Collections

Collections

Archives, Museum, and Art Collections

The Archives houses unique historic collections, including historic photographs and documents from the 1800s-present, as well as the permanent records of the University. The Archives also administers Pacific’s Permanent Art and Museum collections. Several thousand items have been digitized. Access to the original materials may be arranged through the Archives, which is on the second floor of the Library.

Child and Young Adult Collection

The Pacific University Library has a limited collection of children's and young adult literature to help support the Departments of Art and Education at Pacific University. The main focus of growth in this collection is award winning authors and illustrators within the field of children's and young adult literature.

Curriculum Collection

Digital Collections

In addition to journal databases, the Library curates unique digital content created from Pacific’s scholarly output, our cultural heritage collections and our teaching programs. Digital collections include:

Government Documents

Government Documents
The Library collects print and electronic documents from federal, state and local government agencies. The largest collection of documents is that from the federal government which the Library receives by virtue of its participation in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). The Library has been an FDLP library participant since 1897 and, at present, receives about 25 percent of all the documents offered through the Program by the Government Publications Office (GPO).

The Government Documents section is located on the first floor in the east wing of the Forest Grove Campus Library.

The Library collects Oregon State documents selectively and some are listed in Boxer Search, the Library's catalog.

Main Stacks

The Library has a collection of more than 100,000 titles within the general circulating collection. The main collection contains books and multimedia, excluding videos and music CDs. The resources are arranged according to the Library of Congress (LC) system of cataloging.
Music Library

The Music Library contains separate collections of music recordings (CDs and LPs), scores and reference materials specific to the study of music. The Music Library collection is cataloged with Library of Congress call numbers. This collection is available for use and circulation to the Pacific University Community.

Periodicals

The Library subscribes to more than 2,500 current newspaper, magazine and journal titles, some of which are also available electronically. Check to see if the Library subscribes to a journal electronically through E-Journals A to Z.

Most physical titles are shelved, alphabetically by title, in the Periodicals area of the library. Current issues of selected popular titles are located near the East entrance to the Library, and back-issues of periodicals are located on the East end of the first floor. Some back years are also kept on microfilm or microfiche.

Specific information for what the library owns of each title can be found by searching Boxer Search, the Library's online catalog.

Rare Books and Special Collections

The library has approximately 5,000 rare books and other special collections material dating from 1500-present. Topics include historic Oregon, literature, theology, early printed works, children’s books and historical optometry. A small portion of these items can be found using Boxer Search. As rare material, these items do not circulate, but they can accessed in person through the Archives on the second floor of the Library.

Reference

The Reference collection contains more than 4,000 resources available for use within the library. The collection is mainly comprised of research tools such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, statistical resources and many more resources to support research. This collection is freely available for use within the Library but may not be checked out.

Reserves

Physical items on Reserve can be accessed at the Circulation Desk. The Libraries no longer maintain a stand-alone electronic course reserves page but has adopted the University-wide Moodle for eReserves. To learn how to use Moodle as a place to add your electronic readings yourself, contact Al Weiss, alweiss@pacificu.edu.

Theses

Each graduate program at Pacific University provides a circulating and archival copy of dissertations and theses written by students within these programs. We retain the circulating copy for the current ten years, but the Library keeps the archival copy. The following is a list of the programs:

  • Arts and Science Masters Theses (1948-1989)
  • Doctor of Optometry Doctor of Physical Therapy
  • Doctor of Psychology
  • Master of Arts in Teaching
  • Master of Education in Visual Function in Learning
  • Master of Fine Arts in Writing
  • Master of Science in Clinical Optometric Management
  • Master of Science Occupational Therapy
  • Master of Science in Physical Therapy
  • Master of Science in Psychology

Visit CommonKnowledge to browse Pacific's online collection of theses and dissertations.

Videos and DVDs

The Library has a collection of more than 2,000 videos (VHS and DVD) that may be borrowed for six days. These videos and DVDs support the current curriculum of the University.

The video collection is cataloged with Library of Congress call numbers. The video collection also circulates to other libraries via Interlibrary Services (ILL) and Summit.