The following is a summary of University of Waterloo (UW) Library resources in support of the Masters of Mathematics program in Quantitative Finance at Waterloo, prepared by Dan Sich, Liaison Librarian for Mathematics.
Materials are collected to support teaching and research to the PhD level in Applied Mathematics, Pure Mathematics, Combinatorics & Optimization and Statistics & Actuarial Science with emphasis on the following research areas of interest to the Departments:
Applied Mathematics:
Computational Mathematics
Control Theory
Differential Equations and Dynamical Systems
Environmental and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics
Mathematical Physics:
Quantum Theory
Relativity and Cosmology
Mathematics in Medicine and Biology
Scientific Computation
Signal and Image Processing
Combinatorics & Optimization:
Cryptography
Enumeration
Combinatorial Design Graph Theory
Linear Programming
Nonlinear Optimization
Operations Research
Combinatorial Optimization
Pure Mathematics:
Algebra and Logic
Analysis and Functional equations
Number Theory
Geometry and Topology
Statistics & Actuarial Science:
Statistics
Actuarial Science
Biostatistics
Finance
Statistical Computing
Statistics in Environmental Science
Statistics in Industry
Survey Methods
Statistical Consulting
The decision to purchase Library materials for Mathematics is the responsibility of the Liaison Librarian in consultation with the Faculty Library Representatives. Selection is guided by the Collection Development Policy and the Approval Plan subject profiles for the departments.
The UW Library collection includes 425 current electronic serials and 189 current print serials of interest to Mathematics. Included are subscriptions to the 25 titles reported to be of highest importance to UW researches in Quantitative Finance (list available upon request). Many of the electronic serials are paid for from the central Electronic Resources library fund. The Mathematics and library fund supports the cost of 164 current (print and electronic) serials. The UW Library collection includes approximately 52,528 monographs in subject areas of interest to Mathematics. 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. TUG collections enhance the depth and breadth of local materials available and include 296 current (print) serials and over 92,404 monographs in areas of interest to Mathematics.
The UW Library's print collections in Mathematics are housed in the Davis Centre Library. The entire UW Library collection, as well as materials held by our TUG partners, is searchable through the online catalogue TRELLIS: http://trellis1.tug-libraries.on.ca/. TRELLIS is linked from the UW Library homepage: http://www.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 materials in the Library’s collection circulate. Graduate students and faculty may borrow most monographs for a term at a time.
The Library also delivers to faculty, graduate 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, graduate 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 the University of Guelph or Wilfrid Laurier University may be requested through TRELLIS. Books and photocopied journal articles are delivered to UW faculty and students within three working days.
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/) to facilitate ILL access and service for users.
The UW Library also uses the CISTI Source current awareness and document delivery service (http://source.cisti.nrc.ca/index_custom.html) from the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information to provide copies of articles from journals not held by the UW Library or available via document delivery from the University of Guelph or Wilfrid Laurier University. Faculty and graduate students are able to search citations from over 21,000 journals in all subject areas and directly request copies of articles. Articles are generally delivered to on-campus addresses within four working days. With minor exceptions, the Library absorbs the cost of providing access to off-campus resources.
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).
Through its website, the Library maintains a web-based information system that organizes and provides access to Internet resources. 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 UW Library homepage can be accessed at http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca.
The following are some of the subscription-based online research databases of interest to Quantitative Finance:
Also available to members of the UW academic community are the data holdings of the TriUniversity Group Data Resources (TDR): tdr.tug-libraries.on.ca/. This data service provides Web access to sources such as the Canadian census, Statistics Canada surveys (e.g., Canadian Travel Survey), and the data holdings of the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The Library also subscribes to the CANSIM database from Statistics Canada. As a member of the Data Liberation Initiative (DLI), the Library is also able to make available other data from Statistics Canada, in addition to that data freely available on their website.
The Library has embedded linking technology (SFX) into research databases which allows users to link directly from the database to the UW Library full text electronic journals or to the TRELLIS catalogue record for holdings and call number information. The Library also provides access to bibliographic management software.
These research databases may be accessed from off-campus by UW students, faculty and staff via the Library’s Proxy Server / Connect from Home feature.
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 assistants. Alternatively, UW students and faculty may choose to use the Library’s Chat Reference service or e-mail messaging options provided through the Ask a Librarian service: www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/asklib/, useful if a personal visit to the Library is not convenient.
UW campus libraries also offer 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 Mathematics is available for consultation with individuals or small groups of students as well as course related instruction about library research and tools. In addition, the Liaison Librarian for Mathematics maintains a webpage of research starting points for Mathematics. See http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/discipline/math/.
Table 1. Summary of Expenditures – Mathematics
Year |
Serial Expenditure |
Book Expenditure |
Approval Plan Support |
Total Expenditure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1999/00 |
224,842 |
24,869 |
15,537 |
265,248 |
2000/01 |
218,486 |
35,471 |
15,302 |
269,259 |
2001/02 |
137,369 |
30,150 |
16,224 |
183,743 |
2002/03 |
108,464 |
32,386 |
15,437 |
156,287 |
2003/04 |
100,863 |
36,804 |
12,720 |
150,387 |
2004/05 |
57,941 |
22,435 |
12,680 |
93,056 |
2005/06 |
69,583 |
28,800 |
14,032 |
112,414 |
Total |
917,548 |
210,914 |
101,932 |
1,230,394 |
During the past seven years, the Library has spent approximately $1,230,394 on materials for Mathematics. In 2005/06 $69,583 was spent for current serials and $42,831 for books. Table 1 provides further details. What may appear to be a decline in serials expenditures deserves comment. Serials in an electronic format are often available for subscription in packages and the Library pays for access to these packages through a general fund for electronic resources. As a result, many serials are no longer paid for by funds established for specific disciplines.
More detailed information including lists of serials purchased for Mathematics, serial titles of interest to Mathematics, number of monograph titles of interest to Mathematics, and a description of the UW Library website and web-based information system are available in the Library. We would be pleased to discuss the Library's holdings and services with an appraiser at the time of a campus visit. We believe that a high level of support for the Masters of Mathematics program in Quantitative Finance will be provided by the Library, both in holdings and in services.
Prepared by Dan Sich, Liaison Librarian for Mathematics
Reviewed by Susan Routliffe, Associate University Librarian, Information Resources and Services for Mark Haslett, University Librarian.
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