August, 2010
Musagetes Architecture Library is a full-service branch of the UW Library system. It is centrally located within the School of Architecture in Cambridge, ON making it easily accessible to students and faculty. The Library is open every day, excepting statutory holidays:
Mon – Thursday 8:30 am – 8:30 pm
Friday 8:30 am – 6:00 pm
Saturday – Sunday 1 pm – 5 pm
The library opened in this off campus location in 2004 and offers all the same services available to patrons in main campus libraries.
Material is collected to support teaching and research for the Honours Pre-Professional, four-year Bachelor of Architectural Studies degree followed by an eighteen month professional plan of study for the Master of Architecture degree. The purchase of library materials for Architecture is the responsibility of the Liaison Librarian in consultation with the Faculty Library Representative. Materials are obtained in a variety of ways including firm orders, open orders, approval plans and subscriptions. Selection is guided by the Architecture Collection Development Policy and the Approval Plan subject profile (both available upon request) which are reviewed and updated regularly.
Musagetes Architecture Library houses the primary print resources for Architecture. The 24,000+ book collection (including 16,069 titles in the NA call number range) includes titles on architectural design, theory, history and criticism, historic preservation, building technology, industrial design, landscape architecture, interior design, and urban design. Titles purchased on behalf of other departments, such as Classical Studies, Anthropology, Fine Arts,
Philosophy, Engineering, and Planning supplement the Musagetes collection.
Patrons may charge out materials during the hours that the Library is open and renew items online anytime. Each patron is limited to twenty-five Musagetes books at any time, with two renewals allowed. With the exception of the current issues of print journals and reference materials, most of the material in the Musagetes collection circulates. Faculty, graduate students, and staff may borrow most monographs for a term at a time.
UW 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 Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Guelph, particularly titles purchased on behalf of Landscape Architecture, enhance the depth and breadth of local materials available in subject areas of interest to Architecture. Faculty and students can request books and copies of print journal articles from any UW library location as well as from of UG and WLU for pickup at the Musagetes public services desk. Delivery time is within three working days. The cost is of these services is absorbed by the Library. Access to the entire Library collection, as well materials held by UG and WLU, is available through the web-based enhanced catalogue known as PRIMO.
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 abroad. The UW Library uses the 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 Library absorbs the cost for this service. Canadian university libraries extend in-person borrowing privileges to students, faculty, and staff from across the country. Graduate students, faculty and staff are entitled to borrowing privileges at participating libraries (http://www.coppul.ca/rb/rbindex.html).
One advantage to the School of Architecture’s location is its proximity to Cambridge Public Library (CPL). Although small, this library has an excellent collection of fiction and non-fiction titles, a substantial newspaper and journal collection, searchable online databases, and a huge selection of DVD’s. When the School of Architecture opened, CPL generously set aside $20,000. from their acquisitions budget to build a core collection of architecture titles to supplement Musagetes Library holdings. Since then, CPL has devoted around $5,000. annually to purchase books and journal subscriptions in support of the School. Every September, the Head of Reference and Information Services provides a brief outline of their resources to first year students and explains how to get a library card. It is my understanding that our students make heavy use of their collection.
A separate, environmentally controlled Rare Book Room houses one of Canada's most outstanding collections of rare books on architecture and design. The Rare Book Room collection features landmark titles in the history and theory of architecture, exemplary treatises from the sixteenth to the twentieth century supportive of the School of Architecture's cultural history emphasis, and texts outlining architectural developments in Northern Europe and on the North American frontier, which have a profound effect on architectural theory and urban development in Canada. All rare book materials are listed in Primo and are available for viewing at Musagetes Library upon request.
Each term the Branch Head prepares a themed display of titles from the collection. Some of these have been:
While many of the displays have been timed to coincide with a particular course offering, this has had little effect on the use of the collection.
The Architecture book budget cannot support the purchase of titles for addition to the Rare Book collection. Its growth depends on donations-in-kind or the transfer of older, out-of-print titles in need of additional protection. Unspent, end of year funds in March 2010 allowed for the acquisition of some expensive new titles which will surely become rare in the years to come:
Julius Shulman: Modernism Rediscovered (3 vol.)
Glenn Murcutt, Architect,
Oscar Niemeyer
Villa Girasole: The Revolving House
These contemporary titles may prove to be more appealing to our students.
