University of California Libraries
Encyclopedia
The University of California
operates the largest academic library
system in the world. It manages more than 34 million items in 100 libraries on ten campuses. The purpose of these libraries is to assist research and instruction on the University of California campuses. While each campus library is separate, they share (through the UC library system) facilities for storage, computerized indexing, digital libraries and management. For example, each campus maintains its own computerized library catalog
and simultaneously participates in the systemwide union catalog
, MELVYL.
The UC libraries also manage a digital library, the California Digital Library
. They also hold special collections and electronic archives of research documents. Special collections include historical archives on California history, federal depositories, law libraries, specialized collections for medical and scientific research, and a series of periodicals.
A major concern of the library system is the rising cost of scientific journal subscriptions, and the costs of renting article databases. The library is leading an effort to publish science research online in a persistently-available electronic format, primarily through a digital repository called the eScholarship repository.
The physical collections are scattered across the UC campuses. Their collections and stand-alone library buildings are listed below.
In the 1980s, to relieve overcrowding in existing on-campus library buildings, the UC system constructed two regional library facilities: the Northern Regional Library Facility at UC Berkeley's Richmond Field Station (opened 1982), and the Southern Regional Library Facility on the western edge of the UCLA campus (opened 1987). As of 2007, Northern Regional Library Facility is home to 4.7 million volumes, while SRLF is home to 5.7 million. Each facility receives items from all UC campuses in its respective region of the state, and has climate controls and high-density stacks. Items are shelved two deep and are arranged in a sequence that results in efficient use of space (but is not quite as intuitive as traditional library indexing systems). As a result, casual browsing is prohibited, and the shelves are accessible only by library clerks trained to retrieve and put back items properly. Users must page materials to a on-site reading room or to a library at their home campus.
Materials may be borrowed between the UC campus libraries or from the regional library facilities through interlibrary loan
; it is generally possible for a student or other university associate to order a nonfragile, unreserved item and have it within a few days. Books may take between a day to a week to be delivered between campuses.
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
operates the largest academic library
Academic library
An academic library is a library that is attached to academic institutions above the secondary level, serving the teaching and research needs of students and staff...
system in the world. It manages more than 34 million items in 100 libraries on ten campuses. The purpose of these libraries is to assist research and instruction on the University of California campuses. While each campus library is separate, they share (through the UC library system) facilities for storage, computerized indexing, digital libraries and management. For example, each campus maintains its own computerized library catalog
Library catalog
A library catalog is a register of all bibliographic items found in a library or group of libraries, such as a network of libraries at several locations...
and simultaneously participates in the systemwide union catalog
Union catalog
A union catalog is a combined library catalog describing the collections of a number of libraries. Union catalogs have been created in a range of media, including book format, microform, cards and more recently, networked electronic databases...
, MELVYL.
The UC libraries also manage a digital library, the California Digital Library
California Digital Library
The California Digital Library is the University of California's 11th University Library. The CDL was founded to assist the ten University of California libraries in sharing their resources and holdings more effectively, in part through negotiating and acquiring consortial licenses on behalf of...
. They also hold special collections and electronic archives of research documents. Special collections include historical archives on California history, federal depositories, law libraries, specialized collections for medical and scientific research, and a series of periodicals.
A major concern of the library system is the rising cost of scientific journal subscriptions, and the costs of renting article databases. The library is leading an effort to publish science research online in a persistently-available electronic format, primarily through a digital repository called the eScholarship repository.
The physical collections are scattered across the UC campuses. Their collections and stand-alone library buildings are listed below.
In the 1980s, to relieve overcrowding in existing on-campus library buildings, the UC system constructed two regional library facilities: the Northern Regional Library Facility at UC Berkeley's Richmond Field Station (opened 1982), and the Southern Regional Library Facility on the western edge of the UCLA campus (opened 1987). As of 2007, Northern Regional Library Facility is home to 4.7 million volumes, while SRLF is home to 5.7 million. Each facility receives items from all UC campuses in its respective region of the state, and has climate controls and high-density stacks. Items are shelved two deep and are arranged in a sequence that results in efficient use of space (but is not quite as intuitive as traditional library indexing systems). As a result, casual browsing is prohibited, and the shelves are accessible only by library clerks trained to retrieve and put back items properly. Users must page materials to a on-site reading room or to a library at their home campus.
List of collections by campus
Berkeley (18 university libraries and 11 affiliated libraries—including Law)
- University of California, Berkeley Library SystemUniversity of California, Berkeley Library SystemThe University of California, Berkeley's 32 constituent and affiliated libraries together make it the fourth largest university library by number of volumes in the United States, surpassed only by the libraries of Harvard, Yale, and the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign...
- Doe Memorial LibraryDoe Memorial Library- External links :*...
(Main Collections and Main Stacks) - Moffitt LibraryMoffitt LibraryMoffitt Library is UC Berkeley's undergraduate library. It was named after James K. Moffitt.Moffitt Library used to have a two-week check out period for patrons regardless of status. Due to a new catalogue system and restructuring, however, many books can now be checked out under the same...
(Undergraduate) - Bancroft LibraryBancroft LibraryThe Bancroft Library is the primary special collections library of the University of California, Berkeley. It was acquired as a gift/purchase from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, with the proviso that it retain the name Bancroft Library in perpetuity...
(Special History) - Hargrove Music Library
Davis (11 major libraries—including Law and Medical)
- Peter J. Shields Library (Main Collections)
- Physical Sciences and Engineering Library
- Blaisdell Medical Library (Sacramento)
- Carlson Health Science Library (Davis)
Irvine (3 major libraries—including Medical)
- Langson Library (Main Collections)
- Francisco J. Ayala Science Library (Science and Biomedical Fields)
- Grunigen Medical Library (Medical)
Los Angeles (13 major libraries—including Law and Medical)
- Powell LibraryPowell LibraryPowell Library is the main college undergraduate library on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles . It was constructed from 1926 to 1929 and was one of the original four buildings that comprised the UCLA campus in the early period of the university's life...
(Main Collections) - Young Research Library (Special Research Topics)
- Gonda Elementary Library (Library of Affiliated Elementary School)
- Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library
Riverside
- Tomas Riviera Library (Main Collections)
- Orbach Science Library (Science Fields)
San Francisco
- Parnassus Campus Library (Health Sciences - Main)
- Mission Bay FAMRI Library (Health Sciences)
Policies
The UC library system has open stacks at most libraries, and permits free research and reading by the public. In addition, all campuses allow any California resident to apply for a library card and thus gain limited borrowing privileges for libraries on that campus, although there is typically a charge for these cards.Materials may be borrowed between the UC campus libraries or from the regional library facilities through interlibrary loan
Interlibrary loan
Interlibrary loan is a service whereby a user of one library can borrow books or receive photocopies of documents that are owned by another library...
; it is generally possible for a student or other university associate to order a nonfragile, unreserved item and have it within a few days. Books may take between a day to a week to be delivered between campuses.
See also
- California Digital LibraryCalifornia Digital LibraryThe California Digital Library is the University of California's 11th University Library. The CDL was founded to assist the ten University of California libraries in sharing their resources and holdings more effectively, in part through negotiating and acquiring consortial licenses on behalf of...
— the digital library branch of the UC Libraries - MelvylMelvylMelvyl is the name of the online catalog of the University of California's library system, and is a registered trademark owned by the University of California...
— the catalog of the UC Libraries