I. Program Information

The Classics Dept. at the University of Florida offers undergraduate and graduate instruction in virtually all aspects of Greek and Roman civilization, including Greek and Latin languages and literatures, Art and Archaeology, History, Mythology, Religion, Linguistics, Literary Genres, Medicine, Athletics, and Greek and Roman society. The faculty’s research interests include Roman Historiography, Social History, Classical Art and Archaeology, Greek Drama, Ancient Cities, Mythology, Oral Tradition, Linguistics, the Ancient novel, Roman rhetoric, Epigraphy, Ancient Religion, Ancient Athletics, and Epic and Lyric Poetry. In addition to classical studies, the department houses a Center for Modern Greek studies. It also partners with other departments in the areas of Classical Art, Ancient Law, Ancient Philosophy, Ancient History, Political History, and Ancient Religion. 

A new Ph.D program in Classical Studies prepares graduate students for careers in high school teaching, community college teaching or careers in Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate programs as well as preparation for careers in college and university teaching: http://web.classics.ufl.edu/PhD/overview.html

For more information about UF’s Classics Department, see http://web.classics.ufl.edu.

II. Collection Description

The collection of Classics materials at the University of Florida was greatly enhanced in 1987 by the purchase of Walter Marg’s private collection of 4,100 books. I n 1989 a large collection of numismatic materials was added as well. In 1990 the library hired a Classics subject specialist to maintain the Classics collections; these have been expanding at the rate of about 6% a year ever since.

The areas of particular strength in the collection are Greek and Latin literature, Greek and Roman Philosophy, Greek and Roman Religion, and Greek and Roman Art and Architecture. The collection houses the primary texts in such series as Oxford, Teubner, Belles Lettres (Budé), and the Loeb Classical Library. The library’s collection of primary texts comprises not only the major writings of most of the classical authors, but also the fragments of the ancient historians, dramatists, and poets, and a large collection of Greek and Latin inscriptions including a complete set of the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum and of the Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum. The library owns the commentaries and ancient scholia on most classical authors.

The library’s Humanities and Social Sciences Reference Department houses a number of Classics bibliographic and full-text CD-ROM products. These include Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, PHI CD ROM #5.3, PHI Greek documentary texts, CEDEDOC (for Patristic studies—in addition, UF Libraries subscribes to a Web version of the Patrologia Latina Database), Dyabola, the Database of Classical Bibliography, Gnomon bibliographische Datenbank, Epigraph: a database of Roman inscriptions, and Vergil reference CD-ROM. As further products become available, this collection will continue to expand.  The library has recently began a subscription to L'Année Philologique Online

The main collection of UF’s Classics material is in the Humanities and Social Sciences Library (i.e. Library West). The Special Collections Department also houses a substantial collection of old editions and rare classical texts. In addition, the main collection is supplemented by materials in the Architecture and Fine Arts Library, Marston Science Library, the Music and Education libraries, the Legal Information Center, and the Health Science Library.

III. Guidelines for Collection Development

A.Chronological

The Bronze Age up to the Byzantine period.

B.Formats

Books, journals, CD-ROMS, microfiche.

C.Geographical

The focus is on the ancient Mediterranean and some Near Eastern materials.

D.Languages

Primary source materials in Greek and Latin; secondary materials in a number of languages, especially English, German, French, and Italian.

E.Publication Dates

Emphasis on current materials. Some retrospective purchasing, especially the replacement of missing and damaged books.

IV. Subjects Collected and Levels of Collecting

Definitions of Collecting Levels*