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Collection Development Manual > Libraries & collections > Central Library > Technology

Technology

Materials on various aspects of technology, including civil, electrical, and transportation engineering, mining, agriculture (including farming, orchards, fruits, forestry, and animals in agriculture or production), inventions, and construction and home remodeling are kept with the library's Technology collection. This collection's focus is largely on items that will be of practical use to the general public.

The Technology collection includes some important reference materials. Some examples are: building codes; encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference sets on inventions and the history of technology; biographical sets on engineers and inventors; engineering textbooks and engineering studies of local places or specific kinds of structures; directories of mines and mining; general works on Oregon and Pacific Northwest agriculture; and an extensive collection of older reference materials in forestry.

General technology books, such as works on the history of inventions and practical works on patenting are part of this collection. So are materials on applied physics, including electronics, home wiring, computer repair and upgrading, telephony, fiber optics and optical networks, holography, wireless communication, computer networks, lasers, television repair, satellite television installation, audio engineering, small engine repair, refrigeration, conveyor systems, and basic materials on electric wiring, circuitry, and electrical engineering. Works discussing the technical aspects of energy generation are part of this section as well, including photovoltaics and solar power, and other aspects of power generation through various methods including utilization of wind, hydroelectrics, and nuclear energy.

Mining and forestry are two areas in which library has historically collected extensively, but which are being emphasized less at the present time. Therefore, there are many excellent reference and historical materials in both forestry and mining, but only some materials are kept up to date. The mining and forestry materials do provide an excellent historical picture of the two industries, with a focus on Oregon and the Pacific Northwest.

Works on civil engineering are part of the Technology collection, and they include railroad, hydraulic, and sanitary engineering, as well as materials on bridges, foundation behavior, soils, rock engineering and blasting, earthquake design, steel engineering, concrete structures, model railroads, steam locomotives, road building, highway design, paving, pollution, and waste disposal. This subject area is used by amateur enthusiasts, engineering and construction professionals, students, and homeowners, so it includes both basic and more technical works.

Materials on transportation engineering and motor vehicles span from the very practical to the very technical, and include works on vehicle repair (including automobiles, airplanes, and motorcycles), automotive history, robotics, aerospace exploration, practical materials for licensed pilots, aerospace engineering, and jet propulsion. This section is strongest in motor vehicles, especially automobiles.

The Technology collection is also where home improvement and construction materials are kept, including home decorating, remodeling kitchens and bathrooms, home buying and selling, professional materials on working as a construction contractor, green or sustainable building practices, masonry, cement work, framing walls, setting tile, roofing, siding, air conditioning and heating, energy efficiency, plumbing, painting, wallpapering, and how to build different kinds of buildings (barns, sheds, decks, etc.).

Materials discussing agriculture include works on permaculture, pruning, composting, berries, viticulture, orchard culture and tree crops, hydroponics, farm buildings, farm management, soils, pest and weed control, field crops, genetically modified plants, and gardening to encourage the promotion of wildlife. Because this subject also covers animals that are used commercially, materials on dairy science, eggs, beekeeping, earthworms, aquaculture, whaling, oysters, and similar topics, as well as a few items on hunting and fishing are part of this collection as well.

The Technology collection is used by a wide variety of people, including students, farmers and ranchers, businesspeople, homeowners, construction professionals, gardeners, and adult learners.

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Military and nautical engineering, including materials discussing non-military nautical engineering, is part of the Military Science collection. Some other materials about the energy and transportation businesses are kept with the Business and Economics collection. Works on gardening, landscape design, and most domesticated animals are part of the House and Home collection. Further materials on the timber industry (largely of historical rather than contemporary significance) are located in the Manufacturing collection. At Central Library, these collections are all kept in the Science & Business room.

The bulk of the library's materials about hunting and fishing are with the Sports collection. At Central Library, these are housed in the Humanities rooms.