Collection Guidelines: Geography: Subject Definition

Image accessed Nov. 2012, Google images

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

UW Libraries: Collection Goals

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.

Geography is the study of how individuals, groups and societies use and organize their territorial space. As a social science, Geography involves the spatial or locational components of social and economic activities.

The collection will be useful to those researching and studying in the Social Sciences and Sciences.  The Geography Research Guide will help you to begin using the materials (archives, books, electronic databases, journals, magazines, and newspapers) in the UW Libraries collection.

Library of Congress Classification (LC):

Geography research is represented in many Library of Congress Classification schedules; however, these stand out:

• G, general geography; GA, cartography and mathematical geography; GB, physical geography; and GF, anthropogeography.
• JC 311-323, geopolitics
• HB 879-3700, demography; HT 101-384, urban planning; HT 390-395, regional planning.
• Support material is cataloged in QC 851-999, climatology; QE 500-699, geology; QH 75-77, conservation of nature and landscape; S 900-972, conservation of resources; TA 501-625, surveying.

Dewey Decimal Classification:

Most Geography material is classified in 910-919; these classes include travel literature as well as Geography. Other
material can be found in:

• 301, urban geography and regional science; 330, economic geography;
• 526.9, mapping; 551, physical geography;
• 710, urban and regional planning.