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Social Work
I. Program Information
The social work collection supports the degree programs of the University's School of Social Work and the research activities of the School's faculty. Currently the major emphasis of the curriculum is applied research related to the profession of social work and the broad field of social welfare in both an historical and contemporary frame. Within this context the analysis of social policy and social problems and the investigation and evaluation of a wide range of intervention programs and practices are major concerns. Faculty research centers on these as well.
The School offers two graduate degrees: the M.S.W. and the Ph.D. Students in both programs combine field work in their area of specialization with academic course work. The areas of specialization are: health, behavioral health, services to children and youth, aging and criminal/juvenile justice.
The School of Social Work offers the following joint degree programs with other departments and schools within the University:
M.S.W./M.B.A.: joint program with the Wharton School.
M.S.W./M.C.P.: joint program with the Department of City Planning of the Graduate School of Fine Arts.
M.S.W./J.D.: joint program with the Law School.
M.S.W./M.S.Ed.: joint program with the Graduate School of Education.
In addition, the School conducts a number of joint degree/certificate programs with local institutions in the fields of Catholic, Jewish, and Lutheran social services and marriage and family therapy.
There are three research centers at the school: the Center for the Study of Youth Policy, the Boettner Center of Financial Gerontology and the Mental Health Center. In the fall of 1998 the school instituted a distance education program located at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. The school also maintains a continuing education program for practicing professional social workers.
II. Collection Description
The collection is historically strong in American social issues and in social welfare history, and continues to be so. Currently there are over 20,000 titles in the specific Library of Congress classes (HV's) for social pathology, social welfare, and criminology. The criminology holdings in particular gained great historical depth in 1995 when the Library received the criminology collection of the late Professor Thorsten Sellin. The journal collection is strong and includes the core journals as well as most of the other journals abstracted in Social Work Abstracts (SWAB). SWAB is an electronic database available on the Libraries' Databases page. There are a growing number of electronic journals being added to the collection. The internationalization of the curriculum has led to increased purchasing of material pertaining to cross-cultural and social work issues worldwide. The presence of the Center for Youth Policy has created a research emphasis on juvenile justice and youth issues.
The School of Social Work maintained its own library in the Castor Building until 1987 when the library was incorporated into the Van Pelt Library. Social Work students draw upon the resources of the University Library system as a whole, especially the core Social Work material and the other social science disciplines in Van Pelt. They draw upon material on health related issues in the Biomedical Library and in anthropology at the University Museum Library. Material in health care economics, workplace issues and management of non-profits is in the Lippincott Library. The Social Work Bibliographer monitors and purchases materials for the core Social Work collection while related disciplines are supported by the Social Sciences Bibliographer.
III. Guidelines for Collection Development
- Chronological
Emphasis is on current material, but the Library tries to fill in historical gaps in the 1970's and 1980's where possible. There is a good deal of reprint publishing in social work.
- Formats
Monographs and serials in hardcopy, microform and digital formats. Textbooks are an important source in social work because this is where new research and theories are often reported. Directories of social service agencies, public and private, are heavily used. Electronic databases and CD-ROM's are very important and popular with social work students. U.S. government documents are vital. Video material is becoming increasingly important as are data sets.
- Geographical
- Language
Predominantly English.
- Publication Dates
Emphasis is on current materials, although reprint materials are purchased to strengthen the collection historically.
IV. Principal Sources of Supply and major Selection Tools
Approval plans and standing orders provide the greatest amount of material. Faculty requests and suggestions are actively solicited. The University of Chicago School of Social Work Acquisitions List is a very useful selection tool, as are reviews in professional journals such as Administration in Social Work, Social Casework, Social Work Research, Journal of Gerontological Social Work, Child Welfare and Journal of Social Work Education.
V. Subjects Collected and Levels of Collecting
Subjects Collected Levels of Collecting Abortion 3/3E Adoption 3/4E Aging and the Aged 3/4E AIDS (Care and Social Aspects) 3/3E Child Abuse and Neglect 3/3E Child Welfare 3/3E Community Organization 2/3E Crime and Delinquency 2/3E Domestic Violence 3/3E/4 Family Welfare 3/3E Homelessness 2/3E/4 Juvenile Justice 3/3E/4 Marriage and Family Therapy 3/3E Mental Health/Illness 3/4E Racism/Race Relations 3/4E Social Policy 3/3E Social Welfare/History 3/3E Social Work Practice 3/4E Substance Abuse 3/3E Workplace 2/3E
VI. Subjects Excluded
Self-help literature aimed at the individual, and educational literature for children or adolescents are not collected.
VII. Cooperative Arrangements and Related Collections
Locally there are important materials in the Bryn Mawr College Library, Temple University Library and its Urban Archives, and the Philadelphia City Archives. The Temple and City archives provide historical and primary source material for municipal social agencies and social organizations. The Gratz College Library supports the M.S.W./Certificate in Jewish Communal Studies program.
