Washington University Libraries
Encyclopedia
Washington University Libraries is the library
system of Washington University in St. Louis
. With 14 libraries and over 4.2 million volumes, it is the largest library system in the state of Missouri
. The John M. Olin Library is the central library.
, just west of the Brookings Quadrangle, Olin Library houses general-interest materials and collections in the humanities
, social sciences
, and engineering
. It is also a designated federal depository library
and houses over 70,000 microfilms. Special collections
include the literary papers of James Merrill
, Samuel Beckett
, Howard Nemerov
, Stanley Elkin
, William Gass, and Mona Van Duyn
; the Film and Media Archive includes material created by alumnus Henry Hampton
documenting the Civil Rights Movement
.
Built in 1963 after a gift from John M. Olin
, the John M. Olin Library replaced the University's former main library at Ridgley Hall. In 2004, the Olin Library underwent an extensive renovation. The library contains a cafe and coffee shop, study spaces for graduate and undergraduate students, and many general services and administrative support for the Washington University Library System.
the definitive documentary on America's civil rights movement
. The archive also holds numerous materials that went into the creation other works. The Archive collects photos, interviews, stock footage, producer's research notes, correspondence, treatments, and scripts, all of which provide a distinctive look at the film making at storytelling process for scholars, teachers, filmmakers, and students.
Opened in the Fall of 2002, the Film & Media Archive's first acquisition was the Henry Hampton
Collection, an archive of the work of one of the most influential African-American filmmakers. For the first time ever, the tens of thousands of materials created by his company Blackside, Inc. during the production process became available for study.
The Archive has expanded from its inaugural collection to include the collection of filmmaker Bill Miles
, the St. Louis Public School's educational films, and material from Insignia Films' Reporting America at War series. It continues to grow, focusing on collecting film archives that examine the great social movements of American history and African-American life and culture, and supporting documentary studies. In addition to acquiring collections of major historical importance, the Archive preserves and organizes these materials, publicizes them, and creates related educational and outreach programs.
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
system of Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
. With 14 libraries and over 4.2 million volumes, it is the largest library system in the state of Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. The John M. Olin Library is the central library.
Olin Library
Centrally located on the Danforth CampusDanforth Campus
The Danforth Campus is the main campus at Washington University in St. Louis. Formerly known as the Hilltop Campus, it was officially dedicated as the Danforth Campus on September 17, 2006, in honor of William H. Danforth, the 13th Chancellor of the University, the Danforth family and the Danforth...
, just west of the Brookings Quadrangle, Olin Library houses general-interest materials and collections in the humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
, social sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
, and engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
. It is also a designated federal depository library
Federal depository library
The Federal Depository Library Program is a United States program created to make U.S. federal government publications available to the public at no cost. As of June 2008, there are 1,252 depository libraries in the United States and its territories. A "government publication" is defined in the U.S...
and houses over 70,000 microfilms. Special collections
Special collections
In library science, special collections is the name applied to a specific repository or department, usually within a library, which stores materials of a "special" nature, including rare books, archives, and collected manuscripts...
include the literary papers of James Merrill
James Merrill
James Ingram Merrill was an American poet whose awards include the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Divine Comedies...
, Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
, Howard Nemerov
Howard Nemerov
Howard Nemerov was an American poet. He was twice appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1963 to 1964, and again from 1988 to 1990. He received the National Book Award, Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, and Bollingen Prize for The Collected Poems of Howard Nemerov...
, Stanley Elkin
Stanley Elkin
Stanley Lawrence Elkin was a Jewish American novelist, short story writer, and essayist. His extravagant, satirical fiction revolves around American consumerism, popular culture, and male-female relationships.-Biography:...
, William Gass, and Mona Van Duyn
Mona Van Duyn
Mona Jane Van Duyn was an American poet. She was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1992.-Early years:Van Duyn was born in Waterloo, Iowa. She grew up in the small town of Eldora Mona Jane Van Duyn (9 May 1921 – 2 December 2004) was an American poet. She was...
; the Film and Media Archive includes material created by alumnus Henry Hampton
Henry Hampton
Henry Hampton was an American filmmaker. He was the son of surgeon Henry Hampton Sr. and Julia Veva Hampton. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Hampton would later move to Boston where he founded his film production company Blackside, Inc., in 1968. It became one of the largest minority-owned...
documenting the Civil Rights Movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
.
