The following is a summary of University of Waterloo (UW) Library information resources and services in support of the proposed graduate program in Masters of Knowledge Integration, prepared by Margaret Yuen, Liaison Librarian for the Centre for Knowledge Integration.
Material would be collected to support learning, teaching and research to the Masters level in Knowledge Integration with emphasis on:
The decision to purchase Library materials for the Centre for Knowledge Integration is the responsibility of the Liaison Librarian in consultation with the faculty. Materials are obtained in a variety ways including firm orders, open orders, approval plans, and subscriptions.
In response to user preference, the Library obtains resources in electronic format whenever it is possible and practical to do so. Some electronic resources are obtained directly by the University of Waterloo 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 UW Library collection includes approximately 42 current electronic and print journals that would support the proposed core courses in the Master of Knowledge Integration program. The collection also includes approximately 7,400 monographs in subject areas of interest to the Master of Knowledge Integration. For the most part, these monographs are in print format but an increasing number are in electronic format.
The 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 the University of Guelph and Wilfrid Laurier University enhance the depth and breadth of local materials.
Print Collections
The Library’s print collections for Knowledge Integration are housed primarily in the Dana Porter and Davis Centre Libraries. Access to the entire Library collection, as well materials held by UG and WLU, is available through the Web discovery 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 Library also delivers to faculty, students and staff copies of print journal articles from any of the UW library locations, and from the libraries of the UW affiliated and federated colleges and universities. Faculty, students and staff can also place holds on books from any of these libraries for pickup at any of the UW libraries’ circulation desks. Books and journal articles not owned by the UW Library but held by UG or WLU may be requested through Primo. Books and copies of journal articles are delivered to faculty, students and staff within three working days. The cost is 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, an agreement among the TUG libraries ensures that a last copy is maintained in perpetuity. The Preservation of Last Copy Agreement can be found at: http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/staff/irmc/
last_copy_agreement_sept06.html. As with material from UG and WLU, books and copies of journal articles housed in the Annex are made available to faculty, students and staff within three working days. The cost is absorbed by the Library.
Books and copies of articles from print journals will be sent, upon request, to students living some distance from the campus. With the exception of return postage for books, the cost 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 UW faculty, students and staff, as well as 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 UW 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 UW Library full text electronic journal subscription or to the TRELLIS catalogue record for holdings and call number information. The Library also provides access to bibliographic management software (RefWorks).
UW 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, catalogues of libraries around the world, dictionaries, encyclopaedias, and style guides.
The following are some of the electronic resources of particular interest to Knowledge Integration.
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 UW 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.
Canadian university libraries extend 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).
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, UW faculty, students and staff may get reference assistance via e-mail and on-line 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 database searching and using the Web, and seminars for graduate students. In addition, each fall the Library participates in a campus-wide orientation program for international students.
The Liaison Librarian for the Centre for Knowledge Integration is available for consultation with individuals or small groups of students. She/he may be contacted directly in person, by phone, and by e-mail if a personal visit to the Library is not convenient.
The Liaison Librarian is also available to work with faculty to develop course integrated library instruction in the form of lectures, hands-on instruction, Web pages, or online courseware modules.
Graduate students 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 and distributed to graduate students via the University’s Graduate Studies listserv.
In 2006, the Community Needs Assessment Committee at the UW Library conducted a web-based survey to assess patron satisfaction with our services, resources, and facilities. The survey was conducted from January 16, 2006 to February 16, 2006. A random sample of UW students, faculty and staff were invited by e-mail to complete the survey. Of the 1414 respondents, 14% were graduate students and they represented all major areas of study and research at UW. 88% of the graduate students responding to the survey indicated that they agreed with the statement that: “Overall, the UW Library and its staff meet my expectations for an excellent university library”.
Though the Centre for Knowledge Integration does not have a separate library budget, much of the library resources needed to support both core and elective courses are already being purchased through funds allocated for other programs. Materials acquired for departments such as Philosophy, Sociology and Systems Design are of particular interest to the core courses in Knowledge Integration. In addition, many of the electronic resources that support Knowledge Integration such as Scopus, ISI’s Web of Science or e-journal packages are purchased from a general library fund.
I believe that an adequate level of support for the proposed Masters of Knowledge Integration can be provided by the Library. Resources required for core and elective courses would be supported by the library resources purchased for academic units across campus.
More detailed information including lists of print and electronic journals, and the number of monograph titles in the subject areas of interest to Knowledge Integration are available upon request.
I would be pleased to discuss the Library's holdings and services with the appraisers at the time of a campus visit.
Margaret Yuen, Liaison Librarian for Knowledge Integration
Reviewed by Susan Routliffe, Associate University Librarian, Information Resources and Services for Mark Haslett, University Librarian.
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