The following is a summary of University of Waterloo (UW) Library information resources and services in support of the graduate program in Planning, prepared by Margaret Yuen, Liaison Librarian for the School of Planning.
Material is collected to support learning, teaching and research to the PhD level in Planning with emphasis on:
The decision to purchase Library materials for Planning is the responsibility of the Liaison Librarian in consultation with the Faculty Library Representative. Selection is guided by the Collection Development Policy (http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/staff/irmc/planning_coll_pol_06.doc) which is developed by the Liaison Librarian in consultation with faculty members in the School of Planning. 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. Access to and use of electronic resources is generally governed by licence agreements with the publisher or vendor.
The UW Library collection includes approximately 219 current electronic and 92 print serials in general subject areas of possible interest to Planning. Many of the electronic serials are paid from the central Electronic Resources library fund. The Planning library fund supports the cost of 78 current serials subscriptions relating to Planning. The collection also includes approximately 30,200 monographs in subject areas of interest to Planning. 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 available in subject areas of interest to Planning. The life science collection at the University of Guelph is of special interest to Planning.
Special Collections:
The Doris Lewis Rare Books Room in the Dana Porter Library and the Rare Book Room in the Musagetes Architecture Library houses a number of collections of interest to Planning. Collections include the archives of the Canadian Coalition on Acid Rain; the Walter Bean Grand River Community Trails Foundation fonds; the Robert Starbird Dorney fonds; the William Denby Library, which includes the papers and book collection of the well known Canadian architectural historian; and the Rosa Breithaupt Clark Architectural Collection, a collection rich in local history, urban planning and architecture.
Urban Design Collection:
With the School of Architecture’s move to Cambridge in 2004, the architecture collection was transferred to the Musagetes Architecture Library. Decisions on which titles remained on the main campus or transferred to Cambridge were based on consultations between the librarian for architecture and other subject librarians in the social sciences and humanities. Since both architects and planners have overlapping interest in urban design, the urban design collection was divided between Musagetes and the main campus.
In recognition that some of the titles transferred to Cambridge would also be needed for Planning, the Faculty of Environmental Studies gave a one-time fund to Planning to duplicate many of these essential titles for the main campus. In addition, the Planning book budget has received a small increase to address the ongoing needs to enrich the urban design collection. Furthermore, in spring 2006, through a Planning student initiated proposal, the library was awarded a small grant to purchase design books from the Waterloo Environmental Studies Endowment Foundation (WESEF), a student organization. Decisions on purchasing titles for the urban design collection are made through consultation between the liaison librarian and faculty teaching in urban design.
Electronic 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 materials freely available through the Internet. Materials include 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 Planning:
Cartographic and Geospatial Data:
Cartographic material in both paper and digital format is available in the University Map Library. The collection consists of digital geospatial data, electronic maps and atlases, and aerial photographs in digital and print formats. The collection consists of over 70,000 maps and 40,000 aerial photographs. The digital collection includes some world wide datasets; however the focus is on the local area. Coverage includes national and provincial-level topographic data; elevation data; Canadian street data; Grand River Conservation Authority data; and orthoimagery for the local area including the GTA, and South western Ontario.
Electronic Data:
Also available to members of the UW academic community are the data holdings of the Tri-University Group Data Resources (TDR) (http://tdr.tug-libraries.on.ca/). This data service provides Web access to sources such as the Canadian Census, Statistics Canada surveys, and the data holdings of the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 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’s print collections for Planning are housed primarily in the Dana Porter Library for the social sciences and humanities collection. Planning also relies on collections in the Davis Centre for the scientific subject areas; the University Map Library for the cartographic collection and spatial data; and the Musagetes Library for the architectural collection. Access to the entire Library collection, as well materials held by UG and WLU, is available through the Web accessible union catalogue known as TRELLIS (http://trellis1.tug-libraries.on.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 UG or WLU may be requested through TRELLIS. Books and copies of journal articles are delivered to faculty, staff and students 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 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, staff and students within three working days. The cost is absorbed by the Library
In addition to the forgoing services, 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.
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 includes links to selected electronic resources available to the UW community through the Library’s participation in the OCUL Scholars Portal program (http://www.scholarsportal.info/index.html). In addition, many of our electronic resources can be found through a search of Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com/) and Windows Live Academic (http://academic.live.com/.
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 journal subscription or to the TRELLIS catalogue record for holdings and call number information. The Library also provides access to bibliographic management software.
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 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.
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 17,000 journals in all subject areas and directly request copies of articles. Articles are generally delivered to on-campus addresses within four working days. The cost is absorbed by the Library.
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).
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 students, faculty 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).
UW 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 Planning 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. The Librarian also develops and maintains a web-based subject guide for Planning, (http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/discipline/plan/index.html).
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 a 2006 University of Waterloo Library User Satisfaction Survey, 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”.
Year |
Serial Expenditure |
Book Expenditure |
Approval Plan Support |
Total Expenditure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1999/00 |
42,820 |
21,103 |
7,186 |
71,109 |
2000/01 |
51,849 |
17,242 |
5,642 |
74,733 |
2001/02 |
37,244 |
17,191 |
8,036 |
62,471 |
2002/03 |
41,682 |
23,056 |
6,992 |
71,729 |
2003/04 |
38,565 |
17,615 |
8,007 |
64,188 |
2004/05 |
16,732 |
24,819 |
7,777 |
49,328 |
2005/06 |
18,207 |
24,136 |
8,248 |
50,591 |
Total |
$247,099 |
$145,162 |
$51,888 |
$444,149 |
During the past seven years, the Planning library fund has spent $444,149 on information resources. In 2005/06, $18,207 was spent for current serials and $32,384 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.
Electronic resources such as Planning Theory & Practice and Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management are purchased from the general fund. It should be noted that materials acquired for other departments such as Architecture; Biology; Environment & Resource Studies; Geography; Political Science and Sociology are also of interest to Planning.
I believe that a high level support for the graduate programme in Planning has been provided by the Library, both in information resources and services. I would be pleased to discuss the Library's holdings and services with the appraisers at the time of a campus visit.
More detailed information, including lists of print and electronic journals purchased for Planning and the number of monograph titles in subject areas of interest to Planning, are available in the Library.
Prepared by Margaret Yuen, Liaison Librarian for Geography
Reviewed by Susan Routliffe, Associate University Librarian, Information Resources & Services on behalf of Mark Haslett, University Librarian
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