Built in 1963 after a gift from John M. Olin
John M. Olin
John Merrill Olin was an American businessman. He was the son of Franklin W. Olin.-Early life:Born in Alton, Illinois, Olin graduated from Cornell University with a B.Sc. degree in chemistry and as a brother of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity...
, the John M. Olin Library replaced the University's former main library at Ridgley Hall. In 2004, the Olin Library underwent an extensive renovation. The library contains a cafe and coffee shop, study spaces for graduate and undergraduate students, and many general services and administrative support for the Washington University Library System.
Washington University Film & Media Archive
The Washington University Film & Media Archive is an archive is composed of completed films and videos, most notably Eyes on the PrizeEyes on the Prize
Eyes on the Prize is a 14-hour documentary series about the African-American Civil Rights Movement. The series was produced in two-stages: Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years 1954–1964 consists of the first six episodes covering the time period between the Brown v. Board decision and...
the definitive documentary on America's civil rights movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
. The archive also holds numerous materials that went into the creation other works. The Archive collects photos, interviews, stock footage, producer's research notes, correspondence, treatments, and scripts, all of which provide a distinctive look at the film making at storytelling process for scholars, teachers, filmmakers, and students.
Opened in the Fall of 2002, the Film & Media Archive's first acquisition was the Henry Hampton
Henry Hampton
Henry Hampton was an American filmmaker. He was the son of surgeon Henry Hampton Sr. and Julia Veva Hampton. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Hampton would later move to Boston where he founded his film production company Blackside, Inc., in 1968. It became one of the largest minority-owned...
Collection, an archive of the work of one of the most influential African-American filmmakers. For the first time ever, the tens of thousands of materials created by his company Blackside, Inc. during the production process became available for study.
The Archive has expanded from its inaugural collection to include the collection of filmmaker Bill Miles
Bill Miles
William Miles was born in Harlem, New York, and has used his deep knowledge and experience of that borough to produce films that tell unique and often inspiring stories of Harlem's history...
, the St. Louis Public School's educational films, and material from Insignia Films' Reporting America at War series. It continues to grow, focusing on collecting film archives that examine the great social movements of American history and African-American life and culture, and supporting documentary studies. In addition to acquiring collections of major historical importance, the Archive preserves and organizes these materials, publicizes them, and creates related educational and outreach programs.
Specialty libraries
- Kranzberg Art & Architecture Library - serves the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts and the Department of Art History & Archaeology.
- Kopolow Business Library - serves the Olin Business School. Databases provided by Moody'sMoody'sMoody's Corporation is the holding company for Moody's Analytics and Moody's Investors Service, a credit rating agency which performs international financial research and analysis on commercial and government entities. The company also ranks the credit-worthiness of borrowers using a standardized...
, Standard & Poor'sStandard & Poor'sStandard & Poor's is a United States-based financial services company. It is a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks and bonds. It is well known for its stock-market indices, the US-based S&P 500, the Australian S&P/ASX 200, the Canadian...
, Hoover'sHoover'sHoover's, Inc., a subsidiary of Dun & Bradstreet, is a business research company that has provided information on U.S. and foreign companies and industries since 1990. Since 1993, the company has made its information available on its website.-Operations:...
, and Disclosure; receives comprehensive real-time stock and other market information through the BloombergBloomberg TerminalThe Bloomberg Terminal is a computer system provided by Bloomberg L.P. that enables financial professionals to access the Bloomberg Professional service through which users can monitor and analyze real-time financial market data movements and place trades on the electronic trading platform...
and Bridge Information Systems; maintains a book collection of around 30,000 volumes and subscriptions to more than 400 major business journals, magazines, and newspapers. - Chemistry Library - serves mainly the Chemistry Department and other university science departments. The library provides access to many print and online industry journals, including those published by the American Chemical SocietyAmerican Chemical SocietyThe American Chemical Society is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 161,000 members at all degree-levels and in all fields of chemistry, chemical...
, ElsevierElsevierElsevier is a publishing company which publishes medical and scientific literature. It is a part of the Reed Elsevier group. Based in Amsterdam, the company has operations in the United Kingdom, USA and elsewhere....
