Library Policy Statements

I. PROGRAM INFORMATION

The Hawaiian Collection of the University of Hawaii at Manoa began in 1907, a year after the founding of the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (now the University of Hawaii), when the library purchased $350.00 worth of books about Hawaii from a Honolulu bookstore. In 1927, 1,500 books were set aside into a separate Hawaiian Collection. Janet Bell, a University of Hawaii graduate, became the first Hawaiian Collection librarian in 1935. At her retirement in 1970, the collection had grown to over 50,000 volumes.

As of 2000, the collection numbered 53,896 titles in 133,677 volumes, of which more than 2000 are currently-received serials. There are over 90 feet of ephemera, 4,500 videotapes, 3150 sound recordings, and 12,183 reels of microfilm.

The Hawaiian Collection is the world's most comprehensive library of current and retrospective materials pertaining to Hawaii. All formats, languages, levels and treatment are collected. While all aspects of Hawaii are of interest, special emphasis is placed on acquiring materials on Hawaiian studies (i.e. pertaining to native Hawaiians), ethnic studies of the peoples of Hawaii, the Hawaiian language, and the history and pre-history of Hawaii. The collection serves the students and faculty of the University of Hawaii, including those participating in University of Hawaii distance education programs, and a growing number of local, national and international users who are researching Hawaii.

The collection supports teaching and research on Hawaii at all levels. Numerous campus departments offer courses on Hawaii. The Center for Hawaiian Studies in the School of Hawaiian, Asian, and Pacific Studies offers a Bachelor of Arts degree in Hawaiian studies. The Department of Hawaiian and Indo-Pacific Languages and Literatures in the College of Languages, Linguistics and Literature offers a Bachelor of Arts in Hawaiian language. Masters and doctoral degrees may be earned in the discipline departments. Both the Center for Hawaiian Studies and the Department of Hawaiian and Indo-Pacific Languages and Literatures are planning masters programs in Hawaiian studies and Hawaiian language, respectively. A growing number of Hawaiian Studies students obtain Master's degrees through the Center for Pacific Islands Studies.

II. COORDINATION OF COLLECTING RESPONSIBILITIES

University of Hawaii at Manoa Hamilton and Sinclair Library Collections
The Hawaiian Collection selectively purchases additional copies of materials to be held in appropriate circulating and reference collections as usage warrants.

University Archives: The Hawaiian Collection acquires printed books and serials issued by or about the University of Hawaii at Manoa, faculty offprints about Hawaii, and University of Hawaii dissertations and theses. The archival copy of all University of Hawaii Press publications, regardless of subject, is housed in the University Archives.

Pacific Collection: The Hawaiian Collection does not acquire monographs and reports on the Pacific Islands that contain only a section or chapter on Hawaii, or materials on Pacific Islands peoples. These materials are acquired by and kept in the Pacific Collection.

Asia Collection: The Hawaiian Collection acquires materials about Hawaii in Asian languages, most of which are currently in Japanese. The Hawaiian Collection acquires materials about peoples of Asian ancestry who live in Hawaii, but does not acquire background material about their countries of origin.

Business Humanities and Social Sciences Department (BHSD), Science and Technology Department (Sci-Tech), Music Collection: The Hawaiian Collection selectively purchases titles about Hawaii for the BHSD, Sci-Tech and Music circulating collections, and after consultation, for their reference collections. These materials duplicate heavily used materials in the Hawaiian Collection.

Map Collection: The Hawaiian Collection selects and funds most Hawaii maps, which are then housed in the Map Collection.

United States Government Documents Collection: The Government Documents Collection holds late 19th and 20th Century U.S. government and United Nations documents on Hawaii, which are unique to that collection. The Hawaiian Collection acquires most modern depository and non-depository U.S. government documents about Hawaii. These acquisitions duplicate depository materials held in the Government Documents Collection. The Hawaiian Collection acquires documents about Hawaii from other national and international agencies. The Hawaiian Collection does not duplicate U.S. or United Nations compilations of statistical and other data, which include Hawaii. Microform formats of documents (e.g. NTIS, consular reports) generally are not duplicated in paper for the Hawaiian Collection except for selected major items and ERIC documents on the Hawaiian language.

Wong Audiovisual Center: The Hawaiian Collection selects and funds audiovisual materials in all formats on Hawaii, which are housed in the Wong Audiovisual Center.

