Collection profile
The University Library (UL) of EUR* is a typical social science library. Having started as a collection of materials about the economy, it has expanded into a collection about all processes in society:
- How do we earn a living? Economy
- How do we deal with one another? Social Sciences
- What kinds of mutual agreements do we have? Law (from international to domestic)
- How do we improve these processes? Public and Business Administration
The coherence of these aspects is reinforced by emphasising theoretical deepening (philosophy), research techniques, teaching methods and past practices (history).
Central points
The collection of the UL is therefore more than an accidental collection of information resources for various fields of study. It is a coherent whole, with supplementary, reinforcing components. The central points are as follows:
- The Rotterdam port: industry, international trade and transport are combined with property law, commercial law and transport law. This reflects the origins of the Rotterdam University, the harbour economy.
- Management: the organisation and policy of governments, institutions, companies and non-profit organisations in all sectors of society. EUR is known for this practical policy-oriented and problem-solving approach.
- International context: cross-border contacts between organisations and governments in economics and management. This is where the international aspect from (1) combines with collaboration from (2).
The new discipline, psychology, also dovetails with this profile because of its application-related scope. When expanding the collection, we aim to maintain its coherence by selecting only materials that are interdisciplinary and application-orientated.
*The profile of EUR's Medical Library is not dealt with here.
