USF 1999-2000 Undergraduate Catalog - Pages 62 - 63

The USF Library System

The six libraries of USF consist of the three libraries of the Tampa campus: Tampa Campus Library, Shimberg Health Sciences Library, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute Library; Nelson Poynter Library at the St. Petersburg Campus; Jane Bancroft Cook Library at the New College/Sarasota Campus; and a joint use facilitiy with Polk Community College in Lakeland. The System provides access to information resources to fulfill the instructional, research, and artistic needs of students, faculty, and staff of USF. In addition, the System also has a responsibility to serve the educational, cultural, business, and professional information needs of the citizens of USF's service area and the national academic community.

The USF library system contains over 1,500,000 volumes, and the SUS libraries together contain over 10,000,000 volumes of information resources. Books and periodicals are cataloged and arranged on open shelves using the Library of Congress Classification System. Books may be checked out with renewal privileges; periodicals may not be checked out.

The USF Virtual Library enhances teaching and learning through the delivery of online library resources and services to the dorm, office, or home as well as on-site at any of the USF Libraries. Special features include WebLUIS, the online catalog, an electronic course reserve system, over 1,000 electronic journals, hundreds of databases some of which include additional full-text information, and digitized historical materials such as photographs, documents, and oral histories. Beyond content, there are numerous library services such as interlibrary loan request forms, the ability to renew materials, and reference assistance requests available through the Virtual Library at http://www.lib.usf.edu/virtual/.

WebLUIS, the online catalog, may be searched by author, title, subject, and keyword to identify the library's holdings. LUIS contains records for the USF libraries, all ten SUS libraries in Florida and online catalogs worldwide. Workstations located in various USF libraries provide access to the online catalog. Remote access to the same catalog is also possible through any campus workstation linked to the USF network or via dial-in procedures.

Regional Exchange Center (REC) service can obtain materials from other USF campus libraries upon request. Thus, students and faculty have access to resources beyond the on-site collections at each campus. REC forms are available at reference and circulation service desks.

More information about the USF Library System, including the new Virtual Library and statewide library services to distance learners, is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.lib.usf.edu/virtual and http://www.lib.usf.edu/distance.

Tampa Campus Library

Central to the philosophy of the Tampa Campus Library is the view that the people it serves are equally as important as the books on its shelves. Students are encouraged to become familiar with the collection, to master the techniques of using it, and to achieve a familiarity with information resources that will carry over into later life.

The Tampa Campus Library contains a collection of more than 1,050,000 volumes, 4,900 periodicals and 2,600,000 microforms of all types to support a broad range and depth of faculty and student research, as well as personal knowledge and cultural advancement.

Reference Collection: The Reference Collection is located on the first floor of the Tampa Campus Library. Reference librarians assist students and faculty with both electronic and print resources. The Reference Collection consists of over 40,000 volumes including encyclopedias, dictionaries, indexes, and abstracting services. Reference librarians present library orientation sessions as well as subject specific lectures. Access to electronic information via the Virtual Library includes WebLUIS, the online catalog for USF and the other nine state universities; over 50 databases; full-text material and document delivery services and World Wide Web access. CALL/USF, the fee-based information service for community users, offers borrower’s cards, document delivery, and customized research.

Periodicals Collection: The Periodicals Collection is located on the second floor with service provided at the Periodicals Information Desk and the Copier Assistance Desk. The collection contains more than 4,500 current periodicals and selected newspapers from Florida and major cities in the U.S. and foreign countries. A large collection of periodicals and newspapers in microfiche and microfilm are also located in the Periodicals Microform Room. WebLUIS and Internet workstations provide access to full-text databases and electronic journals. Also located here is a fee-based copy service as well as self-service photocopying equipment.

Government Documents: The Library is a selective depository for U.S. and Florida government publications, maintains a U.S. patent and trademark depository, and acquires United Nations committee reports on microfiche. The documents collection, which is housed in the basement of the Library, contains over 2.5 million items, including a wide variety of materials in print, microform, and electronic format. The collection is augmented by the acquisition of selected publications of other public agencies, selected reference tools, and other specialized indexes and finding aids. Assistance with the location and use of government publications is provided at the Documents Information Desk.

Special Collections: Located on the fourth floor, this department houses the library's rare books, Florida history, and other special collections, as well as the USF Archives. Its holdings total over one million items, with rare and unusual materials ranging from 4,000 year old Sumerian tablets to modern fine printing. In addition to books, Special Collections houses thousands of historical photographs, early maps, sheet music, printed ephemera, and original manuscripts. The department contains a number of nationally significant research collections, including the papers of Florida governors, congressmen and other political leaders. Also present are the papers and manuscripts of literary figures like Piers Anthony and Dion Boucicault. The department's strongest area of emphasis is Florida history, but it also houses notable collections of historical childrens' literature, dime novels, African-American sheet music, cigar label art, and early American schoolbooks. Further information is available through the department's website at http://www.lib.usf.edu/spccoll/.

Access Services (circulation, interlibrary services, reserve): Access Services is located on the first floor. The Reserve collection, containing books and articles "reserved" at Faculty request for use in a particular class is available at the Reserve service desk. Many reserve items are now available on the Electronic Reserve System, which is accessible on the world wide web to any USF student. Circulating books that are shelved on the third through fifth floors can be checked out at the circulation service desk on the first floor. The Library uses an automated circulation system which facilitates easy and quick check out of books. Renewals can be done in person, by email or over the world wide web. A statement of the library's circulation policy is available at the Access Services Service desk and on the USF Library's home page. Interlibrary services can obtain materials from other libraries upon request. Thus students have access to resources beyond the onsite collections at each campus. Forms for requesting materials are located at service desks throughout the library and on the Library's home page at http://www.lib.usf.edu.

Library Media Center and Lab: The Library Media Center (LMC) provides media materials for instruction, research, and curriculum support. Videocassettes, sound recordingsCD-ROMs, slides, kits, and other audio-visual formats as well as music scores are available for loan. The LMCPV Lab provides equipment for individual use of all media in the collectionand on reserve. The LMC also houses media supporting distance learning programs, including the Open University, Engineering FEEDS, and Instructional Television Fixed Service (ITFS).

Instructional and Open-Use Labs: The Library supports three state-of-the-art labs of networked workstations. Two labs, located on the second and sixth floors, are reserved for library instruction. The third lab, located on the first floor, is jointly maintained with Academic Computing as an instructional and open-use lab with facilitates for word processing, electronic mail, and printing.

More information about the collections and services of the Tampa Campus Library is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.lib.usf.edu.

Please send questions or comments to:
Karen M. Hall - webCat@ugs.usf.edu
Effective Date: Semester I, 1999