Journal subscriptions may be purchased by the Branch Head using funds designated for Architecture or they may be purchased through the central Electronic Resources library fund. Titles purchased through the Electronic Resources fund are available in an electronic format. Titles purchased using the Architecture serials fund may be print and/or electronic.
The Architecture serials fund supports the cost of 77 current print subscriptions relating to architecture, design, interior design, landscape architecture, and others of general interest to architecture students (titles available upon request). When a title ceases publication, students are asked for suggestions of replacement titles of equal value.
Publishers of architecture materials have been slow to produce electronic equivalents’ of their print materials. As a result, there are very few electronic resources that directly relate to architecture in the collection. At this writing there are fewer than one hundred books on architecture related topics and fewer than 5 of the 77 print journals to which Musagetes Library subscribes are replicated online in their entirety. Those limited titles that are made available in fulltext through databases like the Avery Index or Factiva do not include accompanying images.
In other subject areas, UW Library has purchased or subscribes to a range of electronic resources including research databases, fulltext 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, catalogues of libraries around the world, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and style guides.
The following are some of the electronic resources of particular interest to Architecture:
ARTstor – image collections
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
CumInCad: Cumulative Index for Computer-Aided Design
Factiva
JStor
Oxford Reference Online – selected titles relating to architecture
Proquest Digital Dissertations and Theses
RIBA: British Architectural Library Catalogue Online
Urban Studies Abstracts
Worldcat – library catalogues worldwide
UW Library has embedded linking technology into the research databases which allows users to link directly from the database to the full text electronic journal subscription or to the Primo catalogue record for holdings and call number information. UW Library also provides free access to the bibliographic management software RefWorks.
All licensed digital datasets, previously available only from the campus Map Library, are now accessible directly from Musagetes Library. An online research guide describing the software and data available, both licensed and freely available, has been prepared by the Library Associate responsible for providing GIS assistance. The guide is updated regularly and the link to it easily found on the Musagetes Library homepage http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/musagetes/index.html
The library’s GIS workstation is equipped with a variety of programs to help students with their mapping, including ArcInfo, Google Earth Pro, GeoViewer, and AutoCAD. The computer is accessible during library hours. Additionally, student versions of ArcInfo can be purchased for $25. from Architecture Computing and Media (ACM).
Since the School of Architecture is located some distance from the main commercial district on Hespeler Road, the undergraduate and graduate student groups sponsored the creation of a locally owned film collection. With funds from various sources and suggestions from fellow students, a now 400 title DVD collection is available for rent by members of the School community. Academically oriented titles on architecture and design sit beside commercial hits and obscure art films in a special section of Musagetes library. While the collection is owned and administered by the students, the library houses the collection and collects rental and late fees on their behalf. All money collected goes back to the students for new purchases.
Three full-time positions, a limited contract position, and limited contract casual positions staff Musagetes Architecture Library. Job descriptions for full-time staff are available upon request.
Branch Head (FT):
The Branch Head has an Honours B.A. (Visual Art), B.Ed., and MLIS with 30 years of service as an Architecture Librarian. She was also UW’s Fine Arts Librarian before accepting her current position five years ago. The Branch Head reports to the Head of Branch Libraries on the main UW campus.
Library Associate (FT):
The Library Associate has a B.A. in English and several years of increasingly responsible positions in various university libraries. She attends conferences and workshops to maintain and upgrade her GIS knowledge.
Library Assistant (FT):
The Library Assistant has a B.A. in History and a Library and Information Technician Diploma. She previously worked for several years at a local community college library.
Contract Position (FT, 2 year limit):
This is a trial position that was extended from one year to two. It ends August 2011.
Casual Staff (PT, 15 term limit)
Musagetes Library employs three casual staff currently.
If the current staff complement is maintained, we can continue our current hours of operation and offer adequate circulation, reference, and GIS service to support the architecture curriculum.
Reference Service is available in person, by e-mail, telephone or through an on-line chat service located from the Musagetes Library homepage. Reference hours and GIS assistance are generally 9 am – 5 pm weekdays dependent upon the schedules of the Branch Head and the Library Associate.
The Branch Head and Library Associate work with faculty members to help students develop the information competencies that are vital for lifelong learning. In consultation with faculty, they develop and conduct class specific information literacy sessions for undergraduate and graduate students. Lectures, hands-on-instruction, and web pages support these activities.
