Economics, Government, Sociology in Olin

CLIENTELE: Cornell faculty and students utilizing resources on economics, government and sociology. Primarily from the College of Arts and Sciences with use by social scientists in other campus departments and programs.

STRENGTH: Overall: ECS 4E; 4F       CCI 3+E; 0F

Historically, theoretical social science material was collected in all Western languages. Beginning in the nineteen eighties, however, decreasing purchasing power and rising costs have limited comprehensive coverage of scholarly titles in non-English languages. The contemporary Olin collection is primarily English language with a core of scholarly journals and topical periodicals. It provides a range of monographic publications from academic and trade presses, research institutes, private sector organizations, and public agencies.

SUBJECTS by LC classification:
H and HA: General social science material encompasses theory, policy, and methodology, as well as descriptive statistics at the international and national level.

HB to HG: The Olin Economics collection is notably strong in the theoretical and historical material of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. International political economy and development economics are among current emphases.

GV, HB, HM to HX, R's: Sociology is a comprehensive collection, which includes policy analysis, population studies, social theory and history. Extensively acquired are resources on contemporary concerns such as health, sexuality, minorities, and urban studies.

L's: Olin holdings on education focus on public policy, higher education, and the history of western education.

HJ, J to JZ, K's, U's: Olin holdings on government range from the theoretical to the applied in a comprehensive and historic collection. The American federal system, governmental institutions, and international relations continue as major resource strengths.

GEOGRAPHIC PARAMETERS:
The Olin economics, government and sociology collections include descriptive material about the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and the nations of Oceania.
Theoretical social science material is collected from these same countries as well as from Western Europe as funding permits.

DOCUMENTS:
A traditional and continuing strength of the social science collection is the comprehensive collection of official publications from international agencies, Great Britain, the United States government and New York State. Olin maintains depository status for many documents and provides numerous finding aids and indices to holdings not listed in the online catalog. As documents migrate online, Olin continues to provide bibliographic access, links to full text, and archival formats.

EXCLUSIONS: dissertations, textbooks, reprints.

July 2003