Library Policy Statements

I. PROGRAM INFORMATION

Pacific Collections The Pacific Collection had its origins in the acquisitions work done by librarian Janet Bell, who in the 1930s began to widen the library's view to include islands beyond Hawaii's shores. When the Pacific Islands Program began in 1950, faculty recognized the need for emphasis on library resources. In 1957 the Rockefeller Foundation awarded $30,000 for a five-year acquisitions program, during which faculty purchased out-of-print materials and microfilmed archival resources in Europe and the Pacific Islands.

In 1969 Renée Heyum, former librarian at the Musée de l'Homme, Paris, joined the staff as the first Curator of the Pacific Collection, recently separated from the Hawaiian Collection, and dedicated herself to the materials on the Pacific Islands. In 1974 the Pacific Islands Program used federal funds to send Curator Heyum on the first of a series of annual acquisitions trips which have yielded both publications from the region and a network of contacts, whose help has kept the library abreast of current government documents, conference papers and published works. When Mme. Heyum retired in 1987, Karen Peacock became the Pacific Curator.

While such important libraries as the Turnbull (Wellington) and Mitchell (Sydney) have marvelous retrospective holdings of early voyages and colonial records, and the archival sources in London and Paris are irreplaceable, no other depository has the range of materials, nor the depth of modern materials that the University of Hawaii holds.

As of June 2000, the Pacific Collection at UH contained 89,000 volumes. Over 800 current serials are maintained, and the microfilm holdings cover an estimated 12,000 reels. The Pacific Collection has experienced considerable growth in the area of manuscripts. Among them are the papers of anthropologist Dr. Saul Riesenberg, the documents from the Marshall Islands radiation project, and papers from UH emeritus professor Dr. Norman Meller, as well as the photograph holdings, the largest of which is the Trust Territory Archives Photo Collection.

Center for Pacific Islands Studies By 1987 the Pacific Islands Program had grown into the Center for Pacific Islands Studies (CPIS), within the School of Hawaiian, Asian and Pacific Studies (SHAPS). CPIS is the only academic program in the United States focusing on the entire Pacific Islands region of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. As such, CPIS and the Pacific Collection serve as a National Resource Center recognized and supported by the U.S. Department of Education.

The Center offers multidisciplinary programs of study leading to a BA degree in Liberal Studies; the MA in Pacific Islands Studies; and the Certificate in Pacific Islands Studies. As reflected in the Center's core faculty, students can earn advanced degrees with a Pacific Islands focus in anthropology, education, geography, linguistics, history, zoology, ethnic studies, political science, botany, economics, Indo-Pacific languages, art, English as a second language, and library and information studies.

The Center sponsors faculty exchanges with institutions in the region, brings visiting faculty to the Manoa campus, offers seminars on current research, and hosts both an annual conference in Pacific Studies (the 25th annual conference held in November 2000 celebrated the 50th anniversary of Pacific studies at the University of Hawaii) and a teachers' workshop geared to local public school needs.

II. COORDINATION OF COLLECTING RESPONSIBILITIES

The Pacific Curator is responsible for out-of-print and rare purchases as well as for special projects in such areas as manuscripts, photographs and archives. Pacific librarian Lynette Furuhashi is responsible for all current acquisitions. In 2001, Jane Barnwell joined the staff. Although the Pacific Collection is relatively self-sufficient, there is reliance on other departments for certain specialized materials:

Hawaiian Collection: Materials concerning the Hawaiian Islands are excluded from our selection parameters, although the Pacific Collection does obtain monographs and other publications on the Pacific Islands that include section(s) or chapter(s) on Hawaii. Regular consultation occurs on any overlapping of selection areas.

Science and Technology: The Pacific Collection collaborates with the Science and Technology Department in coverage of the pure sciences about, but not published in, the islands of the Pacific (e.g., botany, zoology, marine science, etc.). The Collection does obtain major works originating within or without the region if they pertain specifically to flora and fauna of the region, or to any other scientific interest within the region. The Pacific Collection does not obtain works on tropical fishes, for example, unless the work is devoted exclusively to tropical fishes of Melanesia, Micronesia or Polynesia.

Government Documents: The Government Documents Collection has the comprehensive holdings of federal reports and congressional hearings on the island Pacific, but the Pacific Collection does duplicate all major federal reports and some hearings. We rely on the Government Documents Collection for information on most United Nations materials.