Other Manoa Campus Collections

University of Hawaii at Manoa William S. Richardson School of Law Library
The Hawaiian Collection acquires law materials about Hawaii, which may duplicate those in the School of Law Library.

Off-campus Collections
The Hawaiian Mission Children's Society Library specializes in primary Protestant mission-related materials. It contains the largest collection of Hawaiian language materials. The Hawaiian Collection acquires printed books on Hawaii missions and missionaries, and publications and photocopies of Hawaiian language material.

The Family History Centers of the Church of Latter-Day Saints hold major collections of genealogical resources on all ethnic groups in Hawaii. The Hawaiian Collection duplicates a small number of these materials.

The Hawaii State Archives is the depository for official and primary records of all of the governments of Hawaii, including the Hawaiian Kingdom, the Provisional Government, the Republic of Hawaii, the Territory of Hawaii, and the State of Hawaii. The Hawaiian Collection duplicates some of these materials.

The Bishop Museum Library is the major depository of primary source materials on traditional Hawaiian culture. The Bishop Museum Library also contains major collections of moving images and photographs. The Hawaiian Collection selectively acquires photocopies of their print materials.

III. GUIDELINES TO MATERIALS COLLECTED OR EXCLUDED

Language: No limitations. Most of the material is in English or Hawaiian, with a growing collection of titles in Japanese.

Chronological: No limitations.

Geographic: No limitations. The emphasis is on the islands of the Hawaiian archipelago including the Northwestern Islands. Included also are native Hawaiians anywhere in the world, and prominent former residents of Hawaii of any ethnicity. Works published in Hawaii, but not about Hawaii, are excluded.

Date of Publication: No limitations.

Textbooks: No limitations. All levels are collected, if on or about Hawaii.

Types/Formats of Materials Collected: No limitations. Published books, reports and serials; ephemera; microforms; photographs; and audiovisual materials form the bulk of the collection. Materials in electronic format are selectively collected.

Treatment: No limitations, including popular.

IV. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS BY TYPE AND FORMAT

Archives, Manuscripts, Personal Papers and Other Primary Source Materials: Hawaii-related manuscripts, personal papers, and archives of agencies and organizations and individuals are collected in all formats.

Ephemera: Ephemera is widely collected.

Hawaii State and County Documents: Although a state law requires that each government agency send one copy of each publication for deposit to the University of Hawaii Library, monitoring acquisitions and pursuing missing items is time-consuming. The Hawaiian Collection regularly examines acquisition and publication lists of state and county government documents to identify and acquire those of research value.

Hawaiian Music: Hawaiian music in print or audiovisual formats is collected.

Audiovisual: All formats are collected. Radio tapes and other non-music sound recordings are added selectively. Selected locally produced television programs about Hawaii are taped off-air, with permission.

Editions: All editions are collected: paper and hard cover of the same title, the title in different languages, and all variant editions. Reprints are deemed variant editions.

Electronic Formats: Materials in electronic format are acquired selectively.

Microforms and Other Duplicative Formats: The Hawaiian Collection purchases microform copies of materials on a selective basis. Material that may not be available for purchase may be added by duplication by microfilm, photocopy or audiovisual duplication. The collection microfilms, digitizes, photocopies or dubs parts of its collection (e.g. newspapers and fragile materials) for preservation purposes.

Reprints and Offprints: Reprints and offprints of journal articles and book chapters are collected selectively. Priority is given to scholarly articles, articles in journals not owned by the library, lengthy feature articles, and/or subjects where there is limited information in other formats. Highly scientific articles are largely excluded.

V. ADDITIONAL OR SUPPLEMENTARY CONSIDERATIONS

The Hawaiian Collection acquires material under the following provisions:

1. By purchase, using University Library funds allocated to the collection;
2. By deposit, such as state agency publications;
3. By gift from publishers, public and private issuing agencies, and individuals;
4. By special funding, such as gifts and grants for special projects;
5. By blanket order plans with several local vendors and publishers, to provide all Hawaiian titles they carry in book and media formats. Only a handful of books are received each year on the Blackwell Approval Plan, which covers current English language publications from U.S. and United Kingdom university and trade publishers.

Date compiled: 11/00 Compiler: Joan Hori