To request history-related library purchases, contact Chella Vaidyanathan (for European/World history materials), Erica Bruchko (for US history and African American Studies materials), fill out the following purchase request form or contact the appropriate subject librarian.
What kind of research material does the library purchase?
The library purchases materials in multiple formats including books, journals, films, microfilm collections, primary source databases, and manuscript collections/rare books.
Does the library regularly purchase DVDs? Can I request streaming film?
Yes, the Emory Libraries has built a large collection of DVDs, which we are continuing to expand. Depending on the film, we can also sometimes acquire a streaming license to a particular title. This often takes time, so please contact us at least one month in advance of your class.
We are also adding videos to the collection via video streaming packages. In many cases, we do not own these videos, but are subscribing to large corpus of titles.
Does the library still acquire microfilm?
Yes, the Emory Libraries acquire microfilm from commercial vendors and state and local archives.
How does the library determine what primary source databases to purchase?
Emory Librarians work with vendors to identify available resources that support current research and teaching at Emory. These vendors include Adam Matthew Digital, Gale, ProQuest, Alexander Street Press (now part of ProQuest), EBSCO, and others.
We often trial databases and solicit faculty and graduate student feedback. You may ask to request that we set up a database trial anytime.
To purchase relevant materials, it is very helpful for librarians to know of your current research interests and the classes that you are teaching.
Can I contact my subject librarian about manuscript and rare books acquisitions?
You can contact subject librarians about acquiring small manuscript or rare book collections for teaching purposes. For larger resource acquisitions that align with the collecting interests of the archives, however, the process is slightly different. We will put you in touch with one of our archival curators: Randy Gue, Modern Political Collections or Pellom McDaniels, African American History and Culture.
How do I request a new journal or expand access to a journal’s currently in our collection?
You can request a new journal by contacting Erica Bruchko (for US history and African American Studies journals) and Chella Vaidyanathan (for European/World history journals).
Even if Emory has access to some issues of a journal, you may find that we do not have access to the specific years that you need. This may be due to a change in our e-journal packages that we aren’t aware of. Your subject librarian can identify why we are not getting those particular issues and add them to our year-end wish list. This may take some time, however. In the meantime, you may interlibrary loan articles or journals for years that we don’t have.
How to I report problems accessing a journal?
If a journal is not loading properly or you are experiencing other technical problems, you can contact Chella Vaidyanathan (European/World history) or Erica Bruchko (US history and African American Studies) or communicate directly with our e-resources team via our Ask eJournals form.
Do we acquire photocopies, digital surrogates, or CDs for personal research? Unfortunately, we cannot add photocopies or digital surrogates obtained from archives for personal research.