Collections: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Policy

Program Description

The Howard-Tilton Memorial Library collects materials that support the teaching and research programs of the university's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. The department offers programs of study leading to the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in ecology and evolutionary biology.

Course offerings at the graduate level include animal and plant physiology, plant ecology, plant-animal interactions, population biology, structural and evolutionary biology, systematic biology, environmental toxicology, marine/estuarine ecology, and the biology of diverse groups of plants and animals. Areas of faculty research include plant physiology/aquatic toxicology; ecology and taxonomy of stream fishes and salamanders; the dynamics of carbon and nitrogen in aquatic systems; the ecology and evolutionary biology of North American fishes; and population biology, ecology, and conservation of migratory birds.

The Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at Tulane has ten faculty, twenty-three graduate students, and 100 undergraduate majors.

An interdisciplinary program in Environmental Studies is housed in the department.

Environmental Studies
The environmental studies major is interdisciplinary, seeking to inform students of the political, economic, social, historical, and cultural dimensions of ecological issues as well as those related to the biological and physical sciences. The co-directors of this program are Joan W. Bennett (jbennett@tulane.edu) and Michael E. Zimmerman (michaelz@tulane.edu).



Subject Resource Guide

http://libguides.tulane.edu/ecology



Scope

Selection emphasis is in the areas of general and systematic zoology and botany, ecology, evolutionary biology, population biology, marine/estuarine biology, environmental toxicology, biochemistry, and physiology.



Type

The library collects monographs, monographic series, reference books, and periodicals, with the main focus being the journal collection. Upper level textbooks are purchased selectively; recent lower-level texts may be accepted as gifts. Textbooks used in current courses are not acquired. Symposium and colloquium proceedings are bought upon request. The library does not generally collect theses or dissertations by authors other than Tulane students, patents, technical reports, standards or specifications. Videorecordings may be purchased upon request of faculty members.



Format

To broaden accessibility, journals are sought online when this format is available. Print may be cancelled to reduce costs when ownership of the online version is assured and image quality is adequate. Online access that requires additional costs with a print subscription will be sought selectively within the amount budgeted for biology journals. Monographs and other types are generally purchased as printed text. Other formats are considered, especially when the alternative format would improve access or utility. Most scientific abstracting and indexing sources are available as databases searchable online. The library rarely maintains a subscription to both the print and the database version of an index, although the volumes previous to the existence of the database are always retained.



Language

English is the predominant language of publication, but some foreign language journals are collected at the request of the faculty. In the Meade collection, many periodicals from the Latin American countries are in Spanish.



Chronological Period

Emphasis is on current research, although the collection contains much old and valuable biological material in the area of taxonomy and natural history.



Imprint Date

Preference is given to items published within the last two or three years. Items with older imprint dates are sought selectively. Out-of-print materials are sought mostly to replace classical works damaged or missing from the collection or by special request.



Geographical Considerations

The collection relates to all geographical regions but is especially strong in materials pertaining to the Gulf South and to Mexico, Central America, and South America.



Related Collections

Tulane Medical Library contains additional material in the areas of biochemistry and physiology. Meade Natural History Library at the Tulane Riverside Research Laboratories in Belle Chasse receives many foreign journals in all areas of biology on an exchange basis; some of these are not cataloged and listed only through the Meade library homepage. The Koch Botanical Library is located in the departmental facilities in Dinwiddie Hall. Koch has a collection of historical botany and plant illustrations that corresponds with the Herbarium, housed adjacent to the library. The collection contains more than 1000 monographs of flora and fauna worldwide and is designed for taxonomic and systematic botany research with emphasis on New World Flora. Major journals, reference, indices, and bibliographies are represented in the collection, which is accessible through the Local Catalog. The collection at the Tulane Regional Primate Research Center (Delta Primate Center) in Covington contains material in primatology, immunology, virology and other fields of microbiology, statistics, and veterinary medicine. For the most part, these items are not listed in the TULANet Voyager.



Cooperative Resources

The Howard-Tilton Memorial Library has purchased more than 40,000 ebooks, with records loaded into the library catalog and covering a wide range of subjects, through the SOLINET regional library consortium. The library is one of 14 members of a cooperative consortium of southern research libraries called KUDZU, which includes a shared online catalog. Loan requests through this system receive priority processing and expedited two-day delivery. The library is also a member of the cooperative Center for Research Libraries (CRL) in Chicago, through which may borrow a wide range of rare materials for our users. Undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty may borrow materials directly from the main library nearby at Loyola University of New Orleans through a reciprocal agreement. Graduate students and faculty may borrow materials at other New Orleans area academic libraries through the CALL consortium and at other academic libraries throughout the state through the LALINC consortium. Faculty may in many cases secure temporary borrowing library privileges outside the state through OCLC. For more information about cooperative borrowing privileges inquire at the library's Circulation Desk.



Supply Sources

Limited numbers of books are automatically delivered to the library through an approval plan from Blackwell's Book Services and Blackwell Oxford. Most other books are purchased individually and also through Blackwell at a discount rate.



Endowed Funds

The Class of 1902 Fund may be used for books in any area of science.



Selection Tools

Reviews such as those from Choice, from biological and other scientific journals, and recommendations from faculty, staff, and students are all sources of possible additions to the collection, as are book notices delivered to the library through the Blackwell Plan.