, and WileyJohn Wiley & SonsJohn Wiley & Sons, Inc., also referred to as Wiley, is a global publishing company that specializes in academic publishing and markets its products to professionals and consumers, students and instructors in higher education, and researchers and practitioners in scientific, technical, medical, and...
. - Digital Gateway - serves as a single point of entry for discovery of all digital collections available at WUSTL, provides a similar single point of entry for anyone in the WUSTL community interested in developing digital projects.
- Ronald Rettner Earth and Planetary Sciences Library
- East Asian Library - serves the information and research needs of the WUSTL East Asian Studies Program. The East Asian Library consists almost entirely of materials in the ChineseChinese languageThe Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
, JapaneseJapanese languageis a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, and Korean languageKorean languageKorean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
s, with over 140,000 volumes. Special holdings include the Robert S. Elegant Collection; primarily the assorted files of clippings of newspapers, magazines, and news releases covering the period of the Chinese Cultural RevolutionCultural RevolutionThe Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
; Nelson Wu's collection on East Asian art, architecture, and Chinese culture; and the Thomas Temple Hoopes' collection on Japanese sword and Japanese art history.
- Law Library - the law libraryLaw libraryA law library is a library designed to assist law students, attorneys, judges, and their law clerks and anyone else who finds it necessary to correctly determine the state of the law....
of Washington University School of LawWashington University School of LawWashington University School of Law , is a private American law school located in St. Louis, Missouri. The law school is one of the seven graduate and undergraduate schools at Washington University in St. Louis....
. Houses strong collections in the areas of tax lawTax lawTax law is the codified system of laws that describes government levies on economic transactions, commonly called taxes.-Major issues:Primary taxation issues facing the governments world over include;* taxes on income and wealth...
, urban law, environmental lawEnvironmental lawEnvironmental law is a complex and interlocking body of treaties, conventions, statutes, regulations, and common law that operates to regulate the interaction of humanity and the natural environment, toward the purpose of reducing the impacts of human activity...
, land useLand useLand use is the human use of land. Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as fields, pastures, and settlements. It has also been defined as "the arrangements, activities and inputs people undertake in a certain land cover...
planning, Chinese lawChinese lawChinese law is one of the oldest legal traditions in the world. In the 20th and 21st century, law in China has been a complex mix of traditional Chinese approaches and Western influences....
, Japanese lawJapanese law-Historical Developments:Pre-Modern History The early law of Japan was heavily influenced by Chinese law. Little is known about Japanese law prior to the seventh century, when the Ritsuryō was developed and codified. Before Chinese characters were transplanted and adopted by the Japanese, the...
, and international lawInternational lawPublic international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
; an official depository for federal documents published by the Government Printing Office and a depository for government publications of the state of Missouri. Contains over 650,000 volumes and volume equivalents. - Bernard Becker Medical Library - serves the Washington University School of MedicineWashington University School of MedicineWashington University School of Medicine , located in St. Louis, Missouri, is one of the graduate schools of Washington University in St. Louis. One of the top medical schools in the United States, it is currently ranked 4th for research according to U.S. News and World Report and has been listed...
, the Barnes-Jewish HospitalBarnes-Jewish HospitalBarnes-Jewish Hospital is the largest hospital in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the adult teaching hospital for Washington University School of Medicine, and is located in St. Louis, Missouri. It is consistently rated one of the top hospitals in the United States by U.S. News & World Report...
, and the St. Louis Children's HospitalSt. Louis Children's HospitalSt. Louis Children's Hospital is an academic pediatric hospital providing tertiary level care in St. Louis, Missouri. SLCH is the pediatric teaching hospital for Washington University School of Medicine. It is the seventh oldest children's hospital in the United States and the first children's...
; contains over 110,000 volumes, along with over 9,100 print and electronic journal titles. - Gaylord Music Library - a music libraryMusic libraryA music library contains music-related materials for patron use. Collections may also include non-print materials, such as digitized music scores or audio recordings. Use of such materials may be limited to specific patron groups, especially in private academic institutions...
holds over 100,500 books and scores, 40,500 recordings and tapes, 5,200 microform items and more than 24,000 pieces of sheet musicSheet musicSheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
, with strong holdings in AmericanaAmericana (music)Americana is an amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles...