Audiovisual: The Pacific Collection acquires videotapes, films, audiocassettes, slides, compact disks, and other non-print media. These are selected by Pacific librarians and, budget permitting, funded by the Collection, but housed in the Wong AV Center. Since 1999/2000, film librarian Linda Engelberg and music librarian Gregg Geary have funded most of the AV purchases as the reduction of funds in the Pacific Collection budget has not permitted development in this area.

Asia Collection: The Asia Collection houses material relating to the Pacific Rim nations. The Pacific Collection obtains material on ethnic New Guinea that overlaps with Asia's interest in Irian Jaya and Indonesia. Close contact is maintained between our departments to coordinate purchase of materials.

Business, Humanities, and Social Sciences Department (BHSD): The Pacific Collection acquires duplicate copies of heavily used titles and also purchases various reference works for BHSD, in close consultation with appropriate selectors.

Map Collection: The Pacific Collection has regularly supplied funds for purchase of maps of specific islands and of the region as a whole, in consultation with the head of the Map Collection.

UH School of Law Library: Holdings of legal publications of the Pacific Islands nations are particularly strong in the Pacific Collection, with some duplication of titles at the Law Library.

III. GUIDELINES TO MATERIALS COLLECTED OR EXCLUDED

Language: No limitations. The Collection has extensive holdings in the languages of the Pacific and maintains a strong acquisitions program. Many of the languages of the region exists in written form largely through religious publications, and we have a wide range of Bibles, hymnals, devotional texts and religious newsletters. Included are many of the over 800 languages of Papua New Guinea, early Tahitian imprints, and the largest collection in existence of Micronesian language materials.

Chronological: No limitations.

Geographic: The Pacific Collection obtains materials pertaining to the island nations of the Pacific: Melanesia (including Irian Jaya), Micronesia, and Polynesia. New Zealand Maori are included, European New Zealanders are excluded. Australia is excluded. The Pacific Rim countries, including their island dependencies, are excluded, with the exception of Easter Island.

Date of Publication: No limitations. In the past we maintained a strong acquisitions program for out-of-print and rare books, serials, papers and photographs. Currently, lack of adequate funds has this program on hold. We hope to resume this activity in the near future. Examples of materials purchased over the years include: early Tahitian imprints, a rare collection of Solomon Islands photographs, much of the 19th century fiction set in the islands, colonial era Cook Islands photographs, and early voyages in variant editions.

Textbooks: Textbooks used in island schools, and textbooks created to study the Pacific region are acquired.

Reading Level: No limitations.

Types/Formats of Materials Collected: No limitations. The UH Library is a founding member of the Pacific Manuscripts Bureau (PMB) and receives all microfilm produced. The collection is also a depository for all documents produced by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC). Both the master set and a user set of the T rust Territory Archives on microfilm and an online index are available. Rare Pacific includes early editions of voyages and travels, early imprints, ethnographies and contemporary rare documents such as constitutions. The collection subscribes to all major Pacific newspapers and receives over 800 serial titles. The reprint collection catalogs journal articles, many not otherwise accessible. The collection accepts manuscripts, personal papers and archives of activities, agencies and individuals with a Pacific Islands context. Ephemera is added to the vertical file holdings. A growing poster collection ranges from social issues to art. The Pacific Collection acquires materials in electronic format that are relevant to its interests in the region, such as the FSM Code on CD-ROM.

Treatment: No limitations.

Major Microform Holdings: The collection has approximately 12,000 reels of film, housed in the central microfilm facility. Major collections include the Pacific Manuscript Bureau, archives of the London Missionary Society, archives of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and the Trust Territory Archives (sets also available at National Archives, archives of each of the Micronesian governments, and the National Library of Australia).

IV. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

Agreements are maintained for acquisition, exchange and interlibrary loan with: the University of Guam RFK Library; Palau Community College; College of Micronesia, Pohnpei; College of the Marshall Islands Library, Majuro; University of the South Pacific Library, Suva, Fiji; University of California San Diego Melanesian Studies Center; Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Nouméa, New Caledonia; among others.

In addition, the collection sends duplicate titles as gifts to libraries throughout the region, and in return is able to call on these institutions for assistance with hard to obtain publications.
Island government printers produce large numbers of publications; churches continue to publish everything from religious material to studies of current problems (suicide, spouse abuse), and new journals and newspapers appear regularly. Keeping abreast of new Pacific Islands web sites is a growing concern.

The University of Hawaii views the Pacific Islands as one of its areas of excellence and has supported the development of the Pacific Collection. Lack of funds since the budget crisis of 1994/95 has severely impacted the growth of the Pacific Collection and has had serious ramifications for collection development.

Date compiled: 12/00 Compiler: Karen Peacock