COLLECTION POLICY: NEAR EASTERN HISTORY
DS 1 - DS 901
Bibliographer: Hebrew Bible/Judaica
Date Revised: September 14, 1998
General Purpose:
The collection is meant primarily to support a graduate program in Hebrew Bible and New Testament (M.A. & Ph.D.), a professional program in theology (M.Div., M.T.S., D.Min.), and the associated faculty research. Also supported are undergraduate religious studies courses and the Kesler Circulating Library for clergy. The Divinity DS collection is supplement by extensive holdings in the Central Library.
Languages:
Works are primarily in English, German, and French, though other languages are not excluded. Beyond English, which encompasses some 67% of the collection, the next greatest emphasis is on German-language materials.
Geographic Areas:
This range of the LC schedule deals specifically with ancient and modern Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, Arabia, and Asia Minor. Works tend have a European, American, or Israeli origin.
Chronological Limits:
The emphasis is on the Enlightenment and later, though earlier works are not excluded.
Types of Material Collected:
Monographs and Serials
Microfiche and microfilm. Because of insufficient shelf space, many periodicals are converted to microfilm. Occasionally works released by the ATLA preservation project fall within the DS range. The library has made a commitment to purchase all fiche released by this enterprise. As funds become available, other extensive microform research collections will also be purchased.
Types of Material Excluded:
Recordings, slides, and films with rare exceptions.
Fundamentalist, popular, and juvenile literature.
Other Factors:
The DS collection in the regular stacks is rather small. Most materials are housed in the Central collection or, in the case of some periods of Jewish history, in the Judaica Collection. These collections must be taken into account when determining the existing strengths of the various LC categories within the DS range. The totals listed below are for the regular Divinity stacks only.
DS
Subject and Collecting Levels:
| LC Number | LC Subject Descriptor | Current | Desired | Notes |
| DS 1-66 | General/Misc. | 3.1F | 3.1F | |
| DS 67-79 | Mesopotamia | 3.2F | 3.2F | |
| DS 80-89 | Phoenicia | 3.1F | 3.2F | |
| DS 92-99 | Syria | 3.2F | 3.2F | |
| DS 101-151 | Palestine/Jewish History | 3.2W | 3.2W | |
| DS 153-154 | Jordan | 3.1F | 3.1F | |
| DS 155-156 | Asia Minor | 2E | 3.1F | |
| DS 161-199 | Armenia | 2E | 0 | |
| DS 201-248 | Arabia | 3.1F | 3.1F | |
| DS 251-329 | Persia | 2F | 3.2F | |
| DS 395-901 | NA | NA |