Collection Overview
The collection supports the teaching, study, and research of French, Spanish and Italian literatures by students and faculty in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures and the university. Since the inception of their order, Jesuits have written numerous works in the romance languages about philosophy and classical literature. The libraries at Boston College, a Jesuit university, have a number of these works which expand the resources available for study and research.The collection of contemporary French, Spanish and Italian literature and its criticism is strong. This includes  Francophone, Maghreb, Spanish, Spanish American and Italian literatures. The library acquires works and critical editions by and about major writers; such as Dante, Calvino, Pirandello, Cervantes, Borges and Rousseau.  Upon faculty request, every effort is made to acquire new or critical  editions of a work.  The library collects all genres including novels, short stories, plays, essays and poetry. It also collects French, Spanish and Italian films in video cassette and laser disc formats.  Secondary works on all aspects of French, Francophone, Spanish, Spanish American and Italian literature including literary theory and criticism, culture and language are acquired. The collection policy stresses the acquisition of material that reflects current literary trends such as  modernism, post-modernism, realism, literary influences of gender and feminism. Reference material is acquired extensively. The collection supports the teaching of cultural histories of  Spain, Spanish-speaking countries in the Americas, Italy, France and French-speaking countries through an integration of texts and visual materials pertaining to social, political and cultural experience. | View selected resources »

Recent Additions to the Collection

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Interdisciplinary Elements of Subject Area
The subject areas of this collection are frequently related to different fields such as history (social history, popular culture), philosophy, fine arts, speech and communication, drama and theater, sociology,  psychology, political science, economics and education.

Formats and Types of Materials
Formats collected include print, electronic, microform, and audiovisual. Types of materials include monographs, serials, and reference works including major indexes, abstracts, catalogs, bibliographies, yearbooks, dictionaries, encyclopedias, research guides, and directories.  The library collects and provides access to research level monographs, serials in print, electronic or microform format.  Reference sources (dictionaries, indexes and abstracts, book catalogs, bibliographies) in print or electronic formats are purchased extensively.  The library makes every effort to provide access to reference sources in whatever format and the latest technology.  Proceedings of symposia and international congresses are collected broadly.  Proceedings, conference papers and dissertations are purchased selectively, only upon request, and when a need is clearly demonstrated.  For the most part, the library does not acquire textbooks as required texts for courses.  However, in the case of those textbooks which are valuable as reference and research works, the library acquires these selectively upon request.  The library acquires films in video or laser disc format to support the curriculum. Audiovisual materials for language acquisition and practice of  French, Italian and Spanish language are housed in the Language Laboratory in Lyons Hall  313.  This collection is the responsibility of the Director. Consult Catalogue of Resources for its holdings.

Languages
French, Spanish, Italian and English are the primary languages of the collection.  However, important works relating to French, Spanish and Italian literatures in other languages are purchased. At faculty request, the library is building a collection in Provençal, and Medieval Italian and Spanish works as they are reprinted and made available.  Major works of French, Spanish and Italian literature are purchased in translation by the English bibliographer.

Geographic Areas (Subject Approach)
The collection is not limited to a particular geographic area; rather it includes material from beyond European borders, e.g., Latin American, African, and Asian sources. The Boston College Catalog states "Although Romance culture has by tradition been traced to a European source, the offerings of the department also take into account the presence of Hispanophone, and Francophone cultures in the Caribbean, South and Central America, Africa and Asia."  Québécois literature is collected to support the curriculum.

Time Periods (Subject Approach)
The primary emphasis of the collection is on twentieth century materials, with purchases of significant earlier works made whenever possible as the budget permits. Current acquisitions focus on current research and publications. Retrospective purchasing to fill in gaps and changes in the curriculum is an ongoing process. The historical development of the collection reflects a strong Jesuit tradition with the strength of the earlier works in the French collection.

Date of Publication
Emphasis is on acquiring current materials published after 1960. Selective retrospective purchasing will be carried out and may involve reprints, electronic or microform rather than the original format. Current imprints are emphasized. Modern editions of classics as well as reprints of significant works are also emphasized.

Weeding
In order maintain the quality of the collection it will be weeded continually. This process ensures a current, relevant, useful and accessible collection to meet current and future teaching and research needs. Definition: Weeding is a periodic or continual evaluation of resources intended to remove (discard) items that are no longer useful from the collection. The goal of the weeding process is to withdraw materials which are no longer relevant to the collection and to identify and to send to storage infrequently used materials.

Typically, the following categories of materials will be subject to weeding:

• Obsolete and out of date material and of no current or historical significance to Boston College or inconsistent with the current collection policy and selection criteria. Yet particular attention will be paid to the value of historical data.
• Duplicates of titles purchased when the book was in heavier demand and have not circulated within 5 years.
• Badly damaged or worn material.
• Duplicate formats, such as indexes and abstracts that are available electronically will be considered.

Subject Areas Collected by Library of Congress Classification Number
Quest Library Catalog can be searched by LC classification number to get a better idea of what specific titles the romance languages and literatures collection contains. For example, the Browse Search by Call Number (Library of Congress) for PQ1 will produce the beginning of a list of works on French literature. This list can be browsed by selecting a record, then moving to "previous" or "next" in the list.

Last Revised: August 28, 2003