Library staff reach out to students and try to bring them into the library with new book displays, contests, a fall open house featuring activities, draws, and snacks, and a Christmas craft corner. We communicate with them through the Musagetes Library blog, Facebook page, and Twitter feed (we have more followers than the large campus libraries). In turn, the library has recently hosted displays of student work. Last year, library staff participated in critiquing a second year project based on our library and accompanied another class on a field trip.
Musagetes Library is a warm, inviting space featuring scenic views of the Grand River through its large glass windows. Undergraduate studios and grad and faculty offices are steps away. The library has a seating capacity of over 60, spread amongst tatami mat window seats, oversize comfy chairs, group study tables, and individual study areas. Computer workstations, situated opposite the public services desk, and tables near the Reference collection, create an area in which students can search the library catalogue, consult with library staff, or talk amongst themselves without worrying about noise levels. Corner window areas hold comfy chairs for relaxing and sleeping when required.
The north wing of the library holds the book stacks. In response to student requests, labeling on each range identifies not only what call numbers are shelved there but also the subject areas covered. Students find browsing much easier with this system in place. This summer, the entire collection is being shifted with the bottom shelf of each range used to hold books for the first time. Around eleven inches of growth space per shelf is being left. This move should accommodate regular yearly growth for the next five years.
Since the last accreditation visit, the seminar room has been upgraded. It now has whiteboards, pin-up boards, and a digital projector that can be used to watch movies from the student film collection or to give presentations. It is now booked on a regular basis by students and faculty. When funding allows, future upgrades include the replacement of the large table and wooden chairs with more versatile and comfortable office furniture.
Other furnishings needed include individual task lights along the perimeter seating areas of the stacks, a high quality scanner for student and staff use, plus two, more powerful GIS workstations with larger monitors.
Students love Musagetes Architecture Library – at least according to a prize-winning song, student comments to staff, and a recent message on a library blackboard. They find the library environment a place of respite from the stress of studio and coursework.
Year |
Books |
Rare Books |
Journals |
|---|---|---|---|
2006/07 |
1,363 |
21 |
179 |
2007/08 |
890 |
10 |
219 |
2008/09 |
1,074 |
3 |
246 |
2009/10 |
1,100 |
3 |
569* |
* Due to a larger than normal binding effort
The Collection Development Policy for Architecture does not include the purchase of microfiche or microfilm, slides, drawings, or photographs. DVD’s may be purchased upon request.
Year |
Books |
Approvals |
Serials |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2006/07 |
$13,960. |
$41,045. |
$11,212. |
$66,217. |
2007/08 |
$17,736. |
$23,609. * |
$11,790. |
$53,135. |
2008/09 |
$20,505. |
$16,097. |
$12,868. |
$49,470. ** |
2009/10 |
$20,265. |
$31,643. |
$12,483. |
$64,391 |
* $13,781. of the approval budget remained unspent because the vendor, Ballenford, went out of business.
** The drop in book expenditures and approval plan support for 2008/09 was the result of a temporary, and partial freeze on monograph purchasing imposed because of the significant decline in the value of the Canadian dollar in the fall of 2008, and the consequent drop in UW Library’s purchasing power. The freeze was lifted in May 2009.
Musagetes Architecture Library provides a solid collection of current and retrospective books and journals to support the undergraduate programme in Architecture. The majority of resources required by undergraduate students for studio research and coursework are available on site. Supplementary resources that may be needed for architectural history and iconography courses can be requested from TUG libraries. Free and subscription-based image archives like ARTstor provide a wealth of photographs, drawings, and illustrations to select from.
Graduate students are also heavy users of the Musagetes collection. The Branch Head normally purchases all material requests made by these students. However, thesis work often strays from a strict interpretation of architecture into the fields of urban design, history, politics, philosophy, literature, etc. Design sites may be situated anywhere around the world and require supporting maps and geographic material that is not available through local sources. Graduate students appreciate the abundance of online fulltext articles in these other subject areas available through the library website. Additionally, Interlibrary Loan becomes an important service on which many of our graduate students rely.
I would be pleased to discuss Musagetes Library’s holdings and services with the accreditation team at the time of a campus visit.
Prepared by:
Michele Laing, Branch Head, Musagetes Architecture Library
University of Waterloo Library
200 University Avenue West
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
519 888 4883
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