Collection Guidelines: Anthropology and Archaeology: Subject Info

These are the guidelines by which materials are purchased for the anthropology collections of the UW Libraries (Seattle Campus).  For questions or more information, please contact the Anthropology Librarian.

The UW Libraries is committed to providing convenient and timely access to collections and information resources that are outstanding with respect to their quality, depth, diversity, format and currency to support the research and teaching missions of the University of Washington.

Anthropology is the study of humans, past and present. The primary fields within the discipline include archaeology, biocultural anthropology and sociocultural anthropology. To understand the full sweep and complexity of cultures across all of human history, anthropology draws and builds upon knowledge from the social and biological sciences as well as the humanities and physical sciences. A central concern of anthropologists is the application of knowledge to the solution of human problems.

The Library's anthropology collection primarily supports the teaching and research of the University of Washington's Department of Anthropology. The collection also supports many other UW departments and programs.

Anthropology is by its nature an interdisciplinary field, and the collections supporting it range widely and can be found among many Library of Congress (LC) classes. The primary LC classes for anthropology are:

• CC: Archaeology
• D-F: General, Old World and American History
• GN: Anthropology
• GR: Folklore
• GT: Manners and Customs

Additional LC classes with substantial anthopological material include:

• BL: Religion
  
• M: Music
  
• N: Art
  
• P: Linguistics
  
• QE: Geology
  
• QH: Natural History
  
• QK: Botany
  
• QL: Zoology
  
• QS: Human Anatomy