The UC San Diego Library is proud to announce the online availability of UC San Diego’s General Catalogs. The catalogs include degree requirements and descriptions for colleges, departments, and schools offered by UC San Diego, with course descriptions for each course. Catalogs were produced and distributed by the Campus Registrar each year. Historically the Library would then microfilm these paper catalogs as they were received to preserve and make them accessible to users in the Library. Alumni seeking to verify enrollment for transfer credit at grad school needed to visit the Library and search the microfilm for each year to find course descriptions, making grainy printouts to submit for verification. For alumni outside of San Diego this meant a special trip to San Diego or requesting copies through their local library or the UC San Diego Library Ask A Librarian service. Now online, these catalogs can be accessed from any computer with an internet connection and are full-text searchable – no more special trips to the Library or fighting with the microform printer!
Each catalog is available in its entirety as a PDF that can be downloaded to the user’s computer. Catalogs include not only course descriptions but Program and Certificate descriptions, faculty lists, and pertinent campus information including photos and maps of campus. Student and faculty profiles also offer a glimpse of campus life. Below is a short list of “notable”s found in the General Catalogs.
- In 1970-1971, we predicted:”The San Diego campus is expected to reach maximum growth by 1995, with a student enrollment of 27,500. By that time twelve interrelated colleges, grouped in clusters of three or four colleges each, will have been established” (pdf page 13).
- In 1978-1979, we declared: Most Sports-Minded Campus: UC San Diego Physical Education Department Chairman Dr. Howard Hunt calls this campus “the most sports-minded in America.” And Dr. Hunt has the statistics to prove it. UC San Diego fields more intercollegiate athletic teams – thirty- than any other college or university in the nation. This total is all the more remarkable in light of the fact that UC San Diego has no big-time football team and that the student body voted four-to-one against allowing any athletic scholarships (pdf page 13).
- Most of the catalogs include faculty and student profiles. You’ll find important campus figures like Faith Ringgold, professor of Visual Arts in 1996-1997 (pdf page 170).
Although we currently only have PDF versions of catalogs through 2011, more recent catalogs are available online through the Registrar’s Office website. We hope that the addition of this content to our holdings will further enhance information available about the history of UC San Diego.
We would love to hear how you use UC San Diego Library Digital Collections — whether for work or for fun; for academic or creative projects. Your stories help us improve the site and demonstrate its value. Let us know! You can leave a comment below or email us at dl-support@ucsd.edu.