specialized library collections: mortuary science

judith ann harwood
undergraduate librarian
southern illinois university at carbondale
carbondale, illinois

Southern Illinois University at Carbondale offers a major in Mortuary Science and Funeral Service. The program is offered through the School of Technical Careers. Graduates receive an associate in applied science degree. The program is unique because it is the only mortuary science and funeral service program offered in a public university in Illinois.

The impetus for its development came from a request of the Illinois Funeral Directors Association. Its membership determined that a program to educate funeral service practitioners should be offered at an institution of higher education. The American Board of Funeral Service Education and the Illinois Department of Registration and Education have granted the program full accreditation.

Students may enter the program as freshmen at Southern (Southern Illinois University at Carbondale) or may transfer from community colleges at the end of the first year. Size of faculty and physical facilities limit the enrollment of beginning students. New students are admitted only in the fall semester.

In order to complete the program a student must complete two years of study and one summer of internship in a funeral home. Technical courses prepare the student for the profession; additional courses provide the students with an understanding of the psychological, sociological, and theological implications of death.

To ensure the quality of the program, faculty members must be licensed funeral directors and embalmers with professional experience. Physical facilities include a modern preparation room/laboratory. Graduates will have satisfied requirements for their trainee licenses and will be able to begin serving their traineeship. Additionally, they will be eligible to write the state and/or national board examinations. Active professionals comprise an advisory committee.

In order to support this program, the librarians of Morris Library select monographs and serials. The major responsibility for selection rests with the librarians of the SIUC Undergraduate Library. Suggested titles by the faculty of the program are also ordered. Regular materials funds are used to purchase materials.

Books, periodicals, and vertical file brochures comprise this growing collection. Three books in the collection are Funeral Industry Practices, Funeral Service, and Sourcebook on Death and Dying. Funeral Industry Practices, published by the Bureau of Consumer Protection in June 1978, is a final staff report to the Federal Trade Commissions. The report is the record and final recommendations of the bureau's staff summary in the Funeral Industry Practices Trade Regulation Rule proceeding. The background sections provide information about the funeral industry, existing regulations, funeral arrangements and costs, and the funeral consumer. The Analyses of Record Evidence and Recommended Trade Regulation Rule section reports on unauthorized removal of remains, embalming without permission, refusal to release, casket for cremation, cash advances, misrepresentations, merchandising techniques, unavailability of price information, market restraints, and additional rule provisions. The last section Additional Issues presents other arguments in opposition to the rule and the impact of the recommended rule on not only the funeral industry but also the consumers.

Funeral Service: A bibliography of literature on its past, present and future, the various means of disposition, and memorialization, by Barbara K. Harrah and David F. Harrah, was published by Scarecrow Press in 1976. Relevanceof the literature was the criterion used in its selection for inclusion. Readily obtainable literature has been annotated. More difficult to find, out-of-print, and most highly technical titles have not been annotated. The remaining nontechnical listings are intended for the layman and funeral service technicians. Audiovisual materials and their distributors are listed.

Appendices include a brief glossary; acronyms of professional organizations; professional funeral organizations; cemetery and monument associations; trade journals; memorial societies; co-op funeral homes; body donation associations; accredited funeral service colleges; state embalming requirements; and industry codes of ethics and practices. Author, title, and subject indexes are included.

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Sourcebook on Death and Dying was published in 1982 by Marquis Professional Publications. The publication is intended for professionals, scholars, and others interested in sources of information about death and dying.

Current issues are covered in part 1. These issues include euthanasia, living wills and patient rights, defining death, funeral practices, bereavement counseling, hospice and terminal care, estate planning, and anatomical gifts.

Part 2 presents facts and figures from United States and Canadian statistics and other data on the subjects in part 1. Part 3 covers sources of information and assistance, including associations, memorial societies, self-help groups, hospices, and publications. A glossary and index conclude the book.

Eight periodicals related to mortuary science are currently being received by Southern's Undergraduate Library. American Funeral Director began publication in 1877. The holdings begin with 1961. Advertisements, book reviews, charts, illustrations, college and association news are among the features that complement the articles.

Casket & Sunnyside: Voice of the Funeral Service Industry includes feature articles, advertisements, news of the National Funeral Directors Association as well as manufacturers and suppliers, book reviews, charts, and illustrations. Begun in 1871, the Undergraduate Library's holdings begin with 1961.

The Director: Official Publication of the National Funeral Directors Association includes advertisements, photographs, and NFDA committee reports. The holdings begin with 1967.

Morticians of the Southwest, appearing monthly, began in 1947. The holdings begin with 1973. Activities of funeral directors, embalmers, and members of allied trades in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and the Republic of Mexico are reported.

Mortuary Management began in 1914. The holdings begin with 1961. This trade publication is intended for funeral directors and their associates. Advertisements, articles, book reviews, and illustrations complete each monthly issue.

Omega — Journal of Death and Dying is published quarterly. The Undergraduate Library has complete holdings. Items of interest include book reviews, abstracts, advertisements, referenced articles, charts, and a bibliography. Omega is indexed in Abstracts for Social Workers, Behavioral Abstracts, Bibliographic Index of Health Education Periodicals, Biological Abstracts-Biosciences Information Services, Counseling and Personnel Services Information Center, Excerpta Medica, Mental Health Digest. PRE-PSYC Database. Psychological Abstracts, and Sociological Abstracts.

Progressive Mortuary Methods appears monthly. Usually one topic per issue is discussed. The holdings begin with 1970.

The Southern Funeral Director, begun in 1919 and appearing monthly, serves the South and Southwest. Brief articles, advertisements, illustrations, photographs, obituaries, state news, and reprints from foreign funeral journals comprise each issue.

As would be expected, the primary users of the collection are the faculty and the students of the program. Other users include students enrolled in courses concerned with death and dying and students who write papers on this topic.

These materials are bibliographically controlled and accessible through the LCS (Library Computer System). The records are on-line in this system. Users from Illinois institutions that are affiliated with LCS gain access to this information through the system. Other users can gain access through the National Union Catalog and New Serial Titles.

Interlibrary loan requests and site visits are welcomed.

Communications concerning access should be addressed to Undergraduate Library, Morris Library, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901.

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