in particular the relations between Church and State and the relationship
          of the Anglican Church to Dissenters and Roman Catholics.
   (iii)  the condition of the people of England and Ireland.
    

4. History of the book, and of the Book Trade in England and France, particularly during the 17^th and 18^th centuries; and material relating to the Australian book trade. This includes examples of books showing developments over the period.
    
5. Important editions of key works in English from the 17^th century to the present.
    
6. Australian literature, particularly small press publications.
    
7. Art and photography books considered vulnerable on the open shelves.
    
8. Australian art books, and works influential in the development of Australian art.
    
9. Examples of the livre d'Artiste, particularly those produced in Australia.
    
10. Travel books, particularly from the 19^th and 20th centuries, with an emphasis on visitors to Australia.
     
11. Australian history.
     
12. Aboriginal history.
     
13. Australian pamphlet material and ephemera with the emphasis on works of political and religious controversy.
     
14. Children's literature to complement the holdings in the Lindsay Shaw Collection.
     
15. Household management, home economics, and cookery books.
     
16. Etiquette and courtesy books.
     
17. Works on the occult.
     
18. Examples of popular culture from the 19^th century to the present.
     
19. Comics, particularly Australian comics.
     
20. Science-fiction, especially material produced from the 1920s to the 1960s.
     
21. Popular magazines and "'zines" particularly those produced in Australia.
     
22. Natural history with an emphasis on Australian material.
     
23. Early works on the history of mathematics, particularly 17^th and 18^th century material on algebra and geometry and works by or about Leibniz, Newton and Euler.
     
24. Works important in the history of science.
     
25. Medical works are covered in our collections from the AMA and Dr. Richard Travers. Dr Travers continues to donate material. Emphasis on development of this part of the collection should be on works relating to sexuality, women's health, nervous disorders, and diseases such as tuberculosis and typhoid, particularly in Australia.

Richard Overell,
Rare Books Librarian
14 July 2003.

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