The following is a summary of University of Waterloo Library information resources and services in support of the undergraduate and graduate programs in Earth and Environmental Sciences, prepared by Kathy Szigeti, Liaison Librarian for Earth and Environmental Sciences.
Material is collected to support learning, teaching and research to the Undergraduate, Masters and PhD level in Earth and Environmental Sciences with emphasis on:
The decision to purchase Library materials for the Earth and Environmental Sciences is the responsibility of the Liaison Librarian, in consultation with the Faculty Library Representative. Selection is guided by the Collection Development Policy , which is developed by the Liaison Librarian in consultation with faculty members in the department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. Materials are obtained in a variety ways including firm orders, open orders, approval plans, and subscriptions.
The Library obtains resources in electronic format whenever it is possible and practical to do so. Some electronic resources are obtained directly by the Library and some are obtained through membership in the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL) and the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN). Access to and use of electronic resources is generally governed by licence agreements with the publisher or vendor.
The Library, along with the libraries of the University of Guelph (UG) and Wilfrid Laurier University (WLU), is a member of the Tri-University Group of Libraries (TUG) consortium. Collections from the University of Guelph and Wilfrid Laurier University enhance the depth and breadth of local materials available in subject areas of interest to Earth and Environmental Sciences.
Print Collections
The Library’s print collections for Earth and Environmental Sciences are housed primarily in the Davis Centre Library. Access to the entire Library collection, as well materials held by UG and WLU, is available through the Web accessible tool known as PRIMO (http://primo.lib.uwaterloo.ca).
The Library's automated circulation system allows users to charge out materials during the hours that the Library is open (every day most weeks, with some closures between terms and during the Christmas break) and to renew items online anytime. With the exception of the current issues of print journals and reference materials, most of the material in the Library’s collection circulates. Faculty, graduate students and staff may borrow most monographs for a term at a time. The usual loan period for undergraduates is two weeks.
The Library also delivers to faculty, graduate students and staff copies of print journal articles from any of the uWaterloo library locations, and from the libraries of the affiliated and federated colleges and universities. Faculty, graduate students and staff may also place holds on books from any of these libraries for pickup at any of the libraries’ circulation desks. Books and journal articles not owned by the Library, but held by UG or WLU, may be requested by faculty, all students and staff through Primo. Items will be delivered to uWaterloo within three working days. The cost of these services is absorbed by the Library.
In partnership with UG and WLU, the Library owns a facility, known as the Annex, which is used to house low-use research material. In keeping with the University’s research intensive status, the TUG libraries ensure that a last copy is maintained in perpetuity, through the Preservation of Last Copy Agreement . Items housed in the Annex will be delivered to uWaterloo within three working days. The cost of these services is absorbed by the Library.
Electronic Resources
The primary tool for accessing electronic resources selected by the Library is its Web site (http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca). This site organizes and provides access to licensed resources available to only uWaterloo faculty, students and staff, as well as select Internet resources freely available to anyone. The site also provides access to electronic resources hosted by the OCUL Scholars Portal program (http://www.scholarsportal.info/index.html) and available to the uWaterloo community through the Library's participation in consortia purchasing through OCUL.
In addition, many of our electronic resources can be found through a search of Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com/).
The Library uses linking technology (SFX) to enable users to link directly from research databases to the Library’s full text electronic journal subscription or to the catalogue record for holdings and call number information. The Library also provides access to bibliographic management software (RefWorks).
uWaterloo faculty, students and staff may access electronic research databases and full text electronic journals from off-campus via the Library’s Proxy Server / Connect from Home feature.
The Library has purchased, or subscribes to, a range of electronic resources including research databases, full text journals, monographs, numeric data, and government publications. In addition, the Library identifies and provides access to select material freely available through the Internet. Such material includes open access journals, data sets, catalogues of libraries around the world, dictionaries, encyclopaedias, and style guides.
The following are some of the electronic resources of particular interest to Earth and Environmental Sciences:
Statistics and Numeric Data
Also available to members of the uW and WLU academic communities are the data holdings at <odesi> (http://search2.odesi.ca/), which provide Web access to resources such as the Statistics Canada surveys, including the Canadian Census.
Resources from Institutions other than TUG
The Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery (ILL) service provides faculty, students and staff with books, copies of journal articles, theses, and government documents from libraries within Canada and elsewhere. The Library uses OCUL’s RACER Web based interlibrary loan system (http://racer.scholarsportal.info/vdx/index.html) to facilitate ILL access and service for users. With minor exceptions, the cost for this service is absorbed by the Library.
Most Canadian university libraries extend, at no charge, in-person borrowing privileges to faculty, students and staff from across the country. Faculty, students and staff are entitled to borrowing privileges at participating libraries (http://www.coppul.ca/rb/rbindex.html).
