UW Textual Studies Minor Completes Capstone on Collection Development in the UW Libraries

Riley Hull on Helping UW Libraries Build English Studies Reference Holdings

During this past academic year, UW Textual Studies alum and current MA student in the history of the book at the University of London, Riley Hull, completed a Capstone project in conjunction with UW Libraries on collection development in the subject of English Studies. Working under the direction of Elliot Stevens (Research Commons and English Studies Librarian, UW Libraries), Riley researched and compiled recommendations for library purchasing that covered key topics of interest to UW faculty and students.

For my capstone, I worked with Elliot Stevens, the UW English Department Librarian, on a collection development project aimed at purchasing new books that would be relevant and useful additions to the UW libraries. I first performed a ‘scan’ of both the UW English department and various other academic departments across the country, researching which topics and themes were commonly studied and comparing how the UW fits into the larger academic network.

Then, I began to search for books to purchase that would both support the key topics of interest to UW faculty and students, such as books about environmental and Indigenous studies, and further the development of underrepresented research areas without an established collection, such as books about the craft of creative writing. Ultimately, I was able to create a list of 72 books that were purchased and added to the UW library collections.

– Riley Hull

Scanning Orbis Cascade Alliance and Big 10 Academic Alliance

To begin the acquisitions research process, Riley surveyed both the interests of faculty and students in the UW Department of English and the Orbis Cascade Alliance, as well as the Big 10 Academic Alliance. This gave Riley a wide representation of interests both for academic institutions within UW’s geographic region and for those within the BTAA consortium of research institutions.

Among the Orbis Cascade Alliance member institutions, I noticed a strong interest in environmental humanities and ecocriticism, as well as a heavy American literature emphasis (with particular emphasis on rural America and Pacific Northwest Indigenous studies). For the BTAA institutions, I noticed a more significant presence of creative writing programs than among the Orbis Cascade Alliance members. Similarly, there was less of a focus on rhetoric, composition, and pedagogical studies, and more of a focus on literary studies and creative writing.

– Riley Hull

Armed with these statistics, Riley then made recommendations based on these findings to build out the UW Library’s collections, listing purchase suggestions for titles both from larger academic presses as well as from smaller presses, like the Kegedonce Press.

I really enjoyed working on this capstone and getting to spend an entire quarter dedicated to researching English departments and searching for books. Even as a University of Washington student studying English, I learned so much about our own English department and was able to see just how broad and far-reaching the interests of our faculty and students spread. Similarly, I found it very inspiring to really examine and learn about the incredible work being done across the United States at both the Orbis Cascade Alliance universities and the member universities of the BTAA. It reminded me how diverse and interdisciplinary the field of English and literary studies can be, and inspired me to continue pushing boundaries and thinking outside of the box in my own English studies.

– Riley Hull

Minor in Textual Studies and Digital Humanities Capstone

The Capstone project is an independent, quarter-long research project designed to combine the interests of students’ major course of study with their work in the Textual Studies Minor. These projects take many forms, such as research papers, digital projects, and more. There are even possibilities for internships with local professional organizations, as well as opportunities to work on faculty-led research, or to participate in summer programs, like the Humanities Data Science Summer Institute.

Many congratulations to Riley on completing this Capstone and the Minor in Textual Studies and the Digital Humanities. And, an additional congratulations for Riley’s acceptance to the Master’s program in the History of the Book at the University of London!

You can also sign up for our mailing list and follow us on Instagram and X.