Selection for this subject is designed to support the Master of Urban Planning Program, an undergraduate minor, and graduate certificate programs. A masters degree or a certificate may be earned in one of six areas of specialization which include Affordable Housing and Community Development Finance, Applications of Technology in Planning, Community Design and Development, Environmental Planning, Real Estate Development, and Transportation and Land Use Planning. The purpose of the minor is to introduce students to the skills and strategies needed for an understanding of the economic, social, political, and physical aspects of contemporary major urban issues and to acquaint students to the basic professional skills and strategies needed to improve the urban environment. The Master’s program is designed to create competent professionals well-grounded in the theories, methods, and techniques of planning in local, regional, and state government. The Urban Planning Program takes a multidisciplinary approach, offering courses that emphasize backgrounds in the arts and humanities, social sciences, and the applied and physical sciences. The department also emphasizes ethics, history of urban planning, and the application of case law to urban planning situations.
The University Library serves as the main resource for this subject.
Certain materials appropriate to this program may be acquired for other university programs. There is coordination of materials selection dealing specifically and generally with such subjects as cities, land use, metropolitan areas, neighborhoods, regions, rural and urban areas, etc.; as they relate to their developmental and planning problems. There is selection consideration of the previously identified subjects as they interface with government policies and programs, housing, landscaping, transportation, etc. Responsibility for acquisition, cancellation and other collection decisions in these areas of overlap is decided in consultation with faculty and librarians responsible for collection development in these fields.
Very few titles related to urbanization, city planning, urban renewal, regional planning, and other primary areas of collection exist in the San Jose Public Library, therefore coordinated collection development with San Jose Public in this subject area should not be a major concern.
A. Materials Included – The standard inclusions are collected. Electronic resources are regarded as standard inclusions.
B. Materials Excluded – The standard exclusions are not collected.
C. Special Materials – None
D. Languages – English language materials are emphasized, but significant works in major European or Asian languages may be collected when necessary.
E. Geographical Areas – Although all geographical areas may be collected, priorities are as follows: United States, North America, Western Europe, South America, South and East Asia, Japan, China, Russia, Middle East, developing nations, and other areas.
F. Chronological Periods – Emphasis is on current materials, specifically within the past ten years. However, earlier materials dealing with previous periods may be collected to supply background information and to support urban history courses.
The collection is fairly strong in basic undergraduate and graduate level materials in urban and regional planning. Areas of strength include the social, economic, political and physical aspects of urban problems. The collection is also strong in the theories, methods, and techniques of planning in local, regional, and state government for the purpose of improving the quality of urban regions. In addition, the collection is strong in materials on environmental planning and sustainable development as well as community design and development, an educational objective of the program. Transportation planning resources have also been strengthened.
Areas of weakness include pedestrian planning, and applications of technology for regional and neighborhood design (computer aided design for neighborhood planning and Real Estate Development and Affordable Housing and Community Development Finance.
A. Academic Senate Policy
According to Academic Senate Library Policy S15-10, periodic evaluations of the print collection are required to maintain the high quality of the academic collection, with the primary goals of improving the effectiveness of browsing and providing space for new acquisitions. The objectives include relocating materials, and weeding duplicate materials and materials that support discontinued programs or are no longer relevant for current programs.
B. Past, Present and Future Evaluation Plans
The collection needs to be augmented with materials supporting the Masters certificates in the areas of Affordable Housing and Community Development Finance and in Real Estate and Housing.
There continues to be significant consideration in the coming years to development of electronic resources for Urban and Regional Planning studies.