, Festschriften, early music, operaOperaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, and music literature. Special collections include the Tyson Collection of 168 Mozart and 100 Beethoven first and early editions. - Gustavus A. Pfeiffer Physics Library - contains book and serial publications supporting the PhysicsPhysicsPhysics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
Department. Actively collected materials include the areas of astrophysicsAstrophysicsAstrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties of celestial objects, as well as their interactions and behavior...
, mathematical physicsMathematical physicsMathematical physics refers to development of mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The Journal of Mathematical Physics defines this area as: "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and the development of mathematical methods suitable for such applications and...
, condensed matterCondensed matter physicsCondensed matter physics deals with the physical properties of condensed phases of matter. These properties appear when a number of atoms at the supramolecular and macromolecular scale interact strongly and adhere to each other or are otherwise highly concentrated in a system. The most familiar...
, elementary particleElementary particleIn particle physics, an elementary particle or fundamental particle is a particle not known to have substructure; that is, it is not known to be made up of smaller particles. If an elementary particle truly has no substructure, then it is one of the basic building blocks of the universe from which...
s, probability theoryProbability theoryProbability theory is the branch of mathematics concerned with analysis of random phenomena. The central objects of probability theory are random variables, stochastic processes, and events: mathematical abstractions of non-deterministic events or measured quantities that may either be single...
, statistical mechanicsStatistical mechanicsStatistical mechanics or statistical thermodynamicsThe terms statistical mechanics and statistical thermodynamics are used interchangeably...
, many-body systemsMany-body problemThe many-body problem is a general name for a vast category of physical problems pertaining to the properties of microscopic systems made of a large number of interacting particles. Microscopic here implies that quantum mechanics has to be used to provide an accurate description of the system...
, low temperatureCryogenicsIn physics, cryogenics is the study of the production of very low temperature and the behavior of materials at those temperatures. A person who studies elements under extremely cold temperature is called a cryogenicist. Rather than the relative temperature scales of Celsius and Fahrenheit,...
, high pressureHigh pressureHigh pressure in science and engineering is studying the effects of high pressure on materials and the design and construction of devices, such as a diamond anvil cell, which can create high pressure...
, material physicsMaterial physicsMaterial physics is the use of physics to describe materials in many different ways such as force, heat, light and mechanics. It is a synthesis of physical sciences such as chemistry, solid mechanics and solid state physics....
, and ultrasonic physics. - Social Work Library - houses social workSocial workSocial Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...
materials, including 50,000 books, journals, publications and videos; periodical holdings consist of more than 450 current subscriptions; adds more than 1,000 bound volumes to the collection each year; strong collections in the fields of child welfareChild welfareChild protection is used to describe a set of usually government-run services designed to protect children and young people who are underage and to encourage family stability...
, community developmentCommunity developmentCommunity development is a broad term applied to the practices and academic disciplines of civic leaders, activists, involved citizens and professionals to improve various aspects of local communities....
, family therapyFamily therapyFamily therapy, also referred to as couple and family therapy, family systems therapy, and family counseling, is a branch of psychotherapy that works with families and couples in intimate relationships to nurture change and development. It tends to view change in terms of the systems of...
, mental healthMental healthMental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...
, childrenChildhood studiesChildhood Studies is a multi-disciplinary field that utilizes all areas of study to understand childhoods as experienced by children today...
and youthYouth studiesYouth studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to the study of the development, history, culture, psychology, and politics of youth. The field studies not only specific cultures of young people, but also their relationships, roles and responsibilities throughout the larger societies...
, gerontologyGerontologyGerontology is the study of the social, psychological and biological aspects of aging...
, public welfare, management of human services, and social policySocial policySocial policy primarily refers to guidelines, principles, legislation and activities that affect the living conditions conducive to human welfare. Thus, social policy is that part of public policy that has to do with social issues...
. - Special Collections consists of five units including Washington University Film & Media Archive, WU Manuscripts, Modern Graphic History Library, Rare Books, and University Archives
- West Campus Library - contains monographMonographA monograph is a work of writing upon a single subject, usually by a single author.It is often a scholarly essay or learned treatise, and may be released in the manner of a book or journal article. It is by definition a single document that forms a complete text in itself...
s, journals, folio books, government documents, maps, recordings, and microforms. Notable collections include all titles published prior to 1801 that are not part of WUSTL Special Collections and a significant portion of the University's Government Document holdings.