Selectors Guide: Public Administration

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Subject Area: Public Administration

The Robert W. Woodruff Library seeks to support study and research in Public Administration at Clark Atlanta University (CAU). CAU offers a Masters of Public Administration (MPA) degree. This program seeks to train public administrators in various aspects of public service. Students are required to take a group of core courses designed to provide them with a general background in public administration. Students also have the option of specializing in several areas of public administration. Presently these include Human Resources Management, Nonprofit Leadership and Management, and Public Policy. Students who earn to Masters of Public Administration degree are prepared for employment in the public sector, nonprofit organizations or NGOs, and to improve the managerial capabilities of those individuals already employed in public service and nonprofit organizations.

The MPA curriculum at CAU is designed to accomplish three objectives:

1. Enhance the student’s values, knowledge and skills to act ethically and effectively in the management of public and nonprofit organizations
2. Develop skills in the application of quantitative and qualitative techniques of analysis in policy and program formulation, implementation, and evaluation
3. Help students to develop an understanding of the public policy and organizational environment including political and legal institutions and processes, economic and social institutions and processes, and organizational and managerial concepts.

The Political Science curriculum for the Degree of Philosophy at CAU has Public Administration as one of its subfields.

Languages

English will be the primary language collected.

Chronological Coverage

Primarily, current materials are collection. However, earlier historical documents are collected when they are appropriate to research and study of special periods in the history of public affairs.

Geographical Coverage

Geographical coverage is not limited but global as it relates to comparative literature of the discipline.

Scope

The Robert W. Woodruff Library is committed to collecting appropriate materials on human resources, budgeting and financial processes, computer literacy and applications, research methods, research data analysis, public management, etc. The Public Administration librarian will collaborate with other subject librarians to acquire relevant titles in overlapping areas such as Economics and Business, Urban Studies, International Studies, Political Science, etc.

Monographs, academic journals, audiovisual materials, and electronic resources are important to the collection. The Library subscribes to numerous full-text databases that are of research and study value to users. Academic Search Complete, LexisNexis Academic (now Nexis Uni), JSTOR, and ProQuest Research Library are examples of databases that are popular with students and faculty members.

Students and faculty have access to the online and print resources in Public Administration and relevant resources in subjects such as Business, Political Science, Human Resources, International Studies, Economics, Computer Science, Information Studies, and Urban Studies. Members of faculty are given the opportunity to recommend books, journals, and electronic databases. Students and faculty are able to select electronic books appropriate to the Public Administration curriculum through the Demand Driven Acquisitions model.

RWWL does not buy course textbooks – print, electronic, or teacher’s editions. However, the subject librarian will work with teaching faculty and students to identify resources that meet the needs of their classes.

The Library acquires monographic works authored by the AUC Public Administration faculties preferably through donation. This includes works in all media normally collected by the Library.