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Library Information Services

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2013-2014 Undergraduate College Catalog

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Facilities

Collections

Expanded Hours

Rare Book and Archives

Audio/Visual Services

Extended Access to Resources

Reference

Workshops

The Manhattanville College Library is the intellectual center of the College. Collections and services are shaped by the diverse information needs of Manhattanville students, faculty and community members. The Library is committed to preparing Manhattanville students for a lifetime of learning in a technology-rich and information-intensive environment. At the same time, the Library supports the teaching, scholarship and research activities of faculty members. Manhattanville College recognizes Information Literacy as a core competency required for graduation. Our teaching librarians develop and deliver credit-bearing Information Literacy courses and also assist faculty within their undergraduate and graduate courses. The Library has a strong tradition of offering accurate, thorough, prompt, courteous, and confidential service. Extensive service hours and 24/7 online access make it easy to use the Library.

Facilities

As a gateway to information, the Library is both a repository of accumulated knowledge and an access point to current resources. The Library building houses, throughout its six floors, nearly 250,000 volumes of books and journals. Our web site provides access to thousands of electronic journals and other multimedia resources. Computers, with Internet access, Microsoft Office and other educational software, are located in the Reference Commons, the Stacks, the Current Periodicals Room, the Cafe, two Library computer labs, and the Educational Resource Center (ERC). Laptops and digital cameras are available for loan.

The public spaces of the Library offer comfortable areas for study and research. Large rooms on the main floor provide tables for comfortable, quiet study. Group study areas with blackboards are located on the second floor. There are carrels for private study on each of the stack tiers and there are also private carrels with computers on the third, fourth and fifth tier. The Educational Resource Center provides materials for teacher training and children’s literature. The Library has music listening facilities for accessing one of the richest collections at Manhattanville. Video viewing areas are available for private or group use.

On the lowest floor is the Center for Computing Resources, which provides PCs and Macs with a printer for assignment preparation. The second floor lab has computers, a microform reader/printer and tables for group study. The Rare Books Room contains unique manuscripts, incunabula and historic records. Archives of Manhattanville College history are also housed in the Library.

The Library also houses the Library Cafe, one of the most popular spots on campus. Here students can study, use computers, and talk while enjoying coffee, sandwiches and salads.

Collections

In addition to the quarter of a million volumes and 40,000 bound periodicals, the Library holds extensive audiovisual and microform collections. The Library currently subscribes to dozens of print journals, and, through various electronic services, has access to over 46,000 electronic journals. The Library also has thousands of electronic books, an exceptional array of online reference tools, indexes and abstracts, and full-text books, newspapers and journals. These can all be found on the Library's web site, along with the CastleCat, the online catalog of materials owned by Manhattanville. CastleCat is accessible to anyone via the Internet. Subscription databases can be remotely accessed off-campus, by members of the Manhattanville community 24/7. Reserve collections consist of special materials requested by professors for class use. These may be kept at the Circulation Desk or made available electronically.

Expanded Hours

During the academic term, the library is open around the clock except for the first two weeks of each semester. Special schedules are implemented during holiday periods and summer sessions. The Library's web page should be checked for updates.

Rare Book and Archives

The Rare Book Department contains 2,320 volumes consisting of manuscripts, incunabula, 17th Century prints, first editions and other valuable items. The subject areas of special interest are: correspondence of the Civil War Period; early American text books; Catholic Church history in the United States; liturgical music; first editions of English and American literature; and literary and historical autographs. The Archives house documents and materials relating to Manhattanville College history.

Audio/Visual Services

The library has comfortable listening and viewing areas for videos, CDs, etc.

Extended Access to Resources

The Library is an electronic doorway to libraries and repositories from all over the world. Books and periodical articles may be borrowed on Interlibrary Loan from other libraries in the region, state, country, and even internationally. In addition, there is reciprocal borrowing with the Purchase College (SUNY) Library that is just a couple of miles away. Students may also borrow materials from any Westchester County Public Library with a special library card provided by the Purchase Public Library. The White Plains Public Library, 10 minutes from campus, holds an extensive Children’s Literature collection of great value to Manhattanville Education students. A METRO card, which is obtained at the Library's reference desk, admits students to specialized libraries in the New York metropolitan area.

Reference

The Reference Commons houses a collection of thousands of volumes; the Library web site provides access to premier scholarly reference databases. There are encyclopedias, dictionaries, directories, and indexes. Reference librarians are available most days from 10:00 AM until 10:00 PM. The Library offers students text-based reference services during regular business hours, and online chat reference service 24/7.