The library seeks to support the interdisciplinary research and curricular needs of faculty and students interested in this part of the world. Students can receive BA, MA, and Ph.D. degrees in South Asia studies from the Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures department. The School of International and Public Affairs grants a certificate of regional specialization in conjunction with the Southern Asian Institute.

Areas of established specialization: History, Religion, Anthropology, Economics, Political Science, and Philosophy.

Overall, the library's existing collection, its current acquisitions commitment, based upon available resources, and its collecting goal are all at the research level.

1. Formats collected: We collect monographs, periodicals, reference tools, series, and extensively, newspapers, maps, dissertations, and CD-Roms selectively, and sound recordings, videos, and textbooks are excluded. The major South Asian Studies Institute is maintained by the South Asian bibliographer.
2. Imprint Dates Collected: We collect current and 20^th century publications extensively and all others very selectively.
3. Chronological Focus: We collect materials focusing on all periods.
4. Languages Collected: We collect Hindi, Urdu, Rajasthani, Bengali, Sanskrit, Tibetan, Pali, Prakrit, Arabic/Persian, English, French, German and Italian extensively, Russian, Japanese, and Chinese selectively.
5. Place of Publication: We collect materials published in North America, western Europe, South Asia, and South Pacific extensively, materials published in Africa, East and Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America selectively, and materials published in China are excluded.