Find out what titles you are not receiving, compare holdings with peers, and more within the YPB universe through "Interdisciplinary Topics."  The main difference between the OCLC's FirstSearch Options and YBP's Interdisciplinary Topics is that in the latter case human intervention establishes the designation of interdisciplinarity rather than call numbers alone or a combination of call numbers and subject headings.

When books arrive at YBP, "aspects" and interdisciplinary subjects are added to the record when appropriate.  These are not quite the same thing.  The pull-down list under Interdisciplinary Topics includes common subjects such as Hispanic Studies, Jewish Studies, and Men's Studies; it also includes aspects such as the medical, journalistic, ethical or anthropological treatment of subjects.  Any given title may have several aspects assigned to it.

• Interdisciplinary Topics have generally been applied only within the last four or so years (some longer ago, others more recently).
• The Topics are an option under Standard Search, Advanced Search, and Slip Search.

AIDS: Refers to research, treatment, causes and social issues related to AIDS or HIV.

Asian American Studies:  Applied to books that discuss people, politics, culture, literature, etc. of Asian origin when found within the United States of America. 

Asian Studies:  Applied to books that discuss people, politics, culture, literature, etc. of Asia or Asian origin wherever found in the world.

Black Studies:   Applied to books that discuss people, politics, culture, literature, etc. of African origin wherever found in the world.  This term can be combined with an emphasis on U.S. topics for programs seeking to focus exclusively on African-American materials.  The term is not applied to Australian aborigines or to sub-continent Indians even where they are referred to as Blacks. 

Chicano/Hispanic Studies:   Applied to books that discuss people, politics, culture, literature, etc. of Hispanic (Iberian Peninsula) origin within the United States of America and Puerto Rico. 

Children's Studies:  Refers to studies of the behaviors and social issues relating to children and their cognitive, emotional and physical development.  YBP Bibliographers do not customarily apply this term in the education classes or with pediatric medicine. 

Classics:  Refers to what is commonly known in western civilization as classical antiquity and generally relates to Greek and Latin language, history, and culture, c. 800 BCE to the early Christian era.

Developing Countries:  Typically applied to books that discuss those countries considered to be still working to attain levels of social, political and economic progress already achieved by more affluent countries.

Ethnic Studies:   Applied to books that discuss minority groups or cultures living within larger groups.

Family Studies:  Refers to the study of human families and encompasses topics where family life is the focus.

Film:  Refers to the history, production, criticism and social implications of cinema.

Future Studies:  Refers to forecasts or estimates of conditions, resources, culture or politics in the future.

Gay/Lesbian Studies:  Applied to books that discuss aspects of gay, lesbian and bisexual practices, people, culture, literature, etc.  This term is not automatically paired with Men’s Studies or Women’s Studies unless the book in question calls for the pairing, e.g. a discussion of the men’s movement within the larger gay culture. 

Gerontology:  Relates to the study of human aging and the aged.

History of Ideas:  Intellectual history.

Hospitality Industry: Relates to the overall study of the hospitality industry, including tourism and the economics of tourism.  This descriptor is not applied to Travel Guides or to Cookbooks.   

Irish Studies:  Refers to the study of Irish culture in Ireland, together with the study of the Irish in other nations.

Islamic Studies:  Applied to books that discuss Islamic/Muslim people, religion, culture, literature, etc. wherever found in the world. 

Jewish Studies:   Applied to books that discuss Jewish people, religion, culture, literature, etc. wherever found in the world.

Latin American Studies: Concerning South or Central America, Mexico, and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean; encompasses all aspects of the countries within these regions, including their foreign relations and other influences and contacts with different parts of the world.  The term “Chicano/Hispanic studies” is used for persons of Hispanic descent living in the United States or Puerto Rico.

Maritime Studies: Refers to commerce and other work transacted on the sea.

Medieval Studies:   Refers to the approximate period of time between 450 and 1500.  The term includes all areas of the world and is not limited to the Middle Ages in Europe.

Men’s Studies:  Applied to books that discuss men as a distinct gender or social, cultural or sexual group. 

Multicultural Studies:  Applied to books that compare or contrast various people or cultural groups.   This term may be paired with Ethnic Studies, but is not synonymous with it.

Native American Studies:  Applied to books that discuss Native Americans, First Nations, or any other indigenous peoples found anywhere in North, Central or South America. 

Speech and Hearing Impaired: Refers to works assessing and treating social, developmental, psychological, educational and medical aspects of communication disorders.

Transportation:  Refers to the means and methods of the physical movement of persons or goods.  The term is also applied to works about transportation planning. 

Women’s Studies:   Applied to books that discuss women as a distinct gender or social, cultural or sexual group. 

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