Information Literacy: Research Skills, Critical Appraisal, Ethical Use
Drawing from the Ontario Council of Academic Vice-Presidents’ Guidelines for University Undergraduate Degree Level Expectations and the Association of College and Research Libraries’ Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education the Liaison Librarian for Earth and Environmental Sciences develops information literacy-related activities and materials, in consultation with faculty. These include the development of literature research and information retrieval guides as well as the preparation of classroom sessions and outcomes-based workshops for students in the program. It is intended that the sessions and workshops may complement, or take the form of, assignments students complete as part of their course requirements. Depending on the nature of the assignments and the instructors’ expectations, these activities focus on introducing, reinforcing, or mastering key aspects of information research.
Similarly, drawing from the Ontario Council of Academic Vice-Presidents’ Guidelines for University Graduate Degree Level Expectations and the Association of College and Research Libraries’ Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education the Liaison Librarian for Earth and Environmental Sciences develops information literacy-related activities and materials, in consultation with faculty. These include the development of literature research and information retrieval guides as well as seminars and outcomes-based workshops for students in the program. These sessions support graduate students completing their literature reviews, comprehensives and graduate information research endeavours as part of their degree requirements and complement faculty mentoring in the same areas.
Additional Information Services
The Liaison Librarian for Earth and Environmental Sciences is available for consultation with individuals or small groups of students. She may be contacted directly in person, by phone, and by e-mail if a personal visit to the Library is not convenient. The Librarian also develops and maintains a subject guide for Earth and Environmental Sciences (http://subjectguides.uwaterloo.ca/earthscience).
Reference assistance is available in person or by telephone at the Library's Information Desks, which are staffed by professional librarians and specially trained library associates. Alternatively, faculty, students and staff may get reference assistance via e-mail and online chat available through the Ask a Librarian service (http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/asklib/index.html).
The Library also offers general orientation programs including tours, workshops on research skills, and seminars for students. In addition, each fall, the Library participates in a campus-wide orientation program for incoming students, including programs specific to international students and students with disabilities.
The Geological Engineering program is accredited by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board which lists Graduate Attributes that graduates should possess. Attribute 3.1.12 is life-long learning which is defined as the graduates’ “ability to identify and to address their own educational needs in a changing world in ways sufficient to maintain their competence and to allow them to contribute to the advancement of knowledge.” An information literate graduate will have the skills to be a life-long learner, have an ethical professional practice, and the understanding needed to contribute to the advancement of knowledge The Liaison Librarian is available to work with faculty members and students in meeting these goals.
Faculty, students and staff may keep abreast of new services and developments in the Library by reading news @ your library (http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/newsatlib/), an electronic newsletter prepared periodically.
Table 1. Summary of Expenditures – Earth and Environmental Sciences
Fiscal Year |
Journal Expenditures |
Book Expenditures |
Approval Plan Support |
Total Expenditures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2003/2004 |
$53,865 |
$19,655 |
$2,180 |
$75,700 |
2004/2005 |
$25,525 |
$23,455 |
$1,895 |
$50,870 |
2005/2006 |
$26,510 |
$30,920 |
$1,475 |
$58,905 |
2006/2007 |
$29,340 |
$19,225 |
$1,720 |
$50,285 |
2007/2008 |
$29,960 |
$15,305 |
$1,345 |
$46,615 |
2008/2009 |
$37,200 |
$14,565 |
$1,390 |
$53,155 |
2009/2010 |
$35,475 |
$11,655 |
$2,300 |
$49,430 |
Total for Period |
$237,870 |
$134,790 |
$12,300 |
$384,960 |
Book expenditures are decreasing because funds have been reallocated to purchase journals, important resources for Earth and Environmental Sciences.
Electronic resources, such as GeoRef and Web of Science, are purchased from the Electronic Resources library fund. Materials acquired for other departments, such as Anthropology, Biology, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, and Geography are also of interest to Earth and Environmental Sciences.
I believe that a high level support for Earth and Environmental Sciences has been provided by the Library, both in information resources and services.
More detailed information, including lists of journals, and the number of book titles in subject areas of interest purchased for Earth and Environmental Sciences, can be provided on request.
I would be pleased to discuss the Library's holdings and services with the appraisers at the time of a campus visit.
Kathy Szigeti, Liaison Librarian for Earth and Environmental Sciences
Reviewed by Susan Routliffe, Associate University Librarian, Information Resources and Services for Mark Haslett, University Librarian.
Collection Development Policies can be found online on the Library Web site (http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/staff/irmc/collectionsmanagement.html).
The Preservation of Last Copy Agreement is available online (http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/staff/irmc/last_copy_agreement_sept06.html).
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